What comes first , pedagogy or technology?

Many teachers when trying to integrate technology into their lesson plans, end up getting dazzled by the wonders of webtools and run the risk of forgetting their real focus, the lesson goals.

Watch this video where I talk about Technology Integration:
http://www.tokbox.com/vm/knpej4mthrio

TokBox - Free Video Chat and Video Messaging

Guide questions we can ask ourselves when selecting a webtool to use:

1. What are the aims of the lesson?
2. What kind of extra practice do I need my students to have?
3. Which is the best tool to achieve the goals?
4. How am I going to propose the webtool task?
5. Where will my students do the task, at home, in class or at the lab? (Plan the time)
6. How will the students share their work? In edmodo, in a class blog, via e-mail?
7. What follow-up activity (closure) will we have?

It's essential to point out that you can only decide which is the best webtool to reach a certain goal once you have explored as many tools available.

Why I like TOKBOX

Tokbox is a great tool teachers should explore. It's free and easy to use.




What can you do with TOKBOX?

• You can send video messages to your tokbox contacts or to anyone who has an e-mail.
• You can send video cards with pre-set backgrounds.
• You can have chats with up to 20 tokbox contacts and share youtube videos, pictures from flickr, picasa, presentations from slideshare .
  
• The video messages can be embedded or shared in facebook and twitter.
  

How can we use TOKBOX with students?

• You can send a LISTENING DICTATION to students' e-mails, then have them write down the text you've dictated and send it back to you by e-mail.
• You can send sts a set of questions they have to reply via video message or  sts can create sentences using target vocabulary and record it.
• You can have a live chat with your students.
• You can record explanations to your students and send it to their e-mails.
• You can record a message to parents introducing yourself and send to their e-mails.
• If a student is absent because he's sick, you can record students wishing recovery and send to the student's e-mail.

The possibility of sending video messages to e-mails is one you can't find in SKYPE, for example.

This is a video message I sent to students asking them 3 questions they had to reply to.

TokBox - Free Video Chat and Video Messaging

Nik Peachey has written a wonderful post about TOKBOX where he includes a tutorial and  wonderful ideas for classroom integration.

WINKBALL - more than sending video messages

I just love sending and receiving video messages by e-mail. Sometimes it's so much easier and faster to explain what you want to say instead of writing. The tool I've used for this purpose is called TOKBOX, but my post today is about a similar site which I found today via José Antonio's blog.

With WINKBALL you can send video messages to people via e-mail, you can create video messages and embed them to blogs, you can create video walls where other people can participate and you can also create a video blog where instead of writing you record yourself speaking. All you need is a webcam and a free account.



HOW CAN WE USE THIS SITE WITH STUDENTS?

• in class blogs, the teacher can embed messages to students.
• the teacher can also create video-dictations and send it to sts via e-mail.
• students can record video messages in response to a question the teacher has asked them.
• if the teacher creates a VIDEO WALL, students can discuss topics.

Any other ideas?

Tokbox.com

This is a talk box where you can connect to me in real time. You can also use tokbox.com in order to send video messages to e-mails and receive them as well. I´m still trying it out. There´s the possibility of inviting people to a conference room with images where more people can discuss together. Interesting tool!