Free Tools Challenge #7 - Kerpoof

Free Tools Challenge #7 is devoted to Kerpoof.

Kerpoof is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company. In fact, making pictures and movies in Kerpoof feels a little like directing a Walt Disney cartoon. Yes, it is ideal for young learners and yes, it isn't aimed at adult learners. Or is it?

Well, I am an adult (sort of) and I had so much fun playing with Kerpoof tools. In fact, that's why it took me so long to write this post - I was busy playing.

Here is what you and your students can do in Kerpoof:

Watch Kerpoof tutorials first. Then you can try and make a picture of your own. Choose the background you like and then just keep adding more things, the way I did here:

One way to do this in class is to start with an image such as this one. Then discuss fairy tales in general. Find out what your students' favourite fairy tales are, then let them create their own image. As a follow-up they can write the rest of the story.

Another tool that is very useful for TEFL teachers is Spell a Picture. Here is a link to a lovely lesson plan that tells you how to use it. And here is what the end result might look like:

Then, you can make movies:

They are really easy to make and, of course, you can make your characters say and do different things:

Let's not forget Tell a Story:

Unfortunately, none of these are embeddable, which is why I had to use Jing to record them.

There is a wide variety of purposes Kerpoof can serve in an EFL classroom. You can introduce new vocabulary and grammar, Kerpoof images and movies can accompany reading and listening exercises or serve as writing and speaking prompts. They only take a couple of minutes to create.

And, as I will be away for the next ten days, I apologise in advance if I don't answer your comments as quickly as I normally do. I am pressing the Pause button on the Free Tools Challenge, but I hope I'll manage to finish the Challenge when I get back.

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Free Tools Challenge #6 - DoInk

Sitting in a tree by Silhouette, made at DoInk.com

Today's Free Tools Challenge is DoInk, a free vector editor that you can use to create images and animations.

If you can draw, that is.

I, personally can't. You know how people say they can't draw, but they create lovely little paintings. Well, I am not one of them. I really can't draw. I never draw on the board, not because I am embarrassed by how I do it, but because my drawings only further confuse my students. Is it a bird? Or a butterfly? Oh, it is a flower. Isn't it?

I can't draw and I am going to prove it to you in a second. Yes, I did try DoInk. Of course I tried it. I managed to create this lovely educational video:

I am jumping 3 by lunas994, made at DoInk.com

I bet my beginner students would never have grasped Present Continuous without it.

I can't draw, but other people can. And you can share DoInk drawings and animations on your website.

butterfly by Kikanolify, made at DoInk.com

From what I have seen, most of the people in the DoInk community are very young. If you are teaching teenagers and if they enjoy drawing, this might be a perfect place for them. They have to be over 13 to join. But even if neither you nor your students feel like drawing, DoInk still has a lot to offer. Just explore it a little and see what you can come up with. For example, I really think I will be able to use this animation with my students:

How to Make a Baked Potato by Alina722, made at DoInk.com

As you can see, there is a lot of lovely language inside. And it fits perfectly with the topic of food and cooking.

If you are a blogger, you will find it easy to identify with this girl:

It happens all the time by GranolaBar, made at DoInk.com

A lot of students are apparently choosing DoInk to do science projects, which is great if you teach CLIL.

For example, this little video is amazing:

The Precambrian Era by Writersgift, made at DoInk.com

And if you are interested in the topic, just follow the link underneath. There is more by the same author.

The trick here is to play around, watch a couple of animations and wait for the idea of a lesson plan to come to you. Unless you can draw, of course, in which case you can create exactly what you need.

As for my beginner students and their problems with Present Continuous, I think I am going to give this animation a try:

Precipitation Meme by Quake, made at DoInk.com

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Free Tools Challenge #4 - Classtools

Our Teacher Challenge #4 was to explore Classtools.net.

Classtools are almost too good to be true. They can turn a most boring vocabulary list into an exciting game. They can organise your data. They can help you create wonderful graphs. There are so many tools out there, folks. And there is no need to even register.

The first tool I am going to show you is the Arcade Game Generator. Not because it is the first tool in the Classtools list, but because it is going to be our star of the evening.

When you click on the link I provided above, a window will open. It will look like this:

Simply type or copy/paste your list of words and their meanings into the window and click 'play'. That's all it takes to turn your boring list into something like this:

Click here for larger version

As you can see, there are five (yes, five) games generated from your humble little word list. What it does is make students go through the same vocabulary over and over again without even realising they are learning.

Let's look at another game. It is called Dustbin Game. Again, you create a simple vocabulary list and up to four 'dustbins' to categorise the words into. This is what you get:

Click here for larger version

Once again, I am urging you to explore Classtools on your own. There is something for everyone. I am going to share just one more thing with you today. It is called Hamburger and I believe no explanation is necessary:

Brilliant, isn't it?

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Free Tools Challenge Number Three - Bitstrips

Update (2018): If you have landed on this page from the Let's Go Digital website, you might be confused about the tools I used to create these comics. Unfortunately, Bitstrips and Superherosquad don't exist any more. The Bitstrips people are still offering something called Bitmoji, which (although nice) is a far cry from its original. If you are looking for a comic creator, there are still a lot of free options out there, such as Toondoo. Superheromachine is still out there, luckily.
I have decided to keep this post as it is, instead of republishing it, since it still contains a lot of practical ideas for the classroom. The post was written a long time ago and it was a part of a blogging challenge I participated in back then.

Created with Hero Machine

I am going to keep the posts related to the Free Tools Challenge very short, so that I can explore as many tools as possible and somehow catch up with the challenge.

In Challenge Number 3 we are exploring Bitstrips. I have decided to modify the original task and adapt it to my teaching situation. So, instead of exploring Bitstrips for Schools, I am going to stick to classical Bitstrips.

Let's say you want to create a comic with or for your students. Why should you choose Bitstrips? Because they are really, really easy to use. Because they are flexible. You can create your own comics in seconds using the ready-made characters. Or you can spend five minutes more and create your own character. For the first activity I am going to share here I created a silly pink-haired girl called Jane. I liked Jane so much that I starred her in the other two comics I created.

It is easy to position the characters, to change their facial expressions and their gestures. I am usually puzzled by comic creators, but Bitstrips are very intuitive.

I promised in my first Free Tools Challenge that I was going to keep these posts down-to-earth and full of practical activities. Then why do strange winged ladies keep appearing on this page?

Well, see, I kind of got carried away and, along with Bitstrips I used several other tools, such as Hero Machine (great for creating comic superheroes), Superherosquad (for comics, really easy) and Marvel.com (again for superheroes). It so happens that all my heroines have wings. I would love to share them all here (I have created a whole bunch of them), but there is no space. I am somehow sure that they'll keep cropping up in my future posts.

Now for my Bitstrips activities. Practical and down-to-earth. Just like Jane, who hasn't got wings at all.

There are lots and lots of ways you can use comics in class. I have, yet again, focused on three:

1. to introduce new grammar and vocabulary or provide further examples

You could, of course, just write the examples on the board, but isn't this much more interesting?

Try to make your comics funny if possible. Don't forget to change your characters' expressions and positions according to what they are saying.

Bitstrips are great for vocabulary and especially for idioms. Have a look of what Janet did here.

2. Comic characters always use informal English, so comics could be used to teach the difference between formal and informal English.

In the following activity I used a letter of complaint where a customer was complaining about something that had happened to him in a supermarket and then I 'dramatised the scene' in the comic:

This is just an example, but it is possible to develop it into a full lesson plan. First you can work on the difference between formal and informal English with your students, then you can work on the language of complaining. After that they can compose a letter of complaint and finally they could create a Bitstrips comic. There is even room for a role play in between.

Or the process can be reversed. First they think of a real situation, then they create a Bitstrips comic, finally they write the letter.

3. In the third activity I have provided the strip, but no text. I am sure you are familiar with this type of writing activity. Usually speech bubbles are provided, but I haven't done that here. That way there is more flexibility. Who is speaking? Is the cat saying anything? What are the characters saying?

Any ideas?

Please share your ideas in the comment area. 

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A Google Docs Quiz

Photo on Filckr by Erich Ferdinand

Free Tools Challenge #2 was to create a multiple choice quiz using Google Docs.

I normally use ProProfs when I want to create multiple choice exercises. I like ProProfs: the quizzes are easy to make, easy to embed, they look nice on your blog or wiki page and students immediately know what their result is and where they made a mistake. And, you can search ProProfs for quizzes other teachers made and share them with your students. However, it was time to try something new.

I love Google - from Gmail to Chrome to Blogger I am a Google girl. However, that doesn't apply to Google Docs. I simply never bothered to learn how to use Docs. Which is a pity, I suppose.

Well, this is a start. Not much of a start, since I only created one quiz. Here it is:

It looks nice doesn't it? And if you want to find out how well you did it, here is the link to the text where I found these particular words.

I like the idea of using a multiple choice quiz as an introduction into a Reading Comprehension exercise, the way I did here. A quiz can spark the students' interest in the text and make them want to read in order to find out whether they were right or not.

Google Docs have some obvious advantages. They can be edited over and over. Questions can be changed, deleted or added. They are collaborative, which means that different people can add questions to your quizzes, including the students themselves.

If you want to learn how to make these quizzes, check the tutorial in the Free Tools Challenge blog. I have also found a great tutorial here.

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Wallwisher and Vocabulary Activities

Some of you may remember that I participated in the January Teacher Challenge called Kick Start Your Blog. I took a break in February, but I am back now. I am a week late but hoping to catch up. The new challenge is called “30 days to using the best of the web’s free tools for educators” . It sounds very interesting. We will be learning about new tools and thinking of ways to implement them in our teaching.

I am going to write these posts from the point of view of an EFL teacher working with adults. I will try not only to test the tools, but to come up with activities and worksheets that can be used in class the next day.

The first tool we used was Wallwisher. Wallwisher and I are old friends. Members of my PLN use it to throw surprise birthday parties at each other. It works like this: You decide to create a Birthday Wallwisher for someone. You start the wall (it takes five minutes). Then you send the link in a Twitter DM to everyone in your PLN . They follow the link and post their messages on the wall. Your job is finished. You can just sit back and watch the wall growing. It is great.

Here is the wall I got for my birthday.

Apart from this fun way of using Wallwisher, there are tons of other things you can do with it. Tom Barett has come up with 19 interesting ways to use Wallwisher in the classroom. It is very hard to come up with something new after this, isn't it?

Which is why I am going to focus on vocabulary exercises only.

1. Wallwisher allows you to post pictures on your wall, which makes it great for creating small picture dictionaries. Here I have focused on different kinds of berries because my students often mix them up:

http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/berries

Most of us have strong visual memory. The students should be encouraged to look at the wall as often as possible and to try and remember where each picture is on it.

2. Start with one word (in my case 'work'). Come up with as many words derived from it. Then move on to synonyms and idioms. There are many variations to this activity. You can use antonyms, collocations, compounds... Anything that is relevant to you and your students.

This is a collaborative activity, though one person can do it as well. You can do it, or you can assign it to one of the students.

http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/workrelated

Wallwisher is a great collaborative tool. It is fast and easy to use. As you can see here, the result can be a little messy, but who cares?

3. Finally, Wallwisher can be used for brainstorming. You can start with a concept, such as 'holiday' and let the students post whatever comes to their minds. Here is an example:

http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/holidayefl

Wallwisher is good for vocabulary revision too. You can ask the students to post the words they learnt after each class or after each unit. Then they can write a short story or prepare a short speech using at least five of the words posted on the wall.

There are probably thousands of other ways you can use Wallwisher for practising vocabulary. Please feel free to add your ideas in the Comments section.

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What Is Your Computer Metaphor?

It is Week 5 in Multiliteracies for me. I know, the workshop finished a long time ago, but I have decided that for me the workshop is going to last as long as I need it to last. Or, rather, as long as it takes me to go through my weekly tasks.

I printed some of my Week 5 readings (I know, so old-fashioned) and settled down comfortably to read them. I got as far as half-way down the page of my first text before I knew exactly what I wanted to say in this post.

In Functional Literacy Vance Stevens quotes from S. Selber's Multiliteracies for a Digital Age. Selber explores the metaphor of computers as tools and says that 'a tool metaphor invariably influences how users think about and work with computers".

As I have already said, I had an idea for a blog post half-way down this page. My mind tends to drift that way a lot. I could never get through my readings at University without getting into a dialogue with the text on its margins. Which is why I advise you to read the article I have linked to above on your own (and, when you are there, you can read the rest of the Week 5 readings), because I am going to talk about something much more frivolous here.

How much does the way we see computers influence our digital literacy? How much do our 'computer metaphors' determine our abililty to use new technologies?

My mother's generation often sees computers as living things. "What does it want now?" she says when she hears a message tone on her mobile.

My mother is a voluntary digital refugee. She is not on friendly terms with her mobile, though she begrudgingly recognises its usefulness. With our home computer... Well, she is not even on speaking terms with our home computer. Because, according to her, it is evil.

The fact that she is a retired teacher is not quite surprising. Because it is precisely from teachers that I hear this opinion most. They are the ones who believe that computers are corrupting schoolchildren. Whenever my son had a New Year celebration at school, the 'Santa' would ask them if they had been good. I always cringed because I knew what was coming. After asking them whether they had listened to their parents and their teachers, he would ask them whether they had been sitting in front of their computers for too long.

Photo on Flickr by Wisconsin Historical Images

There are different metaphors at play here. Computers are seen as monsters or as evil magicians who will ensnare the children and turn them into game-playing zombies.

On the other hand, I see something quite different from the not-so-literate adults of my generation. Sometimes the children are left unsupervised to go online and do whatever they like. In this case the computer is seen as a babysitter.

Picture on Flickr by jpellgen

This, of course, is a bad idea. The reasons why this is a bad idea are so numerous that I will not even get into them here. But is it generally dangerous to let our children go online and play computer games?

While I was growing up, we were one of the first generations in my country who grew up watching TV. We watched Looney Tunes cartoons, which some people said were too violent for children. There were long discussions about what TV was going to do to our attention span. You know, I don't think we are that different from previous generations. Though, to tell you the truth, I don't like TV much. It is too passive. They talk to you, you listen. You can change the channel, but that's as far as you can go to change something.

It is different with computers. My son was only five when he created his first PowerPoint Presentation. It was a messy thing, but he was so proud of himself. And we still have it somewhere.

I don't know what my son's generation will grow up into. Living near computers and being exposed to them is no guarantee that chlidren will become multiliterate. They will have the technical skills, but without the ability to think critically and to question everything you read online, computers are reduced to interactive TV. Watching the teenagers from my neighbourhood, I get the idea that this is their computer metaphor - computers are 'fun boxes' for them. They go online to download music and movies, or to spend hours looking through their friends' Facebook albums.

Which is why I believe multiliteracies should be taught at school. Alongside with this, critical thinking skills should be developed. Yes, and there should be world peace and enough food for everyone. Birds should be singing and sun should be shining every day.

Between the digital refugees of my mother's generation and the digital natives of my son's generation, where does it leave the rest of us?

We should be somewhere in between, shouldn't we? Except that we are not and people my age are divided into two tribes - the technophobes and the geeks. With lots of variations in between, of course. Some of my friends dislike computers or limit themselves to checking their email. Others, like me, are enthusiastic about the internet in a way my son's generation will never be. For my son, having a computer in his life is quite normal and taken for granted. For me, the computer has opened new horizons.

Photo on Flickr by D. Sharon Pruitt

I see it as a geenie from a magic lamp, willing to do things for me and take me wherever I want to go. It is a magic wand helping me create things I never dreamed I was capable of creating. But primarily it is a communication tool, helping me connect to people.

I have used the chocolate metaphor in this blog before. I have compared myself to a child in a chocolate shop. Digital immigrants have the tendency to 'overeat' when they are online. They overload themselves with new information and new projects. Because they grew up in a society where they were expected to finish every project they started and because they still don't have the skills necessary to manage information online (such as filtering and sifting), they often feel overwhelmed. I believe that digital natives cope better in this situation. They start new projects, but they drop them as soon as they lose interest. They may not be as committed or as persistent as we are and we often accuse them of a short attention span, but maybe those are the characteristics necessary to 'survive' online. To use the chocolate metaphor again: maybe we should sample different kinds of chocolates, but we should also know when to stop before we overeat. Then one day you will find out what your favourite chocolate is and ignore everything else. And when someone offers something you are not interested in, you should find the strength in you to say: " Thank you, I have had enough."

Photo on Flickr By creativecommoners

Can you resist? I can't. But then, I am probably addicted.

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