My review of a few tech tools that were new to me in 2019 that I really enjoyed in my Spanish classroom – these ones are more for vocab building (think lower level Blooms unless you are doing circumlocution/word association), and Nearpod for even more:
NEARPOD
What it can do in the language classroom:
- There is a brainstorm board that is just like Padlet – good for a hook or if you use QFT
- 360 video (the kids love these) then ask questions about it “¿qué ropa viste?” “¿Qué tiendas hay”
- Quick vocab matching
- Sequencing – great with my novice TPRS
- Draw and label – I used this with trickier vocab or words I really wanted to stick
- Insert image – have kids circle and label
- Much more – but I’m still a novice! Check out my post with a little more detail
BUT A RISING STAR
CHARLALA
- This free app is meant for communicative (recordings, speaking etc.) practice BUT I only used the draw-room feature
- Draw room – you put a set of vocab words in. THEN the kids have a set amount of time to draw. After they submit – their drawing become a multiple choice question game!
OODLÜ
This is a gamer’s delight. You can create all kinds of practice here:
- Word ordering
- Sentence/word translation
- Word image match
- Grammar practice of ANY kind
- Spelling
- Listening
The kids get a question right, and then the computer decides if they can play the game they chose.
CONS: there are some kind of clinks in the system, because many of my kids only got a second to play. Others were only given the chance to play 1/5 times of answering a question correctly.
I contacted the creator and suggesting eliminating the random choose which decides if you can play. It was really frustrating to have my students so frustrated, yet it was a magnificent practice for language learners.
PROS: You can design some really high level practice in this app! There is a green screen choice in games – it is no game just practice – this could be what kids do if they can’t take the random choose and just want to practice.
Also – for my Quizlet/Kahoot users – there is no stock photo to pull from, so anything using images you have to save, then upload.
I love trying new tech tools to help the kids learn. I’m not actually that great with technology (on the scale – one of my techy friends built his own router), but I am patient and very good at googling Youtube videos, plus asking for help! I constantly have to reassure myself “Ok, Sarah – you can figure this out!”
My first years teaching, former tech coach and now a district tech coordinator Anneke Radin-Snaith @annekeRadin modeled to me the importance of getting on the horn – if something isn’t working, don’t just walk away from it – REACH OUT. Call the website designer, app maker, etc. Get on tech support. People will help you figure it out!
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