Posted in conference, Edtechist, professional development, technology

April is for EdTechIst

Posted on by Eva Buyuksimkesyan

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In my previous post, I mentioned that in Istanbul, there would be great events for teachers who believe in professional development this spring. The first one is over and the second one is about to happen. I’ll present at this conference and I’ll also blog about the sessions. Yes, I’m talking about EdTechIst, which will take place on April 18th-19th 2015.

Actually the conference is a three-day event. On the pre-conference day, the participants will get the chance to attend full day workshops with the experts.

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On Saturday and Sunday, we’ll have the chance to do some deep learning with the experts and the sessions will be both on Saturday and Sunday so we’ll have the opportunity to focus on two main areas and have a broader view on them. These workshops will last for three days. In the afternoon, we’ll listen to some inspirational sessions, which will be delivered by the teachers, instructors, trainers who are using, integrating technology in their lessons. Even this format or the feature of this conference makes me eager to attend it.

The surprises of the conference are not over. There’ll be a TeachMeet, which is an organised but informal meeting for teachers to share practical tips and best practices. This will give the participants a great opportunity to share, network and learn with and from their peers in an informal setting. The Edtechist TeachMeet will take place from 4.30pm on Saturday 18th April, 2015.

You can follow the conference on social media with the hashtag #Edtechist or an twitter as @Edtechist

For more information about the speakers and sessions, please check the conference website and hope we’ll meet there.

Posted in efl, esl, lesson idea, Valentine's day

A quick Lesson for Valentine’s Day

Posted on by Eva Buyuksimkesyan

 

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AGE: ALL

LEVEL: A1, BEGINNER

MATERIALS: HEART SHAPED PAPER CUT-OUTS

Using paper, prepare heart-shaped cut-outs, as shown below.

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Give students the handout. Ask them to complete the categories with the given words, phrases. Or you can prepare your own categories according to your students’ likes.

A piece of cake, a piece of chocolate, a piece of apple pie, a slice of pizza, a big hamburger, a parrot, a tiny kitten, a friendly dog, goldfish, sister, brother, grandmother, friend, cousin, a cup of hot chocolate, a cup of tea, a glass of fruit juice, sea, mountain, lake, river, city, town

Food People Pets Drinks Places
         
         
         
         

Then give them heart-shaped cut-outs and tell them they are going to create their heart-shaped books. On each heart they will write

Love is …

and continue with the phrases from the categories or they can add their own words or phrases. Tell them to illustrate and colour their books.

Posted in EdTechSummit, ETZ

#ETZ Summit to Shape The Future of Education

Posted on by Eva Buyuksimkesyan

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Istanbul will host great events this spring. One of them is Educational Technology Summit, which aims to bring together educators, institutions, parents, students and teachers to discuss and learn about updates about technology.

Things which will be discussed at the summit are

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and why should you attend

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And check the summit website to see the speakers and be ready to be surprised and inspired.

The summit will take place at Bahcesehir University, on March 14th 2015.

 

 

Posted in BETT_Show2015, Creaza, flipped classroom, mindmapping, web 2.0 tools

#Bett2015 Picks; #1 Creaza and Mindomo

Posted on by Eva Buyuksimkesyan

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One of the stands I loved visiting at Bett was the Norwegian Classroom. It was fun to see the tools I love using in class. Creaza was a tool I suggested my students to create projects. At Bett, visiting their stand I noticed that they have added new features, updated the tool and it is really very cool for teachers and students now. Creaza consists of four tools; Mindomo – Cartoonist – MovieEditor – AudioEditor. In addition, it is available in nine different languages.

Today I want to write about Mindomo– a very versatile mind mapping tool which can also be used to create presentations. You can signup Mindomo going to its website or just activating your Creaza account you can also have the right to create your mind maps. Mindomo is not just a simple mind mapping tool, it is a great tool for flipped classroom that a teacher can create courses and assign them to students. It’s wonderful for Project Based Learning where students can work on a subject and collaborate on the same map.

It is very easy to use. All you have to do is to activate your account, go to Mindomo, and start creating your mind map on the topic you have to work. To make your work more colorful and energetic, you can add videos and images, clicking on the icons on the left hand corner of your screen. Once you finish your mind map, you can export it as pdf, jpg or png. You can print it out if you want to use it as posters in your classroom walls. You can keep it private or public and share your work with the link or embed it to your blog if you choose to make it public.

Posted in BETT_Show2015

Thought, Impressions, Inspirations from #Bett2015

Posted on by Eva Buyuksimkesyan

I was in London to attend Bett Show 2015 last week. Presenting at Bett was a great experience but being there, visiting the exhibition was even greater than that.

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The moment I stepped into the venue, I realized this was something I was not ready to experience but a few minutes later I got used to the hustle bustle there. Bett was a great opportunity to up-to-date your knowledge about education, attend seminars, workshops and talks, listen to the real people who practised things and get inspiration from the teachers and students who were there to present their projects, experiments and ideas.

presenting our project, Surfing safe on the Net
presenting our project, Surfing safe on the Net

It was interesting to see where education is, where education is heading to. It was unbelievable to meet the people who designed the tools and apps I’ve been using. It was beyond my imagination to see companies exhibiting in their language (not in English) to the people from their country (not for the global market), telling me that Bett was the place they could reach their buyers, users.

Technology is an industry that is constantly changing and the market leaders are present to shape the education, having read the new kids’ needs carefully. Mobile technology is shaping the way we teach, learn and even mentor. Things are on the clouds and finally it looks easier to teach according to a child’s special needs now. And as things are on the verge of a great change, the curriculums we are using are so old. Marc Prensky highlighted the need for a new curriculum. He didn’t say to wipe out everything and start from the scratch but pointed out that the kids need to learn real problem solving, negotiating, creating, adapting, etc. You can see his slide for the other suggestions he made.

from Marc Prensky's talk at Bett
from Marc Prensky’s talk at Bett

There was something for everyone at the exhibition, talks and summits; for the flipped classroom, for wearable education, for blended teaching, for gamification, for telling stories…

I was also very lucky to get my copy of Sir Ken Robinson’s ‘Out of Our Minds’ signed by him and had the chance to listen to him just before leaving for home.

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We teachers should be aware of the big change but as Bob Geldof said at his opening speech it’s the teacher who will make a difference on students’ lives, not the apps. As we all know and accept they are just tools and we need to use them effectively as we’ve always done with the simplest tools or the most elaborate ones so far.

A preview for an upcoming event. Stay tuned for ETZ
A preview for an upcoming event. Stay tuned for ETZ

 I’m planning to share some of the tools that captured my attention in the next few weeks.

 And a few words for London before I finish this post, I feel a bit blue leaving the city. The moment I left, I started missing London. Although I live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, London is still somewhere special; elegant, inspiring, innovative, yet old and classy and very cool.