WALLWISHER

WHAT IS WALLWISHER 
Wallwisher is an online noticeboard which allow people to stick post about their ideas, thought and resources. Interestingly, users can put link of pictures, Youtube video, PowerPoints, PDF document, Excel spreasheets and werbsite links.

~ if you wish something, write it on a wall~

AGE AND LEVELS OF LEANERS
# Age of students  - Twelve and above years old (if they know how to use computer)
# Level of students  - All levels be it low, intermediate and advanced since this tool is simply built for students to write their ideas or opinion. So, I think that all level of students can do it.

HOW TO USE WALLWISHER 
Firstly, go to the Wallwisher Webpage.

Wallwisher Webpage

Click on the login/register, then fills the username and password details. After that, click at 'build a wall' and you need to fill in:
# The title and subtitle of your wall
# Add an image
# Set the privacy restriction
# Choose a template

Once you finished filling all the details, click the 'done' button. For full tutorial on how to get started with Wallwisher, you may click on this link: Wallwisher Tutorial


EXAMPLE OF WALLWISHER THAT I'VE MADE



This is my Wallwisher link: Miss Sue Wallwisher


SUGGESTION OF ACTIVITIES

1. It could be used at the end of the lesson where the teacher can ask the students to stick their opinions or feedback (what they like/dislike, what they enjoy/not enjoy the most) regarding the lesson.This tool could help the shy students to express their opinion. This relates to Krashen's Affective Filter Hypothesis. In his hypothesis, he claims that the higher the motivation, the lower the affective filter. Some of the students might feel shy and afraid to speak and give opinion Thus, by using Wallwisher, the students can confidently express their opinion without having to speak. 
2. The teacher could use Wallwisher to teach imperative form of language. The teacher can firstly teach the imperative form of language. Then, in the exercise stage, the teacher could use Wallwisher and asks  the students to write as many sentences as possible. The sentences should be in imperative form. The example would be: Do not touch the book! 
3. Advertisment - In pairs, the students could be asked to promote an item. The item could be a book, a shampoo or a phone. The advertisement need to be short and simple (less than 160 words). They may include images, website link or video to make their advertisement interesting. They need to ensure that their advertisement could attract users to buy the item. Then, once all the students have finished they need to see all the writing on the Wallwisher and try to recognise any pattern of language form available. They are expected to see the persuasive form of language. This activity is an example of constructivism way of learning because the students need to use their own knowledge and understanding to guess the form of language that they have used. 

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT

1. It is free!
2. Quick and easy to use
3. Fun way to teach and share ideas among the students
4. Can let students practice their writing
5. You can embed your Wallwisher into blog or website
6. Students can create their own walls and share it with their friends
7. Great way to create online learning task
8. Could be used collaboratively among teacher and students as well as among students themselves. 
9. Can share video, link site and image on the wall - will make the learning even more interesting
10. It is intuitive - works like a real notice board.
11. Easy way to communicate with students and wider community

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS 

1. Students might post inappropriate message by using anonymous account
2. You can delete the posts/message on your wall if you do not like it
3. The posts/stick notes overlap and it looks messy
4. Every time you click the refresh button (to update the comments list), the posts will overlap againa nd you need to arrange them again -waste of time. 
5. Wallwisher post is limited to a small number of characters (160 words)

BUBBLR AND BOOKR

WHAT IS BUBBLR AND BOOKR
Bubblr and Bookr are creative tool from PimPamPum. These tools allow people to create their own images strips generated from pictures that they can find in flickr. In Bubblr, people can drag images onto their strips and in each of the images, they can add speech or thought bubble. As for Bookr, it is more like a picture story books. It works the same ass Bubblr in which people can search the images from flickr and drag the picture on the book screen.

AGE AND LEVEL OF LEARNERS
# Age of learners - Twelve to fifteen years old (depending on stduents' language competency)
# Level of learners - Low and intermediate level of students - advanced students might feel bored using this tool since they can't use much language in it (they can just write one or two short sentences for each images)


HOW TO CREATE A STRIP USING BUBBLR AND BOOKR 
For Bubblr: 
Go to Bubblr Website and you will be directed to this page:

Then, go to the search box and type the topic/type of image that you want to search. Then, you can start drag the picture into the column provided and you can add bubble in the picture to describe the picture. The example is:

Finally, you can publish the image strip.

For Bookr: 
Go to Bookr Website and you will be directed to this webpage:

Then, type in the search box the picture that you are looking for. Drag down the picture into the book editor and you can write a description below the picture. Example is:

Finally, you can publish your book!


EXAMPLE OF STRIP MADE USING BUBBLR AND BOOKR
This one is the example of strip made using Bubblr:

This is the example of picture story book made using Bookr:

SUGGESTION OF ACTIVITIES

1.  Writing and speaking activity - The teacher can asks the students to use Bubblr or Bookr to write any story of their interest. It could be about their personal experience, their favourite holiday, food etc.They need to choose interesting pictures and put some description on it. The teacher may fix the number of pictures that they want them to put as well as the word length for their story. Then, if possible, they need to present their work in front of the class. 
2. This tool also suitable for teaching grammar form such as conditional form of 'if'. The teacher can use constructivism approach of learning for this activity. This means that the students need to construct the meaning of the knowledge on their own. In this activity, the teacher provides few example of sentences which includes conditional form and the teacher also includes attractive image which relate to the sentence. Then, the students need to try guess the form that teacher wants to teach and they also need to try to elicit the rules for this grammar form. I the students unable to guess, the teacher might need to give some guidance for them. 
3. Pre-teaching vocabulary items - The teacher can prepare the strip in advanced using Bubblr/Bookr to introduce a set of vocabulary. Then, the teacher can proceed with while-reading or while-listening activity. This would arouse the students interest as they can see the image which relates to the vocabulary presented. In addition, the teacher also put example of sentence which contain the vocabulary. 

*This website is highly recommended for those who prefer visual and linguistics learning styles. This is because this website provides a lot of images that the students choose and at the same time they can insert few sentences to describe the image* 

*This website also allows personalisation for the students. This is because in certain activities, the students are allowed to choose any topic on their preference and interest.*

*This website also provide a room for learning multiple skills such as writing, speaking and learning vocabulary* 

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT BUBBLR AND BOOKR

1. It is FREE, public and does not require any account to be created. 
2. Easy to use 
3. Promote and develop creativity among students
4. A lot of choices for presentation and images
5. Fun way to present a variety of topic 
6. Could improve students' speaking skill - if they need to present their product
7. Fun and interesting for those who like visual
8. We do not break the copyright 
9. Suitable for language learning opportunity - they can enhance their writing skill as well as speaking skill if they need to present their work. 

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS 

1. The aim of the lesson might be diverted as students might search for inappropriate pictures. 
2. Distraction - too much images and sometimes, the picture can't fit in the page 
3. Can't resize the bubble in Bubblr and thus, it is not suitable for writing long sentences.
4. Time consuming in choosing the images since there are too many choices 
5. We can't edit our work 
6. Sometimes, the picture of our choice is not there. 
7. We don't really use the language - more likely to use chunks of words
8. Might not suitable to be used for advanced students because they might find this tool boring

LISTEN AND WRITE

WHAT IS LISTEN AND WRITE
This is an online tool which could be used to practice listening/dictation skills by listening to an audio and writing the words that they hear in a box provided. The users listen to the parts of the sentence and at the same time, they need to type the words that they listen to a text field. The word will only appear if the spell the correct one. They are able to listen again to the sentence and can get some help by setting the activity to auto complete the words as they type them in. There are also other languages for dictation apart from English; Korean, Hebrew, Chinese, Finnish and Tamil. This website could be used for the students to improve their oral comprehension as well as spelling skill. 


AGE AND LEVEL OF LEARNERS
# Age of students - thirteen and above 
# Level - suitable for all level of students (activities for different level are available) 


HOW TO USE LISTEN AND WRITE
Click on the link below for the Listen and Write webpage: Listen and Write Website

Picture 1: Listen and Write webpage

The instruction is:
# Once you are directed to the page, Then You can choose the story that you prefer to listen to.The story are based on different level of difficulties. There are 25 (2 to 26) levels provided. # After that, you can choose any mode that you like. There are three options available; full mode, quick mode and blank mode. 
#Next, click the play button to listen and at the same time, you can try to write words in the box provided. If you unable to spell the word, you can click the hint button. A red 'good' will appear at the end of line if you write correct sentence. You can also submit your own oral recording as part of the bank of recorded items. 
# In order to save your score, share and save audios and collaborate with other to dictate and do audio recording, you need to sign in and establish an account. 
# For the tutorial on Listen and Write, you can click on this link: Listen and Write Tutorial

SUGGESTION OF ACTIVITIES

1. Teacher can do differentiation in the classroom based on students level. For weaker students (who has low language competency), the teacher can assign the listening story from low level, which is below level 5. Thus, by doing this, all students have the chance to try out the activity. In addition, this could be a motivation for low level learners since they still can do the same activity even though they are from different level as compared to advanced students. 
2. Teacher can also make it as a game where students can compare their score with other students. In this activity, at least two students need to choose the same listening title/text. Then, individually, they would need to do the activity and finally compare their score with those who do the same listening title/text as them. To encourage students to engage in communication, the teacher may asks the students to discuss about how they could improve their scores and what are the interesting issue which occur regarding the listening text. This activity would make the students interested to speak and discuss with their friends. 
3.  If it is done outside the classroom (for autonomous learning), teacher can make it as a homework and gradually check the students' score. The teacher can give comments and feedback whenever necessary. 
4.  Ask students to find any article of their interest. Record it and exchange it with their friends to transcribe. This is a kind of personalisation since the students can choose anything to record. 

*In my opinion, this tool is highly recommended for those who are more into aural and linguistic style of learning since it involves more listening and dictation. * 

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT LISTEN AND WRITE

1. Students can use this tool at home whenever they feel that they want to do some practice. 
2. Students can develop their vocabulary on their own autonomously. 
3. It can enhance the students' listening skill
4. It is suitable for all level of students
5. This could be a fun activities for some students 
6. 'Listen and Write' tool could be an interactive way for the students in learning.
7. Good system for evaluation and students can keep tract on their own progress. This is because, when the students sign up, they can review their scores. 
8. Practice multiple skills which are listening and writing at the same time 
9. It is a free listening practice!
10. Students can choose to listen to any topics that they like since there are 7 categories available (Learning, news, music, kids, movies, TED and words stories). 
11. Students can choose three different modes based on their preference; full mode, quick mode and blank mode.
12. Students can choose the level of difficulty based on their language ability. There are levels 2 to 26 available. So, students can work based on their own pace. 
13. Students can also download their own audio that they want to transcribe. 
14. There are possibilities for learning other languages apart from English since the audio available in other languages as well ( example: Chinese, Korean and Finnish). 

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS 

1. It is unsure whether the sources are reliable or not since it is based on Radio station in America. 
2. Some students might not be able to use this tool if they do not have access to the internet
3. The webpage for 'Listen and Write' has a Facebook and Twitter link. Thus, this could be a distraction while they are doing the activities. 
4. As this tool is usually for autonomous learning,if the students use it outside the classroom, therefore, the teacher might not get the feedback about how the students progress in using this website.
5. Not suitable for visual types of learning students since it is more on listening and writing.
6. This tool does not allow the users to save their transcription and export them to a word processing program. 
7. Some students might not be interested to listen to the topic listed as they are not really familiar with those topics. 
8. The speaker in the audio uses American language, speak with quite fast speed and sometimes some of them have slang. It would be difficult for some students to understand the audio.