Storify.com

Every now and then I find a site that really grabs my attention. Storify.com, that I saw on Nik's Learning Technology blog is one of those sites. It's a tool to collect materials from a range of websites, such as Twitter, Google, Facebook and Youtube, so that you can put together your own story, as well as add content from your own favourites. It's simple to use and easy to share by email or embedding in a blog.

Although intended to create stories, it's a great tool for studying because you can collect materials relating to a specific topic and store them in one place. Here are some ideas for using with students:

• Encourage extensive listening/reading by collecting online content relating to a topic for students to read at home.
• Collect content relating to a grammar point and give it to students for homework/revision.
• Help students generate ideas for reading/speaking tasks by collecting further information for them and putting it in a story.
• Use it in class to "present" online content - video and grammar explanations.
• Get students to create their own and share with their classmates. Follow up with writing or speaking tasks discussing the most informative, interesting, etc.

Here is an example of a simple storify I have prepared to help my students review Present Perfect Simple.