Week 8. Teacher Resources Online

It has been a very busy week. As in other weeks, we have had too much information to analyze and interpret. Mainly, this week has dealt with online teacher resources. Many of these resources are offered to help teachers who teach kids. However many of these tools can be adapted to use in all educational levels as high school, undergraduate and graduate level. It will depend on the purpose of the class and the learners’ needs. These online resources are practical, time-saving and promote learner autonomy. Most of them allow learners to interact online and negotiate meaning.

Tools for Educators (http://www.toolsforeducators.com/) is a website that offers free tools for teaching not only kids as it is mainly promoted in the website. These tools could be adapted and used with adolescents and adults. Among the tools presented, we find the free word search maker, the dice maker, the printable board games, the free crossword puzzle maker, the free bingo board maker, the free maze maker, the domino maker, the spelling worksheet maker, the free writing, the spelling, tracing worksheets, the award certificate maker, the handout creator, etc. These are easy to generate, useful, and appealing to the eye. Teachers can vary the type of activity making classes more enjoyable.

EasyTestMaker (http://www.easytestmaker.com/default.aspx) is a free online test designer. It is possible to create different types of tests with their instructions. Besides, one test could have several parts and be divided into sections containing multiple-choice, matching, short-answer, true-false, fill-in-the-blank activities within the same test. The tests can also be published to be solved online. Results are automatically generated.

Crossword Puzzle Games 
(http://www.crosswordpuzzlegames.com/create.html) is a free online crossword maker. From 2 to 20 words can be added to the crossword puzzle as well as clues to create your own puzzles. Puzzles could be posted on class websites; added to handouts, newsletters, etc. or printed to work in face to face classes. 

Web Worksheet Wizard (http://poster.4teachers.org) consists of a free resource to design interactive worksheets, lessons, and class pages. They can be published online. Links and images can be added to these online tools. Teachers can assign projects to their students, which can be saved online during a month. On the other hand, students can work online on their projects and create new ones. Web Worksheet Wizard could be helpful for any of my undergraduate or graduate classes since these tools are easily adaptable and useful for all educational levels.

Hot Potatoes (http://hotpot.uvic.ca) involves a free tool to create online jumbled-sentence, multiple-choice, crossword, matching/ordering, short-answer, and fill-in the gap activities. Hot potatoes as Web Worksheet Wizard is very helpful to design quizzes online.

Quandary (http://www.halfbakedsoftware.com/quandary.php) is a free application for creating interactive action mazes, which can be used for diagnosis, procedural training, surveys/questionnaires and problem-solving activities. An action maze introduces a problematic situation with a series of possible consequences. After choosing one of the possibilities, the final outcome is presented to the learner. 

This week 8 also included creating an online tool. Particularly, I created a wiki for my “Teaching English Language Skills” course. I worked many hours on it but I think the time spent was worthwhile. 

I also handed in my project report draft, which I shared with two of my course partners Ina and Raj.  I read theirs and gave them feedback using the provided course project checklist. It was a very nurturing experience.

Next week, it will be a tough week since we have to hand in the final course project by Friday. I wish my partners the best and that we all can accomplish all the required tasks for this future week.

Warm regards!

Mary