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Technogogy: a website created by Nik Peachey. This website contains many useful links relating to the
use of new technologies in language teaching and learning, including a downloadable guide for EFL and
ESL teachers describing how to use a selection of Web-based tools and learning technologies to assist in
language development. It's also useful for teachers of languages other than English.
Web 2.0 and Language Learning: A YouTube video with a section on Second Life, by Graham Stanley of
The British Council.
web2practice: Video guides to help lecturers, researchers and administrators to get started with Web 2.0
technologies. Produced by Will Allen and Steve Boneham of Netskills with funding from the JISC Users
& Innovation Programme. The following topics are covered:
Social media
Microblogging
Podcasting
RSS feeds
Collaborative writing
Wikipedia article on Web 2.0
Go2Web20: an index of Web 2.0 tools and applications.

2.1.3 Examples of Web 2.0 applications

The following sub-sections contain examples of and links to Web 2.0 applications that have been found useful
by language teachers:

i. Image sharing
ii. Social bookmarking
iii. Discussion lists, blogs, wikis, social networking
iv. Chat rooms, MUDs, MOOs and MUVEs (virtual worlds)
v. Podcasting
vi. Audio tools
vii. Video sharing
viii. Screen capture tools
ix. Animation tools - comic strips, movies, etc
x. Mashups
xi. Document sharing

You might also consider looking at DOTS (Developing Online Teaching Skills), a free online course in ICT for
language teachers, the result of a project funded by the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML). The
course is delivered in English and in German via Moodle and covers Audacity, Audioconferencing, Blogs,
Forums, Moodle, Podcasting, Quizzes, SurveyMonkey, Wikis, and YouTube.

i. Image sharing

Flickr: See, for example, Graham Davies's Flickr Photostream.

Picturetrail: Online photo sharing and image hosting website.
Slideshare: A site where you can upload and share your PowerPoint slides.
Tag Galaxy: A tool that enables you to find Flickr photographs by entering a keyword - also known as a
tag. You enter a tag and set of planets appears on the screen. Each planet contains pictures relating to your
tag, and when you click on them the images are placed on a 3D rotating globe. You click on any image to
enlarge it.

If you wish to use Web 2.0 tools for image storage and sharing you also need to know how to use a digital
camera, how to store the images on your computer's hard disc and how to edit the images: see Section 2.2.3.1,
Module 2.2, headed Image editing software.

Compfight and Behold are useful tools for finding images on the Web. See also MorgueFile, which offers "Free
images for your inspiration, reference and use in your creative work, be it commercial or not!"
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ii. Social bookmarking: see Section 5 (below).

iii. Discussion lists, blogs, wikis, social networking: see Section 12 (below).

iv. Chat rooms, MUDs, MOOs and MUVEs (virtual worlds): see Section 14.2 (below).

v. Podcasting: See Section 3.5.2, Module 2.3, headed Podcasting. See also (vi.) Audio tools (below).

If you wish to use Web 2.0 tools for creating podcasts you also need to know how to use digital recording
devices and software, how to store the recordings on your computer's hard disc and how to edit the recordings.
See Section 2.2.3.3, Module 2.2, headed Sound recording and editing software. See also Section 3.5, Module
2.3, headed Audio and video.

vi. Audio tools

There is an increasing choice of tools that enable audio recordings to be downloaded from and uploaded to the
Web, combined with other media, for example:

VoiceThread: VoiceThread allows you to place collections of media such as images, videos, documents,
and presentations at the centre of an asynchronous conversation. A VoiceThread allows people to have
conversations and to make comments using any mix of text, a microphone, a web cam, a telephone, or
uploaded audio file. VoiceThread runs inside your Web browser, so there is no software to download,
install, or update. See Russell Stannard's Teacher Training Videos website, where you will find his
VoiceThread tutorial screencasts.

Voxopop: Enables you to set up talkgroups to help students develop their speaking skills. Talkgroups are a
bit like message boards, but use voice rather than text and a have a specialised user interface. No longer
confined to a physical classroom, teachers and students of oral skills can interact from home - or
anywhere, anytime!

If you wish to use Web 2.0 audio tools you also need to know how to use digital audio recording devices and
software, how to store audio recordings on your computer's hard disc and how to edit the recordings. See:

Section 2.2.3.3, Module 2.2, headed Sound recording and editing software
Section 3.5, Module 2.3, headed Audio and video

Section 3.5.2, Module 2.3, headed Podcasting.

vii. Video sharing

Many language teachers make regular use of video sharing websites, which enable them to play and download
existing video recordings to the Web or upload their own recordings, for example:

BlipTV: A video sharing site that focuses mainly on the delivery of a series of video broadcasts, for
example the series on Second Life produced by Karelia Kondor (aka Helen Myers).
Dailymotion: A popular video sharing website.
dotSUB: A website that enables you to upload, transcribe, translate and subtitle any video into any
language.
Metacafe: A popular video sharing website.
Vimeo: A popular video sharing website.
YouTube: The best known video sharing website. Contains lots of useful videos for language teaching.
Teachers Media: A searchable video sharing website for educators. Teachers Media took over all the
Teachers TV videos when the the Teachers TV website was closed down.
TeacherTube: A searchable video sharing website for educators. Contains lots of useful videos for
language teaching.
Bubbletweet: An application that enables you to add videos to Twitter
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If you wish to use Web 2.0 video tools you also need to know how to use a camcorder or webcam, how to store
video recordings on your computer's hard disc and how to edit the recordings. See Section 2.2.3.4, Module 2.2,
headed Video editing software. See also Section 3.5, Module 2.3, headed Audio and video.

viii. Screen capture tools

Debut Video Capture: Captures video directly to your hard drive Records video in many video file formats
including avi, wmv, flv, mpg, 3gp, mp4, mov - and more. Capture video from a webcam, network IP
camera or a video input device (e.g., VHS recorder).
Fraps: Especially good for capturing screens of Second Life and games programs. See, for example, this
Fraps screen capture on YouTube, which shows Groovy Winkler conducting a Tour of the EUROCALL
HQ Building in Second Life.
Jing: Take a picture or make a short video of what you see on your computer monitor, share it instantly via
web, email, IM, Twitter or your blog. Two versions available: Jing is free and Jing Pro is available by
subscription. See Russell Stannard's Teacher Training Videos website, where you will find his Jing
tutorial screencasts.
Screencast-O-Matic: a free online screen recorder. No installation necessary.
Screenr: a Web-based screen recorder for creating and sharing screencasts.

Snagit: Captures any image from your computer screen, pulls it into the image editor, where you can add
text, arrows and effects. The completed Snagit image can then be pasted into emails, documents and
presentations, or uploaded it to a website.

ix. Animation tools - comic strips, movies, etc

Acapela TV: A great tool for making animated cartoon movies.

ComicLab
Comic Creator
Comic Life
Crazy Talk: A website that offers facilities for creating face puppets, i.e animated 3D talking characters
from photos, images or illustrations.
Domo Animate: See the Using Domo Animate tutorial by Joe Dale at the CILT website.
Domo Nation
Dvolver
MakeBeliefsComix
ToonDoo
Voki: A website that enables you to create and customise your own speaking cartoon character that can be
embedded in your favourite social networks, blogs and websites. You can choose the text-to-speech (TTS)
option to give the character a voice, or you can record your own voice. See José Picardo's Box of Tricks
blog for an example of how Voki might be used in class. See the Creating a Voki tutorial by Joe Dale at
the CILT website.
ReadTheWords: A tool that works in much the same way as Voki, but without the option of recording
one's own voice.
Witty Comics
Xtranormal: A great tool for making animated cartoon movies. See José Picardo's Box of Tricks blog for
an example of how Xtranormal might be used in class.
Zimmertwins

x. Mashups

Mashups are typical manifestations of Web 2.0. The term mashup derives from the practice in music of mixing
two or more songs in order to produce a new song, particularly in musical genres such as hip-hop. In the context
of Web 2.0, a mashup can be described as a Web page, often assembled by an amateur enthusiast, that brings
together data from two or more Web services and combines the data into a new application with added
functionality. O'Reilly (2005:4) describes this phenomenon as "innovation in assembly". Flickrvision and
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Earthalbum are examples of mashups in which Flickr and Google Maps have been combined into new hybrid
Web pages.

Essentially, then, a mashup is a way of repurposing existing Web services and requires relatively little Web
programming expertise. A directory of mashups can be found here on the Programmable Web site.

A mashup could be useful in language teaching and learning. A mashup for students studying a foreign language
might consist, for example, of audio or video clips from an online broadcasting service, with transcriptions and
annotations, grammar explanations and activities and exercises. Mashups could also be used in constructivist
ways. For example, students could demonstrate their understanding of concepts by creating their own mashups.

xi. Document sharing

Google Docs: Upload and share your documents. Collaborate on producing a document.
Scribd: Upload and share your documents. See Russell Stannard's Teacher Training Videos website,
where you will find his Scribd tutorial screencasts.

2.2 Discussion topics

i. To what extent is Web 2.0 a break with the past? Web 2.0 is broadly in line with the concept of the Web as
defined by its inventor, Tim Berners-Lee, back in 1998 (see citation above), so is it more accurate to say
that Web 2.0 is just an example of the continuous development of established technologies - a transition
rather than a break with the past?

ii. It has been argued that Web 2.0 is essentially a meaningless term invented by a group of businessmen as a
way of convincing the media and investors that something fundamentally new had been created following
the crash of the so-called Dot-com bubble. See O'Reilly (2005). What do you think?

iii. An article by Gregor Kennedy et al. (2007) suggests that the new generation of students is less interested
in Web 2.0 technologies than teachers imagine them to be. It reports on a research study conducted among
a large number of students in Australian universities, which concludes that there is greater diversity in
frequency of use of technology than many commentators have suggested and that the use of collaborative
and self-publishing Web 2.0 technologies associated with this generation is quite low: see The net
generation are not big users of Web 2.0 technologies: preliminary findings, ASCILITE 2007 Conference,
Singapore. What kinds of experiences have you had using Web 2.0 tools in language teaching?

See also these discussion topics in the ICT4LT blog:

Web 2.0 - Is it just hype? (initiated April 2007)

Students are not big users of Web 2.0 technologies (initiated July 2009)

3. Using a browser: navigating the Web

When you want to view pages on the World Wide Web, you need a computer program to do it, namely a
browser. A browser is a software application that carries your messages to computers all over the world and
returns messages to your computer. The most common browser is Internet Explorer, which is bundled with
Microsoft Windows, but there are many others, e.g. Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome: see the Wikipedia
article List of Web browsers.

Essentially, a browser works as follows:

i. You request your browser to locate a website of your choice by typing in its address - or URL (Uniform
Resource Locator) to use the correct technical term: see Glossary. The URL of the ICT4LT site is

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