My Brainshark.com

It's been a while since I've put a new entry on here - a combination of being away all summer and struggling to get back in the swing of things since we got back!
This site is a real winner, though, so I hope you find it useful.  It does the same kind of thing as Present Me, but with audio instead of video, but it is sooooo much easier to use - I really like it.
Essentially, it's a tool to record presentations, but you can also use it to narrate over a document or over pictures.  You have to register on the site, but it doesn't take long and it's free.  Once you've done this, you can upload a Powerpoint presentation or a document, or pics and then record your presentation over it.  I've used it for Powerpoint and the nice thing about it is that you create the presentation for one slide at a time, so (for learners) if you make a mistake, you don't have to re-record your whole presentation, just the last slide, and you have the option to listen to each slide again before you save it.  When it's saved, you can embed it into a blog (see below!) or send the url link to a friend, or your teacher.  This is brilliant for Business and Academic English, but your general English learners might like it, too.  The other way you can use it is as authentic listening practice.  There are loads of interesting presentations on the site that are freely available.  You could assign one for the learners to listen to (maybe with some comprehension questions) or ask them to find one they like and tell another learner about it when they come back into class.

If you want some help using this, here is Russell Stannard's video to show you how.

Glogster

This site is a really nice idea if you want to start your learners blogging but a blog is a bit intimidating! With this tool you can really easily create a page with pictures, text, music, videos etc. It's quick and easy,lots of fun and free!

Here's my example - I had to put it in as a pic, but there is music, too, if you follow this link you can get the full experience!!

You just go to the site, register (it's very quick) and you're ready to go! Nice to find other Glogs that you like, too...
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Present Me

Present Me is a really nice tool for encouraging your learners to get speaking/ presentation practice  outside class.  Learners can register and then upload a Powerpoint presentation and record themselves talking through the slides.  If you have Business English learners, or people studying for IELTS/ academic English, this is brilliant, but even some of the ESOL exams (eg the City and Guilds Level 1 and 2 Speaking and Listening that I'm currently doing with a class) involve learners giving a presentation, so this is a good way for them to practice, send it to you and get feedback before they do the real thing in class.

It's relatively easy to use, but here are Russell's detailed instructions, which are very helpful.  There are various levels of it, but the most basic is free, and frankly would be fine for most learners.  This allows you to upload up to 50MB of material and speak for 15 minutes.
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