EDEN 427 Technology Use for Material Development in TEFL

       Have you ever started to write and then stopped when you got stuck on a word? Then, you either reference your dictionary or search for a synonym on Google. This operation requires time.      Twinword's writing interface knows when you pause over a word and immediately recommends a synonym. By using synonyms, you can not only save time but also give your work more life. See more at: Link

         USA Learns is a free website funded by the U.S. Department of Education to support immigrants who want to learn or improve their English skills as they become part of American society. Designed as an online tool for learning English outside of a classroom, the site offers contextualized practice activities in listening, reading, writing, speaking and life skills necessary for success at work and in the community.     See more at: Link  

     Virtual Writing Tutor is a website created by a teacher who thought correcting students essays was taking a long time, and learners shouldn't wait such long times to see their essay marks. The essay scoring is made by an AI with the help of Latent Essay Feature Analysis (LEFA) which detects what a great essay is made of and, Model Essay Proximity Scoring (MEPS) that compares the LEFA with students' essay and find out how close the students essay to the model essays. The developer says the AI is still developing so some errors are expected, yet developer adds that because the system gives valuable tips , it still helps students to progress.  There are many student levels, and if the learner does not know their level, they can add an essay to find out their proficiency levels.  The site can be used for various goals, such as CEFR, IELTS, TOEFL, or CEGEP ESL. The site provides word counter; spell, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, target structure, paraphrase checkers, as we

  Writable is a website which includes more than 1000 assignments for writing, and prompts according to the grade and level of the learners and the genre of the writing. Writable scaffolds the learners in their writing process and help them learn. Also Writable includes many activities for improving writing skills. Writable is not a free website, but it has free trial. Link: Writable

  Storybird is a storytelling platform that can be used in both website and app formats. On the platform there are drawings made by the Storybird's own staff and aim of these drawings is to inspire students to come up with their own stories and/or poems. The teacher can create a community where all the students in the class can see each other's stories. It is also possible to invite other users to one's own writing and do collaborative writing. Essentially it is a story writing platform, but the users can read other stories they find on the platform too if they want to. Unfortunately it is a paid platform and the free trial lasts for only 7 days. Link: storybird.com

      EnglishClub is a website aims to help English learners improve their English. There are many activities in the website for grammar, vocabulary and reading. For reading, the website includes many short stories texts about sports, music, news and many more. After the reading, the website includes comprehension tests, so the learner can take the tests after reading and see how much of the text they understood correctly. Also the website includes the meanings of the words in the texts so the learners can look at the meanings of the words they do not know. Link: EnglishClub

        ReadTheory is a website that can be used by both students and the teachers. It testes the students reading comprehension with quizzes and tailor the reading for the individual. Teachers can assign readings and track the students' progresses. Even though it is free, there are some premium features which needs payment. Teachers can assign readings and also customize the assignment such as how many passages must be read, and when the activity should be done.  Link to the website: https://readtheory.org/