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!