If you are experimenting with learners using the video mode of their iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, I can highly recommend this app. Horizon Video Recorder allows the user to capture and create a better quality clip because no matter how your device is held, it will always film in horizontal mode allowing for a clearer image in playback mode without cutting out some of the content.
Tag Archives: app
An app a day! Day 6 – British Council Learn English Grammar (UK Edition)
British Council Learn English Grammar (UK Edition) is a great way for learners to practice their grammar structures in their own time outside class. Great for making use of commuting time to brush up on grammar skills while on the move. Any queries can be verified with teachers in class. Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced level packs available.
Available for Android on Google Play, Windows Phone and iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
An app a day! Day 5 – iTranslate
iTranslate for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch is a quick and easy translation app that allows learners to choose from 92 languages from Burmese to Swahili, and switch between them depending on where they come from.
I have found the app useful with low-level learners who are unable to communicate their ideas with ease and find another way to say the same thing. By putting in the words in their L1, iTranslate gives learners a visual record of new lexis, that they can consult again in their own time by referring to the “history” of the words they have looked up.
An app a day! Day 4 – The Phrasal Verbs Machine – Cambridge
The Phrasal Verbs Machine from Cambridge ensures that phrasal verbs will never be the same again! Learners select the correct phrasal verb from the five options given by the Phrasal Verb Machine, in response to the animation shown. The animation is in a 1920’s style as is the machine and the accompanying music. Hours of fun and a great way to engage learners in their own time so they feel confident and motivated to incorporate phrasal verbs more frequently in their discourse.
Available for iPad, iPhone, iPhone Touch and Android on Google Play.
An app a day – Day 3 – British Council LearnEnglish Audio & Video
A great app that exposes learners to authentic language content through short audio and video episodes. Interactive audio scripts are available for every episode with highlighted target language. The series include “How To” say things right in different situations, “Professional Podcasts” aimed at improving English in the workplace, and a “Magazine” that tackle issues like feeding the world.
Available for Android, iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.
An app a day! Day 2 – Nutshell Camera
An app a day! Day 1 – iBooks Author for iPad
The iBooks Author app enables the user to create multimedia material with static and dynamic images, voice threads, audio and text. I see numerous possibilities for it to be exploited because the learning potential and affordances it provides are endless and think it is a particularly interesting resource. However, the one principle drawback of the software is its limitation to Macs and iPads.
I have used iBooks author with learners by setting them a homework task to create a digital travel brochure. The students were highly motivated at the prospect of using technology as a tool to demonstrate their abilities in English, and the end results were impressive. I think there is also great potential to use the software to practice pronunciation by using the voice thread function and video.