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/

U4A1: Augmented Reality & ESL

I have to admit that it took me awhile to sift through my Google Alerts to find an article that actually pertained to ESL and digital learning/technology.  I had to adjust the alerts that I had previously set in hopes that next week, it will be easier to find articles to read. However, with that being said, I was able to stumble upon a very interesting article relating to Rosetta Stone and Augmented Reality titled, “How To Leverage Augmented Reality To Drive Digital Innovation.”  This was written by the President of Language at Rosetta Stone Inc. and a pioneer in Seattle's technology startup community, Matt Hulett.

The article began with the thought that AR was overwhelming to tech startups when it first began due to all of its possibilities.  It states how much technology has changed over the years, including with its own company, Rosetta Stone. The last CD for Rosetta Stone was sold in 2017, moving the company to a complete SaaS platform, while integrating AR into the language learning app.  The author suggests taking small steps in making things like this possible, and lists Pokemon Go and Snapchat as other examples of newer platforms that include AR. Eventually, the “Seek & Speak” feature became a part of Rosetta Stone. This is not something I have ever heard of before, and I felt I needed more information on it.  A quick Google Search later, and I found from the Rosetta Stone website that “Seek & Speak” is an app that uses AR to allow its user to actually scan something right in front of them, and be able to have it translated in real time. I thought this was pretty impressive, and could see how it could be beneficial for my ESL students. I had a student last year who was transferred into my class from Puerto Rico due to the hurricane.  He spoke no English and really struggled with communicating when he first arrived. If we had this app for him, it would’ve made things a lot easier in trying to understand and help each other. Augmented Reality is pretty incredible and according to Hulett, “the AR market is expected to reach $209 billion by 2022.” I’m already amazed by what it can do and can’t wait to see what else will come of it and how we can use it to better help our students!

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/02/07/how-to-leverage-augmented-reality-to-drive-digital-innovation/#39afaab59c26

Rosetta Stone Seek & Speak