Geocaching Lesson: The Virtual Map

Virtual map - Imagine that one of your athletic practice fields is like a map. Plot points on the map that correspond with your unit. The Points could represent battles, countries, cities, or other points of interest (P.o.I.). Then choose one activity below:

• Give each group a different color pen have them add one or two key bits of info to a log book within the cache that pertain that P.o.I. (dates, battles, vocabulary, etc) Then make the info in the log books available for students to do other activities.
• Place information about the P.o.I. inside each cache. Then give the students a worksheet/quiz that has questions about each point. They can answer the question with the info inside of the cache.
• Give each student a camera & have each group take a picture/video of something that relates to the P.o.I.

Hello-Hello.com

hello-hello.com has got to be one of the coolest new websites I have seen for Language Learning. It's also endorsed by ACTFL. To make it 'awesomer' they just released an app for iPad for $4.99. So here is my attempt at a preview:

Home

• Register for free (validate via email addy)
• Create a profile
• Find/invite friends (Classmates & teachers)
• Send messages

Learn

• Lessons are pre-loaded
• Lessons follow ACTFL (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)

• Written/recorded responses are made available for friends to evaluate & provide feedback

Teach

• Student becomes the teacher
• Evaluate others speaking or writing
• Leave feedback via text or audio recording

Communicate

• Chat with your friends in the target language
• (Haven't been able to test this yet)

Classroom Integration:

This would be a great website to get your entire class registered on. It could be a weekly computer lab activity. I really like that it has the student taking the role of student & teacher.

This could also be a really inexpensive alternative to a language lab!

Give a try and let me know what you think.

Update: I received an email from Sarah the founder of hello-hello and she gave me a presentation to share with teachers. There are some great ideas for teachers on slides 7-12, including connecting your class with a class from a country in your target language.

iPod Touch as Language Lab

The other day I found these iPod touch mics on Amazon.com for $.50 (+3.50/shipping...don't get me started.) I wanted to try one out and see if I could find an audio app to go along with these so that we could turn our set of iPods into a Language/audio Lab. Language Labs are extremely useful and crazy expensive ($70,000+). So I figured it was worth a shot to find an alternative.

Then I tried it out. The sound is surprisingly clear.

After some searching for a good app I stumbled across Audioboo. This a free app that let's you record an audio file they call a 'boo.' Then you can publish it to their website audioboo.fm.

To use it as a Language/audio Lab:

• Go to Audioboo.fm
• Create a free account
• Download the app onto each iPod
• Enter audioboo.fm account credentials to link to your account
• Record the boo
• Publish the boo
• Play all your boos from the website, embed them in a blog, etc

Integration ideas:

• Giving an interview
• Ordering at a restaurant,drive through, etc
• Introducing someone
• Describing person, place, or thing
• Telling a story,
• "Interrogation Scene" using the past tense.
• Giving directions (over the phone)
• Poetry reading

Have other ideas...Share them as a comment below.

byki flashcards for language learners

Yesterday, I had one of my co-workers ask me if I had seen byki? I hadn't heard of it before, but I was glad she introduced it to me. I really think it is very useful.

Byki is a flashcard program for learning languages. Here are some of the features that I love:

• 3 step flashcards:
• Step 1 - see (target language) & English, listen to the vocab in TL
• Step 2 - see/hear TL; provide English
• Step 3 - see English; provide TL; listen to TL

• There are a dozen or so lists/lessons preloaded
• You can upload your own vocabulary lists (see byki help menu for instructions)
• Toggle sound for slow playback.
• Progress tracking.
• Vocabulary list sharing.

Below is a quick video preview of what it looks like and how it works.