Friday 8 May 2009
Google docs: Conducting a survey
If you go to http://www.google.com, you can access your account with the email address and password you use for Blogger. From there you can access your blog, a Picasa album and other services, one of which is Google docs.
So, click on docs and you'll see that you can create different kinds of documents or even upload them from your computer - you can upload html too!. Then, they are saved there and you can send them by email to other people or embed them on your blog.
Two kinds of documents are interesting for me, the forms and the spreadsheets. These two kinds of documents allow us to conduct a survey from our blog and then publish the results on a spreadsheet.
Today I'll explain to you the first step: How to create a form?
As you'll see, it's very easy: You give it a title first, you click on add question, every time you want to create one. Then you choose the type of question - multiple choice, ticking from a list, ...-, you fill in the gaps with the possible answers and finally click on done and save.
Then, you may copy the link or the embed code, which you can later paste on a new post in your blog.
So, click on docs and you'll see that you can create different kinds of documents or even upload them from your computer - you can upload html too!. Then, they are saved there and you can send them by email to other people or embed them on your blog.
Two kinds of documents are interesting for me, the forms and the spreadsheets. These two kinds of documents allow us to conduct a survey from our blog and then publish the results on a spreadsheet.
Today I'll explain to you the first step: How to create a form?
As you'll see, it's very easy: You give it a title first, you click on add question, every time you want to create one. Then you choose the type of question - multiple choice, ticking from a list, ...-, you fill in the gaps with the possible answers and finally click on done and save.
Then, you may copy the link or the embed code, which you can later paste on a new post in your blog.
A slideshow
You may want to write about one of your most memorable journeys and show us some pictures. Slide.com allows you to inset a picture slideshow, which you can customize and which usually looks very nice on a blog.
First I would advise you to save the pictures you are going to use in the same folder in your computer so they can be easily accessed.
You'll need, as usual, to register at http://www.slide.com and once you have logged in, you just have to click on Make a slideshow. Where it says Add pictures, click on examine to select the pictures from your computer, and then click on upload. You may then add a caption to your pictures or edit any of them if you need to.
Finally, you have different options to choose from to customize your slideshow. Try different ones to see which one you like best and finally save all changes to obtain the embed code.
Now, as always, copy the embed code, open a new post in your blog and paste it. Click on view blog to see the result!
First I would advise you to save the pictures you are going to use in the same folder in your computer so they can be easily accessed.
You'll need, as usual, to register at http://www.slide.com and once you have logged in, you just have to click on Make a slideshow. Where it says Add pictures, click on examine to select the pictures from your computer, and then click on upload. You may then add a caption to your pictures or edit any of them if you need to.
Finally, you have different options to choose from to customize your slideshow. Try different ones to see which one you like best and finally save all changes to obtain the embed code.
Now, as always, copy the embed code, open a new post in your blog and paste it. Click on view blog to see the result!
A voki on your blog
If you don't know what a voki is, have a look at my blog and you'll find out!
To have your own Voki you'll need first to register, and once you have clicked on the activation link that they send you on a confirmation message by email, the registration will be complete and you'll be able to log in and create your first avatar.
A window which says Voki for my site will open and you have to click on create a Voki, then you can choose and customize your character, and when you have tried the different options, you can click on done.
Second step is choosing a background and a player, once you have done that, you may give it a voice.
To give it a voice you have different options, choose the one you prefer - I have used text to voice in mine- and save it.
Finally, click on publish. Name your scene, select where you want to embed it, choose size and get code. Then paste the code on a new post in your blog
To have your own Voki you'll need first to register, and once you have clicked on the activation link that they send you on a confirmation message by email, the registration will be complete and you'll be able to log in and create your first avatar.
A window which says Voki for my site will open and you have to click on create a Voki, then you can choose and customize your character, and when you have tried the different options, you can click on done.
Second step is choosing a background and a player, once you have done that, you may give it a voice.
To give it a voice you have different options, choose the one you prefer - I have used text to voice in mine- and save it.
Finally, click on publish. Name your scene, select where you want to embed it, choose size and get code. Then paste the code on a new post in your blog
Tuesday 5 May 2009
Mind maps with Bubble.us
At http://bubbl.us, you can create a mind map to review your vocabulary by topics and then you can simply export and print, or embed it on your blog.
You will have first to sign in and then you may click on the first and only button you'll see on the center of the screen. A menu will display and you have to follow the instructions. Once you have your maps, click on save changes above and then click on the menu buton below and there a little box will open, where you will be able to copy the html embed code that you will later paste onto a new post in your blog. For an example, have a look at my blog!
You will have first to sign in and then you may click on the first and only button you'll see on the center of the screen. A menu will display and you have to follow the instructions. Once you have your maps, click on save changes above and then click on the menu buton below and there a little box will open, where you will be able to copy the html embed code that you will later paste onto a new post in your blog. For an example, have a look at my blog!
Games, diagrams and other nice things on your blog
At http://www,classtools.net you can create nice games, spidergrams, Venn circles, storylines, ... Have a look at the samples they give you and you'll see how much you can do. You could create a storyline for a book or film, or a Venn diagram to classify vocabulary, a matching exercise, a Dustbin games, as I have done in my blog,or any other thing you may link.
Once you have complete it, click below on the second icon and it will create an embed code, which you can paste in a new post in your blog.
Once you have complete it, click below on the second icon and it will create an embed code, which you can paste in a new post in your blog.
Monday 4 May 2009
Video and quizz with ESLVideo.com
If you register at http://www.eslvideo.com, you can have a video and an interactive questionnaire on your blog. You can have one of the videos they offer, which are mostly music video clips, or you can create your own.
To have your own video, you have to uploaded it first to YouTube and then copy the embed code, log into eslvideo.com and click on create a quizz. Then, paste the embed code into the Quizz builder web form, title your quizz, add a description and click on Next. You'll move on to Step 2- Create a quizz, there you can edit the different sections and add questions for your quizz. Finally, when it's ready, go to your account page to view the quizz and use the quizz embed code to add it to your blog.
As you can see, you can either have your own recorded video or a video that you have found in YouTube or wherever,a short video from a docummentary, a excerpt from a TV programme, a music video clip, a funny scene, ... and then you can prepare a questionnaire for the other students to check if they have understood what the video is about.
To have your own video, you have to uploaded it first to YouTube and then copy the embed code, log into eslvideo.com and click on create a quizz. Then, paste the embed code into the Quizz builder web form, title your quizz, add a description and click on Next. You'll move on to Step 2- Create a quizz, there you can edit the different sections and add questions for your quizz. Finally, when it's ready, go to your account page to view the quizz and use the quizz embed code to add it to your blog.
As you can see, you can either have your own recorded video or a video that you have found in YouTube or wherever,a short video from a docummentary, a excerpt from a TV programme, a music video clip, a funny scene, ... and then you can prepare a questionnaire for the other students to check if they have understood what the video is about.
Videos on your blog
You can have videos from YouTube or any other video place, such as Dailymotion, or any other you may know, and you can even have your own videos, recorded as in my case with a simple digital camera.
First, and as usual, you have to sign up as a user in http://www.youtube.com. Once you have signed in as a registered user, you'll see that you can look for videos, add them to your favourites, create playlists or even copy the embed code and have them published in your blog.
If you want to upload your own video to YouTube, click on your username (my account) at the top of the page, click on My Videos and select My uploaded videos. Then, click on New and select upload video. As usual, you have to examine your folder, select the file, fill in the information about the file and finally click on upload.
Once the file has been uploaded and all changes saved, you can go to your videos in your account and if you click on the video, it will open up in a bigger size and some information on the right and below will appear. On the right, you'll find both the link and the embed code to have the video published on your blog. Copy the embed code, go to your blog and paste the code in a new post, and then click on view blog to see if you have been succesful. Good luck!
First, and as usual, you have to sign up as a user in http://www.youtube.com. Once you have signed in as a registered user, you'll see that you can look for videos, add them to your favourites, create playlists or even copy the embed code and have them published in your blog.
If you want to upload your own video to YouTube, click on your username (my account) at the top of the page, click on My Videos and select My uploaded videos. Then, click on New and select upload video. As usual, you have to examine your folder, select the file, fill in the information about the file and finally click on upload.
Once the file has been uploaded and all changes saved, you can go to your videos in your account and if you click on the video, it will open up in a bigger size and some information on the right and below will appear. On the right, you'll find both the link and the embed code to have the video published on your blog. Copy the embed code, go to your blog and paste the code in a new post, and then click on view blog to see if you have been succesful. Good luck!
Hosting audio and publishing it on the blog
To publish audio on your blog,first you have to find a place to host your files. Some of them allow you only to create a link to copy on your blog, some others are much more complete and they let you both copy the link or create a player to embed on your blog, which is much nicer.
To have a link, you can host your file in many hosting places, such as Box.net or FileFactory.com. You just have to upload the file and then copy the link they give you.
There are not so many places where you can upload your audio file and have your player embeded now. Some which used to be quite good are now under construction (such as GoEar and BooMp3), but finally I have found one I like, which is http://www.esnips.com. This is a good hosting place for any kind of files, which also allows you to create nice widgets for your folder to have them on your blog too.
But today we are interested in audio (you may do some research on your own and see what other possibilities you have and find out what a widget is).
So, let's see how to do it. Go to http://www.esnips.com and sign up. Once you have signed up and signed in, you can create a folder -which you can customize- and upload the file. Click on examine to find the mp3 file in your computer, fill in the information you are required and click on upload file. Once the file has been uploaded, you have two options, either click on MP3 widget to embed a player on your blog, or click on share file, to copy the link or send it by email to someone. The first option is very nice, so we will click on MP3 widget and we will choose one of the widgets from the preview, we will customize it a little bit, if we want to, and finally we'll copy the embed code to paste it on a post in our blog.
You can have the text, the picture and the audio player in the same post or in different ones, that depends on how you like it best.
To have a link, you can host your file in many hosting places, such as Box.net or FileFactory.com. You just have to upload the file and then copy the link they give you.
There are not so many places where you can upload your audio file and have your player embeded now. Some which used to be quite good are now under construction (such as GoEar and BooMp3), but finally I have found one I like, which is http://www.esnips.com. This is a good hosting place for any kind of files, which also allows you to create nice widgets for your folder to have them on your blog too.
But today we are interested in audio (you may do some research on your own and see what other possibilities you have and find out what a widget is).
So, let's see how to do it. Go to http://www.esnips.com and sign up. Once you have signed up and signed in, you can create a folder -which you can customize- and upload the file. Click on examine to find the mp3 file in your computer, fill in the information you are required and click on upload file. Once the file has been uploaded, you have two options, either click on MP3 widget to embed a player on your blog, or click on share file, to copy the link or send it by email to someone. The first option is very nice, so we will click on MP3 widget and we will choose one of the widgets from the preview, we will customize it a little bit, if we want to, and finally we'll copy the embed code to paste it on a post in our blog.
You can have the text, the picture and the audio player in the same post or in different ones, that depends on how you like it best.
Recording a poem or story
You may have a short story or a poem you want to record with your own voice and publish it on your blog, but how shall you do that?
If you look at my blog, you'll see that I have published a beautiful poem by Cummings, with a picture and my recorded voice. And, not long ago I published a fable with my own voice too. So, why don't you try it now too?
You can write your own poem, caligram, fable story, scan it from a book, copy it from the Internet and create either a word or a pdf file to upload with Scribd or Issuu to the blog. Add some pictures, to make it look nice and finally embed an audio player or insert a link to an audio file.
To record your voice, you can use a digital recorder and later transfer the file to a computer, or you can use Audacity or any other kind of audio software to record your voice in the computer.
You'll find Audacity at the Multimedia Room or you may as well download it into your computer (remember to download the extension library too, which you'll need to export files into other formats). It's very easy to use: Set the audio properties in the computer for recording (they are normally set for playing) and check that the microphone is working. Open Audacity and click on the record button, read your peom aloud, or whatever you want, and stop to finish. To listen to your recording, click on play. If you like it, click on save file. If you don't, open a new file and start recording again. When you are ready and your recording is saved, click on Export file to MP3, this way you'll have an mp3 file, which you can later publish on the blog (Audacity files can't be used on the blog, they need to be converted into mp3 files)
If you look at my blog, you'll see that I have published a beautiful poem by Cummings, with a picture and my recorded voice. And, not long ago I published a fable with my own voice too. So, why don't you try it now too?
You can write your own poem, caligram, fable story, scan it from a book, copy it from the Internet and create either a word or a pdf file to upload with Scribd or Issuu to the blog. Add some pictures, to make it look nice and finally embed an audio player or insert a link to an audio file.
To record your voice, you can use a digital recorder and later transfer the file to a computer, or you can use Audacity or any other kind of audio software to record your voice in the computer.
You'll find Audacity at the Multimedia Room or you may as well download it into your computer (remember to download the extension library too, which you'll need to export files into other formats). It's very easy to use: Set the audio properties in the computer for recording (they are normally set for playing) and check that the microphone is working. Open Audacity and click on the record button, read your peom aloud, or whatever you want, and stop to finish. To listen to your recording, click on play. If you like it, click on save file. If you don't, open a new file and start recording again. When you are ready and your recording is saved, click on Export file to MP3, this way you'll have an mp3 file, which you can later publish on the blog (Audacity files can't be used on the blog, they need to be converted into mp3 files)
Friday 1 May 2009
A Powerpoint presentation on your blog
To publish a presentation on your blog, you will first need either Office or Open office software to create your presentation.
Once you have created your presentation, you need a hosting site. A good place to host presentations is http://www.slideshare.net/. As usual, you will have to sign up first and next time, you will just have to log in with the details you first gave (so, please remember to write down your username and password!).
To upload a presentation you just have to follow the instructions. It's quite easy. Click on upload and then select single upload from the different options you are offered. Click on examine to select your file from your computer. Fill in the information about the file, so people can find your document on the web. Finally, click on upload and wait a little bit (you'll see a message saying: Work in progress).
Once the file has been uploaded, click on it and it will open in a bigger size. Next to the file, on the right, you'll see a box where there is the embed code for you to copy and paste on a new post on your blog. You may click on view blog to see if your presentation has been correctly published on your blog. If it is still not there, wait a little bit, it may take a bit longer.
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