Mobile teaching, mobile learning

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What do you think we were doing?
Stay together to enjoy an afternoon tea?
Not really! We were having an online course with our mobile phones!

As a learner, you might have experience of making the most of your spare time with your mobile phones to learn. As a teacher, you can also start your class and allow your students to have the class anytime, anywhere. Here, I would like to introduce a platform to you Nearpod (Link: https://nearpod.com/)

(website screenshot of Nearpod)

As a teacher, I once used a similar online teaching platform like Nearpod. I think the biggest advantage of these products is that they can promote students' engagement in the class. Students can draw and write on the screen, and I even know how long they have learned, and which page they stayed most on backstage. With the help of such a platform, I can design kinds of interactive games to check whether they have understood what I taught or not. Compared with traditional face-to-face teaching and tests, they are more interested in learning in such a way, and they are willing to pay more attention to lectures.

MALL (mobile-assisted language learning) has become more and more prevalent in the field of ELT. Just like Nicky Hockly (2013) said:

For teachers to take full advantage of the potential of mobile learning, it requires a shift in thinking about not just where mobile learning can take place, but also a realization that mobile or handheld devices have many more affordances than simply the consumption of language in pre-packaged apps. As with any technology, it is not the technology itself that enhances teaching or learning, but rather the use to which it is put.

Nicky also introduced a model SAMR (promoted by Puentedura, R.) that can be applied to design mobile learning activities for ELT.

1. Substitution: technology acts as a tool substitute, with no functional change

2. Augmentation: technology acts as a direct tool substitute, with functional improvement

3. Modifications: technology allows for significant task redesign

4. Redefinition: technology allows for the creation of new tasks previously inconceivable.

Based on these principles, I would like to introduce an application to you. You can also recommend it to your students to assist them in learning vocabulary. It is Baicizhan. You can download it from the app store. (The following pictures are the screenshots of Baicizhan.）

First, students can choose which kind of vocabulary they need to learn. It depends on their learning goals (for studying abroad? or for something else). Then they can set their study plan.

After that, students can start their study! The main reason I recommend using this App is that the words will be presented in sequence according to the principle of the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve. Many of my students complained that they have trouble remembering words. I have stressed thousands of times that repetition is the basic way to deepen memory. However, reading the paper vocabulary books is dull enough, not mention to asking them to read the word list again and again. With the help of Baicizhan, this problem can be solved easily! Besides, the pictures accompanying the words and explanations are more acceptable to learners, compared with the vocabulary books printed in black and white font.

Students can also record their studying days. It seems a great way to motivate them to stick to the plan. Imagine that after finishing reciting all the words, students definitely will get a sense of accomplishment!

Finally, this App also has links with other products. Students can learn reading, and listening within this App. Anyway, Baicizhan provides kinds of study tasks. Every student can find one which they are interested in most!

Currently, more and more applications are emerging. We also ought to select the proper application for our students to learn English. If you have any recommended software to help students learn English, please leave a comment!

Enjoy your English learning trip! Have fun!