Sunday, March 18, 2018

Mobile phones: activities in the classroom


Today was seminar day in German, held by a very popular publisher in Greece.
Most presentations were about their books and there was also a big book exhibition.
One thing that intrigued me to was a session about mobile phones and ways to use them in the classroom.
I thought they would introduce us to apps that we can use with our students, like some apps they have developed at Goethe Institute, games, words etc,
But, the session was more practical, using almost no apps.
Some suggestions were:

  • use the video to record students mime words and then show them to class or in pairs and try to guess the words
  • use video to record students introducing themselves and writing down information
  • use recording device to read words or text so that other students listen to it and write dictation.
  • take pictures of items and make collocations or compound words
  • use the calculator to practise numbers 
  • record noises to practise vocabulary
  • use the weather app to talk about weather
  • use your phone calendar to make dialogues about meeting on a specific time and date
  • use messenger/ what's up / viber to set a date instead of speaking activity

I believe that all these ideas are very practical, but I would also suggest some apps.
  • I use duolingo to practise vocabulary in different languages and the constant repetition has helped me a lot. 
  • Another game that my students absolutely LOVED is The mystery of Nebra. The language level has to be A2 or more, but it is an adventure game that you will definitely enjoy.
  • Another fun game to play is Der heisse Kartofel
  • For more beginners, there is also Deutchtrainer A1 with  basic vocabulary practice.
I also use my phone as a dictionary, there are several online dictionaries that you can use.
Last but not least, I use You Tube to watch clips, songs and everything I can find in the target language.


No comments:

Featured Post

Teaching online through Lockdown

Some months ago, when I wrote a blog on online Teaching for iTDi , I could never imagine that the teaching world would turn digital overn...