Web Tools for Text & Writing | Articles for Teachers on Ed Tech

Online Whiteboard for Web Collaboration or Classroom Use	SKRBL
Press DIsplay: Newspapers from all over the World, read aloud to you!	See article in NCLRC newsletter
Instant Messaging: This technology uses real-time text exchange and can be done on telephones as well as on computers. Compare user base of services	Google Apps Talk Yahoo, AIM, Skype, MSN, Phone, Windows Live
To make typing faster, many shortcuts have grown up in the IM community.	What the Abbreviations Mean
AIM allows users to create an avatar, a representation of oneself to be used online. Here's mine:

There is an Arabic Chat Alphabet (using numbers for Arabic characters)

Some teachers have their student create posters designed like "MySpace" pages to practice self-description.

Facebook has Language Exchange - Connect with people who want to exchange lessons in your second language and your first one.

A MySpace group called Babbly also arranges language exchanges.

At NVCC Dr. Christine Meloni has her ESL students share their writing on a wiki; a class in Dallas reads and responds to their pieces, while they read the writings of the students in Dallas.

Writing with ESL students on the computer opens up a world of useful resources to improve the accuracy and organization of their work: from the basic spell check to outlining tools, templates, and electronic facilitation of peer review and submission to the instructor. See my presentation on using a virtual community to encourage EFL writing.

Education Technology and General Methodology

The Internet TESL Journal is a monthly web journal that contains articles, research papers, lesson plans, classroom handouts, teaching ideas and links.

Here is the table of contents from the August 2007 issue:

Teaching Techniques
* An Extensive Reading Program for Your ESL Classroom
By Mary Clarity
* Ten 5-Minute Activities to Keep Young ESL/EFL Learners on Their Toes
By Nina Lauder
* Guiding ESL Learners to Appreciate Poetry
By Chandrasekharan Praveen

Lessons
* Oral Presentation: Discovering the Past, Predicting the Future
By Jason Williams
* Three "Co" Games: Collocation, Cooperation and Communication in EFL Classes
By Sinan Misirli

Articles
* Identity Problems of Non-native Teachers of English in Teacher Education
By Mehmet Demirezen
* Socially Responsible Teaching Against Ageism: Some Practical Solutions
By Arda Arikan

The Internet TESL Journal is available at http://iteslj.org .