Make sure your e-Learning authoring investment is the best fit for you When shopping for software to develop your e-Learning content, it is important to get the right tool for the job. Today we’re looking at Articulate Storyline and what its strengths and weaknesses are in comparison to competing tools like Articulate Studio, Adobe Captivate, and Lectora Inspire. Having worked with all of these, I have found Storyline to be a robust platform with particular strengths in advanced interactivity, animation and mobile publishing. What is it? Articulate Storyline is a full-featured e-Learning authoring software. Not to be confused with Articulate Studio, which is a more limited, PowerPoint-based program by the same company. Like most e-Learning software platforms, Storyline’s interface is slide-based. With Storyline, like Adobe Captivate but unlike Lectora and Articulate Studio, each slide has its own "timeline," where you set the appearance and timing of events and animations on that slide. It is important to state that almost all the platforms can help you create effective learning, but each have their strengths. So what are Storyline’s strengths and in what areas do other tools come out stronger? Strengths Advanced Interactivity - Articulate has a few unique features not found in any of the other platforms. One of these is the slider button, where users can drag a button along a slider, which can be used as a scale type interaction, triggering real time feedback in relation to the slider’s position. Other unique features are the ability to animate an object along a path and its freeform hotspot tool with which you can customize hotspot button shapes. In other programs your transparent button shapes are restricted to squares or circles. Flowchart View - Storyline has the option to see your whole project in "Story View" which is a flowchart view of all the slides and how they relate to each other. Slides can be moved around and reorganized in this view. For a program with a lot of branching, it can be handy. One-click mobile publishing - The publish settings for Storyline are the easiest among the platforms. It allows publishing for mobile and web all at once. It has an option to bundle its own Articulate Mobile Player for either iOS or Android instead of assuming those platforms will just use a browser to view HTML5 content. Along with this feature is the option to allow downloading for offline viewing. Areas where other platforms shine Screen Capture - While Storyline has an adequate screen recording option that creates a video, Adobe Captivate is stronger in this area. For example, in Captivate you can edit the cursor’s movements after the recording is complete. Learning Curve -Storyline will take some time to master, especially if you have never worked with a timeline palette. But once mastered, it is a powerful platform. Articulate Studio is easier to learn since it works from within PowerPoint, but it doesn’t have the power or flexibility of Storyline . Quizzing - While Storyline’s quizzing has plenty of options and flexibility, Lectora has more built-in variables and actions. If your interactions or quizzes are complicated or you want to customize their logic, you might want to closely compare Lectora with Storyline. Take-Away If you have the time and money, it is hard to go wrong with Articulate Storyline. However, if your e-Learning has some unique needs, like custom logic-based quizzing or elaborate screen capture, you might want to compare it closely with Lectora and Captivate, respectively.

Find out if Camtasia is the right tool for your software training When shopping for software to develop your eLearning content, it is important to get the right tool for the job. Today we’re looking at TechSmith’s Camtasia, a screen and audio capturing software. While other eLearning software platforms like Articulate Storyline, and Adobe Captivate also have screen capture capabilities, you may be asking yourself if what they have is robust enough for what you need to accomplish. Here we will examine Camtasia’s unique strengths and limitations as an eLearning tool. What is it? Camtasia is a full-featured screen and audio capturing and editing software with additional limited interactive quizzing capabilities. It can be bought by itself as Camtasia Studio, or a limited version of it comes bundled with the Lectora. Because Camtasia is specifically a screen capture production tool it can’t really be compared to the limited screen capturing capabilities of other eLearning Software platforms because it has many more advanced features. As a video editor, it could be compared instead to software like After Effects or Adobe Premiere. But for our purposes, let’s look at what its strengths and limitations are as an eLearning Tool and whether it fits your needs. Strengths Advanced Video Editing - Editing your project after the initial recording is Camtasia’s strongest suit. Once recorded, video sections can be split, cut and pasted and moved around easily. The audio appears on a separate track and can be manipulated separately. There are also many ways to enhance the animation of mouse movement by adding highlight circles, effects on click, magnification and spotlighting. Advanced Audio Editing - Removing room noise, leveling clips, and doing voice over after the screen recording is captured are all possible with Camtasia. Adding Objects and other Media - The video and audio are only part of a Camtasia project. You also have the ability to add built-in callout areas, extra graphics like logos, sound effects, and images, something that can come in handy if you want to go back and replace a graphic or cover something up without re-recording. ADA Compliance - There are three ways to create closed captions in Camtasia. Its speech-to-text feature can create captions in real time as you record, you can sync text from a written script and have it show on screen, or you can write in captions manually. Limitations Quizzing - While Camtasia does have the ability to add SCORM compliant quizzes, this is a very limited feature. There are only 4 types of questions to choose from and no real flexibility for custom functionality, custom logic or variables. Interactivity -Camtasia is solely a screen and audio capture tool and not a tool specifically for interactive eLearning. Although there is a table of contents option for users to access different sections or videos, users do not interact directly with the program nor can there be branching logic in the navigation system as is possible with Lectora, Captivate or Storyline. Take-Away If your eLearning is heavily quiz-based and interactive, your best tool would be a full eLearning  software package like Lectora, Captivate or Storyline. If you are working mostly with software simulation, screen capture or are working under tight ADA compliance, Camtasia Studio is a good choice to make.

Enhance learner engagement with these 6 e-learning Interface design tips Done correctly, design is a transparent method to enhance communication. Following are a few tips for creating a well-designed interface for your e-learning courses. Keep it simple and clean Use grid systems to align content in a way that is neat and easy to navigate. Content should be left-aligned for maximum readability. Know who your audience is and design accordingly i.e. age appropriate graphics and font size, appropriate icons for your industry, etc) . Keep cursive fonts to a minimum or leave them out completely, as they can be hard to read. Stick to a color palette of no more than 5 colors. Give Visual Clues If you want the user to do something such as click on a link or go to the next page, give them visual clues to do so. Replace text with buttons and icons. Use icons that are familiar and easily recognizable. Un-clutter the menu Keep clutter away from the menu. Fight the temptation to turn the menu into a game or a treasure hunt. The goal is to be able to read the menu with clarity and use it to navigate to different areas of content quickly and easily. If you have a deep menu system, consider expandable menus that fly-out to minimize clutter. Design responsively up-front Pre-plan if your training module will be viewed on a mobile device and if so, design accordingly. Design your interface to work across several devices by using 3 different width breakpoints: one for desktops, another for tablets, and another for mobile devices. Also, use percentages and ems instead of pixels to define type, width and images. Use scan patterns to your advantage Generally speaking, most people read from top to bottom, left to right. Their eyes usually scan a page in either an F pattern or a Z pattern. . The most important real estate on the page is the top left and the least eye-attracting area is bottom right. Use this knowledge to your advantage in your design. In addition, use design elements such as bullet points, color, contrast, white space and type size to create interest and help guide the eyes to where you want them to go Follow Your Brand Use your brand guidelines/brand standards as a basis for your design so that your employees feel at home and know that they haven’t stumbled upon another company’s site. Your company logo should be somewhere prominent on the welcome screen well as being visible on the interface for continuity. By using these simple tips, you will create more effective e-learning interfaces that will help your learners better navigate through your course and retain content. The simplicity of a well-designed interface is transparent and seldom noticed, but subconsciously it is appreciated.

A graphics toolkit will save you time and add consistency to your course A graphics toolkit is a repository of graphics that can be re-used throughout your courses. It contains common graphic elements that make course development simpler and enables learners to focus on course content. Why develop a Graphics Toolkit? There are 4 main reasons to develop a graphic toolkit: Simplifies future course development - A graphic toolkit serves as a foundation for all future courses, saving a lot of design and development time. Just keep adding to the toolkit as new features are needed. To start a graphics toolkit, review several past or current courses to see what common features you continually use such as: Navigation buttons Headers/Footers More Info buttons Knowledge checks Icons Cutouts of people Backgrounds Page layouts Chart formats Video testimonials Call to Action graphics Pop-up info boxes Develop these graphics so that they can be re-used throughout any course. Make sure that they will work responsively, regardless of the device or orientation. This means create them to be resizable to account for not only responsive environments, but different amounts of text they might contain. For these types of graphics, vector-based images are better than bitmap. If you have to use bitmap, make the reusable item very large. The best choice can sometimes be to create reusable shapes inside your eLearning software which will translate the graphic to css-styled html or SVG. Improves usability - To make your courses more user friendly, keep your graphics and navigation consistent from course to course in both placement and design. Consistency makes programs easier for participants to use; they know how to navigate and where to look for specific content. This makes learners more comfortable and allows them to focus on learning, rather than navigating. Saves production time - Do you have stock images that you reuse often, yet you always have to figure out where they are? Work more efficiently and save time by renaming stock files appropriately, rather than the stock house numerical filename. Organize files in folders, sorting them by project or subject (or both) so you can easily locate them in the future. In some eLearning software, graphics can be stored in libraries and shared across projects. It can be good practice to create a starter template file that includes all reusable graphic in the library. Before publishing, you can delete unused items. Provides a familiar, branded look - All company communication should look and feel the same to maintain brand integrity. From using the same fonts and spacing throughout each page to using the official color schemes, icon design and logo usage will provide brand continuity throughout your courses and provide your participants with familiarity. Conclusion: Having a reusable graphics toolkit will make your work easier and help you complete projects faster. Your course participants will also appreciate the added benefit of ease of use. To keep your toolkit fresh and valuable, continue to add new elements to it as new projects are undertaken with new re-usable resources.

Consider the following to maximize the return on your manufacturing training efforts Training fundamentals transcend industry, but every industry does have its own unique considerations to take into account in order to develop effective e-learning solutions. When developing training for the manufacturing industry, you must consider that employees are often working on the floor, not in front of a computer in an office or cubicle. Here are some unique issues to take into account when developing training for manufacturing employees: Consistency and diligence. Issue: There’s a significant amount of time that goes into training manufacturing employees, especially with the changing landscape of compliance. Workers must understand the basics, but they also need to be able to adapt to new procedures and technology Solution: Be consistent and diligent about training your employees. Ensure that training is an on-going process and that learning is approached incrementally. Don’t let long periods of time go by without training them. You won’t have to worry about bringing them up to speed on the latest technologies if you offer frequent training. Train your employees and retain them by giving them opportunities to learn and grow. Bite size training. Issue: Goals in manufacturing companies are focused on output. How can workers learn anything new when everyone is on the floor handling current operations and trying to meet deadlines? Solution: Opt for short eLearning courses over longer ones. Try breaking down your training sessions into 15 - 20 minute increments. Test how effective your eLearning strategy is by picking a small sample of employees to train. Survey them to see how effective the training was for them and if the results are positive, use this as a basis to train the rest of the department. Make Room for Training. Issue: Manufacturing workers often don’t have their own workspace to train. Solution: Develop training spaces your workers. Create a training room for them with a few computers or set up wireless connections throughout the company and purchase a few tablets or laptops for them to train with during downtime. Mix Online with In-Hand. Issue: One on one skills training is personnel intensive. How can I introduce my workers to e-learning? Solution: Most of the education that takes place in the manufacturing industry is hands on, so this type of training definitely needs to be taken into consideration when training your workers. Videotape some of your one-on-one skills training sessions and incorporate this footage with other visuals and interactivity in your courses to get the best of both worlds. Keeping these tips in mind when developing training for the manufacturing environment will help maximize the return on your training efforts. By placing an emphasis on training and being dedicated to helping your employees grow can result in more knowledgeable, productive and efficient employees in the future.

If we want to learn English we have to understand the culture of the places where it is spoken.It's October.... Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31st . It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. The term derives from "All Hallows Eve" that means "eve of All Saints’ Day".Originally Halloween was a pagan festival, people thought that the living and the dead, came in contact on that night. Like most pagan festivals, long ago it was absorbed into the festivals of the expanding Christian church, and became associated with All Hallows Day, or All Saints Day, which fell on November 1st. The celebration of Halloween survived most strongly in Ireland. It was the end of summer festival, and was often celebrated in each community with a bonfire to ward off the evil spirits. Children would go from door to door in disguise as creatures from the underworld to collect treats, mainly fruit or nuts.  Carving turnips as ghoulish faces to hold candles became a popular part of the festival, which has been adapted to carving pumpkins in America. Nowadays this festival is celebrated in many western countries as the U.K., U.S.A., Canada, New Zeland and Australia.  HALLOWEEN IN THE UK      Halloween celebrations in the United Kingdom include parties where guests arrive in a costume. Other people gather together to watch horror films, either at home or at a cinema.   Some children go trick-or-treating. This means they dress up and go to other peoples' houses, knocking on the door for sweets or a snack. Those who do not give out a treat may be tricked with a joke.  HALLOWEEN IN THE USA Today school dances and neighborhood parties called "block parties" are popular among young and old people. More and more adults celebrate Halloween. They dress up as historical or political figures and go to masquerade parties. In larger cities, costumed children and their parents gather at shopping malls early in the evening. Stores and businesses give parties with games and treats for the children. Teenagers enjoy costume dances at their schools. And what about you? What do you usually do for Halloween?Click on this link to see  The Best Websites For Learning About Halloween:http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2008/10/05/the-best-websites-for-learning-about-halloween/ 

A ghost tour is a guided tour, usually conducted at night. You can visit places where ghosts are usually seen... Sometimesknown as a ghost walk or haunted history walk, a ghost tour is led by a guide who tells stories about ghosts, legends and history. Some are done on foot, walking from one haunted location to the next, some have guides who are dressed in period costumes.  You can have a ghost tour in the USA or in the UK if you click on the following links...http://usasbesthauntedhouses.com/http://www.theshadowlands.net/places/uk.htmhttp://www.hauntedplaces.co.uk/index.htmlWe watched "Monster House" in our sixth grade! Watch the trailer!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEaT6fNGOHw And what about you?Did you ever visit a haunted house?Are there any haunted places in your town?

 Yesterday we had a lot of fun, we had many activities...just take a look at our VIDEO!  AND...WHAT DID YOU DO ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT?

Thanksgiving Day in the United States is an annual festival in which people thank the Lord for the blessings of the past year. It is observed every fourth Thursday in November. It is a historical, national, and religious holiday that began with the Pilgrims Fathers. They were a group of English Protestants who wanted to break away from the Church of England. These ‘separatists’ initially moved to Holland and after 12 years of financial problems, they received funding from English merchants to sail across the Atlantic. A ship called "The Mayflower"carrying 101 men, women, and children spent 66 days travelling through the ocean and finally settled at Plymouth, that is now called Cape Cod. There the Pilgrims founded a colony. Long before settlers came to the East Coast of the United States, the area was inhabited by many Native American tribes.After founding  the Plymouth Colony, the Puritans were preparing for their first winter. The leader of a Native American tribe, Squanto, visited the colony.  Squanto was a Wampanoag who had experience with other settlers and knew English. He helped the settlers grow corn and use fish to fertilize their fields. After several meetings, a formal agreement was made between the settlers and the native people and they joined together to protect each other from other tribes.After the survival of their first colony through the bitter winter, and the gathering of the harvest, Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony issued a thanksgiving proclamation in the autumn of 1621. This first thanksgiving lasted three days, during which the Pilgrims feasted with wild turkey with their Indian guests. Some Natives brought deer for the feast and the English and Natives ate together. The meal consisted of deer, corn, shellfish, and roasted meat. Moreover, they played ball games, sang, and danced.  Prayers and thanks were offered at the 1621 harvest celebration, but the first recorded religious Thanksgiving Day in Plymouth happened two years later in 1623. On this occasion, the colonists gave thanks to God for rain after a two-month drought.Some curiosities about Although, Thanksgiving is widely considered an American holiday, it is also celebrated in Canada on the second Monday of October . Friday after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday because retailers hope that with plenty of sales, their sales numbers will no longer be in the red, but in the black. In fact, Black Friday is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season.Originally known as Macy's Christmas Parade, to celebrate the launch of the Christmas shopping season, the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade took place in New York City in 1924. It was launched by Macy's employees and featured animals from the Central Park Zoo. Today, about 3 million people attend the annual parade and another 44 million watch it on television.For more information about the 2013 parade click here: http://gonyc.about.com/od/thanksgiving/tp/2011-Macys-Thanksgiving-Day-Parade.htm    For many U.S. citizens, there is no Thanksgiving without football. NBC Radio broadcast the first national Thanksgiving Day game in 1934, when the Detroit Lions hosted the Chicago Bears. Except for a respite during World War II, the Lions have played every Thanksgiving Day since. For more information about Thaknsgiving football games:  http://www.chiff.com/home_life/holiday/thanksgiving/thanksgiving-football.htm In the US, about 280 million turkeys are sold for the Thanksgiving celebrations.  Since 1947, The National Turkey Federation has presented the President of the United States with a live turkey. The live turkey is pardoned by the president and sent to Disneyland to live happily ever after.  November 21, 2012 And you? What would you give thanks for?

Your travelling teachers went to Amsterdam this time! We went there to attend a meeting about study tours.What are study tours? International study tours are a great opportunity for learners to combine an overseas travel and cultural experience with studies focusing on the language. Study tours emphasise experiential learning and allow students to explore new territories, cultures and people. They combine theory with real-life experience and cultural perspective. Exploring the world can be life-changing! Studying abroad you will: Meet new friends from around the world.Gain new perspectives on things you normally wouldn't have.Improve a foreign language and learn a few things you didn't already know.Learn to be more independent.Immerse yourself in a completely different culture. Studying English in the country where it's spoken is a unique experience! Many of the courses you can attend in the United Kingdom are recognized by the British Council.The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. http://www.britishcouncil.org/ Would you like to have an experience like this? ... Pack up your things and leave!!

November 20th is the Universal Cildren's Day!At the following site you can find the Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).http://www.un.org/en/events/childrenday/"There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace." Kofi Annan"The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children." Dietrich Bonhoeffer   " If we are ever to have real peace in this world we shall have to begin with the children." Mohandas K. Gandhi  "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear." Nelson MandelaWhat do you think about children's (or teens') rights? Are they respected? What about your family, your teachers, your friends? Do you feel safe, respected and loved?

Christmas in the United Kingdom       Most families have a Christmas Tree in their house for Christmas. Christmas Trees were first popularised in the UK by Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. Prince Albert was German and thought that it would be good to use one of his ways of celebrating Christmas in England. Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe are also used to decorate homes. Nativity Plays and Carol Services are also very popular at Christmas time.  Children believe that Father Christmas or Santa Claus leaves presents in stockings or pillow-cases. They are usually hung up by the fire or by the children's beds on Christmas Eve. Children sometimes leave out mince pies and brandy or milk for Father Christmas when he visits them.  Children write letters to Father Christmas with their requests, but sometimes instead of putting them in the post, the letters are tossed into the fireplace. The draught carries the letters up the chimney and Father Christmas reads the smoke. Boxing Day is a very old custom that started in the UK and is now taken as a holiday in many countries around the world. Boxing Day in the United Kingdom is the day after Christmas Day,  December 26th. Traditionally, it was a day when employers distributed money, food, clothes or other goods to their employees. In modern times, it is an important day for sporting events and the start of the post-Christmas sales. In the UK, the main Christmas Meal is usually eaten at lunchtime or early afternoon on Christmas Day. It was traditionally roast beef or goose, although it's common to have turkey, roast vegetables and 'all the trimmings' which means stuffing and sometimes bacon and sausages. Typical desserts are Christmas Pudding and mince pies. The dinner table is decorated with a Christmas Cracker for each person   and sometimes flowers and candles.  Christmas Celebrations in the UK: http://www.learnenglish.de/culture/christmas.html10 Ways to British Up Your Christmas Holiday:http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2012/12/british-up-your-christmas-holiday/ More British Christmas traditions: http://usa.britishcouncil.org/british-christmas-traditions  Let's go to London for Christmas!Each Christmas Day the sovereign of the Commonwealth realms to the Commonwealth of Nations makes a speech. The tradition began in 1932 with a radio broadcast by King George V on the British Broadcasting Corporation Empire Service. The foolowing is Queen Elisabeth II Christmas speech of December 25th, 2012.Christmas 2011How do you spend your Christmas holiday?Talk about your Christmas traditions!

from a PowerPoint presentation by Roberta Martino    We watched "A Christmas Carol" in our classroomSome interesting facts about "A Christmas Carol":http://www.charlesdickensinfo.com/christmas-carol/trivia/  QUIZ!!http://www.charlesdickensinfo.com/games/christmas-carol-quiz/ The following are some quotations from "A Christmas Carol".Can you tell me who and when pronounces these words?"I wear the chain I forged in life....I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it."  "You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!"  "They are Man's and they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance and this girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased."  "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!" "Business!" he cried, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"  "Bah," he said, "Humbug."  "And therefore, Uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that [Christmas] has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!"  "If they would rather die, . . . they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."  "God bless us, every one!"  "Come in, -- come in! and know me better, man! Look upon me! You have never seen the like of me before!"  "Christmas is a poor excuse every 25th of December to pick a man's pockets."  "Are there no prisons?" "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world! Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!"  If you need more information here is a list of some Charles Dickens websites:http://www.shmoop.com/charles-dickens/websites.htmlThese are parts of a story board of "A Christmas Carol" by some 11-years-old students 

Dear students,we know, you don't want to study during your Christmas holiday! But you can practise English having fun! Here you have some links that will allow you to do so... Try them!And of course...Here you can find a lot of fun websites about Christmas acitivities, games, quizzes, videos and songs!http://eflinks.wikispaces.com/Christmas+sitesHere you can watch videos, TV shows or movies about Christmas, listen to music, learn Christmas recipes or read Christmas stories!http://xmasfun.com/Learn about the Christmas story, traditions all around the world and have a Christmas karaoke!http://www.whychristmas.com/Remember, you can better learn having fun!!!... from you travelling teachers!!Some drawings by the students of IB

We would like to wish a Merry Christmas to all our students! You're "digital natives"... so this is for you!Watch this video about Nativity in our time...How would you represent a modern Nativity?

January, 6th is a national holiday in Italy called Epifania.  The name "Epifania" means appearance or manifestation. It is a derivative of the Greek word Epiphaneia. The name refers to the Epiphany, the yearly Christian festival which commemorates the visit of the three wise men. Italy's traditional celebration includes the tale of a witch known as La Befana who arrives on her broomstick during the night of January 5th and fills the stockings with toys and sweets for the good children and lumps of coal for the bad ones. According to the legend, the night before the Wise Men arrived at the manger they stopped at the house of an old woman to ask directions. They invited her to come along but she said that she was too busy cleaning her house. Later that night, she saw a great light in the sky and decided to join the Wise Men and to bear some gifts that had belonged to her child who had died. She got lost and never found the manger. Now La Befanaflies around on her broomstick each year on the night of January 5th, bringing gifts to children in hopes that she might find the Baby Jesus.  In Italy, La Befana is loved as much as Santa Claus. She is usually portrayed as an old woman who wears a black shawl and rides a broomstick. Figures of this character are sold in shops in Italy around January 6th. The arrival of la Befana marks the end of the long holiday season in Italy. Watch this video about La Befana festival in Piazza Navona, Rome.  Did you get sweets ...or coal?This is a reportage from a student:I went to Rome on January, 6th. In Piazza Navona there were a lot of people, expecially American and British. They were curious about la Befana! It is a typical Italian holiday. These are some photos i took there. Valerio Vinci, III D

From now on I'll post some information for teachers who want to become more "digital".There are plenty of apps and tools that can help our didactics, but it takes a lot of time to try all of them to see how they work. So I will try some of them for you showing you the final result. I'll create quick and very simple examples. That way it should be easier  to choose what tool is appropriate for you and which is not.If you want to prepare some attractive presentations (besides PowerPoint), you can use the followin tools:The first tool I tried is Powtoonhttp://www.powtoon.comIt's a very funny way to create presentations!This is what I've done for youhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMOHzvLk3rY&rel=0Then I tried Glogsterhttp://www.glogster.com/You can create digital posters with images, videos and audio files . Very interesting! Students could also create some glogs for homework! This is my example.http://robertamartino.edu.glogster.com/foreign-languages-activities-at-losapio-schoolThis one is a very very simple tool, Aiku Deck. You can create slide shows to combine ideas with images.http://www.haikudeck.com/This is my short example.http://www.haikudeck.com/p/PJjQjXTrL1/haiku-deck#POWER UP YOUR TEACHING!That's all for now, see you soon with some other tools!

This post is about educational tools for writing or story telling.The first tool I tried is Storybird.http://storybird.com/It's about artful storytelling. You can choose different images and drawings from various artists and you (or your students) can create a story. That's my simple example for you:http://storybird.com/books/the-teacher-and-the-little-girl/?token=gtq94fygeu  Then I tried Magnetic Poetry.http://play.magneticpoetry.com/You have some words to choose to create your own poem! This is my crazy masterpiece!http://play.magneticpoetry.com/poem/Original/kit/15415/?h=8444d213e9cd688d306fa98d2aa7ca79I have also tried Wordle.http://www.wordle.net/It generates "word clouds" from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the text.This is an example: Ok, now you and your students can enjoy using words.... Create your own masterpiece!!

Don't know how to make your lesson more interesting?If you want to take a more "digital" and interactive lesson you can use Blendspace or Thinglink.I've tried both. They're really easy to use.Blendspaceblendspace.com With Blendspace you can create  lessons with digital contents very quickly. You have a grid and you choose an interactive link for each box. You can also upload material from your pc.this is my example:http://blnds.co/1cII4wLThinglinkthinglink.comWith this tool you choose an image and then add many links (videos, music, images, etc.) to it to make it interactive. My example:http://www.thinglink.com/scene/481523444043743233Bye for now!I'll keep on surfing the Net through digital tools...

"For the dead and the living, we must bear witness."  Elie WieselJanuary, 27th is the Holocaust Memorial Day. First of all let's have a look at some interactive presentations about World War 2nd .Why did it start? From the Children's British History Encyclopedia, a very simple summary:http://history.parkfieldict.co.uk/world-war-ii/why-did-world-war-ii-starthttp://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/btt/holocaust/flash/index.htmlHere you can find some videos, images, comments and information.  There are interactive maps and a timeline. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/auschwitz_map/index.shtmlThis is a BBC interactive animation with historical information, images and a virtual tour of Aushwitz camp.Some activities in the UK:http://www.hmd.org.uk/event/findWe watched "The king's speech" in class. It is not about holocaust but it talks about the famous speech King George VI made to his people on September, 3rd 1939 marking the beginning of WW2.This is a webquest for you.To the link below you can find the film trailer, a George VI biography, the recording of the real speech with the script and some activities based on the movie. Answer the following questions:How did George VI become king?Who was his wife?Why did he become popular and loved by his people?Who helped him to amend his stammer? Where can you find the original transcript of his famous speech? Which part of the speech did you like most?What does the king mean when he says that he speaks to his "peoples"?Which is the principle he wants to fight against? What are the "motivational posters"?How many copies of "keep calm" posters were printed?Surf the sites I choose for you and find the answers: https://www.blendspace.com/lessons/fMT10AzSX4vCLQ/the-king-s-speech"If we bear all this suffering and if there are still Jews left, when it is over, then Jews, instead of being doomed, will be held up as an example." Anne Frank

 Last January some children from elementary schools came to visit us. We prepared some activities to show them our school! We had fun together! This is our video:http://youtu.be/2IpVuWZN8pYHave a look at this Thinglink presentation about our English classes!https://www.thinglink.com/scene/484085101685112833(click on the various links of the image)

Posters can easily draw student's attention but they should not be just wall decoration. They should be used to study in deep some topics or to visually organize concepts. Posters should easily be seen, so you need colours and images. Now you can create you own poster in a few minutes or you can even make it interactive!This time I tried Piktochart. http://piktochart.com/ It is very useful to create interactive posters. I already tried Thinglink and Glogster. (An example with Thinglink at http://thetravellingteachers.blogspot.it/2014/02/welcome-activities-this-is-our-school.htmlAn example with Glogster at http://thetravellingteachers.blogspot.it/2014/01/for-teachers-some-digital-tools.html) You can save your work as an image (.png or .jpeg) or copy the url if you want to use it as an interactive poster. In this case you have to add links, videos, etc. to your project!The following is an example of a project saved as an image. I've created it to advertise the study tour I am organizing for my students:This one, instead, is an interactive poster showing our English class activities, with videos and links:https://magic.piktochart.com/output/1198513-journey-of-loveHave fun with your posters! 

February, 14th  is Valentine's Day!St. Valentine's Day is celebrated all over the world. Have a look at my Blendspace presentation to get some information about the origins of this festivity.Blendspace:http://blnds.co/MJE76aWEBQUEST Now answer these questions: Who was Valentine?What do people usually do for St. Valentine's day?Are there any differences between American, British and Italian traditions ?What do you usually do on St Valentine's day?   LOVE SONGSSt. Valentine means love, flowers ... and love songs. Listen to this beautiful love song byJoe Cocker ... let's sing along!      And now listen to the top 10 love songs and watch the videos:http://ultimateclassicrock.com/love-songs/  Which song did you like most? Why?Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another.Thomas Merton Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasmert387047.html#PwyFc8P0Erg1dcZH.99"Love is our true destiny.We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone, we find it with another." Thomas MertonLove is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another.Thomas Merton Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasmert387047.html#PwyFc8P0Erg1dcZH.99

 I've always used movies to improve students' listening comprehension, but I've always preferred movies taken from novels. So I have the chance to talk about literature, as well. This is a poster about my cineforum I created with Piktochart. You can save you poster as an image, as the following, or you can make it interactive, as you can see clicking on the next link.Below you can find the above poster, but now it's interactive...https://magic.piktochart.com/output/1237601-create-your-ownBelow you can have some more information. This time I used Blendspace.There are links to the movies' trailers, to some information about the novels they are taken from, to sites about movies or books for EFL students.           http://blnds.co/1gXfZtP "I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians". Francis Ford Coppola