WEBSITE EVALUATION:BREAKING NEWS IN ENGLISH

Hello my followers! 😊😊😊 This post is about the evaluation of an ELT website.

I'm going to evaluate https://breakingnewsenglish.com/, you can click "here" to visit the website. I prepared this evaluation for Instructional Technologies and Materials Desing course.

• Who authored the website? Is there any information about their qualifications or credentials?

Sean Banville is the author of this website and he has a master's degree in teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). He created this website to provide useful materials for English learners.  Also, he has got 9 websites. If you want to visit and improve your English skills you can visit them by clicking here.

The screenshot of the "Breaking News in English" is here:🔻🔻🔻

• What is the content of the website?

The website includes free lessons which are based on current news in the world. Every lesson can be studied online or downloaded in pdf. Lessons are organised according to learners level (There are 7 levels from elementary to advanced).
Every lesson includes print, listen, read, grammar, spell and words sections. I'm going to give detailed information about the content of the website.
I chose a topic about "Lesson on Sri Lanka Blasts", you can see it below:

As you see, learners have 6 categories to study.

• Print: There is a ready-to-use lesson about "Sri Lanka Blasts". You can click here to reach the document. This document includes listening tasks, comprehension questions, matching the sentences, quizzes, etc. Learners or teachers can download and use it later.
• Listen: Learners can listen to the news either in North American English or British English. After listening, there are 20 questions about the lesson. Also, learners can decide the listening task's speed. In this section, learners can listen to the news and then do some spelling exercises. Finally, learners have a dictation option while they are listening to the news.
• Read: Learners can read the news at different speeds with the help of a prompter. When you click this link, you can understand what I meant. Learners can match the sentences in Jumple1 and Jumple2 sections. Moreover, learners can take quizzes, you can see the example of a quiz:🔻🔻🔻🔻

• Grammar: In this section, learners can find articles, prepositions and tense exercises. Also, they can type the correct form of jumped words.
• Spell: Briefly, learners can do some spelling exercises such as filling in the blanks with consonants and vowels and check their spelling online. 
• Words: Learners can use flashcards to memorise the vocabularies or they can solve crossword puzzles. You can see the screenshot of the crossword puzzle.🔻🔻🔻

• Who is the target audience?

English language learners are the target audience of the website. Also, English teachers may benefit from it, because every news includes lesson plans, warm-up activities, classroom activities for English teachers. Moreover, teachers can find pdf files about specific activities which depend on the news on the website. I want to give an example to make it clear; as a teacher candidate, I may use the news which is titled "Japan starts nuclear power removal from Fukushima" in the class. I may use the pdf file of the news which includes speaking, listening, writing and reading activities.

• What is the purpose of the website?

The purpose of the website is to provide materials for English teachers and learners.

• Is there a date shows when the site has last been updated?

New lessons are updated every two days. The website is updated today, you can see it in the following screenshot:🔻🔻🔻

• Accuracy of the information: Are there any errors?/ Are there any broken links?

There are not any errors and broken links on the website.

• Are the images of high quality and appealing to the target audience?

I cannot find a lot of images on the website and existing images are not appealing to learners and teachers. I think the website should be modernised in terms of images and visuals.

• How can it be applied to EFL teaching?

English learners can develop their listening, reading skills when they do the exercises on the website. They can also improve their grammar and vocabulary knowledge with the help of it. They can choose to study the news which they are interested in.
I think that this website is extremely beneficial for English teachers because it includes multiple materials which can be used in the classroom. Teachers can utilize them to create different tasks for students. When I become an English teacher, I'm planning to use them. 

What do you think about this website?🙋

MY INTERNET-BASED PROJECT

Photo is taken here

Hello my followers!!! 😄This post is about an internet-based project.

I was assigned a padlet project for Instructional Technologies and Materials Design course. It was a group project, so firstly we created a group which consisted of 6 people. My group members are Sibel Aksoy, Elif Beyza Özan, Gamze Erol, Reyyan Hacer Hünerli, and Emine Arslan. 

We were given two options to choose for this project. The first one was about a global or local problem such as climate change, refugees, and water pollution. The second one was about freedom.

Me and my friends preferred the first option and decided on refugees as a subject matter. We were expected to create a padlet wall for the subject which we had chosen. The content of the wall had to include a description of the problem, causes and effects of the problem, some public opinion on the problem and finally solutions to the problem.

We determined our responsibilities for the project and searched on the internet. After that, we created a Padlet wall. If you want to have a look at our work, you can click here.

I think that Padlet is a user-friendly tool because we worked on the same padlet wall at the same time. Also, I hardly faced any problems during the task. Padlet allowed me to make different designs. I really liked using it because it was easy and handy.

I think our project is an example of 21st century learning. Before we created the project, we had brainstormed on the subject. Also, I believe that our project is a product of collaboration. After we had finished it, I realized that my global awareness about the refugee problem increased. In my opinion, using Padlet as a learning tool helps students to develop 21st century skills such as communication, global awareness, collaboration.

Have you ever used padlet as a 21st century learning tool?