Intervue.me

What is it all about?

http://www.intervue.me is a quick and easy webiste for publishers who are looking to gather short video responses online from anyone with a webcam.


How to use it?

It is simple, easy to use, and appealing.  Just pose a question or series of questions and ask for video responses from students.

You simply have to sign up, create a new intervue with appropriate security settings and set up the questions you intend to ask.  You can then send students a link to your intervue and they can record 60 seconds of video with their webcam whilst flipping through the questions.  The really nice thing is that as well as sharing the video on Twitter, you can download the video in ready to use mp4 format, isn't this tool awesome?

Step 1 : Choose your privacy setting.

Step 2 : Compose your question carefully. You can edit questions later but existing video

responses retain their original questions.

How can teacher benefit this tool in the classroom?

The teacher can go online and write some interviews topics. For example, ‘Social Problems in Malaysia’or more casual topics like ‘Your Favourite Music’, ‘Holiday’. Teachers have to be careful in choosing the topic, level of the students, students’ language proficiency and suitability of the topic have to be taken into consideration.

Firstly, teachers have to decide a general topic to discuss with the students. Then, create a series of questions to be asked. For example, ‘What are the factors that cause social problems in Malaysia?’  Preferably, teachers may ask the students to brainstorm the questions together in the class.

The most interesting part is the way students can respond to the interview questions!

Choice, level, objectives, what have you done in class.

Framework to use this tool :

Theme – questions – practice.

Teacher would do an example first. Teacher would give the students time to prepare and practice and ask the students to write down their points.

Why is it good?

1.       Students are happy to respond since it is private and it is recorded video and improve their video since students can do it at home.

2.       E-portfolio,  e-record

3.       Oral exercise at home. It is very hard to ask the students to speak English at home. This will enhance their accuracy.

4.       Real communication is happening between teacher and students. Some students will tell their private stories and opinions  in response to the questions given.

5.   Student will self-correct themselves because they know they have an audience.

6. Students enjoy talking, when we do it in class we are even smiling.

7. Teachers do not have to do a lot of work. Teachers have the chance to build personal connection with their students by listening to their stories.

The weakness of it...

1. Not all students like the chosen topic; some may think that it is boring.

2. This tool is not suitable for low level students as they might find it hard to speak in English.

3. Recording should not be done in the class because it will be very noisy and interference of others students.  Students prefer to do recording at home because they will be shy and intimidated by other students. At home, they can write it out and make an effort to make a perfect video. However, it is not spontaneous.

4. Not everyone are comfortable talking in front of the camera. 

BUBBLR; A new way of presenting in class!

What is it all about?

Have you ever heard of Bubblr? Bubblr is a tool to for students to create their own images with dialogue boxes for description.This is an interesting way for students to explore and expand their imagination as there are thousands of images you can choose from.


Using images in language classroom is a fun way to enhance students' interest towards learning. This happen when it allows learners to acquire the knowledge using visual stimulus.  Bubblr allows teachers to 'steal' photos without breaking copyrights, as it locates public images from Flickr database in such an accessible way and teachers are allowed to edit them by adding captions using bubbles to become comic strips. Since Bubblr does not have many features that is easy to be used, thus, it is appropriate to be used in the ELT classrooms.


The example of Bubblr comic strips that I have done, is as below:

 


How can teacher benefit this tool in the classroom?

Bubblr can be used to practice specific grammar points. For example, if teacher want to teach the students Imperative. The comic strips feature of Bubblr are suitable to practice this grammar point since dialogue can be inserted in every pictures. To drill Simple Future Tense, teacher could ask the students to produce a presentation of the places you are going to visit.

Next, after explaining the grammar point to the students, teacher then could assign it as students' homework to make a slideshow on Bubblr. Later in the next class, in pairs, ask students to write short comments on the pictures and let them be prepared to deliver a oral presentation in the next lesson with more details.
Encourage students to share their artwork to their pen pal in another city or country.


Why is it good?

1. Students can create a comic strip and dialogue with this tool.

2. Students will develope a sense of ownership because it is their arts work.

3. It allows language practice opportunity trough the appropriate task that can be created. Hence, it creates fluency.

4. It is practical since students do not have to sign up.



The weakness of it..

1. My own personal experience is that it does not work properly when embedded to my blogger account.

2. Not all students are accessed to the internet.

3. Pictures from flickr are not as nice as I expected.

4. The bubble in the pictures are sometimes not suitable in the size and can be very distracting and annoying since they are not adjustable!

Using Dvolver

What is it all about?



 Dvolver is a fantastic online tool which allows you to create your own animated film. Imagine the fun you could have in class! Users can make online movies and add funny dialogues for each character. According to Dvolver, "People have a lot to say, and they like to say it with animated characters."

Learners get to choose the background and characters and then they have to type in the script. This could be an awesome and wonderful way to practice writing skills and have fun at the same time. The instructions are clear and when students have completed the film they can send it to people via email or add it to their own blog.

How to use it?


I would say this is a very user-friendly website since users do not need to create an account to use it. You will see 'Create a Movie' link right away.

1. Firstly, users will begin by selecting the background and sky for the first scene according to the climate and culture of your own choice.

2. Then you can start choosing your characters. There are approximately 30 different characters available. Every character has their own description and profile. Characters include normal-looking folks, celebrities lookalikes, aliens, animals and more.

3. Next, you will need to create the dialogues for each character. The dialouges will then appear in a thought-bubble for every characters.

4. Lastly, you can choose the music you want for your movie. By clicking on the options, you can preview the sound and its recommendations for use. By choosing the same styles and characters, your video will appear as a continuous scene.

5. Don't forget to select a title for you movie!





How can teacher benefit this tool in the classroom?






Why is it good?

1. It is fun! and obviously free. Traditional way of learning language would be boring to students. With Dvolver, no more too much teacher talking time without students' participation in their own learning.

2. It supports the ideology of student centredness. When students are making their own video, the usage of Higher Order Thinking Skills in deciding the right characters with suitable background and suitable dialogue to be used .

3. Dvolver gives students the opportunity to explore and enhance students' creativity in creating their own favourite movie.

4. This is not just an exposure to a good communication skill, but Dvolver helps students to practice their pragmatic competence.



The weakness of it...

1. Time-consuming!
2. It is hard to do in class with too many students, they will easily lose focus.
3. Some of the characters' outfits are not suitable for younger learners, they are too showy!

A fun way of spelling words!

Lyricstraining.com is definitely a fun way of learning new vocabulary therough the music video and song lyrics. With the existence of this website, teachers can have a creative way of teaching students pronounciation and vocabulary.

Students can choose a variety of songs from 7 languages to sing! Isn't that great?

In this website, there are three level of beginner, intermediate and expert. It is also suitable for students at various age. They can choose their own favourite song and listen to it many times. 

In classroom, teacher can make use of this website to improve students' listening skill and pronunciation skill from the lyrics. Teacher may use the exercise like filling in the blanks with the right words.  

Advantage

1. It is interesting and fun.

2. Students will not be bored.

3. Students can choose their favourite songs as well. 

4. They can memorize the phrase and sentence easily because the rhythm is very catchy. 

5. Foster autonomous learning among the students. This website will make the students not too dependent on teachers. 

Disadvantage

1. In Malaysia context, the internet connection is very scarce. In government school, the fund is limited therefore facilities such as computers are limited.

2. Some of the video clips are not suitable for primary school students. Some of the clips may contain inappropriate scenes.

3. Some teachers are too comfortable with the traditional method of teaching.

4. Some of the words used in the lyrics are not suitable for students.