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In the first stage of the project, the learners worked in groups of three, using one phone per group. They used these phones on a field trip to a zoo. Once they were there, they used the phones as a data collection tool, taking pictures, recording videos (with or without sound), documenting the English they found in the zoo,   taking special notice of any mistakes that had been made with translation. Back at the school, each group then created a webpage using Doodle Kit (http:// doodlekit.com), a free website builder. On the group websites (you can see one here: www.zoo.doodlekit.com/home) they posted their data using Web 2.0 tools such as Fotobabble (www.fotobabble.com), which allows audio to be added to images. They also used other Web 2.0 tools, with the groups creating animated cartoons using Go Animate (http://goanimate.com); cartoon strips using Toon Doo (www. toondoo.com) and Bit Strips (www.bitstrips.com); and adding their voice to animated avatars using Voki (www.voki.com). The focus of this part of the project was to practise the language of animal idioms, and their work using these tools was also embedded on the group websites. Use of mobiles on the field trip was successful, but not without its problems. Some of the learners’ mobiles were older models, which meant there was some difficulty when transferring the photographs and videos. The battery life of the phones was a problem too. Registering for the websites in order to use the Web 2.0 tools was also time-consuming. However, Karin believes the results and the learners’ feedback on the activity meant that this time was well spent. The second part of the mobile project involved station work, with the learners working in groups of three in the classroom. There were a total of six stations,   with each group using one mobile phone and spending an average of 12 minutes   per station. Karin made use of a range of different smartphone applications for   the activities. For many of them, the learners accessed the Web addresses (URLs)   using a square barcode called a QR (quick response) code, which has become   a popular way of delivering URLs to smartphones. The learners were given worksheets and the activities consisted of: ■ ■ Listening. The learners used a barcode scanner application on their group’s smartphone to scan a QR code. The information contained in the QR code led them to a recording of a poem. The learners then had to listen to the poem, complete a cloze activity and solve a puzzle hidden in the poem. ■ ■ Speaking/reading. The learners had to make a recording of a radio play script using the audio blog software VocalPost (http://vocalpost.com) and email it to their teacher. ■ ■ Writing. The learners scanned one of two QR codes, then watched a short video   or cartoon. On their answer sheets they then had to write a paragraph retelling the story.
Grammar. The learners scanned the QR code and were then sent to an online grammar quiz. After finishing this, the results were emailed to the teacher. ■ ■ Dictionary work. The learners used a dictionary app to complete one of   the worksheets. ■ ■ Treasure hunt. The learners scanned another QR code, which led to a question and clue to a place in the school where they would find the next question. There was another QR code there, which had another question and clue and which led to a different location. This continued, with the learners running around the building and outside in the garden in order to answer all the questions.

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Certain apps help promote creativity: ‘Toontastic’ and ‘Puppet Pals’ enable younger learners to create stories using animated characters and recorded speech, as well providing opportunity for them to share their creations online. More sophisticated apps like ‘Comic Life’ enable children to take photographs with the mobile device’s in-built camera and incorporate them into cartoon-style templates, alongside written narrative. Others like ‘Phoster’ provide a framework for developing posters so that children can play around with text and images in order to assess their visual impact on an audience. Many apps have the more specific purpose of helping to develop reading and writing. In-built text to speech synthesis can open up access to texts for English language learners and can also serve as an effective model of oral language, particularly in the absence of native speakers. There is a multitude of dictionary apps available to support users in their acquisition of new vocabulary. Translation apps also have a role to play in enabling users to transfer knowledge and skills across from a stronger f irst language to their learning of English. In addition, there are numerous apps that support the development of vocabulary, grammar and colloquial language, as well as contextualising language through cultural contexts that make meaning clear. The British Council has been developing a range of mobile apps in the recent past and you can find out more about them on the following website: http://learnenglish. britishcouncil.org/en/apps

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The endlessly patient and non-judgemental nature of computers (Wegerif, 2004) makes them perfectly suited to enabling repetitive language learning activities that provide instantaneous feedback to the user. In an EFL context, learners can really benefit from self-directed vocabulary and grammar-based exercises, particularly those that monitor voice input and assess the accuracy of pronunciation. Some learners have found English learning software like Rosetta Stone (www.rosettastone. co.uk/) and Eurotalk (http://eurotalk.com/en/) effective for swift acquisition of   surface language. However, ‘drilling and skilling’ can sometimes lack context in the way that information is presented to the user, potentially limiting long-term acquisition of language. More sophisticated CALL, like Education City’s ‘Learn English’ software (http:// us.educationcity.com/us/content/learn-english-ell-teaching-resources), developed for US and UK markets, introduces children to themed-based multi-modal activities, where learners can interact within typical scenarios. The narratives are built around familiar settings like the school, family and neighbourhood, allowing children to internalise contextualised vocabulary and learn simple grammatical rules through fun-based repetitive exercises built around each scenario. Meaning is made explicit through a family of characters set within familiar settings and typical storylines.   Full audio-visual support and synchronous feedback to a user, makes this type of CALL particularly successful for language learning.
Here is a useful blog posting about creating language learning games: http://larryferlazzo.edublogs. org/2008/04/21/the-best-websites-for-creating-online-learning-games/

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www.ifdb.tads.org http://inform7.com/ http://quest.codeplex.com/ www.theswanstation.com/wordpress/ http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2012/sessions/2012-03-22/learn-language-usinginteractive-fiction-digital-game-based-language-learning

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www.ifdb.tads.org http://inform7.com/ http://quest.codeplex.com/ www.theswanstation.com/wordpress/ http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2012/sessions/2012-03-22/learn-language-usinginteractive-fiction-digital-game-based-language-learning

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www.ifdb.tads.org http://inform7.com/ http://quest.codeplex.com/ www.theswanstation.com/wordpress/ http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2012/sessions/2012-03-22/learn-language-usinginteractive-fiction-digital-game-based-language-learning

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www.ifdb.tads.org http://inform7.com/ http://quest.codeplex.com/ www.theswanstation.com/wordpress/ http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2012/sessions/2012-03-22/learn-language-usinginteractive-fiction-digital-game-based-language-learning

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Some software, like Cricksoft’s WriteOnline (www.cricksoft.com/uk/products/tools/ writeonline/default.aspx) and TextHelp’s Read&Write Tutor (www.texthelp.com/UK/ Our-products/Readwrite/features-PC), offer an additional set of tools, like text-tospeech synthesis as a user types, word prediction and contextual vocabulary, that can be inserted into a document at the click of a mouse.

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information about IF can be found on the following websites: www.ifdb.tads.org http://inform7.com/ http://quest.codeplex.com/ www.theswanstation.com/wordpress/ http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2012/sessions/2012-03-22/learn-language-usinginteractive-fiction-digital-game-based-language-learning

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information about IF can be found on the following websites: www.ifdb.tads.org http://inform7.com/ http://quest.codeplex.com/ www.theswanstation.com/wordpress/ http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2012/sessions/2012-03-22/learn-language-usinginteractive-fiction-digital-game-based-language-learning

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More information about IF can be found on the following websites: www.ifdb.tads.org http://inform7.com/ http://quest.codeplex.com/ www.theswanstation.com/wordpress/ http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2012/sessions/2012-03-22/learn-language-usinginteractive-fiction-digital-game-based-language-learning

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TextHelp’s Fluency Tutor (www.texthelp.com/UK) is a sophisticated reading programme that records a user’s reading of a text and offers a quick quiz to test   their understanding of what they have read. This enables a teacher to mark a learner’s efforts online against a range of indicators such as mispronunciation, hesitation, omission, substitution, repetition, transposition and self-correction.   The pupil can review the comprehensive feedback provided by the teacher at their leisure. The system tracks a user’s achievements as they move through increasingly sophisticated texts, presenting progress via a range of information charts. Other systems, like Pearson’s Rapid Reading programme (www.pearsonschoolsand fecolleges.co.uk/Primary/Literacy/AllLiteracyresources/RapidReading/RapidReading. aspx), offer speech recognition, providing real-time feedback to a user as they read a text into a microphone connected to a computer. The software corrects mispronunciation and word errors, improving spoken English and building vocabulary. Such a system can be motivating for learners who benefit from synchronous feedback and the opportunity to practise in private.

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Many professionally produced reading schemes offer audio CDs or online oral versions of the texts. Some companies, like Mantra Lingua (http://uk.mantralingua. com/), produce pointing devices that can play audio by scanning texts or interfacing with microdots printed onto paper. Digital texts can also be imported into e-book readers that can render text orally through text-to-speech synthesis. Using software screen-readers and standalone text-to-speech applications can also be an option.
talking books can be created in presentation software, specialist software like 2Simples’s Create-a story (www.2simple.com), dedicated authoring programs like iBooks Author (www.apple.com/ibooks-author/), apps like Book Creator (http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/book-creator-for-ipad/id442378070?mt=8) or even more professional software like Adobe Creative Suite (www.adobe.com/). Finished products can subsequently be published on blogs, websites or released in e-book format for playback on a range of different devices.

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Using a VC system called JoinNet, classes of 5th Grade children (11 years old) in Kelong district and in Taipei city were linked up with experienced primary teachers for a series of book readings. Three texts were chosen;  An old lady who swallowed a fly,  Joseph had a little overcoat  and  We’re going on a bear hunt. Each book was delivered over three sessions. Each session was considered to be highly motivating for the children because they were able to experience a book reading led by an expressive English user synchronously, whilst at the same time viewing the page spreads on the computer screen. They were also able to interact with the reader by asking and answering questions in their own first language about the plot, characters and events in the story. The teacher was able to specifically focus on English vocabulary, upload worksheets incorporating listening and spelling activities, such as cloze procedures, as well as utilising the system’s polling function to elicit responses from the children.

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Each session followed a similar pattern: 1.  Greetings and introductions from both schools. 2.  Japanese children did a presentation followed by a question and answer session. 3.  Australian presentation followed by a question and answer session. Each class used the VC whiteboard facilities to show a PowerPoint, aiding the flow of their presentations. During follow-up discussion, the Kitarissei children mostly communicated in Japanese – a Japanese interpreter present in the Australian

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There are many free solutions available, such as Skype, ooVoo, iChat and FaceTime or Flash Meeting. In the case of low cost solutions, such as Adobe Connect, which allow more protection for young learners, and which are free from advertising, usually only one establishment needs to purchase the system and then the ‘host’ can invite participants to join a VC free of charge. This resource can then easily be shared between a number of institutions

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An ingenious method was chosen to bring children together in order to discuss   the work of both local artists, as well as share each school’s independent research.   A virtual exhibition of artwork was created on a secure island in a virtual world   called Second Life. Using a non-threatening ‘Snoopy’ avatar controlled by the   teacher, the children were encouraged to use simple English commands to direct their virtual guide around the gallery, to inspect the exhibits and answer their questions. This proved to be an extremely successful way of teaching English, particularly instructional and descriptive language

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An ingenious method was chosen to bring children together in order to discuss   the work of both local artists, as well as share each school’s independent research.   A virtual exhibition of artwork was created on a secure island in a virtual world   called Second Life. Using a non-threatening ‘Snoopy’ avatar controlled by the   teacher, the children were encouraged to use simple English commands to direct their virtual guide around the gallery, to inspect the exhibits and answer their questions. This proved to be an extremely successful way of teaching English, particularly instructional and descriptive language

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Virtual worlds like Second Life, Active Worlds and Open Sim afford learners the possibility of ‘living’ within a 3D space, collaboratively developing content and interacting with peers through virtual experiences: debates, role play, exhibitions, performances and the like. Asynchronous tools like email, blogging and the collaborative development of wikis (Terrell, 2011; Wang and Vásquez, 2012; Woo et al., 2011) also have a significant role to play in facilitating the co-creation of content, where learners interact with peers by composing, editing and exchanging texts

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Technology also affords children the opportunity to record themselves for playback at a later time. Learners report that the ability to listen and play back recordings helps identification   of grammatical errors and inaccuracy in pronunciation, encouraging self-improvement. Young children can use Flip, or other video cameras to record their mouth movements to develop phonetic accuracy. Learning resources,   such as songs and poems, can be downloaded from the internet and practised as a whole class via an interactive whiteboard prior to a live performance that can be filmed for posterity. Talking photo albums have been successfully used to create stories or non-fiction texts with an oral narrative. Here photos and text can be inserted into each page of the album and the user can subsequently record a corresponding narration. For further examples look here: www.segfl.org.uk/spot/post/recordable_talking_devices/