“We are born into a box of time and space. We use words and communication to break out of it and to reach out to others.” — Roger Ebert

Language learning involves community. Learners need to be able to take the vocabulary and skills they learn in the classroom and apply them in real world contexts. They need to be able to interact with other language learners and participate in real conversations. I’ve been an English teacher for over a decade and have tried to find the best way to get my students to be able to practice language outside the classroom. One of the most effective ways is to get the students to use online tools that foster communication in English. As a language teacher, you can get your students to use these websites to participate in discussions or collaborate on projects. In this way, the students are applying what they learn in class to specific tasks. I hope the following tips and resources will help you plan these tasks.

Collaborative Tools and Tasks

These are some of the most effective and free collaboration tools I recommend and a few ideas on what your language learners can do with them.

Facebook Groups - Facebook is the most popular social network so chances are your learners are already set up on there. This means they do not have to register so they are more likely to use this social network.

Edmodo - Learners can collaborate in a private, secure environment. They post discussions through the threaded feature that looks similar to Twitter and Facebook. They also can upload pictures, links, videos, and more.

Twiddla - This is an online collaborative whiteboard. Students can post documents, brainstorm, view a website, and so much more in real-time. Students don’t have to register. They just click a button and are given a room link for others to join. The learners can even talk to each other while they work using the live audio feature.

Google Docs - Learners collaborate in real-time when editing a text document, spreadsheet, or slide presentation. There are chat and comment functions that make it easy for learners to communicate. Use this tool to have your learners brainstorm.

What other collaborative activities can you think of?