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=USEFUL ICT RESOURCES IN THE CLASSROOM=


 * Audacity **

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

 Audacity is an audio editing tool that can be obtained for free download on the internet. With this program, it is possible to simply drag songs, soundbytes, any kind of audio onto the interface, and from there it can be edited in many ways including cut and pasting, looping, layering, panning, fade in and out, increase the pitch etc. to create the desired effect.  With Audacity, there is plenty of room for creative expression, and it is possible to make songs, remake existing songs, soundscapes, voiceovers, music recording, voice recordings and several other things. It is useful for several reasons; firstly, teachers can use this tool in order to record work for students with disabilities, in order to reduce difficulty for these students, by making audio recordings of books read, or by summarising notes taken in class. Similarly, by doing the same thing teachers can also use this tool to appeal to audio style learners or students with reading difficulties, who may struggle to understand text. Students benefit from this tool because it provides a simple, useful and differentiated method of learning to students of all ages and requires little explicit teaching. While beneficial for several reasons, it is also important that when being used as a way to differentiate learning, it is used with several other styles of sources of information in order to ensure that information is being retained, and should not be relied upon as a source of information, it is simply a tool.


 * Save YouTube **

http://saveyoutube.com/

 Save YouTube is a tool that enables users to save videos from the YouTube database onto the user’s computer. It can be optimised to download video in either high quality or low quality. It is useful for both teachers and students in that it can be used to backup important videos for later reference, which can be useful when an internet connection is not available, or when a video is deemed very important to a lesson plan, and the internet connection cannot be relied upon. Save YouTube can also be helpful in terms of teachers and students being able to possess video content which could then be edited and blended into presentations, assignments or other classroom activities that would otherwise remain inaccessible and unable to be edited. It could also be useful because the user can organise videos into their own collections rather than having to locate videos using the search engine. Video is an important medium to have readily available in the classroom because students often respond positively to it.  It is also useful because of its high accessibility. The user simply has to put ‘save’ in front of the ‘youtube’ part of the URL, and to obtain the video the user simply follows a few simple steps. This can be completed by most students, and a great deal of time isn’t required to explicit teach the process. Like any tool, its effectiveness still depends on the teacher’s ability to select appropriate videos for the classroom’s consumption.


 *  VoiceThread **

http://voicethread.com/

 Voicethread is an interactive collaboration tool which allows individuals to collaborate multimedia slideshows, which can consist of written text, images and videos. These slideshows can be interacted with and commented on by the user and other users in several different ways, including computer microphone, telephone, text, audio files and video files such as the ones created from webcams. For example, a teacher could post a work of art to the site, and the students within the group would be able to use the different methods in order to comment and critique the work, and a conversation could begin. One feature that creates greater understanding is the ‘doodle’ feature, which allows the users to draw upon the work to possibly highlight a certain point. The interaction can also be recorded into DVD and mp3 format, and this is useful for several reasons, including if the work needs to be revisited later by a teacher for reference, to show other classes as good or bad examples of how to interact, and to show to the group who participated, in order to focus attention on meta learning. This tool can foster learning outside of the classroom, but the drawback is that students need to have access to the appropriate technology in order to participate, and would require a part of the lesson to explicit teach the correct process. It is an important tool, because the technology element helps refine the students input, and a discussion about meta learning should accompany the use of this technology to maximise learning.


 *  Dipity **

http://www.dipity.com/

 Dipity is a free digital timeline which enables users to plot events along a multimedia, interactive timeline which is collaborated using content from the internet. The timeline can use video, audio, text and imagery to create a more interesting an organised final product which would be beneficial to anyone who chooses to use it. All points which are plotted on the timeline can be linked to original sources in order to create a richer collection of information. Premium users can have increased functionality, including customization of backgrounds, compatibility with iPhones, statistical analysis and multiuser support (particularly beneficial for teachers). Although timelines are traditionally associated as being useful for history classrooms, there is no limit to how useful this tool can be within an English classroom. Dipity can be used within prior knowledge discussions to plot the diverse lives of each member of a class, or to explore the context of a composer. Students could also plot the life of a character within a novel, among many other things, even creating a resume. The use of IT in making a timeline adds to rehearsal time when this information is being processed, creating deeper and richer learning and understanding.  Dipity is beneficial because it can help condense a large amount of data and time into a simple interaction, which is far more engaging than a regular timeline. Dipity is useful in a whole class and individual context, appeals to multiple styles of learning and requires minimal explicit teaching.


 * Vocabulary.com **

http://www.vocabulary.com/

 Vocabulary.com is a website that tests users on their knowledge of vocabulary. It is an excellent resource as it could be used to create vocabulary lists at the start of units, and rather than distribute paper resources, a list can be created by the teacher and revised by students, and they will be tested on the meaning in order to improve their knowledge. All the words are explained and scores are kept, meaning that assessment for learning is easily tracked by the teacher, and the scores which are kept could create a friendly, competitive atmosphere within the classroom, which could have positive benefits. The students can also be tested on words which the website assigns, and the more words the user attempts to guess, the more appropriate the words the user will be quizzed upon, as the system builds a profile of your learning level, which is important to maintaining interest for students of all levels. Users can keep a profile which stores previous words correctly and incorrectly guessed as well as scores and a blog.  All of this is beneficial because words can be tailored to user abilities, students can have fun while vastly improving their vocabulary, which has the knock on benefit of improving the quality of work not only in English but cross curricular. Teachers can easily upload new lists and create challenges and incentives within the classroom and the website requires no explicit teaching due to its simplicity.