CALL- 21st-century skills

Vocaroo

Speaking Skills 

About Vocaroo – 

Vocaroo is a free service that allows users to create audio recordings without the need to install any software. You don’t even have to create an account to use Vocaroo! All you need to have is a microphone and your phone/computer.

Pedagogical Benefits 

First of all, this tool is very easy to use. The students and their teachers don’t have to open an account in order to use it. Moreover, there is a clear instruction to use it. Those facts help the students use the website and complete their tasks successfully.

Second, this tool is very useful for EFL teachers because it allows the teacher to record himself and send it to the students. It will help the students practice their understanding by listening to the records.

The last and most important benefit of this tool is that it helps the students practice their speaking skills. They can record themself as many times as they need, listen to the records, correct their mistakes, send the records to their friends and to their teacher.

Possible Drawback

The “send” link is very small and can easily be overlooked, which can cause a bit of confusion.

A possible way for the teachers to overcome it is to take a screenshot and circle the link then send it to the students.

21st-Century Skills

1. Learning and innovation skills 
2. Technology skills 

Using Vocaroo as a means of enhancing students’ oral speech has ultimately led not only to the improvement of this but to the general perception and expressiveness of its users. Moreover, using Vocaroo requires using technology properly.

Canva

Writing Skills

About Canva –

Canva is a digital tool that allows the user to present their ideas by designing great posters, slides, and more.

Pedagogical Benefits 

Canva allows the user to design posters, slides, and more in a creative way. The website is very easy to use for the students and teachers as one. There are hundreds of options to choose from and clear instructions on how to use them.

There are many uses of this tool in class. But the most useful of them all is improving the writing skills of the students.

EFL teachers can use Canva while giving the students writing tasks that will encourage their creativity, enhancing collaboration, and will streamline their work. Moreover, during Corona times It’s a way of continuing classes and lessons online.

Completing their writing task in a creative way helps the students to want to improve themselves. The website is very fun and interesting to use. The students will have much more motivation to write their task in an unusual and creative way.

Possible Drawback

There are many options for the students to choose from, which is a good thing. But, when the students don’t know exactly what they want to present they can spend a lot of time choosing the best option for them instead of writing their tasks.

A good solution can be that the teacher will give the students a few options to choose from. This will give the students a place to show their creativity and will focus them at the same time.

21st-Century Skills

1. Reading and Writing
2. Learning and innovation
3. Media and Technology

The tool requires the students to know how to use technology, it helps them show their creativity and practice their writing skills.

Scrumblr
Vocabulary

About Scrumblr-
This site allows users to use it for free. On the site, you can create a digital board, and divide it into different categories, and create digital notes, which the other participants are able to match to the built-in categories

Pedagogical Benefits

The students can learn new vocabulary or review some words in a visual and clear way.

The teacher can create different categories of words (for example- verbs, nouns, adjectives, and so on), notes of words, and let the students match the word to its correct category.

The learning is done by way of trial and error, in which students take part by trying to match the words to their meaning.

It is not easy for EFL students to acquire new vocabulary, this digital tool can help them acquire the words better. The fact that this way of learning is unusual for the students most of the time helps them stay focus while learning.

Possible Drawback

The site does not allow students to use their creativity and develop it. The tasks that can be given to students are a bit tedious.

The teacher can treat the task as a game, add competitive elements, thus making the task more fun and instructive

21st-century skills

1. The three R- focus on reading- the students read the written words on the digital board and the digital notes.
2. Technology- the students are required to use technology while using this tool.

Thank you so much for a great course!! We feel like we have learned a lot. In these difficult times, you managed to teach this course in an organized, effective, and interesting way. Both of us already used a few of the tools we have learned here during our lessons:)