Aplicaciones móviles para la enseñanza del inglés como lengua extranjera disponibles en la web

Mobile applications for EFL available on the web

Pilar Rodríguez Arancónprodriguez@flog.uned.es

What we are going to see in the course

• Background of Mobile Learning• Characteristics• Positive points• Weak points• Some tools to develop apps• First task – apps evaluation• Second task – lesson plan• Sharing some conclusions

Background

• The origins of Mobile learning /m-learning or MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning) are in e-learning

E-learning

You have probably used the Internet to answer questions about English or to find activities for your classes. As you know, the search can be done in several ways:• You can find full courses, especially for levels A2 and

B1 of the CEFR; such as:– La Mansión del inglés

http://www.mansioningles.com/nuevocurso.htm – Curso-ingles.com http://www.curso-ingles.com/– Aulafácil http://www.aulafacil.com/ – OM Personal http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/ – Inglés Mundial http://www.inglesmundial.com/index.html

E-learning

• You can ask a question and access a forum such as Wordreference or Yahoo respuestas, or the BBC; a page with the answer, such as English Plus, or a grammar point within a course, such as Saber inglés. As an example we can type especially specially:– http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1299694&la

ngid=24

– http://es.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101024122354AA7MeI7

– http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv265.shtml

– http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000287.htm – http://www.saberingles.com.ar/which/95.html

E-learning

• You can search for activities for a specific grammatical point and get worksheets to do in class or pages in which to do the activity and get immediate feedback. As an example, if we type “past continuous activities”:* We find worksheets to print and hand out:– https://www.google.es/search?q=past+continuous+

activities&client=firefox-a&hs=Pzm&rls=org.mozilla:es-ES:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=f6zKUZHXCu_g7Qba-4DQDQ&ved=0CDQQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=629

– http://www.esltower.com/GRAMMARSHEETS/pastcontinuous/pastcontinuousboardgame.pdf

E-learning

* Or for self-correction which can be more or less sophisticated:– http://s.mound.free.fr/skyblues67/WasWereVing/c

onjwasworking.htm

– http://www.really-learn-english.com/past-progressive-exercises.html#01

– http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/past-progressive

MALL

• MALL is the next step in the evolution of educational technology reflecting the convergence of mobile technology and e-learning in response to a more dynamic society that seeks a personalized, lifelong and universal education (Romero et al., 2010)

Characteristics

• Formal and informal learning• Ubiquitous (any time and anywhere): at home,

at work, while travelling, when waiting or even walking

• Dynamic• It seems to be the natural progression from e-

learning• Flexible

Positive points

• A platform that supports many things (text, image, sound)

• Technology is now cheaper than printing• Promotes individual and collaborative learning• Integral part of life• Rather large number of users:

http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats/b#mobilebroadband

Positive points

• This type of stimuli as a combination of sound, image and creative elements is ideal for learning

• As Glasser (2000) pointed out, humans retain 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see and 50% of what they see and hear at the same time

Negative points

• It is still in the early days of development• Apps are not designed for all operating systems• It makes us re-think how to teach• It is a challenge from the designing point of

view• There are over 28,000 apps for educational

purposes available on the market at present, so they do not all have the same standard of quality (http://www.eduapps.es)

Developing tools

Types of apps

• Games, very often aimed at children, e.g. apps available from Cambridge English Online

• App versions of dictionaries, handbooks and textbooks, e.g. Cambridge’s EFL methods, dictionaries, etc.

• Apps providing vocabulary, grammar and/or pronunciation practice, such as My Word Book, Johnny Grammar’s Quiz Master, 60 Second Word Challenge or Sounds Right. – Some go beyond mere drilling or quizzing: listening comprehension practice by means of podcasts and the

exploitation thereof, e.g. Listen-to-English and A Cup Of English; – apps allowing conversation practice, e.g. English Feed, even with other users, e.g. The Language Campus

Adaptation of online courses such as Busuu and EF’s English Town to mobile devices

• Apps exploiting the use of language in context (most closely related to the interests and goals of SO-CALL-ME): through podcasts –e.g. Learn English, Talking Business English– videos –e.g. Learn English Audio & Video, Conversation English– films –e.g. English Attack– and cartoons –e.g. Big City Small World.

Types of app - Price

• Mobile versions of traditional dictionaries, textbooks, vocabulary or grammar tests, etc., (as high as around 30€)

• Apps downloadable for a small amount –usually around 1€, and rarely above 3€ (e.g. Cambridge’s English Monstruo)

• Apps with an initial free sample pack and the possibility to download further packs for a small amount (again, around 1€; e.g. the British Council’s LearnEnglish Grammar

• Completely free apps, e.g. The wide choice of apps available from the British Council.

• Full-fledged English courses , e.g. Busuu or EF’s EnglishTown (the price depends on the needs of the user and/or seasonal offers)

Some apps available on the web

• http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en

• http://elt.oup.com/feature/global/apps/?cc=global&selLanguage=en

• http://www.cambridgeapps.org/

Task 1 (15mn.)

• This is a rubric that you can use to assess two of the apps available in the previous pages, although you could use your own criteria

http://det.wa.edu.au/ipadsforeducation/detcms/navigation/applications/#internalSection1

Your ideas

• What are the most important features for you?• Why?• Do you think that you would use them as part

of your classroom activities? As homework?

Task 2 (15 mn.)

• Draft a Lesson plan including specific activities from one of the apps available in those links

Your ideas

• How would you integrate them?• Do you think they provide something extra to

your teaching? Why? Why not?

Some more appsHerramienta Web TwinVoxhttp://www.twinvox.com/ Herramienta Web Cookit Creatorhttp://cookit.e2bn.org/recipe_creator_beta/ Herramienta Web PhraseMixhttp://www.phrasemix.com/ Herramienta Web BrainPophttp://www.brainpop.com/english/ Herramienta Voxi (para llevar)http://voxy.com/about-us#press

Herramienta Web EnglishAttackhttp://es.english-attack.com/ Herramienta Web Language Cityhttp://london.languagecity.com/login#.UIP6lm8yI7I Herramienta Web On-line utilityhttp://www.online-utility.org/english/index.jsp Learn out loudhttp://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Languages Free ricehttp://freerice.com/#/english-vocabulary/1387 Listen-to-englishhttp://www.listen-to-english.com/ Word Champhttp://www.wordchamp.com/lingua2/Home.do

Anglomaniacyhttp://www.anglomaniacy.pl/ Bite sized Englishhttp://bite-sized-english.com/ Podcast Apphttp://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/tips/mobile-learning LearnEnglish Audio & Videohttps://itunes.apple.com/app/learnenglish-audio-video/id529480955?mt=8 Learn English Grammarhttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/apps/learnenglish-grammar

MyWordBookhttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/apps/mywordbook LearnEnglishhttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/apps/elementary-podcasts

LearnEnglish Sports Worldhttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/apps/learnenglish-sports-worldSounds Right http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/apps/sounds-right

WordShakehttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/apps/wordshake Johnny Grammar’s Quizz Masterhttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/mobile-learning/johnny-grammars-quizmaster 60 Second Word Challengehttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/apps/60-second-word-challenge

Some more appsBig City Small Worldhttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/apps/big-city-small-world

Premier Skillshttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/apps/premier-skills

EnglishTown EFhttp://www.englishtown.com/online/dp/press_11-09-2010.aspx Aprende inglés con busuu.comhttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.busuu.android.enc

The language campushttp://www.thelanguagecampus.com/?page_id=937

Cnn Asia Pacifichttp://www.cnnasiapacific.com/press/en/content/541/

Wag mob Appshttp://english.wagmob.com/

Talking business Englishhttp://www.talkingbusinessenglish.com

80 apps to learn a new languagehttp://iphone.appstorm.net/roundups/lifestyle-roundups/80-apps-to-learn-a-new-language/

English Feedhttp://www.englishfeed.com/?p=134

Quiz uphttp://www.cambridgemobileapps.com/education/quiz-up.html Grammarhttp://www.cambridgemobileapps.com/grammar.html Examshttp://www.cambridgemobileapps.com/exams.html Interchangehttp://www.cambridgemobileapps.com/general/intarc.html

SpeakingPal English Tutorhttp://mobile.brothersoft.com/speakingpal-english-tutor-download-919188.html

Genko Flascardshttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/learn-free-british-english/id307876281?mt=8 Talking Dictionaryhttp://download.cnet.com/Cambridge-Advanced-Learners-Talking-Dictionary-iPhone/3000-18495_4-206345.html Oxford Dictionaryhttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/oxford-deluxe-ode-ote-powered/id307233030?mt=8 IELTS vocabularyhttp://appfinder.lisisoft.com/app/ielts-master-vocab-guide-english.html Vaughan radiohttp://www.vaughanradio.com

Thank you very much for your attention