Screen-capture

Tools to take learning beyond the classroom

http://screencast-o-matic.com/

With this tool you can present whatever is on your screen and talk your audience through it (screen-capture).  Producing a video of your screen and sharing it is very easy to do. There are several free versions available:  Screencastomatic, which I will look at in more detail in this post, and Jing, which works in a similar way.  Snagit is another excellent tool, but is not free.




Screencasting can be used to:

• flip the classroom

Language presentation can be received at home, allowing students the opportunity to follow it at their own pace, reviewing as often as necessary.  Class time can then be devoted to group work and one-to-one advice.  

• provide visual and verbal feedback

Teachers can talk through corrections on students' work, pointing out highlighted areas,  expanding on short written comments and making suggestions for improvement.  It's the next best thing to giving face-to-face feedback, which is not practicable in a classroom of up to 20 students.  

• recap

Salient points from a lesson can be highlighted, providing students with the opportunity to review at their leisure.  Pronunciation can be modelled, brainstorming ideas shared, together with vocabulary lists and grammar input. 

  

Here's an example of a screencast being used to recap points from a lesson.  This could be embedded into whatever learning platform you use with your class, enabling students to review language points whenever they wish. 

This tool can help students take ownership of their learning.  It helps with engagement, encouraging students to act and work outside the classroom.  Learners know that the teacher has put in a great deal of effort to provide such detailed feedback and recap opportunities.  They feel valued and the outcome should be that they value their learning.
Russell Stannard's article (2012) provides more details on how screen-capture can be an asset to  English language teachers and students.
Russell Stannard, The Guardian.com

Interactive White Boards

Promoting interaction and collaboration

A very expensive classroom tool, which replaces the traditional whiteboard and offers many more features.  It can be used in the same way as a whiteboard, with different coloured pens and an eraser which works just like a board rubber.  However, if the IWB is used in this way, it is not being put to good effect.  The board is touch-sensitive and is designed to enable users to interact directly with the different elements that can be incorporated: text, graphics, sound, animation and video.

A promotional video from Smart (other IWBs are available!) shows how IWBs can be used in a classroom, and clearly explains the affordances of this tool:

collaboration    active participation     engagement

For me, the most important factor is that the IWB can meet the needs all preferred learning styles, especially visual and kinaesthetic.   The stimulating, visual aspect can be used not only to present information, but allows learners to manipulate and work with images in ways that require higher order thinking skills. The tool fosters student participation and engagement and this leads to enhanced learning, as students who are engaged are more motivated to learn and therefore will be more successful in their efforts.    In the language classroom, learners can collaborate on the IWB to solve problems, sort, label and match vocabulary (many of these can be produced through Triptico) and their work can be saved, printed or shared electronically.  

"People do dumb things with smartboards" (Heidi Hayes-Jacobs)

The efficacy of IWBs has been questioned, with claims that they can promote  teacher-centred learning.  This is clearly in situations where this complicated piece of kit is being used solely to present information and ideas and not to promote interaction.  Teacher training is vital to ensure that money invested in an expensive tool is not being wasted, and this in turn makes the equipment even more expensive.  A teacher needs to invest a considerable amount of time and dedication to produce appropriate materials and activities that will lead to active participation and interaction, however the effective language teacher has always had to do just that.  The cards and labels we cut out and laminate, the pictures we collect - all of these can now be stored electronically and put to use on the IWB.  However, within a large classroom, where there over 20 students, not all learners can engage with the IWB at the same time.  This means that some students will be sitting passively watching their peers interacting with the materials.  With low-tech materials, such as paper and post-it notes, all learners can be active and engaged at the same time, working collaboratively in pairs or groups.  In this respect I see the IWB as a tool which enables the teacher to apply effective teaching methods in a different, more up-to-date way.  The effective teacher does not need an IWB to produce an interactive lesson and promote student engagement, but it is a tool (albeit a very expensive one) which can enable this.  

Classroom Resources

Triptico: https://www.tripticoplus.com/?

a selection of activities and resources to enhance student engagement.

Triptico offers a wide variety of collaborative activities and resources, which can be used with Interactive White Boards or computers with projectors (as long as there is an internet connection).  Resources are very easy to use and can be customised and saved for future use.  

The screen-capture above shows the variety of resources available.  Many are vocabulary and text based (quizzes, sorting and matching activities, games) and good for recapping, reviewing and reinforcing learning in an active and fun way. Game-playing increases interest and motivation, producing positive feelings towards the subject and the teacher.  The tool promotes group work, incorporating peer teaching and correcting, giving learners time to think, which builds confidence in weaker students and increases responsiveness to questions.  Group work affords individuals the chance to try out ideas before committing to sharing these with the whole class.  For the teacher, these activities allow formative assessment to take place throughout the lesson.  The strengths and weaknesses of individual learners can be identified and the teacher can check whether learning has taken place.

Students tend to chose to sit next to their friends when they enter the classroom, but the group-making tool assists in classroom management by randomising groups in a light-hearted and surprising way, ensuring that learners have the opportunity to mix and work with different students in their classes, making communicative tasks more meaningful.

The timers, which are good not only for timed activities but also to reinforce the importance of time-keeping at break time, which is an issue at my college.

Customising resources

It took me under 10 minutes to produce these activities.  The first is using "What's the Question?".  I can see this as being an entertaining way to check learning/recap a lesson focusing on question formation.  The activity can be customised according to the level of the students, who would work in groups to provide answers and gain points for their team.

In this activity teams have to form accurate questions in order to be awarded points.

Sound effects add to the excitement (a cheer for a correct answer, a groan for an incorrect one) and the teams can see their point scores throughout, adding an element of competition to promote engagement. 

Another tool I have experimented with is Word Magnets.  Again, it's very easy and quick to produce a group activity, with learners manipulating the words on the IWB to sort, match and order. Nik Peachey demonstrates how easy this resource is to use:

This activity is particularly good for low-level students, who have trouble with sentence formation.  Breaking the sentence down into composite parts, perhaps even colour-coded, can enable kinaesthetic learners in particular to manipulate words to produce meaning.  Learners can make changes and alterations as they process their thoughts - a form of rehearsal before formalising the learning - and giving learners time to think increases confidence and engagement.  

Initially I thought that Triptico provided behaviouristic activities, supporting lower order thinking skills (testing knowledge through games and quizzes), but as with most tools and resources, it all depends on how they are put to use.  If used constructively, group problem solving and discovery learning allow learners to analyse, synthesise and even evaluate their learning.

Vocabulary

How can I improve my vocabulary?

[* Wordle ( http://www.wordle.net ) word cloud being used here to introduce the topic in a visually stimulating way.  In class, Wordle could be used to compare texts from different genres or registers or to focus on key vocabulary from a particular topic,  eg "what does this wordcloud suggest this article is about?". However I do not think that this is a tool that should be used too often - the novelty value is the key.]

Back to improving vocabulary.....

This is a question I get asked a lot as a language teacher.  Obvious answers include read and listen (graded readers, newspapers, documentaries, ANYTHING!).  Follow that up with practice (repetitions, using new lexis in context, immersing oneself in a new culture).   A language teacher needs to find different ways to introduce and present new vocabulary and there are many online tools available for students to build their vocabulary and practise new words in context. So much language learning can take place outside the classroom and those students who take the time to chat with native speakers, watch television, listen to the radio and read newspapers are going to improve at a much faster rate.  Teachers could signpost their learners to:

Go to the Duolingo website

"Learn languages completely free, without ads or hidden charges. It's fun, easy, and scientifically proven."

Online learning

The site claims that if you use Duolingo for 34 hours you learn as much as language as you would in one term at university.  I decided to try out the Duolingo App and see whether this approach was indeed "fun and easy".  My experience of basic Spanish was initially quite exciting.  I could chart my progress and I was encouraged by being awarded badges to acknowledge my success.  A daily email would remind me to spend some time practising my new language and the phone app was convenient and easy to use.  The initial excitement, however, soon wore off.  I found the Duolingo translation approach very formulaic and repetitive and I was not producing my own language, but reproducing language that had been introduced to me.   Duolingo's approach to language is very lexis-orientated. With no explanation of grammar rules a learner has to absorb grammar by association and I feel that this tool does not provide the strong foundations upon which a language learner can build their own knowledge.  It's also a very lonely language-learning experience, with no interaction or social engagement built in, so it is very difficult to maintain motivation.

That said, I think that it can be useful for learners to enhance the skills and practise language they learn in the classroom.  The repetition aspect is good for pronunciation, spelling and an awareness of  word order.  Advanced lessons are classified according to topic, so learners could use the app, not in the linear way that it has been designed, but to cherry pick topics and structures they need to improve.

This article from the Guardian explores learning a language using an online tool.  Duolingo features in the article, which questions whether a language can be mastered using only an online tool:

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/feb/21/can-i-learn-a-language-online

The reflections of Alan Haburchak, who spent 4 weeks trying to learn Spanish with Duolingo is also an interesting read:

"This app has taught me a ton of vocabulary, but I'm still not sure I know any real grammar – I don't exactly know why the conjugation of verbs that come afternosotros (we) are how they are. Or what the system is that governs the other verbs that might follow that pattern."

The full article can be accessed here:

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/apr/12/i-need-verb-tables-to-learn-spanish

Practice makes perfect?

Quizlet

www.quizlet.com

With this tool students can hear, practise and recap words and lexical chunks.

Quizlet enables teachers to produce flashcards, which can be used by the student in a variety of ways.  This is all about learning through repetition and drill and the main difference between signposting students to this site rather than Duolingo is that the teacher has control of the vocabulary input and can therefore customise activities to suit the level of the learners and the specific topics they are working on.  It took me a few minutes to produce a set of 10 flashcards for students to use in their own time if they wish to practise question formation.  This activity also reinforces simple sentence structure, ensuring there is a capital letter at the beginning and that correct punctuation is used.  The format is very formulaic and if used too often I think students would quickly tire of this.  However, it could be put to good use on a few occasions to encourage learners to practise vocabulary, spelling and lexical chunks in different ways.  

A link to a quizlet can be emailed to individual students or shared via Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest.  The URL can also be embedded into a Wiki or Blog:

Practise forming questions on this Quizlet. You can learn the phrases through flashcards and writing exercises, play games and test yourself.

Click here to go to Quizlet: Asking Questions 2

The site gives learners feedback on their progress, highlighting phrases or words they might be struggling with.

Quizlet promotes behaviourist learning, but gives learners the opportunity to engage with vocabulary and spelling skills in an environment that has elements of gamification.  I can see it being beneficial for those learners who make repeated spelling mistakes, seemingly unable or unwilling to learn from corrections.  Arab students, in particular, struggle with spelling and I think they would enjoy this gamified aspect to vocabulary input.  It's certainly more fun than learning vocabulary from a list and it could therefore be suggested that the tool can promote engagement and autonomous learning.  To use it in a more constructivist way, a teacher could get the students to produce their own quizlets, based on a certain topic or language focus.  This would not only reinforce language learnt in class,  but also require the students to reflect on their own learning. 

Meet my gremlin

Scepticism

This is my main barrier to accepting new digital tools.  As I review the tools we are introduced to throughout the MA/ICT course, I'm going to allow my sceptical voice to have a say, but try to ensure that it doesn't dominate.  I hope that this will open up discussion with my peers.  This was very useful yesterday, when I couldn't see the point of Glogster.  Discussing this with someone who had used the tool to good effect really helped to convince me that it could also be incorporated into my practice.  Far too often my critical thinking turns into criticism, and wonder whether this has something to do with the digital divide, with age putting me on the wrong side of this phenomenon.  Warschauer (2004) focuses on the global, economic divide between the "haves" and the "have nots", but Hargitti's study (2002) refers to a second-level digital divide, identifying age as being negatively associated with ICT skills.  However, digital competence is not just about basic hardware and applications skills (procedure), it also consists of having an understanding of how to use appropriate tools to communicate within a digital context.  From a teaching perspective, it's not just about presenting information, but providing effective strategies for learners to find the answers for themselves. A teacher needs to use technology not just to assist language learning (CALL approach) but to provide an environment or context in which language exists and is used.

Podcasting Tools

As I write this I'm still waiting for my trial recording to download. Every time the download is near completion, there is an error and it all starts over again. Not only is this very frustrating,  I find this tool quite complicated. However, the added value of being able to offer written feedback to student's recordings makes it worth persevering with.

All students learn English to be able to communicate in the language, and speaking is probably the most sought-after skill and sometimes the most difficult to get to grips with.  There's a lot going on at the same time - forming ideas and appropriate words, putting words in a coherent order, producing the necessary sounds and appropriate stress and intonation.  There's also register to think about.  Self-confidence also comes into play, with some students preferring to remain silent rather than utter an inaccurate sentence.  Exams focus is on accuracy in pronunciation, grammar and lexis and being fluent involves being able to keep talk flowing without hesitations.  I remember the stress of my French A-level orals and wish I could have had access to the technologies available today to practise and rehearse.

Podcasting Tools

Audio Recording

A very easy audio tool, which I can see as being useful for speaking practice, focusing perhaps on pronunciation.  Students can save their recordings and use them to track progress. The recording can be shared or downloaded onto MP3.

Audio recording software >>

Listening Skills

No more worries about archaic tapes and missing CDs!  There is now a plethora of authentic listening material on the web, which learners can access at any time and use in ways to suit themselves.  Learners can choose what they listen to and when and how they do it.  This turns them into active listeners - not the passive recipients of the outdated listening materials we have in class.  It gives them time to reflect and having control enables them to pause and replay, allowing them time to understand the content. 

www.audioboom.com

Audioboo is a podcasting site, which not only provides lots of listening materials but also where teachers and students can make and post and share their own podcasts.  It could be used to send a pre-session listening task or listening materials could be sent after a lesson for students to review and develop.  

More ideas on how to use Audioboom and easy-to-follow instructions can be found on Russell Stannard's Teacher Training Videos site: http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/audio-podcasting/audioboo.html