Dvolver

Dvolver is a website that can be used to make animated videos. It provides a number of characters for the students to choose and make dialogue between the two characters. It also enables some types of animation for the characters to move.There are also some background musics available for the students to select on to make their dialogues alive and interesting. As the movie making is done, users can email the movie to themselves or to other people such as teachers or friends.  Dvolver can be used as a platform for the students to be a beginner-script writer as they are to choose the title for their own videos and  acknowledge their names as directors.

What is good about Dvolver?

Free of charge! It can be used in unlimited times. 

It is fun and motivating as the students are given the chances to create their own dialogue by choosing their preferred characters and script.

It enhances students creativity and imagination for it allows students to create a title for their videos and produce their own scripts.

It can be interactive if the students are making the videos in pairs. They can brainstorm and discuss what will be presented in the video, especially the content of the dialogues.

What is not good about Dvolver? 

The characters are quite limited. The possibility for the students to use similar character for different videos is high. Students might use the same characters because not all characters are attractive and appropriate for some context.

There may be some possibilities for the students to use too informal language or 'trendy' language such as short forms and acronym.

 

How to teach in class?

Example of lesson: Asking for and giving advice.

Teacher may give the students a situation for the students to solve.Individually, the students are required to produce their own dialogue regarding the problem provided by the teacher. The teacher can then ask the students to email to the teacher or post it on blog. The teacher may share all students' works to the class. From here, the teacher can ask the students to watch and comment on each others' videos.

Why is it good to post it on blog?

1. It acts as motivation and instil ownership. Knowing that there are people who are going to watch their video, the students would feel encouraged to do the animated movie,

2. Teacher can monitor and assess the students usage of language. From that, the teacher can provide feedback for the students on the students' presentation and language.

What Dvolver offers you!

Let's try Lyrics Training!

What is Lyrics Training?

Lyrics Training is a fun and easy way of learning foreign language which in this case, English Language. It is designed to enhance students' listening skills and semantic competence. While listening to the songs, students may guess the missing words. If they have difficulties of getting the words correct, they will try to make some effort to make sense of the sentences. It has three level of difficulties- beginner, intermediate and expert, thus suits all level of students. The students with low capacity would try the beginner part while the advanced students would try the expert part.

How can it be used in language teaching?

Teachers can simply ask students to play their preferred songs and ask them to listen and guess the missing words without 'skipping'. At the end of the lesson, teachers may ask the students to exchange their vocabulary with one another. Watch this video! It might help!




Advantages

• The most plus point for Lyrics Training is that it is FREE! So, students can make full use of it anytime and anywhere where the internet connection is accessible.

• It offers a number of either new or old songs that suit all students interests and preferences.

• It is fun and motivating for learning English Language which decreases the students affective filters. 

• It records the scores that challenge students to listen carefully and guess the words correctly.

• It has the ability to provide students with a wide range of vocabulary and at the same time train the students to spell right and pronounce appropriately.

• Teachers can always monitor the students' usage of Lyrics Training as it have "Skip" counts to see the students' listening skills.

Disadvantages 

• Some songs and video may not be appropriate for students to play. For example, the lyrics may contain inappropriate words and the video clips may show negative values.

• No internet access no Lyrics Training! Not all students can get to access to Lyrics Training if there is limited internet access.

 I would suggest Lyrics Training for English Language Teaching. However, teachers' guidance is important in order to prevent the students from getting useless inputs.

Let's try and have fun!