U12: Immersing Yourself into Language Learning

Quinn Taber, founder and CEO of Irvine-based virtual reality language-learning company, Immerse, grew up with parents who did humanitarian work and moved around a lot.  It was difficult for him to learn new languages, and when he moved back to the Middle East where he was originally from, he immersed himself in the language in order to understand and learn it. Mark Warschauer, the director of UC Irvine's Digital Learning Lab who founded the journal Language Learning and Technology, knows that effective language learning involves a combination of structured instruction and immersive practice. He also knows that one of the best ways to learn another language is by studying abroad, but not everyone is able to do that.  Technology is able to reach a greater number of people and at a lower cost, which is all how he came up with the idea for Immerse.

Warschauer also looked into a study of game-based learning involving games such as World of Warcraft and Second Life.  There is research on how these games can improve someone’s Spanish if playing the Spanish version.

Immerse’s VR engineer, Dylan Walsh says that virtual reality is the only way to allow for true immersion. He explained how they can create a scenario where a person would have to give a public presentation on a stage to simulate emotions and anxiety, but within a safe environment with a patient tutor right there to help. I can see how this could help many people face their fear of public speaking, not just ESL learners.

Users of this program are given a VR headset and have an English teacher from anywhere in the world. They are given different situations pertinent to their lives. For example, if someone has a business trip, they can practice going to the airport and check their flight time. Then their teacher can switch gears and have the student practice ordering food. It sounds very exciting and beneficial to learners.

Taber wants to keep Immerse accessible to everyone and eventually grow the company. In the meantime, he is using the program to help employ Syrian refugees in need of work by training them to become language teachers.

https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/tn-wknd-et-virtual-reality-language-20190404-story.html

https://www.immerse.online/

U12: Podcasting Reviews

Podcasting in English: There are several things that drew me into this podcast.  First, I like how there are different levels of English for you to choose.  There is even a level for my elementary school students to listen to. Second, I like how it is updated regularly and it is not dated.  I also really enjoy the fact that there are often videos posted with the podcasts that tie into the topic. I think that this visual adds something extra to an ESL student’s learning.  I also like how there is a section on this podcast for teachers where you can easily find specific lessons.

https://www.podcastsinenglish.com/

All Ears English:  I like that this podcast has American hosts, so my ESL students could get used to hearing American English speakers (as opposed to some that are British and have different pronunciations).  These girls are also very energetic and enthusiastic which makes listening to them more enjoyable. I like that they have different podcast sections such as: grammar, writing, and speaking. I also enjoy their intro music and photos that go with each podcast.

https://www.allearsenglish.com/episodes/

Culips: I like how this site allows you to choose from different categories, including real world situations and chatterbox (English at real speeds).  They start off with a nice musical introductions. I think it’s great that they have a study guide which includes all of the dialogue for assistance.  This way, you can actually read the words as you are listening. I also like their “Fun Facts” and “Expressions” sections. I think these can be very useful to ESL learners.

https://esl.culips.com/

U9D1: Kindergo

This week, I read an article titled, “Education Through Storytelling Inspires Global Literacy App.”  This app is used by 127 countries worldwide. The creators of the company, Kristen Souvlis and Nadine Bates, saw a decline of literacy in children in the Western world with a rise of need in quality English as a second language tools for an increasing immigrant population.  Together, they decided to team up and do something about it, which is how they came up with the idea for Kindergo, along with their parent company, Like a Photon Creative. They have built literacy into engaging digital stories for younger children.

Their goal is to allow Kindergo to be for any child, of any language, at any reading ability, and would like to continue developing and advancing it so this can be possible.  Their next launch will be a Kindergo app focused specifically for ESL learners. They want to reduce the education gap for ESL kids in the US. I think that it’s wonderful that they are working on developing an app aimed specifically at targeting ESL students.  It is an app I look forward to using with my ESL students in the future. The article also mentioned how they have recently received many accolades as well as funding, which will help make all of their feats possible. I hope that they will continue to grow their company and reach more students around not just the US, but the world.  

https://www.dynamicbusiness.com.au/entrepreneur-profile/education-through-storytelling-inspires-global-literacy-app.html

U8A1: Bolo

The article that really caught my attention this week was titled, “Google has built a free app to teach English to children in India.”  The reason this caught my attention was for a couple of reasons. First, the fact that it was created by Google interests me, as Google is such a large corporation and usually creates quality products.  Second was the fact that it is a free app that is helping another country. It was definitely something I wanted to read more about, and I’m glad I did.

The app, called Bolo, was designed to work completely offline and work in rural areas with poor mobile coverage.  According to the article, it is optimized for native Hindi speakers and uses Google’s speech recognition and text-to-speech technology.  It is geared towards primary aged children and includes cartoon characters and a voice assistant, Diya, to help them learn both English and Hindi in a fun and meaningful way.  There are stories in both English and Hindi for students to read and practice, as well as word games. Diya helps children with pronunciations and automatically detects problematic words.  

A startling fact is that in India, only 44% of grade 5 students are capable of reading books that are written for grade 2 students.  In a pilot scheme of 1,000 children, 64% of children were able to improve their reading skills after using the Bolo app.  It is designed to encourage children to love reading and make it become a daily habit. Google also noted that Bolo was released in the name of philanthropy and does not wish to monetize the app in any way.  They will continue supporting the app and want to continue improving it as well.

I think it’s amazing that Google is making a difference in the world by creating apps like Bolo.  I know that I obviously do not live in India, however there are students in my building that speak Hindi as their native language.  This app can be a useful tool for those students in my building just learning English. I also have had students who speak Hindi, but cannot read or write it.  I think that not only could this help those students learn English, but it would be a wonderful app for them to even learn how to read their own native language as well.  I’m excited to see how Google will continue to grow this app and what others they will develop in the future. The most amazing part is that they have made this free and have vowed to always keep it free, while still developing it to make it better.  Shantanu Sinha, Director of Product Management (Google Al), says, “It’s critical that we ensure that everybody on the planet has a shot at creating a better life for themself,” and I couldn’t agree more.

https://www.androidpit.com/google-has-built-a-free-app-to-teach-english-to-children-in-india

https://bolo.withgoogle.com/intl/en/

U7A1: Snow Days = Digital Days

I read a really interesting article that isn’t necessarily specific to ESL, but it caught my interest so much, that I couldn’t help but to blog about it.  It was titled, “Snow days turn into 'digital days' at some Minnesota schools.” This article clearly takes place in Minnesota, where they recently had a stretch of dangerous, subzero temperatures.  The superintendent at Robbinsdale was confident in his decision of closing schools due to the fact that he knew learning would still continue. In his district, every 4th-12th grade student had access to laptops and there were built in “flex-learning” days in the school calendar.  Our district is not fully 1:1 yet, but we are moving in this direction. We have 3 built in snow days throughout the school year, but almost always end up needing more. When we are finally 1:1, I absolutely love the idea of having these built in “flex-learning” days and allowing children to continue their learning while at home, safe and sound.  

The district that this article was about had teachers prep videos ahead of time to coach students through their assignments throughout the day.  It was stated that both students and staff were appreciative of the fact that learning could continue. One student even stated that it was fun doing schoolwork while in pajamas.  By allowing for these built in digital days, Robbinsdale is able to stick pretty closely to its original schedule and avoid extending classes into spring break, holidays or staff training time.  

However, the important thing to note is that this e-learning method will only be successful if students have access to the internet at home, as well as know how to navigate through the technology.  It is stated that it takes a lot of time to plan good e-learning modules. One ESL teacher mentioned how it is especially difficult for her students. “We’re looking at what can students do independently on their own or in a limited English proficiency household.  That is a very significant challenge,” said Melissa Davey (French & ESH teacher).

While I think these digital days are a great idea, I don’t know if they could fully replace an entire school day.  I have assigned my students Flipgrids on snow days before, but never make them “required” assignments and not all of my students are able to access them at home.  I think that digital days replacing snow days could definitely become more popular in the future.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/02/25/snow-days-minnesota-schools-digital-learning

U6A1: Spaceteam ESL

This article was written by Jennica Grimshaw and Walcir Cardoso, both from the Department of Education at Concordia University.  It introduces the idea that it is normal for ESL students to experience anxiety when speaking a second language, especially when they are in large classrooms.  In a recent study, they have found that using mobile gaming can actually reduce this anxiety and encourage oral fluency in ESL students. Most of the time, teachers are focusing on teaching new content rather than allowing students to practice what they already know.  A mobile game, Spaceteam ESL, has been designed to allow ESL students to practice what they already know and gain valuable peer feedback while doing so. This game is a modified version of Spaceteam (created by Henry Smith), and has been developed by two researchers from Concordia’s Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance, David Waddington and Walcir Cardoso, in collaboration with Smith.

In the game, players must speak in order to keep a spaceship from crashing.  The researchers developed a way for players to communicate in English and develop language skills.  The vocabulary in the game is based on lists of the most frequently used words in English presented at different levels of difficulty.  Players must speak to and communicate with teammates. If an instruction isn’t completed because a teammate didn’t speak clearly, their spaceship will start to crash.  

I think this is a really neat game for ESL students to play.  While I definitely think that high school and middle school students could benefit from it, I would have to see how it would work in my second grade classroom.  When I looked further into this and examined their website, I couldn’t find any age guidelines. I think that once my students got the hang of it, they would be able to understand how it works, and it would benefit them.  I’m sure that students would see this as a game rather than as a tool to learn. I think it is definitely a tool to look into with ESL learners, especially as it is free!

https://montrealgazette.com/technology/decrease-anxiety-about-learning-english-with-mobile-gaming

http://spaceteamesl.ca/

U5A1: ELTpics

This article, “ELTpics: A Digital Picture File for English Language Teachers” was written by Joe McVeigh who has been in the field of teaching English for over 25 years.  This post discusses the use of pictures when working with ESL students. It begins by mentioning that as educators, we typically try to find ways to incorporate photos into our classroom to make lessons more engaging for students.  However, this can lead to problems of copyright restrictions and finding just the right photo. TESOL teachers are even more likely to use photos with their students in order to make learning more meaningful. He stated that back when he first began teaching, teachers actually used to flip through magazines and clip their “just right” photos and file them away into some sort of system.  However, now we have the Internet to help us with our search.

McVeigh goes on to discuss how a group of teachers created ELTpics- a massive online picture file website for English language teachers.  The idea all started with a group of ESL teachers on Twitter. They decided to create ELTpics by using their own photographs and not have any royalty fees.  Teachers are able to access ELTpics through the website or via Flickr and are encouraged to post their own photos related to the different themes listed. There are hundreds of different categories including animals, adjectives, body, colors, and others that would be beneficial to ESL learners.  

Reading this article led me to the ELTpics website.  It said that every two weeks, teachers and others in ELT are invited to take and share photos related to a given theme which is publicized on Facebook and Twitter.  It’s amazing how much social media can help with something like this! I think this website would be a very quick and easy way to find pictures to share with ESL students and not have to worry about copyright.  I also think that my students could access photos from here for projects without worrying about copyright. I’m glad I stumbled upon this article in my Google Alerts so I know about the ELTpics site!

http://blog.tesol.org/eltpics-a-digital-picture-file-for-english-language-teachers/