Tag Archives: Smart phones

Clever ways of using mobile phones for learning

Encouraging autonomous learning via reading blogs

Technology offers so many opportunities for autonomous learning, but students need to be guided. Online reading has become a major source in the field of ELT. It is easy to access, up to date and diverse.

Encourage your learners to search for a blog they find interesting in English. It can be about anything; a hobby, their home country, sport, a celebrity they like…

The information and findings on the blog can be used as the basis for varied activities:

  • A weekly writing summary on site or on line
  • A short presentation on site
  • A vodcast using vimeo or a smart phone
  • A podcast using a voice board or podcasting site
  • Interviewing classmates

 

If you try this activity, let me know how it goes in the comments!

Smart phone oral Pictionary – any level

Pictionary is a great activity to use as a warmer, to introduce topic specific lexis, or as a reward at the end of a hard lesson. The lexis can be graded depending on the level of the learners. To generate the lexis, there are many options:

  • http://www.wordgenerator.net/pictionary-word-generator.php
  • Reward Upper Intermediate – ‘Don’t Say It’
  • Lexis from previous chapters in the course book
  • Students select their own words and write a list of 10-15 words each before starting the game
  • Students choose words they know in their L1 but not in English

In groups students describe their words for the other students to guess. Smart phones can be used when the students know the word in their L1 but not in English. They look up the word on a dictionary, and check it matches with the original. Students can then note down the new lexis in their notebooks.

Another variation is that students show their group a picture of a word they don’t know in English from Google images. The chances are that if one student in the group doesn’t know the word, the others won’t either! The students look up the translation in English and the first one to guess correctly gets a point. All students then note down the new lexis in their notebooks. This activity works well as a brainstorming activity for a new topic.

 

If you try this activity, let me know how it goes in the comments!