Review of H5P

Today, I am reviewing H5P (link embedded in name), which is a website that allows for teachers to create interactive content for learners and post it anywhere.

Overview

H5P allows for creation of all sorts of activities which students can interact with instead of being passive learners. Teachers can modify videos to include quizzes that pop up at specific junctures, or a fill-in-the-blank activity that gives immediate feedback to the learners. There are also game templates available. What I have mentioned here is just the tip of the iceberg as to what H5P offers, and while their list is not exhaustive, there is an impressive range to choose from.

In my opinion, I feel that H5P is somewhat similar to Triptico (for my review on Triptico, click here), in the sense that there are many different types of tools and activities which teachers can pick from and modify according to their learners' needs. However, what I feel is a big difference is that H5P allows for teachers to export the activity onto a platform of their choice, while Triptico limits teachers to using their website to run the activity. H5P is a free website and allows anyone who has signed up for an account to have access to all of its features without needing to pay, whereas Triptico users are required to pay in order to be able to do the same.

Having said that, it is not to say that H5P is definitely better than Triptico, since both websites serve different purposes. Activities in H5P are more for use outside classroom time, either as pre- or post-classroom activities or for blended learning purposes, where parts of a course happen online. This is in contrast with Triptico, which is intended for teachers to use in class during a lesson, to enhance learning by injecting a technology-based, fun element to it.

How to create interactive content

H5P provides tutorials (link embedded) on how to use each of the different tools, which is extremely useful.

I have also included a video below that gives an overview of H5P and some of the tools available.

Advantages

Since everything is in HTML code, it can be embedded anywhere, like a Learning Management System (LMS), and even on a blog, like Blogspot or Wordpress! This is a definite advantage since blogs are free to create and can be easily accessed by anyone who has the link.

As you can see below, I have embedded the sample "Fill-in-the-blank" activity that is found on H5P onto my blog. This can be done by clicking on the "< > Embed" button after you have created your activity, copying and pasting the HTML code onto your blog. (Do take note that you need to be in the HTML version when writing your post in order for the code to be embedded correctly.) 

The other advantage is that every step is guided and you do not need to know coding in order to create an activity for your students. Everything is assisted via buttons and drop down menus.

Disadvantages

Not all activities can be embedded in a blog or LMS. Activities that require the H5P plugins, like Interactive Video, will not work on Blogspot. Currently, the H5P plugins have only been developed for Wordpress, Moodle and Drupal. There seems to be a workaround (link embedded), but it requires more technical expertise than what I currently have, hence I cannot give much advice about it.

Creation of certain activities, like Interactive Video, require more time and commitment on the teachers' part. As such, one has consider whether it is worth the investment. There might also be institutional limitations which prevent or deter teachers from putting in the time and effort into creating these online interactive activities.

Uses

Generally, the activities on H5P are more suited for students to complete outside of the classroom, either as a pre- or post-activity. Moreover, since students receive immediate feedback after completing the activity, teachers might not need to go through every single answer the next day during lesson time, and can focus on specific questions that students have. (This presupposes that students have been independent learners and have completed the task before attending the lesson.)

For language-based activities, depending on how the teacher would like to structure the quizzes, there can be many forms, ranging from quizzes on vocabulary to usage of grammar.

As Singapore schools already have their own LMS which provide teachers with the ability to create online interactive lessons, and even track the students' progress via the system, I do not foresee that many Singapore teachers will opt to use H5P over their own LMS.

Conclusion

H5P is very useful and great fun to explore as there are numerous activities one can create for learners to do outside the classroom. The major drawbacks are the compatibility of certain activities with the platforms utilised by the school, and the amount of time that needs to be invested into creating these activities for students.

Review of Popplet

Today, I will be looking at another online collaborative tool, Popplet (link embedded in name).

Popplet is an extremely easy tool to use and its bright colours would probably appeal to students. Popplet is a free tool, though it only allows 10 popplets to be created. There is a special subscription plan for educators and schools that allows for the creation of unlimited popplets and access to more features. However, in my opinion, the free version is sufficient as a basic tool for students to use to collaborate.

Creating and navigating popplet

After signing up for an account, one just needs to click on 'make new popplet' near the top of the home screen to get started.

The name and the background colour of the popplet are customisable. In the free version, it also tells you how many more popplets you can create. It says 'you have 8 popplets left' in the screenshot, so this means once I reach my limit of 10, I have to start deleting some before I can create new ones.

After you have given a name and chosen a colour for your popplet, you will be taken to the blank wall of the popplet. You just need to click anywhere and a box (called a popple), like the one you see below, will appear and you can enter any text, picture or video (from vimeo) into the box. You can also resize it.

By clicking on the grey circles on the four sides of the popple, a new link is created. This allows for the building on of ideas by anyone having access to the popplet.

The other interesting feature is the 'comment' part of the popple, which enables anyone who has access to the popplet to comment on any of the popples.

Uses of Popplet

As mentioned, Popplet is a great collaborative tool. The most obvious use for popplet would be for brainstorming ideas for a particular topic as the popplet can be shared by making other people collaborators through the 'share' button at the top right hand corner of the popplet. Teachers can either create popplets and invite students who have been grouped to a popplet to discuss and share ideas about an essay topic, or have students create their own popplets and invite the teacher to join in (for monitoring purposes).

Another use of Popplet could also be for when students have to share or present whatever research they had to do on a particular topic. Since Popplet allows for multimodality, it would allow for an added dimension to students' research since they can add pictures and videos. Since students can also download the popplet as a jpg or pdf file, the research being done by various students can be compiled and will be a useful resource for them.

Advantages of Popplet

• Since popplet is easy to use and create, teachers and students should not find it too much of a hassle to begin using this tool. 
• Popplet is also real-time, so everyone invited to the popplet can see the changes made on the spot. 
• The fact that Popplet allows for pictures and videos will allow for a wider range of resources to be added, making it richer. 
• Popplet can also be found as an app for iPads and so teachers can use those in place of laptops.
• Names are included in each popple, so teachers can monitor who has written how much.  

Disadvantages of Popplet

• Popplet is rather simple, and so is limited in terms of font size or ability to organise the popples.
• It can look quite disorganised and/or overwhelming if there are too many popples. 
• The relationship between popples might also not be clear as the lines disappear behind popples if they are too far away (as seen below).
• Limited number of popples in the free version, so teachers are not able to create that many, should the paid version not be a viable option. A workaround is to have the students create one and the invite the teacher. This does not add to the teacher's popplet count.

Conclusion

Popplet is simple to set up and easy to use. I feel that because there are limited choices, this helps students to focus as they are not distracted when creating their popplet as they will not be tempted to spend the bulk of their time customising their popplet and making it look "pretty" (which I have found that many students are liable to do).

It will definitely be useful to have students use this online tool to collaborate and brainstorm inside and/or outside the classroom.

Review of Simple English Videos

Today's review will be on Simple English Video (link embedded in name) and how it helps students become more autonomous in their learning.

Simple English Video is produced by an American husband-British wife team who speak English as their L1. Their credentials can be found here (link embedded).

Types of videos

As the name of the websites suggests, there are many different types of videos which help people learn English in a simple manner. When browsing, there are two ways in which the videos are organised: by difficulty level and by grammatical component or function.

Should the learner want to focus on a specific component, the videos are divided into 10 categories: Grammar, Vocabulary, Pronunciation, Everyday English, Songs & Stories, Speaking Practice, Hang out with us, Business English, British & American and How to learn faster.

Ways to use this website

The teacher can use this website as a teaching tool if he/she wants to focus on a specific component. For example, the teacher would like to introduce or draw students' attention to particular pronunciations in the English Language. Instead of having to plough through all the videos on YouTube, or look for resources, the teacher can use the videos found in this website. Although the videos uploaded are not exhaustive, but there are some useful materials that teachers can use in class.

Having said that, what I think would be a better use of this website is have students visit it on their own. This way, students have the autonomy to decide what they would like to learn or reinforce. The website has enough videos and content that students will be able to view and review at their own pace.

Pros

The presenters are conscious that their audience are learners of English, hence the speed at which they speak is slower than normal. There is even an accompanying transcript of what was said in the video. The content of the videos are also targeted at learners as detailed explanations are provided. This is possibly due to the presenters assuming that their learners are self-taught and do not have access to a teacher or someone whom they can ask for help. Hence, they try to make their materials as comprehensive as possible. The layout of the website is also clear and simple, which will help students navigate it with ease.

All these things aid students in becoming more autonomous (if they are not already), since information is easily accessible and readily available in one site.

Cons

The site is not meant to be interactive in the sense that students do not interact directly with the website like in LyricsTraining or TubeQuizzard, where learners can type their answers directly onto the site and get immediate feedback on their answers. The only sort of interaction available is during the pronunciation practice videos, where learners are left to be self-directed and have to be disciplined to practice pronunciation on their own when the presenters tell them to.

While the lack of interactivity is not a big disadvantage per se, but it can be off-putting for some students who like to have a more hands-on approach instead of being passive recipients of information.

In Singapore context

Depending on the students' competency level, teachers can either have them watch particular videos to reinforce learning or introduce it so they can be autonomous in learning new vocabulary or practising pronunciation, for example.

Teachers can also use the videos as trigger activities when introducing a particular vocabulary item or grammar component.

Conclusion

Regarding giving students the autonomy to learn, I would recommend that teachers also introduce the other two websites mentioned above so that students are not restricted to only SimpleEnglishVideos when it comes to learning, as some might like more interactivity. That is not to say that this website is less useful or that the content is not as good; rather these three websites serve different purpose. LyricsTraining and TubeQuizzard seemed to focus more on listening skills as students have to pay close attention to the audio to get the answer. There is no real teaching element involved, and seems to be more appropriate to reinforce learning in the classroom or to inject fun into learning. Thus, these three websites should be introduced together since SimpleEnglishVideos fills in that gap missing in the other two websites.

While it cannot and should not be used to replace the teacher in the classroom, SimpleEnglishVideos will be able to help its audience learn something new and gain autonomy.

Review of WebQuest

This post will be examining the pros and cons of WebQuests.

What is a WebQuest?

Dr. Bernie Dodge, the creator of WebQuest explains what it is in the video.



In summary, a WebQuest is a lesson that requires students to synthesise the information they found from the various websites provided by the teacher to produce a piece of work set out by the teacher. The important thing to note is that a WebQuest is not suppose to be a mere creation of various pieces of information found on the Internet. The task that the teacher designs needs to ensure that students process the information they have read and sieved through, and create something new using that information.

I find this site to be a good example of a well-designed English Language WebQuest. It hits all the right notes in terms of synthesising information and creating something out of it. Moreover, through doing this WebQuest, students horizons are broadened as they learn about other cultures and how to appreciate them. Teachers can extend the lesson further by using this as a stepping stone to discuss other related topics, like globalisation, or even culture and identity (depending on the level of students being taught).

Uses

Well-designed WebQuests are cognitively challenging as the task demands students reach the higher levels of critical thinking skills in Bloom's Taxonomy, i.e. analysing, evaluating and creating. In today's world, these critical thinking skills are extremely important, and very much in line with MOE (Singapore)'s 21st Century Competencies of producing students who are "Critical and Inventive Thinkers".

WebQuests can be used for Task-Based Learning as students have to complete a task using the resources they have sieved out from the websites given to them by the teacher. For example, students can be asked to design a travelogue, or create a presentation about a particular aspect of the topic. In this way, students are able to practise at least two skills at one go - reading and writing - on top of using English itself to communicate with their team members.
 

Disadvantages

Having said that, designing a good WebQuest is not exactly the simplest task. The teacher has to put in many hours designing a task that requires students to produce something original (and not a mere copying of information off various websites), looking for good websites that the students can use to gather the knowledge to complete the task, and also create a set of rubrics that is detailed enough so that students are aware of the criteria they need to fulfil. The fact that so much is demanded of the teacher might be off-putting for some, since having an abundance of time is a luxury for teachers.

Advantages

In spite of that, a well-designed WebQuest is like any course material; it can be recycled and reused many times over with little or no modification required (barring any major hiccups or changes to the curriculum). In my opinion, even if there is a change to the curriculum, an English Language WebQuest would likely still be valid - assuming the original task is to produce something that is along the lines of one of the four skills - since changes to the curriculum is unlikely to exclude any of the skills. Moreover, as English Language teachers, WebQuests are very much in line with language learning outcomes, since students are required to utilise language to create a meaningful and coherent product, thereby improving on their language ability in accordance to Swain's Output Hypothesis.

Conclusion

All in all, it would do well for the students to be exposed to a WebQuest at least once for the reasons mentioned above. Teachers can go to QuestGarden to either create one or look for existing WebQuests, though discretion has to be exercised when searching for a pre-existing WebQuest to use as not all WebQuests were created equally.