How to embed a PREZI presentation

It's amazing what you can do with PREZI. I have already posted about it here, and now I decided to show you how to embed presentations you create with PREZI. They only offered you a link before.

Once you've created your prezi presentation, click on the link they give you and you'll be taken to a page with your presentation. Below you'll find the embed code (which was not available a few months ago).

There are two kinds of players you can generate:

simple navigation - the one I embedded below which you have to click in order to take you along the path I've created.
autoplay - which plays as a video.

You can also share your presentation in twitter or facebook with a simple click.



To watch an intro about Prezi, click here

Audio Books read by actors

I'd like to share a site I've come across which offers you the experience of reading, watching and listening to great books. The storytelling is done by well-known actors. I had such a nice time reading the books! http://www.storylineonline.net/

This is a part of one of the stories I loved : "Stellaluna"

Are we killing Creativity?

This is a wonderful talk given by Ken Robinson at TED. Really worth watching.

Creating with ACAPELA. tv

I was reminded of this site by Bob Palmer's post in his blog. He suggests giving dictations with the videos you create. It's a text-to-speech application, or better the character speaks whatever you type in.

GOOD POINTS: it's very cute, easy to use and you can type in various languages.
BAD POINT: you can't publish all your creations ( found no embed code for some) but you can grab a link. :(


This is a dictation I've created:



Another cute card As this one does not provide the embed code for publishing, I used screenr to record it.



How can you use this with students?

• as suggested by Bob Palmer, create dictations for your students.
• create vocabulary dictations with words from previous lessons.
• Create a listening comprehension activity where sts listen to a character introducing himself and answer questions.
• Have sts create their own speaking character using language they've studied.
  

Paul E. Glott can tell you how to say lots of things in many languages. Try it out! You type in the sentence, choose the language and Paul helps you out. Cute!

Adding audio files to your blog

Adding audio files to a web page can be quite tricky depending on the site you use. Today I tried AUDIOPAL and found it amazingly easy and practical. You can record your audio by phone, use a microphone or upload an existing audio file, then you type in your e-mail address and you get an e-mail with the link to an embed code you can publish. It's that easy! No registration needed. I learned about this site via Technology Tidbits

MY TRIAL: I recorded a checklist for teachers doing the Cultura EDtech online course.



The second site for audio recordings is RECORDR
You can record VIDEO or AUDIO only, then grab the embed code and publish it. You can also tweet your recording with a simple click.

Untitled recorded by guest

How can I use these sites with students?

• You can leave messages for your students in class blogs.
• You can have students record dialogues in class and then publish them in the class blog.
• You can send sts a dictation they have to write down for homework.
• You can read a text about a content sts are going to see in the future.

After a comment left by Alex, this is a trial using VOCAROO
Vocaroo is also very simple. No need to sign up. YOu record and can get a link or an embed code. You'll see the quality of the recording was not so clear.



My trial with CHIRBIT
http://chirb.it/OeH8vJ

Chirbit is slightly more complicated than the others, you have to sign up, and after recording it provides you with a link and the possibility to share in various sites. Couldn't find an embed code though. Sound quality was not the best either.

Well, my evaluation would be the following: if you want to record something simple, audio only, my choices would be AUDIOPAL and VOCAROO (sound was not so good).

With RECORDR I have the option of having a video made and it's as simple as Audiopal. The only thing I didn't like so much was that even recording audio only the embeddable player is very big.

SCREENR - screencasts for Twitter

It's never been easier to create tutorials like now with SCREENR.

This is how to do it. Sign in with your TWITTER account, then click on RECORD. Resize the shooting screen to focus on the area you would like to record on your screen. Click RECORD and start speaking. It records everything you say and do with your mouse. When you're done, click DONE , write a text to go with your tweet and wait a while (about 2 minutes). After it's been tweeted, you can also grab an embed code to publish it in your blog, have a URL address, publish it in youtube (if you have a youtube account) or download it as an mp4 file. The quality of the image is superb.

It couldn't be easier!

This is a screencast I made to show two colleagues how to remove a student from an edmodo group you've created.



This is my screencast in twitter

anamariacult (anamariacult) on Twitter via kwout

Revisiting Xtranormal

Xtranormal is a wonderful webtool you can use to create animated movies.

Dianne Krause has created a nice xtranormal movie talking about education in 2025. Interesting stuff!



This is another example we can use for language teaching. By selecting a character, a scenario and a script we can introduce any language point. This is an example of another movie created by Dianne Krause, this time in French.



You can also ask sts to create their own movies with language you've focussed. Isn't it a fantastic tool?

These were my TRIALS

• A birthday card for a colleague
• A video my son made while learning how to deal with xtranormal

To use Xtranormal, create a free account and then click on MAKE MOVIES. Select what kind of character you want, select the scene, write the script and then add animations, looks, music and so on. Click on ACTION to have a preview and when it's done, click on IT'S A WRAP. After your video has been published in Xtranormal, you can also publish it in youtube by clicking on a button. Simply and easy. I'll definitely use it in my classes.

Augmented Reality

I'm totally into the future. I guess I was born in the wrong era. While reading David Kapuler's Blog Companion Volume 3 I learned about AR Sights. After downloading AR sights, you can use google earth to look for landmarks, then after printing their MARKER you will be able to see the monument in 3D. It is truly amazing! You know, like in Star wars.

Check out this video



This is another video about Hitlab and how augmented reality will affect learning.

Videos and stuff

I decided to use this post to share 3 sites I've just come accross in Twitter.

• The first one is KIDEOS. A place where you can find videos for children. You can find videos according to age group or search the categories. I loved watching Caillou's videos, they're so sweet and cute. Teachers can also use the nursery rhymes videos. Check some of them.

• Can you tell a story in 6 words? This is the idea behing 6-WORD MEMOIRS. In Smith Magazine (online) you can tell your own 6-word story.

These are some EXAMPLES from the magazine:

Six-Word Memoirs at SMITH Magazine via kwout

A post from the blog BIONIC TEACHING shows a video produced with Teens Six-word stories.

6 Word Teen Memoirs at Bionic Teaching via kwout

• Finally, the third site would be Youtube Doubler. (via Nik Peachey)
  

A great resource to help sts compare cities, animals, people. Just type in the URL of the first video, then the second and both will appear side by side.

Isolation X Sharing

This video could be used to talk about cultural differences, the importance of communication, the benefits of sharing, cooperation.

KALINAGO ENGLISH has written a great post with ideas on how to use this video.

Technology Tidbits

Technolgy Tidbits - a blog I'd like to recommend.

Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero via kwout

While browsing through his blog, I learned about BookRix, a site which helps you create online books. You can download your own book or let the site help you create one. When the book has been created, you can share it in the BookRix archive, send the link to friends or even grab an embed code for your blog.

David Kapuler's online books on webtools is a must-read.

• Blog Companion Volume II
• Blog Companion Volume I
  

Cultura EDtech online course

Cultura EDtech is an online course for BRAZILIAN EFL teachers which I'll be facilitating this semester.

We start on 24/08/09 and for 3 months we'll be learning how to create class blogs where teachers can share material with students and we'll also explore several webtools in order to devise lesson plans integrating them to our content.

Several teachers I've met asked me "Will I be able to learn this stuff? Isn't it complicated?" My answer to them is if I learned so can you. The only thing which is complicated is the fear to fail. And one thing I learned blogging is that it's ok to make mistakes and try again. The course is going to follow a very manageable pace and participants will be able to ask for synchronous and asynchronous help.

This is a video I've created to remind participants of the Start Date. (I used Animoto)



A virtual poster about the course (w/ glogster)




If you are a Brazilian EFL teacher and would like to join our group, send me an e-mail anamariacult@yahoo.com.br and I'll send you more info.

iWise - learn with Famous quotes

iWise is THE place for searching for quotes. You can search it by key words, by person, you can listen to the quotes and even share them in facebook and twitter.
I literally fell in love with the site.

aristotle- iWise search via kwout

I'd also like to recommend the reading of Nik Peachey's great and useful post about it. Thanks NiK!!!!

Nik's Learning Technology Blog: Using Wise Quotes with EFL ESL Students via kwout

Fotoviewr- photo gallery

This is a different way of viewing your flickr photos. It's very simple, you click on get started, choose the kind of gallery you prefer, type in your flickr username, select the set of pictures you would like to see, and voilá the site creates the photo gallery for you.

What I like about it - it must be very beautiful to look at on the e-board and looks very futuristic.

What I didn't like about it - I wish we could select pictures from overall flickr filtering by tag. This way we could show various pictures to our students on a given topic.

After creating your gallery you can share it in facebook, orkut or publish it in your blog by grabbing the embed code.

FotoViewr - Create your 3D photo gallery

Geography videos - Spotlight videos

While reading my facebook updates, found a post where Larry Ferlazzo mentions geography videos. I decided to have a look at them and have to admit I ended up watching many more videos than I had intended to.

Well, I'm not a geography teacher, nevertheless, the video library is perfect for language teachers as well. Of course, depending on the level of your students the task has to be simpler. Great to watch and fantastic stuff to learn!

Social Studies via kwout