Playing with iPads

Hello girls! 

This time we are Andrea and Ari writing the entrance together. After our last session dealing with iPads and different apps to apply in our classroom we want to share with you our previous experience with these devices and all the things we learnt and created during the session. 

BOOK CREATOR

The first app we discovered was Book Creator, which allows us to create books by adding your text, images, video, music and narration and use all of your content to tell the whole story. We were asked to elaborate a book and the first idea coming to our minds was explaining what we were experiencing in that moment; talking about feelings. We added text, videos, voice recordings and drawings. Furthermore, we also used another app known as Stop Motion which added a funny touch to the whole product. We think it’s interesting to share it with you so that you can take advantage of it as well! Finally, once we finished with the book we exported it as a video and uploaded afterwards in our Drive. 

Here you can take a glance to our video: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bzs1fcmX3Fapd3JWbFhlODNiN00/view?usp=sharing

Application in the classroom:

We thought this app could be used in our classroom to ask our students for feedback. They can record themselves; write short sentences giving their opinion or even record voice notes showing their thoughts with respect to an activity, a project, the teacher’s action or whatever you want them to assess. We found really interesting the fact of obtaining some sort of feedback while at the same time they are producing language and dealing with new and up to date apps and devices, thus developing their technology skills.

This activity allow us to develop two HOTS which are Creating and Evaluating. Our students will be asked to be freely creative to design a story while at the same time they will be evaluating a process they’ve already experienced. This is a demanding activity for them but something they will enjoy for sure!

Hope you find it interesting!

BITSBOARD

The second app we learnt to use was Bitsboard. It is an app which includes a catalog of thousands of gorgeous flashcards and carefully curated lessons covering hundreds of topics. Besides, Bitsborad allows you to easily create your own flashcards sets and share them as well as to download study sets from other users. But the icing of the cake is that the app includes dozens of mini-games to work, practice, play and learn with the words of each flashcards set.

This time, we were asked to create a new Board using our own picture taken with the iPads. So we chose “Colours around us” as our topic and we took pictures of different objects of different colours that were around us in that moment.  Then, we recorded the word and finally, we uploaded the board to the Bitsboard Catalog.

Below you can see some screenshots of the flashcards and games, and if you are reading this from an iPad/iPhone you can download the “Colours around us” board by clicking here: colors around us.

Some of the flashcards:

Explore game: 

When you click the picture you can hear the word

True or false game:

Does the word match with the image?

Reader:

You have to select the image that matches the word

Application in the classroom:

We thought this app could be used in our classroom to involve the students in the teaching/learning process of new words. Instead of showing them a set of flashcards with a dull image of a paint-blot, we can ask them to take their own pictures. In this way, the new vocabulary becomes closer and more meaningful for them, and moreover, they get engaged and feel motivated because the teacher will use what they have created.

This activity allow us to develop two LOTS which are Remembering & Understanding and Applying. Our students will be asked to name some colours, understand the meaning in order to look for objects and then taking photographs of them. This would be a great activity to work on vocabulary just after have introduced the topic.

In conclusion, we really enjoyed discovering these apps and creating the activities. Little by little, we are becoming ICT experts with eager to learn more everyday!