"TIMETOAST", A NEW WAY OF LEARNING

1) English writers: https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/2149755

2) Famous English Literature Books: https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/2149870

• The learning objectives of the activity:

-       Identify some of the most important English writers of all times.

-       Select a photo of every of them.

-       Learn to use Timetoast.

-       Create a time line, filling it out with all the writers and a brief summary of them.

-       Create another time line where there must be one of the most important works of every English writer that we have mentioned them in the other time line.

-       Search for a film of every work, preferably into English with subtitles, if it is not possible to find the film in English, they will use a Spanish version.

• The advantages of using TimeToast for this activity:

Thanks to the use of Timetoast my students have had the opportunity, not only of learning about some of the most famous English writers, but also about their most important works, overall using and improving their knowledge of new technologies.

• The steps you followed to set up the activity:

1)    Choose ten important writers (one for every student).

2)    Every student must find a photo of every writer they have been assigned.

3)    They must write a brief summary of them.

4)    They will create and event in the first time line (“English Writers”), where they will fill it out with all the information.

5)    Then, they will create another event in another time line (“Famous English Literature Books”). In this time, they will write a brief summary of the plot and put the link of the movie.

• Any problems and how you and the students solved them:

At the beginning, my students had several troubles to understand the use of Timetoast, for that reason, I decided to send them a link with a tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LWuzYW1fxo). Then, they had other problems to find the movie into English, with subtitles. But at the end, they solved it with inventiveness.

• The students’ reaction – how did they feel about using TimeToast to complete the task?

They loved it, because everything related with new technologies is a “must” for them. Overall, they feel self-confident with it.

• Some things that you would change / improve next time:

Notthing.

• At least 3 ways that the use of TimeToast helped you achieve your learning objectives:

1) They learn some of the most important English writers.

2) They learn some of their most famous works.

3) They use new technologies, improving their use of ICTs in the class.