1. Welcome to the ELT blog by Silvana.
Have a look around!Click here
The purpose of this Blog is to provide teachers with some
tips and ideas regarding the use of Web 2.0 tools in the
English Classroom. It has been created as an assignment for
the subject ICT Applied to English Teaching at INSPT,
UTN.
What is a blog?

2. A blog is essentially a web page with regular diary or journal
entries. The term is, in fact, short for web log.
How does it work?
A blog consists of a number of postings, which are published
on one web page, in reverse chronological order with the
most recent posting at the top. Most blogs allow readers to
comment on entries, thereby creating an online community
around a common topic or interest.
Types of blogs
Blogs used in education are also known as edublogs. There
are three types of edublogs:
1.Tutor blogs: These are used by a teacher in order to provide
learners with news and comments on issues, extra reading
practice or homework, online links, a summary of a class for
learners who were unable to attend, study tips, and so on.
In this case, learners will access and read, and possibly add
comments to the blog outside the classroom.

3. 2.Student blogs: A teacher may encourage their learners to set
up and maintain their own individual blogs. Other learners
can be encouraged to post comments and reactions to
student blogs postings.
3.Class blogs: They are used by an entire class. These can be
used to post comments on certain topics or on class work or
on any other issue the teacher thinks interesting and
relevant to learners. Here, all learners post to the same
blog.
Advantages of the use of blogs in the
classroom
Blogs provide a 'real-world' tool for learners with which to
practise their written English, as well as a way of contacting
learners from other parts of the world if the blog is used as
part of an international exchange.
A blog is publicly available on the Internet. In theory,
anyone can read the blog, although only invited members
can be given permission to add comments.Don’t forget!
One of the issues to bear in mind when using edublogs is
that of correction. Learners tend to want their written work

4. in a blog to be as accurate as possible, given that the blog is
publicly accessible. Asking learners to prepare blog entries
in a word processing program beforehand can help with this
process.
A further area of consideration is assessment. Since a blog is
essentially written, blog postings can be used for evaluation.
The evaluation criteria (which has to be made clear to
learners in advance) will probably include those used to
evaluate more traditional, paper-based forms of writing, such
as accuracy, fluency, coherence and relevance, but they may
also include criteria related to the visual nature of this
electronic medium, such as the effective use of visuals and
visual presentation overall.
Dudeney, G., & Hockly, N. (2007).How to teach
English with technology. (pp. 86-94). England: Pearson
Longman.

5. Do an Activity with Fodey!
Level: intermediate
Grammar focus: Passive Voice (in the past)
Communicative goal: Describing an important event.
1) Think of a football match or concert you have recently
attended or watched on TV.
2) Make a list of the most important events that happened
during it or the most interesting facts that have called your
attention.
3) After that, write an article including the most important
facts. Write it in a word document.
4) Then send the article to your teacher for correction.
5) Once you have received your teacher’s corrections, go to
www.Fodey.com and write the article.
6) Once you have finished, send it to your teacher. She will

6. upload your newspaper article on the blog under the entry
MY NEWSPAPER ARTICLE.
Here you can see a tutorial on how to use
Fodey.
Evaluation criteria:
Fodey Needs improvement Good Very good Excellent
Grammar
Vocabulary
Organisation of
language content
Click here to do your own article with
Fodey.

7. Do an Activity with Voki!
Level: pre-intermediate
Grammar focus: present simple
Communicative goal: describing people
1. Choose a famous sport man (football, tennis etc player)
or singer you like most.
2. Find information about him or her (age/where he was
born/nationality/why he or she is famous for/records
etc./personal appearance) and complete the following
chart.
Name:
Personal appearance:
Date of birth and age:
Nationality:
Profession:
Achievements:
Others:

8. 3. Then, write in a word document some sentences such as: I
am....../I am .....years old/I have got long hair.....etc. using
this information. (You can send them to me for correction, if
necessary).
4. Then go to www.Voki.com (use the account created in
class) and create a character who will talk about
himself/herself using some of the relevant information you
have found (use classical characters to adapt your ‘Voki’ and
make him or her look similar to the character of your choice)
5. Once you have created it, send an email to your teacher
with your Voki's embed code.
6. Then the teacher will upload your ‘Voki’ in the blog under
the entry MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER.
Hereyou can see a tutorial on how to use
Voki.
Now Click hereto do your own Voki.
Evaluation criteria:
Voki Needs improvement Good Very good Excellent
Usage of Tool
Grammar
Vocabulary

9. Do an activity with Mixbook
now!
Level: intermediate
Communicative goal: talking about your favourite sport
team.
1.Choose any sport team that you support.
2.Look for images and information about it.
3.Go to www.mixbook.com (use the account created in class)
and create a ‘Mixbook’ with the images and information
that you have collected.
4.Remember to include some information about the history of
the team such as championships, favourites or famous
players and why you like this team. To do so use the
function: Add Text.
5. Once your ‘Mixbook’ is ready, you will have to deliver a
presentation showing it to your classmates.
Here you can see a tutorial on how to use
Mixbook.

10. Evaluation criteria:
Mixbook Needs improvement Good Very good Excellent
Grammar
Vocabulary
Organisation of
content
Click here to do your own photo album with
Mixbook.

11. Do an activity with Xtranormal now!
Level: intermediate
Communicative goal: talking about an important event.
1. Think of a football match or concert you have recently
attended or watched on TV.
2. Make a list of the most important events that happened
during it or the facts that have called your attention.
3. Write a dialogue between two News presenters who are
talking about that event and reporting the main facts to their
audience.
4. Then send the dialogue to your teacher for correction.
5. Once you have received your teacher’s corrections, go to
www.xtranormal.com (use the account created in class) to do
a video.
6. Choose the option Suzie Movies. There you will find the
characters and setting to make your news presentation.

12. 7.You can make all the choices to make your presentation.
(Use two TV presenters)
8. Before publishing your piece of work, take into account
the privacy option (ask me or an adult if you have any doubts
about it).
9. Once you have finished, send an email to your teacher
with the embed code. She will upload your xtranormal
activity in the blog under the entry MY NEWS
PRESENTATION.
Here you can see a tutorial on how to
use Xtranormal.
Evaluation criteria:
Xtranormal Needs improvement Good Very good Excellent
Content
Language
Execution of
video
Click here to do your own movie with
Xtranormal.

13. FODEY: Description + Step by
step
Fodey is a fun tool with which you can make a newspaper
clipping with your own headline and story. It's really simple
and fun! You just have to think of a story and Fodey will
take care of the rest!
How do I start?
(Remember that you can view the full-size image by clicking
on it!)
1- Go to http://www.fodey.com/ and you will instantly see
the newspaper template

14. 2- Now you'll start creating your own piece of news! Choose
the name of your newspaper, the date of your article, the title
and start typing your news. Once you've finished, click
"Generate"
3- Now all you have to do is click "Download your image"
and save it on your computer. Good job!
I hope you have found this tutorial useful.
To create your own piece of news, visit www.fodey.com
Here you can see my own creation.

15. Click here to do an activity using Fodey

16. VOKI: Description + Step by
step
Voki enables users to express themselves on the web in their
own voice using a talking character. You can customize your
Voki to look like you or take on the identity of lots of other
types of characters such as animals, monsters, anime etc.
You can even have your Voki speak with your own voice!
Let's give it a try!
How do I start?
(Remember that you can view the full-size image by clicking
on it!)
1- Go to http://www.voki.com/ and click on the option
"Create"
2- You are now presented with the following screen, where
you will have all the necessary options to customize your
Voki
3- The first section is "Customize your character". Click
there on the first part within this section!

17. 4- These are the options for customizing our Vokis' head.
First of all you will have to choose from the styles categories
(some are anime, animals, politics, oddballs, etc). You can
click on the arrows to see more categories. Once you've
chosen a category, select whether you want to see male
heads, female heads or both and choose one of the heads in
that category. Then you can change the colour of your Voki's
mouth, eyes, skin and hair.
5- After this, if you click on "tweak" (to the right of "colour")
you can modify your Voki's mouth, nose, head shape, etc.

18. 6- Now, let's choose our Voki's hair! Click on the "hair" and
"skin"option and choose the one you like best. Then select
the mouth icon and choose one of the mouths available.
7- If you have chosen a male character, you will also be able
to choose his facehair
8- We will now click on the "clothing" section and repeat the
same procedures for the selection of clothes and hats for our
Voki

19. 9- Then we will move to the "bling" section and choose, in
the same way as before, glasses, scarfs and necklaces and
objects that our Voki will have.
10- Now we will close the "Customize your character"
section and move to "Give it a voice". In this case, you have
four different options to get your Voki to speak.
11- Now you will have to pick a background for the setting
of your Voki. Again, you may choose one from the available
options, or you may upload an image from your computer.

20. 12- After choosing the background, you can select the colour
for your Voki's player. Chooseyourfavouriteone!
13- Finally, you can click on "publish", name yourVoki and
save it.
14- Congratulations! Your Voki is finished! Now you have
many sharing options for people to see it! You can e-mail it
to a friend. You can also publish it on your website. You

21. have many different options to share your Voki on different
pages, as well as an embed code and your Vokis' URL. Goon
and startsharingitwithyourfriends!
I hope you've found this tutorial useful!
You can see a Voki I created below. Enjoy!
http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=6762523&height=267&width=200
Now, click here to do an activity with Voki.

22. MIXBOOK: Description + Step by step
Mixbook is an easy and fun way to make completely
customizable photo books, cards, and calendars on the web
for free. Mixbook gives you the freedom to lay out and
design your creations to your heart’s content. The outcomes
can be really nice and personalised. Why don't you check it
out?
How do I start?
(Remember that you can view the full-size image by clicking
on the link!)
1- Go to http://www.mixbook.com/ and click on "Signup"
2- Complete the information and click "Get Started "to
create your account

23. 3- You will be sent to your Mixbook profile. Now, click on
"Create" to begin creating your mixbook.
4- This is the first step for the creation of your mixbook. You
will have to write a title for your mixbook. You can also
include a description and category for your creation. You can
choose who do you want your mixbook to be visible for and
when you're ready click "Create Mixbook"

24. 5 - There are different sizes for the creation of your
Mixbook. Choosetheoneyoulikebest!
6- Then, you will choose the theme for your Mixbook. There
are many options you can choose from, within several
classifications. Look at them and choose your favourite one.
You can click on "Preview theme" to make sure that you do
like it. You can also tick the box which says "Give me a book
that is almost done". I suggest doing so if this is the first
time you'll be creating a Mixbook because you can change
the images and texts but do not have to design the whole
pages from the beginning.Once you've decided on the one
you want, click "Choose Theme"

25. 7- Once you've chosen you'll be sent to this page. Click on
"customize your book" to continue.
8- Next, you will be asked to upload the photos you want to
use for your project. You have many different options from
where to pick the images (flickr, facebook, picasa, etc). If
you just want to upload the images from your computer,
click on "select photos"
9- After you've selected your photos, click on add photo and
wait until all of them have been uploaded. You can choose to
add more photos or delete one that you have uploaded.
Whenyou'vefinishedchoosingthephotos, closethiswindow.

26. 10- Now you'll start filling the Mixbook with your material.
Drag and drop images where you want them to be and insert
the texts you want to include. I recommend ticking the "hide
used" option below the photos, so that you do not
incidentally repeat a picture.
11- You can always include a textbox by clicking on "Add
text". If you've made a mistake you can click on "undo" or
"redo". As you can see, there are many editing options you
can apply to your text (such as font, size, colour, frame,
style, etc)

27. 12- To add an image, you simply drag and drop it wherever
you want to place it. Again, there are many editing options
that you can apply to your images. Don't be
afraidtoexperiment!
13- Once you've finished with a page, you can go to the next
one, or see the previous one by clicking on the arrows
below the page. You can also click on any page to go directly
to that one. There are also several page tools:-You can add
a blank page which you can design completely-You can
duplicate a page if you want to copy that layout to another
page-You can remove a page you do not want to include in
your album
14- With all of these tools and editing options, you'll be able
to complete the differentpages you want to include in your

28. Mixbook, remembering that you can really personalize your
album if you want to.(There are some extra options that may come in handy:-
Change theme: you can change the theme you chose for your Mixbook-AutoMix: the
photos you chose are automatically distributed by the webpage throughout your
Mixbook. However, you cannot undo this, so you should be really sure before clicking
here!-Fullscreen: to see your Mixbook clearer!-Help-Save: you can save your Mixbook at
any point and continue later-Preview: you can see how your Mixbook will look once
finished-Order: WATCH OUT! This is where Mixbook stops being free. If you order a paper
version of your Mixbook you will be charged the printing and delivery costs).
This was the basic way in which a Mixbook is created.
I hope you'll be able to try for yourself now!
To do so, go to http://www.mixbook.com/
Now, click here to do an activity with
Mixbook.
You can see my own Mixbookhere!
| Start your own Photo Books | Create custom Christmas Cards

29. XTRANORMAL: description +
step by step
The Xtranormal is a website that contains computer
animated videoclips, featuring three-dimensional characters
that can speak. With this website you can create videos by
scritpting the dialogue by choosing from a menue of camera
angles and predesigned characters and scenes. Xtranormal
videos may also be created through an interface on the
YouTube website.
How do I start?
1. The first thing to do is create anXtranormal account. It's
very easy but make sure that you have an email account. Its
not really required, but if you want to save your video, you
should make an account.
2. Choose the best option for your piece of work. You can
create your story with any of the following collections.

30. 3. Here comes the fun. Making your video will be very easy.
Choose the showpack you want to use, the actors and voices,
your actors and camera angles, and other things that you may
want to include in your video.
Choosesettings

31. Chooseactors
Choosesounds
4. Nowtype the script in the script box, and hit preview when
your ready. If you do not like what you have typed or want
to change something else, you can change it, then hit
preview to see your changes in a preview.

32. 5. Now hit Publish, and type in the title, description, and
Rating. Take into account the privacy issue, if you want to
share this with your friends only.
6.Now wait until your video is done uploading. Once it is
done, go to account settings and finish the work.
I hope you've found this tutorial useful!
To create your own movie, you can go to
http://www.xtranormal.com
Now, click here to do an activity with
xtranormal.
You can see a movie I've created below.
Enjoy!

33. A second start
by: siper