Scaffolded Writing
Submitted by peter on Thu, 2021-02-25 12:24
Learning to do freehand writing can be hard enough in your own language. Writing accurately in a foreign language is a tall order for students, and hard work for teachers correcting their work. The solution is to provide support for the student, not just correcting their errors, but helping them towards the right answer with suggestions and hints. The Schoolshape does this, while also providing the teacher with an assessment of the student's writing accuracy based on the number of attempts made before arriving at the correct answer. https://youtu.be/BEroC-0Bo3Q
Listen, repeat or respond
Submitted by peter on Wed, 2021-02-24 11:22
How to create a listen & repeat or q&a task ... A simple but effective way to extract plenty of speaking/pronunciation practice from students. (NB you can upload a mp3 as well as recording live) https://youtu.be/92abvZgof7A
Adding a teacher
Submitted by peter on Tue, 2021-02-23 11:41
This video shows how to add another teacher to the lab. This is useful, not only if you need students to submit work to another teacher but also if you plan to collaborate with other teachers on language projects. https://youtu.be/8YWfsk07RXU
Example English Resource with Environmental Theme
Submitted by peter on Sat, 2021-02-20 09:43
This video shows how, with one Schoolshape resource, teachers can provide more language practice, social interaction and assessment for their students than you can shake a stick at. https://youtu.be/-YqAq65sG9c
Are Zoom meetings enough for Language Students?
Submitted by peter on Thu, 2021-02-11 13:40
To learn another language, the best path to proficiency is practice. The more practice, the better the learning and skill.
In the best of times, classroom practice has always been heavily restricted, and in lockdown language students do not even have that.
Meetings of the ‘Zoom’ variety have been much vaunted by teachers connecting with their students, but it is hard to evaluate how much language practice can be achieved by this method.
The way to help students with language fluency is to provide them with daily opportunities for language practice with peers, regularly structured and encouraged through formative assessment.
The only way to do that properly and professionally is to use an online language laboratory.
