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ESL/ELLMicrosoft Tips and Tricks

Multimedia ELL Assessment

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Most language learning assessment tools are rooted in paper and pencil. As Surface tablets, iPads, and Chromebooks find their way into teachers’ hands, new technologies can move us one step closer to multimedia assessment techniques. For example, in the area of assessment, the use of Microsoft OneNote can be helpful for recording observational notes. In this article, let’s consider how OneNote can enhance a type of assessment known as anecdotal records.

Towards Authentic Assessment

In the Language Learning classroom, Microsoft OneNote can be used to support various types of assessment, such as anecdotal records. As discussed in 50 Strategies to Teach English Language Learners, using OneNote can greatly enhance the assessment process, through the following steps:

  1. Decide on a system for collecting assessment.
  2. Choose what to document/schedule.
  3. Conference with students to set growing goals.
  4. Use records for planning hands-on, cooperative learning.

A campus team, such as a department or grade level group, can take advantage of OneNote to facilitate observational notes and collection of student work. Growing goals can be set in collaboration with students, and the digital version can be updated.

Anecdotal Records

Anecdotal records are a form of authentic assessment. These observational notes allow the teacher to record authentic experiences, unintended outcomes of literacy development, levels of engagement, curiosity, motivational factors, and more. For teachers, these records facilitate assessment conversations between educators and others.

assessmentAnecdotal Records Assessment (ARA) with OneNote

In his article, Focused Anecdotal Records Assessment: A Tool for Standards-Based, Authentic Assessment, Paul Boyd-Batstone outlines several ways ARA can be used. Let’s review some of his suggestions for OneNote usage:

  • Observing children in instructional settings: In this suggestion, Paul points out that students may be observed in small groups of 2-4. One of the concerns is that the teacher may forget the observations. He suggests observing different students throughout the week to build an observational record. Furthermore, using the Office Lens app, the teacher can capture student work, photos, and images and place them directly in the anecdotal record notebook.
    OneNote Connection: Teachers can create a page in OneNote for each student, adding video/audio recordings of the student, while quickly switch back-and-forth to make notes about specific students.
  • Maintaining a standards-based focus: Maintaining a focus on a particular standard or set of standards enables the teacher to better keep track of what he/she is observing. Paul cites specific verbs that the teacher can use. For example, in writing, verbs would include: write, print legibly, summarize, describe, and others.
    OneNote Connection: Teachers can keep a list of standards they copy-and-paste into OneNote as needed. These become checkboxes participants could use to quickly check off standards observed.
  • Making and managing of anecdotal records: Paul suggests that a single-page form can facilitate managing records (see example in OneNote).
    OneNote Connection: Create an anecdotal record form as a OneNote page, then set it as a page template that you can insert when taking notes. Here’s a blank form, as well as a sample that you can review (get the PDF version of both). As you can see, having the form in digital format makes it easy to include audio/video annotations as well as traditional text.

Conclusion

Assessment in the language learning classroom can be aided through the real-time recording of student work towards academic outcomes. OneNote facilitates this process for teachers, enabling them to record their own observations in digital format and quickly embed media (e.g. audio, video, images) that enhance those recorded notes.

 

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Book of fairy tales
ESL/ELLMicrosoft Tips and TricksSTEM/STEAM

Amplifying Creativity: Minecraft Fairytales

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“How are you amplifying student creativity?” The question popped into my head earlier this week. Let’s explore a few ways you can combine Microsoft’s Minecraft: Education Edition (M:EE) (@playcraftlearn) with school learning opportunities. At a recent ISTE webinar, Boost Critical Thinking with Minecraft, Neal Manegold (Twitter: @nealmanegold) shared the following Maria Montessori quote:

Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.

Could amplifying student creativity be as simple as offering students experiences they can navigate? And, after a time, students move from navigating to creating? Teachers can scaffold this process with technology. The process is not unlike blending story elements from one genre into another.

The benefits of this process include meta-cognitive thinking and learning, story planning, and remixing story elements. Let’s explore these in more detail.

Benefit #1: Meta-cognitive Thinking and Learning

“Story is a person in a place,” says Douglas Kiang, “with a problem.” He suggests that students read stories, analyzing descriptive texts, and then re-create their mind’s picture of what they understood in Minecraft: Education Edition. Kiang’s students start with a text, such as from Harry Potter, then build a structure that externalizes their understanding of the text. In this way, students don’t go to Minecraft to learn, but rather to show their learning. In his November 2016 webinar presentation, Douglas Kiang shares these maps of popular stories we see in real life:

amplifying amplifyingAs you might imagine, these maps, or schemas, help students process information and construct understanding from previous knowledge (Source: Fairy Tales and ESL Text).

Fairytale Magic

“Your story is your life,” says Dr. Jim Loehr. “Telling ourselves stories provides structure and direction as we navigate life’s challenges and opportunities, and helps us interpret our goals and skills.” A schema makes isolated experiences mean something.

The maps that Douglas Kiang uses are not dissimilar from having English Language Learners (ELLs) analyzing fairytale structures, then deliberately mixing them up (see one example). One of my favorite activities when introducing Office Mix involves learners re-telling The 3 Little Pigs or The Little Red Hen. In fairytale lessons for Minecraft, you can have students remix fairytales into one and then dramatize it.

Can you identify the fairytales shown below (Image Sources: http://ly.tcea.org/mcft)?

amplifying amplifyingamplifying

The focus is less on getting a fairytale story “right” and on blending in elements from various fairytales. Students can do what the writers do in the television series Once Upon a Time.

Benefit #2: Story Planning

“Build something that already exists,” counsels Kiang, “or give them an open-ended creativity challenge.” He points to the Eiffel Tower or on-campus structures, inviting students to re-create a building to scale. Before students enter Minecraft to demonstrate their idealization of a pre-existing structure, they must plan it out. As tje teacher, you can facilitate fairytale story planning. Ask students to consider these questions:

  • Who are the good characters in your story?
  • Who are the evil characters in your story?
  • What problem(s) does the main character have?
  • What kind of help will the main character get?
  • What magic is involved?
  • How will the story end?

After planning it out, students can write scripts and then construct virtual interactive movie sets. If every fairytale has a schema, students soon learn that non-fiction stories do as well. Kiang’s charts “uncover” content, new ideas, and lines of argument in real life stories.

Benefit #3: Remixing Story Elements

“We need open dialogue,” tweets Stephen Reid (@immersivemind), “with our children about the #RefugeeCrisis.” Students are able to have meta-cognitive conversations about real life issues in Minecraft. In Douglas’ example, he discusses the use of TNT (dynamite) in Minecraft. Students debate, each eventually citing arguments not dissimilar to the gun debate. Students, described here, are empowered to re-frame real life topics and achieve distance and clarity. They then formulate a novel solution.

Conclusion

Amplifying student creativity can be as simple as blending Minecraft: Education Edition, metacognitive thinking, planning, and remixing real life. Art imitates life. Then once solutions are crafted, life may imitate Minecraft, er, art.

Featured Image Credit

Stephen Reid, Minecraft Refugee Crisis.

 

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ESL/ELLWeb 2.0 Tool

ESL/ELL Students Playing with Words

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Humor can be tough for ESL/ELL students. It’s a difficult concept to begin with, and adding a new vocabulary to the mix just makes it harder. Playing with words, however, gets positive results (Azizinezhad, 2011). These results include a constructive attitude toward mistakes, along with the stimulation of critical thinking.

The Incongruity of Humor

Word slapstick often provokes a chuckle:

  • Incongruity theory: Stimuli can be unexpected, shocking, or surprising.
  • Incongruity-resolution theory: Juxtaposition of two incongruous items that are actually related.
  • Superiority theory: Others’ or our own shortcomings, failings, or inadequacies  (source).

Share these ideas with students so they will know when a situation requires a smile.

Contagious Learning

ESL/ELLTo help ESL/ELL students with vocabulary development, have them construct memes. A meme is a cute photo or picture with humorous words. The more popular memes quickly become Internet sensations. Memes can be ideas, values, or behaviors that are contagious. Pair quotes with pop culture images and you get a meme that must be shared. Meme quote generators help students engage in language play. Deepen their experiences with interpretation, reasoning, and inferential thinking.

Meme generators that tickle the funny bone include the following. None of these require an account or login to use.

Make sure that, as your students are searching for photos to use with their memes, they follow copyright rules and practice good digital citizenship.

Digging for Treasure in Text

Quotations that students unearth in text they are reading can enrich the meme creation experience. Language learning jokes can sparkle with smiles. Combine outrageous text with bland backgrounds or vice versa:

Learning is often a comedy. Mix text, technology, and incongruity to achieve meaningful language learning. The results may be too humorous to stomach!

 

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stack of books with a red apple on top, colored pencils, and ABC blocks
Good Teaching

Skip Superficial Learning: Blend Technology

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

How can we get past superficial technology use in our classrooms? When I envision changing what is happening in the classroom, some of the transformations I’d like to see include the following:

  • Problem-Based Learning: PBL engages students not with technology, but with powerful ideas and learning possibilities that technology can accelerate. Read more about PBL. | Visit Professional Learning Site.
  • Collaboration: The hallmark of today’s technology-embedded classrooms must be increased communication opportunities along with collaboration. In Three Steps to Leverage Technology for Dual Language or ELL Strategies, you can see that these uses transcend technology and enable powerful, interactive activities that can be done at a distance. Try having students create a multimedia anthology of digital stories that can be read, viewed, and listened to across the globe. Another example involves students nationwide gathering and analyzing data via cloud spreadsheets.
  • Amplify Student Voices: Powerful learning occurs when we hear our own voice in the world. Affirming students’ ability to impact social justice issues in their community helps them develop their voice. Going digital on a world stage can transform lives in an instant for good or ill.

Achieving the Impossible

Technology also makes possible the difficult or impossible. One example includes creating lifelong electronic portfolios and another is augmenting learning.

  • Lifelong Electronic Portfolios: As learners, most work disappears at the end of class. Creating lifelong e-Portfolios enables learners to achieve greater insight into what and how they learn. It also forces reflections on learning. Find out more: e-Portfolios | Picture Portfolios
  • Empower the Previously Difficult or Impossible: Technology enables us to learn in ways previously impossible. Consider technologies like an iPad and Moticonnect, which fellow blogger Richard Byrne highlights through a guest post by Maggie Keeler and EdTechTeacher. MotiConnect augments what may have been done in the past.

Skip superficial attempts at technology-enhanced learning. Commit to blending technology for transformative learning in our classrooms.

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ESL/ELL

For the ELL Student, Does Practice Make Perfect?

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Do educators believe that practice makes perfect? Do you believe that English language learners’ brains work like muscles that, if properly exercised, will become more adept at the tasks they are set? These questions popped into my mind as I reflected on the following Tweet.

#ELLs speak, on average, fewer than 10 minutes a day in school. How can you learn a language when you aren’t allowed to speak? #WIDA2016

This tweet raises a few questions and responses. You are invited to inventory your biases, as I did when I resisted the inclination to agree. Let’s explore the questions.

Does Practice Make Perfect in Language Learning?

Stephen Krashen (@skrashen) points out that we learn language when it is comprehensible to us, when it means something. The Comprehension Hypothesis points out that we understand language (input) by achieving three criteria:

  • We have some language background to refer to.
  • We have some knowledge of the world around us.
  • We have context.

According to Krashen, this means that we acquire language by input, not by output. “Talking” he points out, “is not practicing.” He goes on to say, “More output, more speaking (or writing) will not result in more language acquisition. . .the ability to speak is the result of language acquisition, not the cause.” Speaking, however, does provide a way for students to obtain comprehensible input.

If Krashen’s second language acquisition hypothesis is accurate, then it does not matter that English language learners speak fewer than ten minutes a day in school. There is little correlation between learning and quantity of output. Practice, or activities that promote output, are important because of the opportunities they provide language learners in effective processing of input. Throughout this, students build a theory of the world around them, a “shield against bewilderment” (Smith, 2012).

If Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect, How Do ELL Students Learn?

Providing a safe, language-rich environment can enable students to learn a new language and be motivated to use it meaningfully. Students have the choice whether to participate or not in a language learning classroom. Games, discussing topics of interest, storytelling, and projects present opportunities for students to acquire language that is at their level and that they can grow on (what Krashen calls “i+1” with the “i” being for “comprehensible input”). Grammatical accuracy comes as a result of successful second language acquisition, rather than through rigorous practice. Regrettably, the latter is standard in high school foreign language learning classes.

How Does Technology Play a Part in Language Learning?

Creating safe learning environments that promote language learning are possible with online learning management systems. Listening to others can result in comprehensible input. Some approaches for ELL teachers include the following:

  • Engage students in the authentic purpose of solving a problem (problem-based learning/inquiry-based learning).
  • Encourage student collaboration on projects focused on the creation of tangible product(s) (webquests, project-based learning).
  • Amplify human voices as they gather stories and share them (blogging, podcasts, digital storytelling).

Findings (Jarvis, 2014) suggest that 1) Language learners find that non-pedagogical uses of technology are helpful (as opposed to direct instruction via language exercises), 2) The Internet provides many opportunities for comprehensible input. 3) Finally, technology enhances language learning when used for authentic purposes.

For more suggestions on blending technology into second language learning, you are encouraged to read Stephen Krashen’s blog on The Potential of Technology. Also read and listen to these TCEA TechNotes blog entries and podcasts.

References

  1. Jarvis, H., & Krashen, S. (February, 2014). Is Computer-Assisted Language Learning Learning Obsolete? Language Acquisition and Language Learning Revisited in a Digital Age. Available online at http://ly.tcea.org/teslcallobsolete
  2. Krashen, S. (2013). Second Language Acquisition. Available online at http://www.sdkrashen.com/content/articles/krashen_sla.pdf
  3. Smith, F. (2012). Understanding Reading: A psycholinguistic analysis of reading and learning to read. Available online at http://ly.tcea.org/franksmith2012

 

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ESL
ESL/ELLPodcasts

TCEA Podcast #3: ESLs and Technology

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“What level of cognitive complexity are students operating at,” asks Dr. Chris Moersch, “when using technology in the classroom?” Technology, asserts Dr. Moersch, needs to be used to think and reason. “It doesn’t matter how much money you throw at it (spending on technology) if you’re using it at a low level,” says Dr. Desiree Marks-Arias. “What is the potential for using technology at its highest level?” What an exciting conversation about the English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) and technology in the classroom!

To what extent are we positioning ESL (English as a Second Language) students to become college and career ready? According to the Alliance for Effective Schools, “About 63 percent of the 46.8 million job openings created by 2018 will require workers with at least some college education….” Traditional approaches to pedagogy often leave the ESL population underserved in preparation of post-secondary pursuits. Beyond analyzing traditional achievement gaps between student groups, including those who receive program services such as ESL, Special Education (SPED), and Gifted and Talented (GT), it is pivotal that equal attention be given to curricular and instructional gaps as they relate to (1) the integration of 21st century skills into core subjects and (2) pedagogical approaches that emphasize collaborative learning, technology proficiency, and problem-solving.

Identifying appropriate methods and strategies to narrow and eliminate such gaps requires a fundamental shift in our existing paradigm—observing achievement and instructional gaps not as indicators of student deficiency, but rather as opportunities for supporting and developing student learning and success—addressing “support gaps.” In essence, by evaluating support gaps, we can determine the effort and resources necessary for teaching, learning, and academic mastery. Source: The Support Gap: Supporting and Developing Teaching and Learning for ESL

Travel back in time with me to Thursday, June 9, 2016, when I had the opportunity to explore a topic that goes to the heart of equity in bilingual/ESL classrooms. That topic is the gap between how we approach teaching and learning in English Language Learner (ELL) Classrooms. Certainly, if you are an ESL/ELL/Dual Language teacher, or you are an administrator responsible for supporting ELL students, you will want to listen to this conversation. Be aware that this podcast is quite long at almost an hour in length.

Listen to TCEA Podcast #3: ELL/ESL Support Gaps
with Dr. Chris Moersch (@lotiguy) and
Dr. Desiree Marks-Arias (email: desiree@loticonnection.com)

ELPS and Technology: Dr. Marks-Arias and Dr. Moersch

Three ESL Support Pillars

  1. Student Achievement
  2. HEAT Levels
  3. LOTI Levels

To find out more about the Support Pillars, review the Powerpoint and concept paper (links 1 and 2, respectively) in the Links section below.

Links

  1. ESL Support Pillars PowerPoint
  2. The Support Gap: Supporting and Developing Teaching and Learning for ESL
  3. H.E.A.T. Framework Overview
  4. LOTI Framework “Sniff Test”

HEAT Framework and ELPS:

ELPS and Technology ELPS and Technology

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ESL/ELL

ELL Strategies: Digital Phrase Walls and Anchor Charts

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“My principal wants me to use anchor charts, or at least, hang some on the walls” an experienced teacher told me recently. “I’m just not sure I get the value.” I immediately started to explain why anchor charts are so important, and then sputtered to a stop, like a car running out of gas, realizing that I could not articulate why they were beneficial. In this blog entry, let’s explore the benefits of anchor charts, phrase walls, and technology for use in English Language Learner (ELL) classrooms. Of course, these approaches work for monolingual classes as well.

Before we do that, let’s review what anchor charts are, courtesy of Rhonda Stewart (Scholastic) for the quote:

…an anchor chart is a tool used largely to support instruction and to move the student towards achieving success with lessons taught in class. They are also used as a classroom management tool for students to self-monitor their behavior by gently reminding them of expectations and routines. Anchor charts are created during the instruction of the lesson. As the teacher models the lesson or strategy, the lesson reinforcement or strategy tool is written on chart paper. Once the lesson is complete, the chart is placed in a convenient student-friendly location so that the students can access it independently….

The beauty of an anchor chart is that it can be displayed as needed or determined by the student work. Some anchor charts live all year long in the classroom, while others are only displayed during the current unit of study.

One of the key phrases is that “anchor charts are created during the instruction of the lesson.” A question that comes to mind is “How can we transfer ownership of the anchor charts from the teacher to the students and use technology to generate the chart?”

Here are three approaches to try:

  1. Create a Padlet: Although Padlet can be used to create a word wall, you can easily share expectations for what “talking” should sound like simply by having students audio record themselves and share that in the Padlet itself. You can also include other content (e.g. text, video, images). Then make the Padlet available on a device like a digital projector or large screen television/monitor. If working with classroom centers, setting up a computer screen monitor connected to a mobile device will also work.
  2. Create a Thinglink: Think of ThingLink as a virtual interactive wall, which makes it great to combine with a large touchscreen monitor.
  3. Create an Infographic: Having students create infographics that they can share and then hang on the wall can be very engaging for them. Not only have they recaptured ownership of the anchor/phrase chart, but they are able to pull information from others in the classroom. Each contributes their own part.

What other strategies do you see as effective in ELL to create expectations for how students should interact? While you are reflecting on that, consider the following point that Nancy McNeal emphasizes in her blog Learning Twice regarding anchor charts:

The brain-based research of Marcia Tate and others support the use of visuals to incorporate new learning into memory. When the visual represents a learning event that includes the students, it becomes an artifact of the learning experience. It has meaning for the students because they participated in its construction. [emphasis mine-MG]

Are you ready for ELL students to become co-creators of their learning? THEY are.

Join the ongoing TCEA Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) SkypeChat via your mobile device or online. Explore and share concepts at the intersection of teaching, learning, leading, and technology!

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ESL/ELL

Three Steps to Leverage Technology for English Language Learners (ELLs)

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“¿Como podríamos mostrar lo que hemos aprendido?” It’s a question every teacher could ask students. What are some ways that we can use technology to show what we have learned? Since technology can change the way students communicate in the classroom via rich multimedia that amplifies their voices, it introduces new patterns of discourse. Students have the opportunity to develop a “dynamic understanding that is collaboratively constructed in discussion among students” in the target language (source: Handbook of Discourse Practices). Let’s explore some ways that enable students to collaboratively construct dynamic understanding of a second language.

Leveraging Technology for ELLs

While the first impulse may be to buy content and/or apps that have technology components, my experience as a bilingual/ESL education technologist indicates that those materials are seldom available for purchase when needed. Unfortunately, “access to a rigorous curriculum continues to be a critical issue for Latino and other minority students…[researcher] cited evidence that Latino and other underrepresented students are more likely to be assigned to low curriculum tracks” (source). How can English Language Learners (ELLs) and/or dual language educators have an impact?

By leveraging technology to enhance second language learning opportunities, instructional professionals can create new patterns of discourse in their ELL classrooms with “off-the-shelf” technologies. These “off-the-shelf” technologies will seem commonplace to digital coaches, yet can offer increased interactions between students keen on technology and learning.

Key Ways to Leverage TechnologyELL

  1. Students have increasing access to digital tools, especially as they enter middle and high school. For example, most standard mobile devices are smartphones that include a built-in camera capable of capturing photos and video and multiple communication apps. Consider inventorying what technologies students personally have access to, such as smartphones, level of network/Internet access on devices, home technology, and computer access.
  2. Increase home access to technology through programs that transfer school computers unusable for education purposes, such as older desktops and laptops that can’t be upgraded to run the latest software needed for high stakes assessments, to students. Encourage your school district to follow in the footsteps of districts like Abilene ISD, Arp ISD, East Central ISD, Round Rock ISD, and Weslaco ISD, which have technology take-home programs in place.
  3. Students and teachers can use digital devices as tools for authentic communication and for accomplishing intellectually-challenging, nonremedial tasks in the context of culturally-appropriate whole activities. We have already discussed in the TCEA TechNotes blog tools like Voxer, Appear.in, Google Hangouts, and Microsoft Skype to facilitate real-time collaboration. It is heartening to know that students, in flipped and blended learning settings, can take advantage of apps like Adobe Voice, Snapchat, YouTube, Kik, and Celly to connect with each other already. Even with home Internet access at less than 70% (as cited in this study at a Texas school), students at intermediate campuses and above may enjoy a higher rate of access to connected, mobile devices.
  4. Students can use technology to produce theme-centered, multimedia slideshows and electronic hypermedia books, and publish their poetry and written pieces. More on apps in a minute.
  5. ELL students can use technology to graph real-life data and explore, with audio recordings, the relationships between data and their graphical representations using programs like Google Sheets, MS Excel, LibreOffice, or the  Haiku Deck app for iOS.
  6. Students begin to learn the words for the graphics they wish to incorporate in their slideshow, as well as the processes of modifying, saving, and retrieving their work. They learn to interweave audio narration using the microphone on their digital device, with some experimenting in the target language by reading or translating their work

Three Easy Steps

Ready to get started? Let’s go!

Step 1 – Create Content

The tools for creating content have never been easier to use. Consider the following:
  • Narrated Audio Slideshows
  • Create eBooks – Students can create eBooks that incorporate audio, video, and text. (read more)
  • Digital Storytelling – Students can approach storytelling from two perspectives: oral or written composition. Remember that the digital storytelling approach can be used for any content area. And students reading peers’ content while listening to audio is powerful and supported in the research.
    • Oral Storytelling – The focus is on audio recording. Take pictures and then add audio narration. Or simply record audio of a child’s story and then have them prepare text to match it.
    • Written Composition Approach – Students write a script, match pictures to main events in the script, and then narrate it, combining all the components into a narrated slideshow.

 

Step 2 – Publish Content

If your district doesn’t have its own online space where staff and students can publish video, audio, and images, you can take advantage of Google Apps for Education with its unlimited storage, Microsoft for Education‘s OneDrive with one terabyte of space to house content, or YouTube. There really isn’t any reason why you can’t share content with a global audience.

Step 3 – Share, Share, Share
Once content is shared online, consider creating a district (or classroom) clearinghouse for awesome content in a Google Site, Microsoft’s OneNote, or a web-based sharing platform. This can be organized by grade level, reading level, etc.
Conclusion
“¡Por fin, sabemos como aprender juntos y usar tecnología para compartir lo que hemos aprendido!”
The main benefit of these three steps is that they remove some of the pressure of finding materials in the target language and help students and staff create content that shows their understanding of academic topics.
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Voxer
Web 2.0 Tool

Ready? Set? Vox!

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“May I audio record you reading your story?” I asked a sixth grader at a San Antonio middle school. “We will post the audio recording with your story on the web.” Earlier that month, I had spent some time working with students on their writing. The title of his story is How the Skunk Got His Bad Smell. In the past, I would have reached for an audio recorder (there are many available for iOS and Android devices). But this time, I decided to try a versatile app: Voxer.

Some quick info about Voxer:

The app styles itself as a walkie-talkie app with push-to-talk features that makes it possible to have just-in-time, asynchronous conversations. Connect with others using it on a device or online. Push a button on the screen, speak, and your audio/text/video is added to a “chat” where others can listen/view and then offer their own thoughts. It is drop-dead simple to get started with and use. Get it here for both Android and iOS devices. You can also listen to this audio recording explaining what Voxer is and how educators use it.

While you can customize your user name and organize chats with people with the free version, you will definitely want to get the Pro version, which is just $3.99 per month. The Pro version allows you to recall audio/video/text messages that you have sent, as well as manage group chats better. And you can save chat contributions indefinitely. Here is a chart outlining the differences between the Free and Pro versions.

Consider these approaches to using Voxer.

Approach #1 – Enhancing Student Publishing

“The minute kids think their work will be published, they take greater pride in the result,” says editor Susan Meyer (read source). Apps like Voxer allow a teacher to quickly collect photos and audio collections of student(s) reading their pieces. By going to the web version, you can save pictures, video, and/or audio to Dropbox or to your computer.

Approach #2 – Tapping into Students’ Collaborative Potential

“Greater access to technology and computer-assisted learning can be effective in engaging English Language Learners’ (ELL) motivation, developing writing and editing skills,” said Dr. Roland Rios of Fort Sam Houston ISD at the TCEA 2016 Convention and Exposition, “and tapping into the collaborative potential [technology].” At our presentation, Dr. Roland Rios and I had the opportunity to introduce a roomful of TCEA members to Voxer. Participants learned the app, then recorded ideas for how to use it in teaching and learning.

Approach #3 – Participate in Peer Learning Chats

“When we view ‘sharing’ as something that both supports and pushes us to be better,” writes George Couros in Innovators’ Mindset, “the big winner will always be our students.” The quote came from a picture capture on a mobile device and was then shared via the Innovators Mindset Voxer Chat.

Ready to give Voxer a try? Join the TCEA Voxer Sandbox!

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Web 2.0 Tool

A Newbie to the TCEA Convention Reflects After the First Day

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

This is a guest blog post by Tosh Mcgaughy, a Digital Learning Specialist from Birdville ISD. Tosh is attending her first TCEA convention and has a blog full of great ideas and resources here.

After years of teaching writing in middle school, the needs of ESL/ELL learners and other struggling readers have become even more important and relevant to me. A full day ESL/ELL Academy was a no-brainer choice when I registered for the TCEA 2016 Convention months, ago even though all my friends were heading to the Google Academy. I know there are digital options and best practices out there that could benefit these unique learners, and I was excited about discovering them at the convention.
Four sessions later, I’m waiting for the closing and door prizes to complete my full day of learning. Not surprisingly, I’m reeling from all of the resources and takeaways that I have gathered today in this academy. I’ve pasted links in our district shared folder, emailed teachers and ESL coaches back home, and tweeted as much as I could without getting off-task. All four sessions I attended yielded information that I will be able to use with specific teachers to help many students when I get back home.
My personal top two favorites of the day were “Sheltered Instructional Strategies: Transforming How ELLs Learn Best” and “Universal Design for Learning with Google and Beyond.” Both of these sessions had interactive elements (always a plus,) and focused on practical strategies for differentiation for these learners using technology as the catalyst for increased language interaction. SIOP strategies made fully interactive with digital tools from United ISD ESL Coaches Dr. Liendo and Dr. Solis included:
  • Jigsaw with QR codes for collaborative grouping
  • Quizlet for student vocabulary building using the “pick a definition” function
  • A clever Google Form template for the SIOP strategy, Alphabox, that allows students to submit responses via a simple Google Form and then creates a visual digital wordwall that ELL students can access throughout a unit on their own devices.
  • Tracy Clark’s non-stop relevant resources are housed here.

 
My favorite resource was Prism, where students can close-read and highlight text with digital tools that can be shared with the whole group and analyzed and discussed based on frequency of highlighting with a “text visualization” function. This is a brilliant tool to help these students see the complex thought processes that go into reading comprehension while also giving them practice using digital tools to do this, just like the online STAAR A assessments.

This is exactly what I was hoping for, and I am hopeful that the rest of my week here in Austin will be as productive and full of learning as today.

 

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