Vicky Saumell, a teacher and trainer, as well as Product Champion for our Kid´s box series, explored some of the free digital tools teachers can use to complement their coursebook and create more opportunities for learning and fun.
Skitch (PC, Mac, iOS, Android)
Upload the picture to the app and annotate it, then move the words around however you want! You can have your students match the vocabulary words to the objects in the image or project the picture onto the board so the whole class can participate in the activities related to the pictures.
PicCollage (iOS, Android)
Take a photo, digitally cut it into pieces and make a collage out of it! You can add your own background, text and objects such as arrows. Your students can use it to make visual tools such as family trees or picture dictionaries.
Wordle (PC, Mac ) / Wordsalad (iOS, Android)
Paste a list of words into these tools and they will create a word poster for you by analysing word frequency. The most commonly used words in a text will appear bigger, which is great for revision and expressing the text’s main ideas in a fun way. You can also print the words onto a poster and use it as a prompt to classify vocabulary or for story reconstruction.
Vocaroo (PC, Mac) / Tellegami (iOS, Android)
These tools enables you to record your voice and then share your recording, which is useful for pronunciation practice. Tellegami also allows you to create a speaking avatar – your students can choose how the avatar will look and the background for it to stand on, then record a message and then listen to the avatar say it back.
Fotobabble (PC, Mac, iOS)
Enables you to upload the picture and then record your voice to go with the picture. This is useful for homework assignments – choose a picture, then let the students record a text to accompany it at home and send it to you to evaluate at home.
MailVu (PC, Mac, iOS, Android)
Record video with voice and share it via e-mail. Record a video of objects you talk about in class and name them out loud, using adjectives and colours. Your students can also do a similar activity at home and share it with their schoolmates in class.
For more ideas, watch the video here: