From CMS to LMS. E-Learning Management

Learning management system is a variation of content management system focused on e-learning. Moodle or Atutor are some examples of this software application. The layout is specially adapted for education courses or training programs and highly customisable with modules such as quizzes, deadlines, portfolios... The best way to understand that is medium an example like Ready, Study, Go Ahead, LMS website based on e-learning packages...

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Differences among CMS sites

There are many Content Management Systems available to create a webpage and most of them are appropriate for our purpose: education. That's why in this new technological era, almost every school/high school has one. Here you are some examples of sites created with different CMS. Sites created with Drupal: http://www.salesianos.edu/alicante/ http://www.iesenricsolerigodes.com/drupal/ Sites created with WordPress: http://navarrosantafe.edu.gva.es/wordpress/...

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Useful Tools: JOOMLA & Extensions

We already have a lot of of tools to use. However, there is still something we are forgetting: what about creating our own webpage? As you see, a blog can be easily created and managed. While using CMS for webpages, that happens too.  My suggestion is JOOMLA, a open source content management system. It doesn't require any technical skill or knowledge about web codes to manage it. You can focus on creating and adding materials since the CMS...

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Edudemic and Newsletter

Looking for new educational websites, I have found out one that really impressed me: Edudemic. This awesome Blog is completely dedicated to education. There isn't only a webmaster, which means daily new information provided by many people with different points of view. The layout is very fresh and dynamic. In the homepage we can find the latest entries and four drop-down menus as well. "The teacher's guide" section that offers teachers some...

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Useful Tools: Lino and some additional resources

For new teachers, sometimes is difficult to create new materials. It may be caused by our inexperience or just because of the lack of time. For these special occasions, we can complement our material with lessons or activities already created by the teaching community. Moreover, we may have not realised that there are tons of apps that can make our life as teachers easier. Here you have a variety of resources that I would probably use in my subject: TeacherKit...

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Useful Tools: Pictochart

Infographics has become one of the best ways to share and promote content. It can be used by teachers and students to present a huge amount of information in concise chunks and giving numbers/data a visual appeal. One point about Infographics is that you need to make sure your project is designed in the right way in order for it to work correctly. It has to be visually interesting, but not overwhelming because even if they are highly informative,...

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Useful Tools: The Cloud

Introduction The cloud or cloud computing is a buzzword term used to encompass network-based services. That means, software, platforms or infrastructure that can be used online. Installation is not required, the services are hosted in a remote location and you only need to log in. Nowadays, this tool is mostly used for running online versions of almost every program and as online storage. Nevertheless, all that glitters isn't gold. Although...

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Interaction in class

In my opinion, Technology Teachers have more advantages to create an interactive environment than others. According to the syllabus of the subject we have to spend a lot of hours in the workshop in order to develop a project. So, why don't we make the most of it? Encouraging students is not an easy task, interaction could be the key for it. Let's list some learning and teaching strategies that can promote the interaction in the workshop: Work in...

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Useful Tools: Wordle

Wordle Very Visual tool to create glossaries of words presented in a word map or cloud. An example: Fuel: Material (such as coal, oil, or gas) that is burned to produce heat or power. Organic: Grown or made without the use of artificial chemicals. Source: Someone or something that provides what is wanted or needed. Coal: Black hard substance within the earth that is used as a fuel. Wind: Natural movement of air outside. Water: The clear...

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Useful Tools: Thesaurus and Corpora

Today we have found out two interesting educational tools! Thesaurus Thesaurus could be defined as a reference work that lists words grouped together according to similarity of meaning. In other words, a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms. As you can see in the picture, Thesaurus gives you a long list of synonyms and antonyms. However, its usefulness is based on how the advanced searching tools allow you to organize the list. By: Relevance...

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Useful Tools: Dictionaries

My adventure searching new ICT material continues! Today I'm going to speak about the best tool a CLIL teacher can have: The Dictionary. I've tested some of the most important online dictionaries emphasizing their good and bad points. The main purpose of that review is helping you to choose one, among all of them, depending on which features fit better with your objectives. I've looked up the word "source" and these are my results: Oxford...

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Students' Needs

In order to become a good technology teacher I've to study and identify in advance some of the problems that I'll probably encounter in my future job. The first problem I found is how to adapt the syllabus of the Technology subject.  The ECI/2220/2007 establishes the goals and the contents that are required for a student in order to pass. Due to the fact that we have to teach the subject trough a non mother tongue language but reaching the...

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ICT Special Videos

I have found some useful videos that can help us to improve the level of our Art sessions. I recommend the first one to those who are trying to inspire pupils with something more than conventional painting methods. They give us some resources as webpages, software and even reviews of the latest Art devices. This second video shows the evaluation of three ICT resources that you may consider: Image manipulation software. Online picture community. Video editing software. The last but not least, some useful resources focused on Design...

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What's a Blog?

In global terms a blog is considered a public webpage filled with entries, also called posts, organized in reverse chronological order. Normally managed by a single author. However, its popularity is based on the way people uses that tool. On internet there are over 100 million blogs. Among them, you can find several purposes: to express your thoughts and opinion, to promote something, to help people, to establish yourself as an expert, to connect with people like you, to make a difference or to stay connected with friends and family. Furthermore,...

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Introducing Myself

Hi everybody, I'm Pedro, a 30 years old Technical Architect. I've been working on building site for several years but due to the current situation I'm heading towards to Education. That's why I opened this Blog for the ICT subject in the "Qualification in English Teaching Course". My level of English is officially B2+ (FCE) but I'm working hard to improve it and maybe someday I'll try to pass the C1 (ACE). Anyway, It's supposed that my english level...

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