clicknlearn.net | An interactive way to learn language

Hola everyone!

Today, I would like to introduce another interesting tool to be used to learn language. It is clicknlearn. 

What is it?

Clicknlearn is a website that provides an interactive way of learning language, useful for both teachers and learners. There are lots of interesting activities that can be found here. What makes it more great is that the activities are sorted according to level of learners and covered a variety of topics. Once you clicked on a topic, you will be taken through a set of related exercises and games. Activities are usually associated with pictures, animated images and sounds, which makes it more engaging for learners. There is also marks shown for some exercises so that you would know how well you are doing. For teachers, there are also printable materials provided in which teachers can print and use it in classroom. 

Although this is a Spanish website, it also offers the learning of three other languages: English, French and Valencia.

clicknlearn interface

How to use it?

So, this is how to use clicknlearn: 

Below is the video which will provide you with brief explanation on how to use the website in case you need more help:

How to use clicknlearn to teach/learn language?

Clicknlearn is helpful for teachers in the sense that it provides useful activities to be used in language classroom. Teachers may use this tool to teach vocabularies, functions and grammars as well as to    supplement their teaching materials. This tool which uses lots of pictures, animations and sounds could cater students' needs and learning styles.

This tool can also help students to learn autonomously. Students, at home, can just easily go to the website and do the activities. As there would be a brief introduction of contents at the beginning of most topics, there would not be much difficulties for students to just go through the activities by themselves. This would help students to become an autonomous learner of language as well as self-assess themselves. 

What I liked

• Lots of activities
• There are pictures, animations and sounds. Makes the learning double interesting and engaging than just learning from books.
• Activities cover various topics and skills.
• Suitable for learners at all levels.
• Vocabularies are presented in context.
• Some activities can be printed - useful for teachers, can use it in the classroom.
• It is free of charge.
• There is no need to set up account. You can just use it instantly. 

What I disliked

• Instructions are mostly in Spanish. Might cause difficulties for users with other language background.
• Feedbacks given are in written and sometimes too lengthy. Students might just ignore it.
• There is no 'BACK' button in case students want to go back to previous activities. 
• There is also no 'NEXT' button available in case students want to skip the activities. They have to go through them all.
• Need internet connection. 

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Vocaroo | Online voice recorder

In this post, I would like to introduce you to another interesting tool, Vocaroo which is the easiest online recording tool.

Vocaroo interface

It allows you to do 5 minutes recording on the internet. What makes it great is that you can download the audio file, embed it on your blog/website and send it to e-mail. It is really easy to use and there is no need to install any software to your computer. And of course, it's free!

Here is 4 simple steps to record your voice using Vocaroo:

Vocaroo and language teaching

Teachers and students can use Vocaroo to do audio recordings and create podcasts, which can be very useful in order to develop students' speaking skills. So, teachers can use Vocaroo for any activity which involves speaking. An example of speaking task which integrates Vocaroo is as follows:

1. Teacher can ask students to choose a topic to talk about. It would be useful to choose a topic that of students' interest so that they would have something to say and become engaged with the activity. Topic chosen for this activity is 'unforgettable moments'.
2. Teacher can start the activity by providing students with examples by telling them stories or play recordings. This would gives students some ideas on what to say and include in their recordings. Teacher can also provide students with a framework. 
3. Students then would be given time for notes and brainstorming ideas.
4. In a group of 3 or 4, each student would take turn to tell their stories to their group members. At this stage, teacher would monitor students and give feedback such as on the organisation of story or the language use.
5. After that, teacher would demonstrate to students on how to use Vocaroo. Students can do the recordings at home and share it in class blog. They can also email the recordings to the teacher.
6. Teacher then would provide students with feedback. Students too can provide peer feedback by commenting on each other recordings. 

Other than that, Vocaroo can also be used for pronunciation practice by asking students to read texts aloud and record it using Vocaroo. Students too can use Vocaroo to do speaking journal and share it in their personal or class blogs. Generally, Vocaroo would help teacher to do an assessment on students' speaking skills. 

Teacher also can use this tool to do recordings as materials for listening activities. 

What I liked about it

• It is fast and easy to use
• Can use it without the need to install any software
• The recording can be downloaded and shared online
• Can re-record your voice
• Can upload own recordings but not more than 50MB
• It is free

Its limitations

• Can record only up to 5 minutes
• Can't record video (can't see facial expression)
• Need internet connection

Here is how Vocaroo looks like when it's embedded in your blog.

Audio and voice recording >>

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PIMPAMPUM Bubblr!

Today, I would like to introduce an interesting tool to be used for teaching called Bubblr.

What is it?

Bublr is a tool to create comic strips using photos from flickr.com.


How to use it?
Here's a tutorial video which I've done to guide you step-by-step on how to use Bubblr.

How can it be used in language teaching?

• Teacher can use this tool to prepare materials for brainstorming activity. For example, teacher can present to students slides of pictures related to particular topic and asks them to respond to it.
• For writing activity, teacher can ask students to do a comic strip or a story based on a given topic/theme. Then, students are required to create dialogues for their comic as creative as they can. This could be done in pairs or in groups. Collaborative work is a good way to get students talking as well as to help them generate more ideas.
• For individual work, teacher can ask students to make their own presentation using Bubblr on a certain topic, for example a place that they want to visit. This can be done as homework during weekend, in which students are supposed to do it on their own which would give them sense of personalisation. Once finished, students need to email it to the teacher. It is a great way for teacher to check whether students have done their work or not. Then, teacher can ask students to present what they have done in class which would help them to practice speaking and develop their confidence.
• Teacher can also use Bubblr to practice grammar. For example, teacher can first make a comic strips with lots of grammar mistakes. Then, teacher can provide students with link, ask students to recycle the strip, make corrections where necessary and email it to their teacher. This can be done as homework.
• Teacher can also use this tool to help students practice the types of writing that has chronological order such as procedures, recipes or autobiography. 

What I liked about it

• Great tools for instant presentation.
• It helps students to be creative - making their own comic strips
• A great way to help students to practice using language - putting in dialogues and captions.
• Pictures used for presentation are usually in high-quality. (Flickr's users are mostly professional photographer)
• There are lots and variety of pictures to choose.
• It's FREE!

Its limitations

• It needs internet connection. This might be a problem as not all students and teachers has access to internet.
• The presentation made can't be saved to your computer. So, you need to get online every time you want to use it which is not practical if your school doesn't have internet connection.
• It takes time to find suitable pictures for presentation as there are too many to choose from. There are also chances for students to encounter with inappropriate pictures.
• As Flickr is the only available resource for pictures, it would not be possible for students to use their own pictures for the presentation unless they've got Flickr's account. 
• There are no choice of fonts and text size and words can't be bold.
• Bubbles can't be resized which limits writing. A long text would make the speech bubbles bigger and hence cover the picture. Bubbles also can't be made transparent.
• Can't add animations and soundtrack.

And below is the example of presentation I've made myself using Bubblr.

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Have fun with Dvolver!

I'd always found movie or animation as an useful aid for teaching language. So, now I would like to share with you an interesting tool called Dvolver.

What is it?
Dvolver is a tool that helps you to create short animated movies online. It is really easy to use. All you need to do is to select your own choice of background, characters, scenario, soundtrack, and credits as well as type in your own dialogue.

Now, everyone can be a director and create their own movie. And it's totally FREE!

Dvolver moviemaker interface

How to use Dvolver?

Here is step-by-step guide on how you can create videos using Dvolver:

1. Go to Dvolver <--- (click on the link to go to the website).
2. Then, click on 'make a movie' button. 
3. Set place for your movie by selecting a background and a sky. Once done, click on 'next' button.
4. Select a plot for your movie. Once you have made up your mind on the plot that you are going to use, click 'next'.
5. Choose characters for starring in your movie.
6. Next, add dialogues for each character but bear in mind that you only have to commit to 100 words per line.
7. Once done with the dialogue, click on 'next' to choose background music to give your movie some mood. You can also choose not to include music if preferable.
8. If you like to make another scene, just click on 'add new scene' and repeat the above process, or if you are happy enough with your movie, just click on 'finish movie' button.
9. Give your movie a title and include director's name. Choose a title design. Then, click on 'preview and send movie' button.
10. DONE! You can now watch your movie and share it through e-mail, either to your friends or teachers.

Don't worry if you can't make it the first time . Just click on this video that would show you how to use Dvolver step-by-step. 

Video on how to use Dvolver

How to use this with students

• Teachers can use this tool to create multimedia materials for students. For example, before class teachers can make a short movie using Dvolver to pre-teach students about a particular grammar point.
• For homework purpose, teacher can ask students either individually or in groups to direct a movie about topics that are related to students' life such as educational trip, sports day and teacher's day, or about their personal life like their hobbies, favorite movies and holiday plan. Asking students to come out with something that are related to their life can help them to have something to say. After finishing their masterpieces, students can just e-mail it to teachers to look at. 

What I liked about it

• It is fun and motivating.
• It is user-friendly. Easy to use and quick to learn.
• It helps to develop students' creativity.
• It gives students sense of ownership.
• It is FREE!

Its limitations

• It needs internet connection, which might be a problem as not all students have access to internet.
• Choices given such as character and scene are quite fixed, which would limit students' creativeness in making the video. It would be better of students can create their own characters.
• Some characters given also are not appropriate especially for younger students. 

I've actually made a movie using this cool stuff. So, sit back and ENJOY!

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