Author: tokyokevin

Moodle Course Management System is a lot like Blackboard, but better.It is multilingual, which means people can use the software with everything in their own language. Moodle is designed by teachers, and works much better for teachers. It is also free, where Blackboard is very expensive.

I’ve been using Moodle for about 10 years now. I used to use it only with my computer classes, but now, I use it with all my classes. It helps me organize by putting all my assignments, quizzes, materials, and anything to do with the class in one place on line. It keeps track of all my students, and keeps them separate and safe from outsiders. It automatically assigns grades to tests or other evaluations (there are many types). It makes life easier.

I won’t kid you, it does take a lot of work to set up, but you can get a service to do it for you (try Mistek here in Japan). Once you get it set up, though, you can extend the student experience outside of class, make it happen in between classes with online discussions, and many other kinds of interaction.

This is by far the most useful tool I have talked about for English teachers.

OK, I am taking myself far too seriously lately, so let’s have a little fun. Learning a language, we get lots of input. But for EFL students, it is usually a very standardized kind of input. Students think they need the perfect British or American speaker to be there model. Learning “World English” means you need to expose yourself to lots of different accents. Even within a country there are many different accents.

But what about when someone is drunk, or on drugs. They tend to speak differently too. It is a skill to be able to understand them. Here is a kid, just after the dentist, talking to his father in the car. I find it hilarious. The kid looks a lot like my little brother at that age.

Shmoop is a great site to get quick information about literature, in simple English. This is a new site, trying out new things (beta version means it is not quite finished), and expanding quickly into other areas like history and poetry. Each entry, common ones assigned at high school in the US, has lots of different information broken down into areas, like plot, characters, literary devices, etc.

I have talked before about Zotero, a good way to collect research. But Mendeley allows you to share it with other people. If you have some research, you can post it there, allow others to see it, and even download it.

Google Maps is a great way to work with directions. In addition, you can map out a route to someone’s favorite restaurant, and share all of these in class. Additionally, you can use Street View, that has pictures of almost every street in Tokyo, to show your neighborhood to other students. Be careful, though, maps you create are made public by default. You should click on the “private” box so you share only with people you want to.