Virtual Reality

The application of virtual reality technology to foreign language teaching is still at the primary stage. In the immersive foreign language teaching practice, virtual reality teaching can provide students with vivid and lifelike learning environment and cultivate students' autonomous learning ability. The teacher is no longer the centre of teaching but the organizer, the guide and the participant of the entire teaching process. The students can take the initiative to acquire knowledge in the process of real experience. The preliminary research and investigation on application of virtual reality technology to immersive foreign language teaching described in the paper, through the trial with the students, has won sound feedback, enhanced the students' interest in learning foreign languages and achieved satisfactory teaching effect.



The teachers, carrying out the teaching and research works, are the most important and scarce teaching resources. The overall social education resources are limited and excellent education resources are scarce. There are also the imbalance of teaching resources between first-tier cities and second or third-tier cities, the economically developed coastal areas and the underdeveloped areas.
By using virtual reality technology, the excellent classroom teaching video can be saved for sharing such as the provincial or national quality curriculum. By adopting 3D streaming media technology, the online virtual remote education can be achieved, which will help to improve the teaching quality and learning effect of distance education. For the ripening of virtual reality technology and decrease of the cost of related equipment, the virtual reality technology has more opportunities to enter the classroom. The school can purchase virtual reality camera, shoot excellent teaching video and provide them to the remote users for real-time and space learning. At the same time, the preservation of teaching video can provide students the opportunities for after-school review, assist teachers to share their teaching experience, help various colleges and universities share teaching resources and alleviate the problem of the scarcity of high-quality educational resources in a certain degree.

Augmented reality

Language is learned best when learners can learn it through real experiences situated in the learning environment . AR technology makes this process possible as it introduces dimensionality into language classroom through which learners can have a real sense of experiencing the language. This new perspective is to encourage young learners to develop the sense of motivation while they can learn by experiencing and by doing.
This technological system can better operate when the characteristics of the young learner profile are taken into account. The following suggestions can be made for the effective integration of AR technology in young learner language classes:
 Keeping the interest and attention of young learners is an important issue in language classes. AR designs can be effective in maintaining learner attention and interest. However, the content presented through AR should be designed considering the cognitive, social, emotional and physical development of the profile. Otherwise, the material may turn into a source of confusion for young learners. In such a case, they can lose interest and motivation in learning.
 Safety is another significant point in young learner classes. AR technology presents a rich content through multi-senses but it is essential that the content should be determined keeping the physical and psychological safety of young learners in mind. Young minds should not be exposed to information which triggers their psychological and physical safety.
 Since language is for communication, enabling young learners to establish and maintain interactions with other people through the target language should be among the main concerns. AR technology has been shown to promote interaction with people; however, it is also reported that it may result in isolation in some cases. Therefore, while integrating AR technology into language education, teachers should monitor the interactional patterns of their learners and encourage student-student and student-teacher interaction.
 The simultaneous existence of reality and virtuality is an advantage of AR technology. However, while adopting this technology in language classes, teachers should be alert that young learners are not too much fascinated by the virtual presentations. Otherwise, young learners may physically engage themselves in risky acts without analytically thinking of the consequences in real life. Thus, teachers should be careful observers when using this technology and remind young learners that the AR only serves as a material for language education.

Padlet

5 Ideas For Using Padlet in the Classroom

1. Getting to know your “audience”

Create a Padlet in the classroom for students (or faculty) to get to know one another. This could also be useful at a back-to-school night. Ask students to post a note with their name and something they did over the summer or something they are looking forward to learning during the upcoming school year. At a back to school night or open house, it could be part of a scavenger hunt. Leave the Padlet projected for all to see, and have families post their name and a picture of themselves.

2. Formative Assessment

After teaching a lesson, post a “ticket out the door” question to find what students learned that day. You can post a big question, such as your lesson’s essential question, or a specific question to determine who has met an exact objective. This is a great time to figure out what students’ perceive to be the important points about their learning, and it also highlights the misconceptions. (I don’t typically project these Padlets because sometimes students are sensitive of their work when it is new learning. It is best to generate a culture in the classroom that celebrates mistakes so that students see them as the very best way to learn and grow.)

3. Collaborative Research

Padlet can be a great classroom tool for small groups of students participating in collaborative research. To help organize the board, students can post driving questions about their topic, and as they find answers (or more questions) during the research process, they can post them under each driving question. Students can also post links, video clips, and images, making it more effective than traditional notecards.

4. Book Studies and Discussion Points

Padlet is an incredibly useful discussion board for discussion. Whether it is a student-run literature circle or reciprocal teaching groups, or a staff development book study, Padlet is an effective classroom tool. The leader posts a question about the chapter, and participants respond to that question. Students can have literature discussions even when the classroom needs to be quiet, or in the evening from their own homes. Teachers can prepare for professional development book studies by posting thoughts from a chapter prior to meeting in person, which helps the leader of the book study better prepare for the focus of the next session. 

5. Student Sharing

Provide students with an opportunity to share their work without taking the instructional time to share one at a time in front of the room. (Presenting has definite value, but realistically there just isn’t enough time to do this for everything students create.) Allow students to take a picture of what they are working on and post it to a Padlet you’ve set up for them. Have other class members view the posted items, and respond below it by sharing a “Praise” and a “Polish”– one thing they love, and one thing they would have done differently. A reminder to train students about writing effective comments, both positive and constructive, and to teach students how to use those comments once they are received. You could organize this by setting up a Padlet for each project/piece students create, or you could set up a Padlet for each student to post their creations throughout the year.

Voki

Voki gives you as a teacher the opportunity to engage students in any topic area through a simple to use and free resource available anytime and anywhere for almost any purpose. 

I have used Voki’s with students from age 5-13 and they ALL love it and on many occasions I have had students go home and show parents and use them on their own personal blogs or wiki’s. 

I have used Voki’s for:

• Getting students to share their learning
• Getting feedback from students
• Getting students to add a more human feel to their blog or wiki
• Foreign language speakers to express views and opinions easier
• Engaging and hooking students into a subject or topic
• Interacting with students on a global level (e.g. quad blogging)
• Practising and listening to their presentations (e.g. pronunciation)

Here is my avatar link:

http://tinyurl.com/sdvhtae

Storybird

What Is It?

Storybird is an online social platform (and Chrome app) for storytelling. Students act as authors, pairing their words with site-curated, licensed art. Students can compose text, but they can't upload their own art; they must use Storybird's curated collection in their picture books and illustrated poems. 

After signing up or logging in with teacher-provided credentials, students can read published stories or create their own. They can repost favorite stories to their own Storybird account feeds, "heart" stories they like, and comment on them. Students can explore what their classmates have written in the class library or click on the Read tab to browse stories using a variety of filters. When students are ready to create their own, there are three possibilities: picture book, long form (think chapter book), and poetry. To get started, students choose which format they want, then browse Storybird's art collection to find illustrations that go with (or inspire) their writing. After students choose the art, the editor launches and lets students choose which illustrations to use, add text, and create as many pages as needed to complete their story. The poetry setting resembles magnetic poetry: students work with one illustration and a collection of word tiles, which they arrange to form a short poem. Authors navigate between pages using a slider at the bottom of the screen, and drag and drop one picture per page or chapter. Students can save and publish stories from the editor and can invite collaborators to work on stories with them. Completing writing activities earns badges and crowns, which can be redeemed for stickers or writing prompts.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

It's easy to imagine using Storybird as a free-write station, to prompt various writing tasks, or as a platform for peer workshopping. With a bit of creativity, storytelling can also be linked to a variety of school subjects, including history, science, and even math. Follow the developer-created monthly challenges that inspire students to think about different narrative techniques, a particular illustration, and more. Or, use the guides or interactive courses to lead your students through learning something new about writing. 

With a free classroom account, teachers can create assignments, and review and comment on submitted stories. They'll also be able to arrange for purchase of any student-created work, including organizing fundraisers that give 30 percent of the books' proceeds directly to the school. To bridge the gap between school and home, parents can take their kids' account with them when the class is over.

IS IT ANY GOOD?

This impressive creative writing-centered site offers an easy-to-use tool to help kids make picture books, longer books, or poems. With Storybird, writers can share items with other users and get feedback or choose not to. Colorful illustrations featuring items ranging from animals to mermaids can help spark their imagination, along with story suggestions offered by the site through writing challenges, in case kids can't think of an idea. There's also plenty on hand for them to read, including some stories that feature ethical and moral messages with titles such as "Fun Is for Everyone."

Here is my Storybird story.

https://storybird.com/picture-book/act-like-the-others

Powtoon

Powtoon is an animation and presentation program that can be used to create more interactive and engaging content. It offers a variety of animation styles including cartoons, infographics, and whiteboards. The program is web-based, so you can access your projects from any computer with an Internet connection and Flash.

Complete with a media library, a variety of features, and a clean interface, Powtoon might be a great tool if you’re looking to create marketing or educational content. It uses a subscription-based access plan although it does offer a free plan that allows you to try everything out first.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

PowToon has the potential to be a powerful animated presentation tool. Whether teacher- or student-created presentations are the plan, the slide-based format allows presenters some control over how they present their information. Turn writing instruction on its head by teaching students to create expository or persuasive videos. Bring science to life by creating animations of famous scientific discoveries. Ditch the health textbook and let students create infographic-style videos to show the benefits of healthy eating and exercise. Show the power of word economy by having students create public service announcements or 100-word presentations that pack a punch. Liven up your own instruction and grab students' attention by creating animations on an unlimited number of topics -- perhaps including some fun stickers, backgrounds, and borders to keep viewers engaged.

PowToon blogs feature inspirational articles on the merits of using animated presentations -- mostly marketing hype with some useful hints included, so you may find it helpful to browse through them. Teachers should be prepared to spend a class period or two letting students figure out how to use PowToon and its many features, and it will help if teachers know something about the tool in order to guide students. Beware that since PowToon uses images and video from Flickr and Storyblocks, students may inadvertently access inappropriate content. Teachers should remind their students of the school policy regarding such incidents as they create their slides.

Is It Good for Learning?

While many of PowToon's resources and tutorials focus on business and marketing presentations, the ability to spice up the traditional slideshow presentation enhances its potential as a classroom tool. Students can become teachers, and teachers can increase their tech cred with students by moving beyond the slideshow. There are real opportunities to create problem-based learning assignments and passion projects, and to teach design thinking concepts by having students research issues and create short PSAs or solution-based informational videos. Teachers will want to spend some time teaching students about the balance between text and pictures -- as well as how to plan slide length -- so that viewers don't get bored by too much text or are rushed to read the text that's there. There isn't much worse than being stuck watching video after video filled with paragraphs that overwhelm without teaching much.

Despite its education plans, PowToon's support, examples, and the general feel are geared more toward use in the business world. Social media pages such as Twitter and Facebook are becoming more useful resources for teachers looking to use PowToon as a learning tool, but classroom use feels like an afterthought. Students can share presentations with their peers and collaborate on ideas in class, but real-time collaborative editing capability would be a nice addition. More education-related examples and blogs for inspiration would make this tool an even more valuable classroom resource.

Pixton

Pixton is a cartoon creation tool that allows its users to create awesome comics. Pixton has also a growing community that anyone can access to contribute with their own comics. This tool is very easy to use and does not require any artistic skills to work on it. You can introduce it to your students and let them create their own comics and share them with each other.

Besides the free individual accounts, Pixton offers a service designed specifically for schools called Pixton for Schools which is not free. This service enables teachers to create private rooms for their students in which they can collaboratively create and share their comics.

Some features of Pixton

Here is a list of the main features that Pixton provides for its users:

• It is free for individual accounts
• It lets users create their own comics
• It lets you give text and speech bubbles to characters
• It lets you edit the shape and position of each comic panel
• It offers unlimited range of expressions
• It lets you upload your own photos and personalize them the way you want
• It provides presets, templates, and shapes.