INTERVUE OR INTERVIEW??

It's INTERVUE. Intervue is an amazing, quick and easy tool for anyone looking to gather their video responses towards a question. One could first create a topic or theme with few questions attached to it. Then, others will be able to choose either of the questions and response to it by recording a video of their answers with the use of a webcam. However, the answer must be kept concise as the recording cannot be more than 60 seconds. Once the video reply has been posted, others can also comment on it and remark how accurate is the answer.

How to Integrate Intervue in an ELT Class???

Example 1: Essay Writing

1. Teacher can first ask the students to sign up an account in http://intervue.me/.
2. Then, teacher will create a new Intervue page by stating the topic of the essay and attach three questions which are related to the content of the writing.
3. Students will then be given the link of the Intervue page. They would have to answer all the questions by recording a 1 minute video of their responses each to the questions. This is a way to brainstorm their ideas towards the content of the writing task.  
4. Students could also watch each other's video responses and comment on them. All these responses will mostly be the main points of their essay writing. 
5. Finally, the students could produce a piece of essay based on the ideas taken from the video recordings.     

P/S: This will be done in the pre-writing stage in order to activate students' schemata on the related topic. 

Example 2: Oral test

1. An English teacher could use Intervue to assess students' English speaking proficiency. 
2. Instead of doing the traditional way of oral test in class, why not try something different this time? The teacher could create a new Intervue page by posting a topic and a few questions to aid the students in speaking.  
3. Each and every students will have to log on to the page and record a video of their responses based on the topic stated.
4. Then, the teacher could assess his/her students' oral skills based on their level of fluency and accuracy in speaking.

Advantages:

• Students will be motivated to talk.
• It can be treated as an oral exercise. Teacher will have a record of it (e-portfolios).
• It involves real communication (authenticity).
• Students could do the recordings based on their own comfort zone (lower affective filter). 
• It is absolutely FREE.
• A sense of ownership can be created (personalisation).
• Boost students' confidence to speak. 

Limitations:

• If recordings are done at home, it may the destroy the spontaneity as the aim of perfection is greater. 
• It demands for internet connection, a microphone and a webcam.
• It only allows a maximum of 1 minute of recording.
• If the page is open to public, it may be likely to receive some inappropriate recordings. 

Come on, let's try it out!!

http://intervue.me/

SING & LEARN @ LYRICS TRAINING

Lyrics Training is a web application which one can read and listen to lyrics from music videos. It can be selected from a range of languages such as English, French, Dutch, Spanish, et cetera. Furthermore, one can select the game mode and starts to play the game. For the beginner and intermediate stage, the game requires learners to fill in the missing words from the lyrics, whereas for the expert level, one needs to type out the complete lyrics of a song. There is a timer at the bottom of the video for students to monitor their progress in the game. The music can also be replayed if students need to hear it for once again.  

INTEGRATION OF LYRICS TRAINING IN AN ESL CLASSROOM 

Example 1 (Listening Activity):

1. Firstly, teacher could play a song, which has been chosen from the lyrics training website, to the class. At this stage, only the song will be played, not the video.
2. Students will have to listen carefully and understand the lyrics of the song. The song will be played for a second time. 
3. Then, students will be divided into groups of three to complete a task. They will have to fill in the missing words of the song lyrics which could be extracted from the beginner level game in the lyrics training website or which has been prepared by the teacher. 
4. The teacher could replay the song if the students are having difficulty to complete it. After that, the teacher could show the music video to the students for them to check their answers. From here, the grammar and vocabulary that have been tested could be re-emphasized. 
5. Lastly, teacher could move on to the intermediate level or the expert level of the game. This could be carried out as a whole class activity.  

Example 2 (Self-Learning Activity):

1. Teacher could introduce this tool for students to learn and build up their language at home. 
2. The students should first be encouraged to create an account in the Lyrics Training website so that they could keep a record on the scores gotten from the activities. 
3. From here, students could improve their pronunciation and spelling of English language or any other languages. Students could also refer to the dictionary if they found any new vocabulary from the song lyrics.

Advantages:

• It is an interesting and engaging way of acquiring  a language as the students could choose their favourite song to play with it.
• It is a FREE tool.
• Students are exposed to the authentic use of a language.
• It creates a fun and relaxing atmosphere in learning a language and thus lower the students' affective filter.  
• This tool could cater to students who acquire a knowledge better through music (musical intelligence).  

Limitations:

• Teacher cannot copy the lyrics easily to be used in class. Instead, teacher could refer to it and type in out.
• There is no referencing for the vocabulary or story line of the songs. Students need to search it themselves.
• It demands for internet connection, thus is a downside for people who do not have internet access. 
• Some of the music videos which taken from Youtube might disappear if the video has been removed from Youtube. 
• The selection of songs are quite limited.

Let's give it a go!!!

http://www.lyricstraining.com/play/17538/merry_christmas_darling/carpenters

FUN WITH BUBBLR

Bubblr is a project done by Pimpampum.net. It is a tool used to create comic strips using photos from Flickr. One could either use the public images found in Flickr or images from one's own account in Flickr. Speech bubbles can also be added to the images to create dialogues or thoughts. Bubblr can be used for presentation as well as a teaching tool in class.

Let's try it out!!! http://www.pimpampum.net/bubblr/

1. Firstly, type in the tag and hit GO.
2. Then, wait for the images to load. Choose the one that you like and drag it to the main window.
3. You can also add on the speech or thought bubbles from the bottom of the page.
4. Lastly, hit the PUBLISH button!!! You can then put a tittle for the strip and press DONE. It will be then saved automatically. If you would like to have a copy of the strip, you can send it to your email using the "send to" feature at the bottom of the page.

Here is an example of a completed comic strip created using Bubblr with the theme of "Malaysia 2012".

How to Integrate Bubblr in ELT Classroom?

In order to make your ELT classes more interesting, you can start the lesson with Bubblr. Bubblr can be used as a brainstorming activity for an essay writing task. For instance, the essay topic given to the students is "Festival". During the pre-writing stage, a teacher could use the comic strip that has been prepared earlier using Bubblr to brainstorm the students. The comic strip could be made up of images of various festivals that are celebrated around the world. This could allow the students to visualise the scenes and subsequently activate their schemata. Students would also be more attentive in class since technology has been used instead of the traditional method of teaching. 

Another way of integrating Bubblr in an ELT classroom is to allow the students to use it. How? Firstly, teacher could introduce Bubblr to the students. Then, divide the students into groups of four and allow them to familiarize themselves with the tool by creating a comic strip. After some time, students should be encouraged to present their individual work with Bubblr. The teacher could  then monitor the students' use of language from the dialogue and thoughts created on the strip. Moreover, the sense of ownership created from their production will also allow the students to be proud of their own work and thus have more interest in learning a language.   

Advantages:

• It is engaging as it includes real life pictures.
• Students will be able to visualise the scenes.
• A sense of ownership can be created.
• It is absolutely FREE.
• We do not break copyright.
• It develops students' creativity in learning. 
• It is user-friendly. One does not have to set-up an account to use it.

Limitations:

•  Sometimes the captions or descriptions of the presentation sent to our email do not fully appeared as how it has been prepared.
• The words in the dialogue box cannot be seen clearly once it has been embedded into a blog.    
• It is a one-way-interaction-task. No one can comment on the  presentation. 
• Finding a right picture may take a long time when the tag does  not match the keywords of the images posted in Flickr.
• The width of the dialogue box cannot be adjusted. 
• Some pictures with very big size are difficult to be deleted once it has been dragged onto the strip.

DVOLVER

Dvolver is a tool used to create movies. It is a mini moviemaker which allows people to choose their own scenes, plots and characters to create a movie. Well, why do I said it is a mini moviemaker? It is considered as a mini moviemaker because the characters in the movies could only carry out a short conversation. 

A Fun Way of Learning English using Dvolver!!!

Dvolver could be used to teach both primary and secondary students ranging from age 7-17 regardless of their English proficiency. For instance, an English language teacher could use this tool while introducing the topic of "modal verbs" to students. The teacher could use Dvolver to create a conversation which consists of modal verbs so that the students could visualize the importance of modal verbs in their everyday lives.  Additionally, students could work in pairs and create a film with Dvolver by using modal verbs throughout the conversation.With this, students will have a greater impression on the use of modal verbs and would then practice using them in their day-to-day conversation. 

Other than that, a teacher could create a short clip using Dvolver to activate students' schemata while introducing a topic for English essay writing. This would then create a fun and relax atmosphere for discussion to be held in class. Students might be more willing to share their own experiences and stories which would ease them in their essay writing. 

Interesting?? Let's give it a try!! http://www.dvolver.com/moviemaker/index.html

Advantages:

• Fun & interesting
• User-friendly (easy & quick)
• Can attract students' attention (animation)
• Can visualize how the dialogue is carried out
• Catered for introvert students
• Choice/control (could reformulate it)

Limitations:

• Very limited themes to create dialogues
• Does not involve expressions & body language 
• Some characters are not appropriate to students (eg. Hotties)
• Demands for internet connection