Week 12: QR Codes, Treasure Hunt, Station 5

Station 5

If you did not arrive here from Station 4, go back to the last station you visited, or to Station 1 if you have no idea what this is (see station QR Codes below), and follow the clues.

And who does not like QR Codes?

Find out here:

And then go to Station 6:

Station 1:

Station 2:

Station 3:

Station 4: 

Week 12: QR Codes, Treasure Hunt, Station 4

Station 4

If you did not arrive here from Station 3, go back to the last station you visited, or to Station 1 if you have no idea what this is (see station QR Codes below), and follow the clues:

Who else likes QR Codes?

How many results does a Google search of “Who likes QR codes” yield?
See here:

And now go to Station 5:

Station 1:

Station 2:

Station 3: 

Week 12: QR Codes, Treasure Hunt, Station 3

Station 3

If you did not arrive here from Station 2, go back to the last station you visited, or Station 1 if you have no idea what this is (see station QR Codes below), and follow the clues:

Does the type of presentation here look familiar to anyone:

After you look, go to Station 4:

Station 1:

Station 2: 

Week 12: QR Codes, Treasure Hunt, Station 2

Station 2

If you did not arrive here from Station 1, go there now (see QR Code below) and follow the clues.

He predicted the life expectancy of his invention.

What did he predict?

Go here:

And then to Station 3:

Station 1:

 

Week 12: QR Codes, Treasure Hunt, Station 1

Hello again, everyone!

This is Week 12 of CALL's Technology in Education's on-line discoveries. See here for my introduction to CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning). This week’s topic is QR (Quick Response) Codes.

While I was looking for material for this project I found complaints about how QR Codes are used. Using a QR Code in a blog or article on-line defeats the purpose of the code. Someone who is on-line can simply click on an icon or a link. There is no need for a QR Code. For someone looking at a sign or a billboard or an ad in a newspaper (not that many people still read printed newspapers), scanning a QR Code with an iPhone is much easier than entering the address of a website using a small touch screen, and probably omitting a letter or backslash.

I did not have the opportunity to stage a treasure hunt by physically posting clues, QR Codes, in relevant locations. However I wanted to try the idea so I created an on-line treasure hunt.

I created all of the QR Codes here:

Working in a group might be a way to make the project more interesting. Participants working together could send each other to their respective blogs. Clues could be added even during a hunt. This time I worked alone, learned about QR Codes and created them too. Follow the clues and see what I learned.

Happy hunting!

Who invented the QR Code?

Go here:

And then to Station 2:

Week 10: Working with Research and Presentation Tools

Hello again, everyone!
This is Week 10 of CALL's Technology in Education's on-line discoveries. See here for my introduction to CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning). This week's topic is Research and Presentation Tools.
The first site I examined was NoodleTools. The page was down so I followed my instructor's advice and link to the cached site. The home page is organized by categories with titles in very "human" language "I need to define my topic…", "I need to find quality results…", "I need opinions and perspectives..." etc. The subtopics are similarly phrased and one would have to ask an actual librarian in order to find more specific advice.
 My son could have received a controversial vaccine today so out of curiosity I chose "I need reputable health information" and then "Kidhealth", which has a Spanish-language site too. Out of the options given, "Parents", "Kids", "Teens", "Educators" I chose the first. "How Do I Know Which Vaccines My Kids Need? Find out what the experts have to say.." was a home page article when I entered the page so I thought that I had come to the right place. Unfortunately the article was a bit old, 2014 (of course I was looking at a cached site), and very short, not at all informative.
The articles in "School and Family Life" were short and gave basic information.
Then I chose "Educators" to see if that section was useful for teachers. I did find a good children's dictionary of parts of the body/medical terms.
I then examined "I want multiple perspectives on hot social and political topics" to test the extent of variation of the opinions presented by the search engine. I first chose "Social Issues" and within that "Opposing Viewpoints in Context".  And I was sent back to a previous page. I have a feeling that it is more difficult to extract useful information from the cached version of this site than from the actual site.
I decided to choose one last topic and settled on "Governments". I searched "Basque" . My search yielded nothing. However the Basques do not have their own government so I tried Spain. Still nothing. Either my search methods are faulty or the cached status of the site is the reason for my failure to find anything useful in this section. I will check later. (The deadline for posting this blog is looming menacingly over my head. And in fact I missed it by about half an hour...)
Even though these searches were not particularly useful, there are so many options on the NoodleTools site that I will not hesitate to try it again. Other sites linked to the site could yield better results.
I then looked at the Simple English Wikipedia site. For a project for another class I searched "Jerusalem Western Wall", and then compared the information with the standard Wikipedia site. For further comparison with standard Wikipedia I searched "cat", a subject which can be treated very simply, on both sites. The simple site is indeed much easier to read, but also, understandably has a much smaller range of information on the topic. The regular site could easily be overwhelming for beginning readers, rendering the simpler site a welcome aid in research. 
And to see how the site treats a controversial subject I searched "Basque".
"Its boundaries are complicated. " was all the controversy I found. Not surprisingly the main site for "Basque" goes into much more detail.
After perusing those sites that were new to me, I went to Google Scholar, which I have used many times. I have noticed that Google is kind enough to send users there when the search keys are sufficiently scholarly. This time I went specifically to the pages which advise users about how to use the site, which I had never done before. There is a nice overview here too. I will bookmark this valuable resource for students.
Have a wonderful week of inspiring discoveries,
Hadassa

Week 6 - Speaking and Writing Tools

Hello again, everyone!
This is Week 6 of CALL's Technology in Education's on-line discoveries. See here for my introduction to CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning). This week's topic is Speaking and Writing Tools. I chose a variety of sites and tools in order to cover a range of skills, all of which are necessary to master a language.

Speaking - Debating

Debating is a great way to encourage opinionated and/or argumentative students to give a purpose to their skills and also prompts quieter students to give a voice – an actual spoken voice – to their ideas. The debatabase (database of topics) on the idebate.org site has many suggestions for students, including point/counterpoint lists with details and links to sites with more information. Students can also use the lists as models for preparing for a debate on a topic of their own choosing. A topic of general interest to the student body of a school would be an excellent choice, provided that it is not too controversial.

Spelling/Vocabulary/Grammar

Very often it seems like whatever rules English spelling has, there are more exceptions than adherents to the rules, so mastering the topic requires considerable practice, for some learners more than others. Therefore varied opportunities for independent work at an individual pace are very useful. The following sites are excellent for that purpose.

With the Interactive Spelling Bees on Annenberg Learning the computer replaces the traditional caller at a spelling bee. Learners can have words repeated as manner times as necessary, which would quickly tire most humans. The levels on the site range from first to twelfth grade.

The BBC has a rather addictive site for advanced learners – the site is geared towards adults – which teaches and tests grammar, reading comprehension and spelling skills. The subtopics of spelling are very varied (plurals, root words, prefixes, suffixes, common letter patterns and more) and the tests are trickier than one might think multiple choice tests would be. I think that this site is especially good for students who are slightly more advanced that most of their classmates and would welcome an opportunity to learn more at their own pace and test their progress.

Spelling City creates custom vocabulary and spelling tests from user-entered lists, including supplying definitions. The user can edit definitions, but all that is required is entering a list of words. This site is a time-saver for preparing tests and can also be used by students for self-testing or testing their peers. Didn't we all want to be teachers for a day when we were in school?

Fun Brain's Spell Check requires choosing the one misspelled word out of four choices AND correcting it. At both the "easy" and "hard" levels the tests remind one that the relationship between sound and spelling should not be assumed. Stay Afloat is a guess-the-word game which allows one to play "hangman" without finding someone else who wants to play. Grammar Gorilla grabbed me because of the name, and the banana prizes. It's a good review of the parts of speech. Find more of Fun Brains's games here.

Writing – Pre-Writing

My brainstorm map, titled Stormy Brain, is here on the WiseMapping site. I could not think of a topic for a map, and then I realized that I was brainstorming about brainstorming, and hence the stormy brain. (Plus my brain felt like a cloud had blown in.) I took a break and then resumed a calm weather pattern.
Rigid, confining boxes were the best choice for trouble spots and the good things brainstorming brings out I put into rounded shapes, the kind that expand well. This site is particularly good for visually-inclined students who think in charts and images. However anyone brainstorming should give it a try. One never knows what a new tool can do until one tries it.

Writing - While Writing

I tried the British Council's story maker. The user chooses the type of story, fairy, horror or science fiction, and enters a few details, either by choosing one of the suggestions or entering a suitable word or words (number of characters is limited). A very short story is then generated. This option does not allow much creativity and therefore I would use it only with students who would benefit from the satisfaction of seeing their own story in print, but are not yet ready to fully compose one.

Writing – Post-Writing

After the British Council's story-maker I tried making a book (My Garden – Cacti and Cats) with Story Jumper. I have not finished it yet, but I am enjoying the process. The site allows users to freely enter text, upload photographs, and add sound, in addition to being able to select items from a variety of backgrounds and props. This site encourages creativity! Students who are comfortable writing their own stories and want the freedom to add whatever images and sounds they desire will love this site. The site can also be used for diaries and travel logs. Writing about what-I-did-during-vacation is much more interesting with images and music.

Have a wonderful week of inspiring discoveries,
Hadassa