Working on Multiple Windows on iPads through Side by Side

One of the challenges of iPads users experience is the inability to work on multiple windows. However, there is an App which overcomes this challenge. Side by Side (with Dropbox Support) is a multiple window reader / browser App available on the App Store for free.

We have recently attended Maria Brewster’s session at iCelebrate Finale where she successfully demonstrated how she uses Side by Side App with her students for timed-reading practice. Having been inspired by her work, we have looked into other ways we can use this App with our students for practising other skills, as well. Thus, in this entry, we would like to provide some examples for teachers teaching with iPads on how they can set tasks for their students using Side by Side App and hope that we can also inspire our colleagues to explore further uses of the App.

Side by Side for Writing Practice

Edmodo and Google Drive

Edmodo and Google Drive

 

 

For writing tasks with picture prompts, Side by Side enables users to look at the pictures and type at the same time on iPads. As you can see in the picture on the left, the students open Google Drive or Google Docs in one window and Edmodo on the other. They open access the shared Pdf file with picture prompts in one window and create a new google docs document for writing in the other window.

 

 

 

The prompts and the writing window

The prompts and the writing window

 

 

 

Once the students tap on the Pdf file, they can view the picture prompts for ‘John’s Daily Routine’ on the right hand side and type on the left hand side of the screen.

 

 

 

 

Add Timer for Timed Writing Practice

Add Timer for Timed Writing Practice

 

 

 

It is also possible to add a third window with an online count-down timer for timed-writing practice.

 

 

 

 

Side by Side for Listening Practice

Side by Side App can also be used for listening practice and typing practice through dictation activities.

Audioboo and Socrative

Audioboo and Socrative

 

Describing friends‘ is one theme that is covered in our level 1 course. We have recorded a description of a person on the Audiboo App and shared it with our students on Edmodo. Thus, the students can access the audio file ‘My Good Friend Claire‘ in one window of the Side by Side app. In the other window, they can access teacher-created questions about this podcast on Socrative Student on the web by typing the room number their teacher gives them. Once they access the quiz, students can start playing the Audio file and answering the multiple-choice questions on Socrative. It is also possible for students to pause and replay the audio file while answering the questions. For those who would like to use this activity in their classes, you can import the Socrative questions from SOC-456975.

Dictation

Dictation

 

Another theme we cover in our course is ‘Describing Countries, Cities and Towns‘ . It is possible to set a dictation task to students in Side by Side App by asking them to open the audio file shared on Edmodo, a google docs document and provide a QR code as Answer Key for Independent Learning. As you can see in the picture, the students can listen to the teacher-created podcast  ‘Dictation about Other Countries‘  and type what they hear in a new Google document that they have created. Once they finish the activity, they can scan the QR code using their mobile phones to access the Answer Key. Providing an Answer Key is especially useful for students completing this task as independent study.

 

Side by Side for Reading

In her presentation, Maria Brewster demonstrated that she uses Side by Side with her students for timed reading practice, where she asks students to have 3 windows: reading text from Google Docs, questions on Socrative and an online countdown timer.

Edmodo, Google Docs, Dictionary

Edmodo, Google Docs, Dictionary

 

 

Another possibility is asking students to complete questions on Edmodo and open an online dictionary in the other window.

 

 

 

 

 

We also looked into Speaking practice with Side by Side, where students could record their voice online while reading a description they had written. However, the various websites we have tried, such as Audioboo, Podomatic, Vocaroo, Podbean, Soundcloud, Chribit, have not worked in Side by Side App due to lack of Flash plugin. We have checked the settings to see whether it was possible to open the App through Puffin Browser but could not see this as a possibility. We would love to hear from those who have been able to create a podcast on a website on the iPad through Side by Side App.

Two features the App lacks are the inability to open Apps and the lack of Flash support. We hope that the next updates of the App will present solutions to these two particular challenges. Being able to use websites with Flash plug-in and being able to open Apps within Side by Side would make this App a must-have for all iPad users.

 

 

Popplet

   ”Popplet is a platform for your ideas. Popplet’s super simple interface allows you to move at the speed of your thoughts. With Popplet you can capture your ideas and sort them visually in realtime.”  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/popplet/id374151636?mt=8

With its simple interface, Popplet allows iPad users to create visual mind maps in seconds. As teachers, we have been using Popplet to plan our lessons and create workflows. With a tap, it is possible to put differently colored popples, connect/disconnect, move and resize popples on the pinboard. Popplets can be saved as photos on  iPads or e-mailed as PDf or jpeg fies. Teachers can name the popplets with the date of the workflow, or the theme of the lesson for record keeping.

 

 

 

We have also been encouraging our students to use Popplet, especially for brainstorming before writing. The easiness of being able to crate a colorful visual mind map has been welcomed greatly be our students. They have been brainstorming on Popplet before writing and inserting the Popplet into Pages to refer to while writing. This, we must say, works really well and makes Popplet one of our most commonly used Apps!

Listening Lesson Using Audioboo. Describing People, Elementary Level. STUDENT COPY

Listening activities: Describing People One        OPEN IN PAGES.       Level One                                    

TASK ONE: VOCABULARY  STUDENT COPY

Write down the opposite adjective. Use the underlined words  There are three extra words:

Straight           short    short               beautiful          unfriendly        dark     blonde             small   noisy    ugly            talkative          nice     funny              single

e.g.      tall      short

big

light

handsome

curly

long

friendly

shy

quiet

horrible

serious

TASK TWO: Go to Spelling City and practice these words

Route 1: http://www.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=10089443

Route 2: Spelling City App, Level1, ADMC Level 1, Describing a Person: Appearance and Personality. password is ‘English’

 

GO TO THE NEXT PAGE

 

 

 

TASK THREE: Read one of the descriptions below. (Your teacher might tell you which one to read)

John, a college student:

 

Okay, I am short and athletic. I play a lot of sports such as baseball, football, and tennis. I have black hair and dark brown eyes. My friends say I am friendly and nice. I am very quiet. I do not like talking a lot. I love reading about interesting ideas and meeting new friends.

 

 

James, a doctor http://audioboo.fm/boos/987589-james-the-doctor

 

I am short, but I am fat! I am sometimes quiet around people I do not know. With my

friends and family, I am very friendly and funny. My mum says I have a handsome face. I like my beard and moustache. I also like my short, brown hair. My favorite colour is red and I like listening to music and going to concerts.

 

TASK THREE: Listen to James or John talking about themselves.  Listen and find the differences between what they say and what you read.

  1. 1.       Listen and highlight the word

John, a college student: http://audioboo.fm/boos/987570-john-a-college-student

 

Okay, I am short and athletic. I play a lot of sports such as baseball, football, and tennis. I have black hair and dark brown eyes. My friends say I am friendly and nice. I am very quiet. I do not like talking a lot. I love reading about interesting ideas and meeting new friends.

  1. 2.       Listen again and  change the word

Okay, I am tall and athletic. I play a lot of sports such as baseball, football, and tennis. I have black hair and dark brown eyes. My friends say I am friendly and nice. I am very quiet. I do not like talking a lot. I love reading about interesting ideas and meeting new friends.

TASK THREE: Listen to James or John talking about themselves.  Listen and find the differences between what they say and what you read.

  1. 1.      Listen and highlight the word

James, a doctor

 

I am short, but I am fat! I am sometimes quiet around people I do not know. With my

friends and family, I am very friendly and funny. My mum says I have a handsome face. I like my beard and moustache. I also like my short, brown hair. My favorite colour is red and I like listening to music and going to concerts.

  1. 2.       Listen again and  change the word

 

I am small, but I am fat! I am sometimes quiet around people I do not know. With my friends and family, I am very friendly and funny. My mum says I have a handsome face. I like my beard and moustache. I also like my short, brown hair. My favorite colour is red and I like listening to music and going to concerts.

TASK FOUR: Find a partner who listened to the other person. E.g. You listened to John, find someone who listened to James.

Tell your partner about your person. Use he/his e.g. His name is J…… He is a ……… He has……… He is…….

TASK FIVE:  You will record yourself describing a friend.

 Plan what you will say. Talk about his appearance and personality.

TASK SIX: Download the App Audioboo. (free version) 

Record yourself speaking about your friend.

Send the recording to sectionCANAD@yahoo.com or to sectionCAD@yahoo.com

 

            

A Review of Week Four of EFL Through iPads: Learner Independence Begins

A Review of Week Four of Teaching ESL Through iPads.  Learner Independence Begins

This week was so productive week as we succeeded in work creatively through producing both teacher and student driven material in line with learner outcomes. Students were able to see the interconnectivity of one eight hour block of work, using teacher authored materials as models or points of reference when creating texts of their own. They moved between Apps of their own volition, as they are now more familiar with where they can get the type of help they needed in written or audio form. Hence, some learner worked really independently, reaching targets and showing others that they had all of the resources they needed to do so in the one compact device in their hands.

Describing People’s Appearance and Personality.

Aim:

  • To give students the language and vocabulary to enable them to write and talk about people they know.
  • To provide students with models of people describing themselves and others.
  • To provide students with a platform through which they could share their descriptions of peers.
  • To make students aware of where they could find information they needed.
  • To provide students with both extensive and intensive listening practice.

Vocabulary Input

Key lexis lists were created in Spelling City, flashcards were made in A Pro +, and a You Tube Video link was shared. Students had access to these resources at all times and it was evident that they used them as a dictionary or, going back to them for the words they wanted. I encouraged this by sharing the following ‘where to find the resources you need ‘ Popplet mind map with students.

Initially, students were given an hour to work with these three vocabulary learning vehicles in any way they wished. Some students worked purely on line, whilst a few chose to enter words they did not know at all into paper based notebooks. No one used the British Council My Word Book App. I am not sure whether this is because they find it difficult to use, and need more training on it, or if they feel they do not need another digital resource.

Language Input

Audio input

The Audioboo IPhone App was used to create three short oral descriptions of People. (see the lesson plan section of this blog)  My best friend Claire, was followed by a Socrative Quiz which was student paced, i.e. students decided when to move to the next question) The audio was played from Apple TV and each student had the Socrative Quiz open on their iPad. Quiz results were emailed to students, informing them of which items they answered correctly and where they had gone wrong. Students individually listened to the Audioboo again, so that they could listen specifically to erroneous items. For example, one student had confused 50 with 15, one student Rose with Rosen. This type of personalized feedback is one of the key benefits of digital programmes.

In a display what you know, team recap game, students were encouraged to reiterate the information they had just heard, encouraging input to become output,

At a later stage, students listened to other spoken descriptions of two men. They were asked to spot the differences between a written tape script and each recording.

Written Input

Students were presented with a PDF worksheet downloaded from the website-Lesson Plans for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Teachers, created by Catherine Schell . This provided them with language form focused work.  Several students referred to the descriptions here, when composing their own texts. More students used the Pages document accompanying the Audioboo,  as they were able to copy paste and make changes to it. How much is this a danger of the purely softcopy issuing of materials? Fortunately, the soft copy version was in first person singular and so students needed to transform all of the verbs, giving them practice in subject verb agreement.

Converting the Written Word into the Spoken Word

Using the Speak Selection function in Pages students were able to listen to a spoken version of the text they had written about their friend. This is activated by tapping on, Settings, General, Accessibility, Speak Selection, choose a slow pace.  When iPaders select all and highlight a text, the Speaker option appears. Tapping this option initiates a spoken rendition of their written word. Some students were able to identify errors in their writing as they are more accustomed to hearing language. For example, one student asked why the auto voice read out Live ( adjective  form pronounced like alive) and not live (verb form). I asked if his verb and subject agreed and he immediately realized that it did not and corrected ‘He live’ to ‘He lives’.  Students listened to the rendition of their work several times, shadowing it, i.e. repeating the sentence in the same manner as the computer read it out. Afterwards they recorded the text on Audioboo and shared it with the class via email.I was able to leave a comment on each students work, directly on Audioboo.  Students will then add this work to their spoken portfolio in Creative Book Builder, adding their Audioboo as a link.

Providing Students with Extensive Listening Practice.

It is difficult to find extensive listening practice at the correct level for beginner students. As yet, our institution has not been able to purchase audio tracks that accompany a digital book. Hence, I used iMovies to record myself reading an elementary graded reader. I read through the video camera screen, stopping after each page do that the movie could be emailed to students easily. I gave each email a clear title, so that students were able to open up each audio attachment and save it to camera roll. They created an album in camera roll, by using the edit button. They saved the graded reader iMovies into the Album labeled with the graded reader’s name.  When they tapped in slideshow, they were able to listen to graded reader being read aloud for as long as they wanted to.  Our teaching team is planning to record several readers in this way, so that students have no shortage of audio books at their level. In addition, we are planning to allocate one page of a graded reader to each student. They will rehearse reading the page aloud and then record it via iMovies and send it to the class email. I need to experiment with putting the iMovies into iBooks.