Category: Youtube

The World is Your Staffroom: Using the Internet for Professional Development Part 1 – Seminars and Webinars

If you work at a large institution, you have access to experienced teachers, in-house workshops, seminars and (possibly) travel assistance for presenting at, or possibly, attending conferences. Additionally, your line manager has probably assigned you a mentor who can answer the day-to-day questions like “What happens if I need a new CD?” as well as fill you in on the “culture of the school” or the “unwritten rules.”

Yep, if you work at a school with a growth mindset, you will always be reminded that a teacher is a learner first and foremost and, therefore, will always be challenged to improve not only their content knowledge but also their pedagogy. In this type of school, in-house professional development workshops will be mandatory and there will be competition to see who can generate the highest turn-out for workshops.

Edtech, Writing, Youtube, TOEFL iBT, IELTS, Classroom Management, PLN, CPD, PD, Professional Development, CELTA, DELTA, TESOL, EFL
Do you do things because that is how they have always been done?

But what if you don’t work in “that” school? Continue reading “The World is Your Staffroom: Using the Internet for Professional Development Part 1 – Seminars and Webinars” →

Videonot.es and Youtube: Watching videos with a purpose

Videonot.es and Youtube: Watching videos with a purpose

I love using videos in the classroom: they are engaging, multi-sensory and provide quasi-authentic language. The question of course is what do you have students do while they’re watching the videos? Well, one tool I’ve come across recently is videonot.es.

Videonot.es is a web app that allows users to take notes of online videos (Youtube, Khan Academy, Coursera, Udacity) and then store and share their notes using either Evernote or  Google Drive. Why would you want to use this site?

  • Ease of collection – Instead of carrying paper copies, you just have students “share” their work with you (more on that later).
  • Tracking the process – If you are having students write essays on videos, it is a lot harder for them to plagiarize if you are tracking their work from the very beginning.
  • Collaboration – Students can share their notes and ideas with each other nearly instantly.
  • Safe Keeping – Students “misplace” their paper notes all the time. Unless a student consciously deletes the file from their Google Drive account, their video notes aren’t going anywhere.

So how do you use Videonot.es? Continue reading “Videonot.es and Youtube: Watching videos with a purpose” →