Hello once again Langualoggers!

I don't know if you checked my Gamification post but if you did, you must have seen the coursera link. Yes, you're right, today I will be telling about these kind of Massive Open Online Courses where you can enroll courses with various content and which fits best to your interests, of course. 

Coursera, Udemy, EdX and Udacity are some of the most common online course websites. They are usually free, otherwise require a small fee for the certificate but even if you do not pay the required amount, you still have access to course materials and video lectures but you cannot have the certificate. -although sometimes it is possible 

I have also taken course from Coursera "Learning How to Learn" from instructors Barbara Oakley and Terry Sejnowski and learned many useful things that I can make use both in my future career and personal life. The course have lasted for 4 weeks but there are many other options and courses who have shorter duration for completion.

I liked very much the idea of taking online courses on different topics that I am interested in, therefore I will definitely habitualize it!

Since I haven't paid any fee, I do not have a concrete certificate but I have received email from my course instructors that you can see below:

Hello once again dear language enthusiasts,

Today I'd like to suggest another useful website MindMeister which you or your students can create mind maps on whatever topic they wish or a complex concepts that they challange to understand to reduce the incomprehenbility.

Mind maps are always useful and rather than drawing them on the paper, creating these maps digitally and adding colorful details on them are much more beneficial and helpful for one's learning and even teaching process, I guess. Creating these maps also enables learner to remember topics easier.

You can go to the link and may be think of a concept that you hardly understand and create a useful mind map involving certain key concepts about the idea you're trying to grasp. Then check if you get the idea better...
  https://www.mindmeister.com/folders?gclid=Cj0KCQjwla7nBRDxARIsADll0kB1hBhdzUsfhP6fFG9_Ce_rmYW05LyWs96qATjiuiH8h3VyUyPI8WIaAiW2EALw_wcB&utm_campaign=world_en_search&utm_content=mm&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google

I've prepared a basic map which belongs to Kachru's identification of World Englishes:

https://mm.tt/1273753195?t=NJTpjSqyw5

Hello dear "colleagues",

Today I will be talking about Thinglink which  is one of the most useful tools among the ones I have shared so far. It has a great potential to make creative things depending on the one who use it.

But what is Thinglink?
It is a free, digital tool that provides users with the ability to turn any image into integrative graphic. You can multiple tags on specific parts of  an image and turn that image into a multimedia launcher. You can also include video, record audio or provide a link to any website with the click of a button. Then, easily embed your Thinglink graphic into any website.

How can you use Thinglink?

A I already stated above, you can use it as a multimedia curriculum launcher, to introduca a technological tool, for professional development and to publish student work ( which is what I did).

I have created a student work for beginner English Literature class introducing four of the well-known tragedies of William Shakespeare: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1189450554472923139?editor-closed

Additional Tips in the Field of ELT

As most of us are future teachers of English, we have to be aware of the recent changes, innovations that are taking place in our field. To check constantly whats is going around the world,  what new techniques and approaches are emerged in our sector is crucial. One helpful tool for that is using Google Alert where you enter some key words that you want to be informed about on a daily basis. These key words might be related to your interests, your profession and so on.

Second thin that are integral to stay alert is following webinars around the world. Webinars are really important, they are free to watch and you do not need necessarily to go the place where seminars have taken place. It is cheap and easy access to the information, innovation and new ideas about the topics you concern with.

You can reach such webinars from the link below, but especially "Bridging the Authenticity Gap" from Philip Warwick is highly recommended from me.
https://www.pearson.com/english/catalogue/secondary/wider-world/webinars.html

Hello once again fellow langualoggers!

I have already informed you that I'll be sharing plenty of apps which can be used for educational purposes.

Today's app is Flipgrid. I was not aware of it until our course instructor Mr. Tuncer Can send us a code and password via Facebook to join a group where we can record our voices, or even take videos and tell about ourselves and our favorite activity in school in 90 seconds. He simply wanted to increase our familiarity with the app -actually the purpose of the whole blog is this- and wanted us to grasp the idea of the application.

Needless to say, Flipgrid is a quite beneficial tool for learners of any age. It enables them to find their voices, share their voices , and respect the diverse voices of others.Teachers spark discussion by posting topics and questions to a class, school andprofessional learning community. Students record, upload, view, react and respond to eacher other's short recordings/videos. 

Here you can find my link but I am not sure if you can reach my record since it is accessible by a special code and password. Try it anyway: https://flipgrid.com/s/04fdd057b44d

Hello it's me again, I hope you're doing good.

I'd like to announce that this week I'll be sharing various applications/websites that you can create presentations, games, surveys and animations (I've already shared some; Animoto, Padlet, Seesaw) that can be effectively used in language education.

If you are a student or a teacher, you definitely know what Kahoot is. But I will make it clear for people who still do not know about it. Kahoot is a free game-based learning platform where teachers can create games, multiple choice quizzes and surveys on any subject, in any language and for any age group.

I have created a mini multiple choice quiz on Animals just as an example:https://create.kahoot.it/share/animals/050ceb35-3748-4b51-9d84-9922759f7bb1

You can go to the website and discover from the link: https://kahoot.com/

Hello  langualoggers!

Today I will be talking about Gamification. You may have heard of it or you may not but it is not something very new although I met it about 3-4 weeks ago and not surprisingly in Instructional Technologies and Materials Design course (IT&MD) Anyway, in this post I'l be tapping on what gamification refers to, why its use is important in educational context and whether it is helpful or harmful in learning and teaching process.

Firstly, as the name itself kind of suggests, it is basically the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts. It can also be defined as a set of activities and processes to solve problems by using or applying the characteristics of game elements in order to increase the motivation of the participants in a specific context.

Why Use Gamification in Education?

Gaming has become a culture both in virtual or real world environments. It is not something we should avoid despite the common belief which states that games are time-wasting activities and provide nothing useful for one's development. Totally wrong. Even I can say that my brother has learned two thirds of his English via games and this is only a single dimension that I' ve observed. Many skills can be added such as analytical, strategical skills besides language skills. So, if learning is facilitated by gaming faster than learning in a traditional classroom setting which sounds quite boring, why are we still insisting on the latter?

Is Gamification Harmful?

I'd like to answer this question by referring to BBC's documentary that we watched in the last week's lesson https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x38qzq8 "Are Video Games Really That Bad"

Briefly, the researchers and pyschologists have tried to find out if there is a meaningful correlation between one's level of aggresiveness, video game addiction and playing video games. As a result of the study, they haven't found a significant correlation between these. In fact, it has found out that video-game playing increases players' cognitive abilities such as memory skills, multitasking skills and even avoiding dementia and alzheimer. It of course applies to not only children but any age group.

How Games Can Be Used in Education?

Games' role in raising curiosity and increasing motivation is indisputable.Gaming allows for going beyond the 'stimulus-response-reinforcement' linear approach that we have in the traditional classrooms which encourage habit formation. Unlike this, integrating games into lessons seems encouraging groupwork&pairwork, tasks with a  meaningful purpose, and cooperation over competition. Because we are talking on a classroom basis, I'll be referring to mostly children's education. Why children love games might be simply because of their need for autonomy (being able to make choices about their learning), need for relationship and a need for sense of accomplishment. As teachers (or future teachers) we need to design our classes to fulfill these needs to realize the best learning experience of our students. Gamifying lessons, creating communicative tasks with authentic purposes, giving students a chance to take control of their learning process and  providing space for collaborative work might be the good ways of doing it.

Here you can find a course which is about Gamification, you can enroll for free and have access to course materials and lessons: https://www.coursera.org/learn/gamification

Hello langualoggers,

Have you heard of the website Canva where you can make graphic designs on posters, birthday cards, and even book covers. I have already used this website last year when I needed to design a book cover as an assignment. This time, I decided to think of an imaginative class and give them a task which they can do via using Canva. What I planned to do is to give a birthday card as an example like the one you see below

and ask them to design a birthday party card for themselves as they wish. I expect it to be a "real-world" task that they can use for their upcoming birthday.

You can also design such tasks for learners to engage them more in the classroom activities.

Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and now: Mixed Reality


Most of us somehow familiar with the term virtual reality but we are still uncertain about how it can be integrated into education and what are the latest developments in the field.

 People who are slightly into technology like I  was before, have met VR with sunglasses about 5-6 years ago but its presence goes back to 1970s with the creation of first VR Game by SEGA. VR divides into two as: Computer-enhanced VR and VR with glassess. For VR glasses, interms of educational applications, immersion is higher than computer screen. Thus, students are more likely to feel much more interested and motivated  in the classroom environment.

2 weeks ago in our Intructional design course, we are given the chance to wear the VR glassess and experience it by using VR game apps and finally determine how it works, whether it is effective or not and etc.

You can see me and my friend Musa having a  true(!) roller coaster experience with simple VR glassess.

(entertained)

(shocked by cutting edge technology)

Secondly, augmented reality is something I've already mentioned in my earlier post with its application video. As you might guess, it is one step further than VR. Whereas virtual reality replaces your vision, augmented reality adds to it. AR devices like the Microsoft HoloLens and various smart glassess are transparent, letting you see everything in front of you as if you are wearing a weak pair of sunglasses.

The latest one, mixed reality is the combination of VR and AR.

Mixed reality video that is shown to us by our course instructor Tuncer Can:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MqGrF6JaOM

While we are still dealing with VR and a bit of AR, technology might have gone too far. We need to catch the train on time in order for implementing it to our education in a better and a more effective way.