Magic School AI Lesson planner

 

A helpful tool for planning and many more!

Magic School AI Lesson Planner is an AI-powered tool designed to help teachers to create lesson plans that are suitable to lesson objectives, levels and can meet the needs of learners. I am impressed to see its several features such as worksheet generator, multiple choices for quizzes and assessment, feedback writing, rubric generator and many others to make meaningful and productive lessons. Sobehrad and Francis (2024) asserted that Magic AI can facilitate effective lesson planning process, providing efficient ways to develop targeted assessments, and producing a variety of differentiated materials and can significantly lessen the workload and stress experienced by teachers' burnout.    

Magic AI offers several benefits. Firstly, this tool saves teachers' time and energy to create plans and materials for lessons. Secondly, it is adaptable for different teaching contexts, online and face to face classrooms. Thirdly, Magic AI offers creative activities, multimedia resources and interactive exercises to promote student engagement. And finally, it offers constructive feedback that can improve learning outcomes. A study by Khan et. al., (2024) found out that integration of Magic School AI in the teaching method proved a better alternative than the traditional method for teaching science at the elementary level.

However, there are some limitations too. One common disadvantage of AI tools for learning could be that they do not have emotional intelligence and human factor to feel and understand the way humans feel. Also, it may not be as creative as a human teacher. I believe that creativity is one of the main factors to make lessons more productive and to make learning meaningful. Besides that, privacy of the data can be another issue to consider while using Magic AI tool. 

Overall, this tool can be used to tailor better lessons and to enhance learners' engagement even if it has some limitations. Here is the link for the lesson plan that Magic AI generated by my prompts for undergraduate students with A2 levels on the topic of Global Warming. 

https://app.magicschool.ai/tools/lesson-plan-generator?slug=lesson-plan-generator&thread=86162061

References

 

Khan, A. A., Tabassum, M. A., & Umar, Z. (2024). Effect of Magic School AI Tool on Elementary Students’ Academic Achievement. Al Khadim Research Journal of Islamic Culture and Civilization, 5(4), 13-28.

Sobehrad, S., & Francis, R. (2024, March). Indistinguishable from Magic: AI for Educators. In Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 2278-2283). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). 

Bamboozle - an effective tool!

 

Try Bamboozle to make the lessons fun😊

Bamboozle is an online game-based learning platform that offers huge variety of games for different levels and interests of learners. Even though Bamboozle is an amazing choice for younger learners with a lot of animated effects and funny photos in each question, higher level and older age learners, to be more specific, university level students may also benefit from its use. This platform is helpful for teachers to promote group collaboration and make strong bonds. Muslimin et. al., (2024) asserted that English language teachers should use the benefits of technology to elevate their teaching outcomes to create more engaging classrooms.

Usually the games are played in two groups with 16 questions on the board and each group should choose a number to find the answer for a question. I mostly witness while playing, my students are excited and motivated when they find correct answers😊 It seems they may have high dopamine levels while playing the game. Also, Bamboozle stimulates quick thinking and concentration because of its short timed format. Bamboozle can be used for revision activities and vocabulary practices. Moreover, it can be applied to check general knowledge and awareness of students on particular topics. A research study by Wulandari et al., (2024) found out that Bamboozle triggers brain to challenge, enhances user interaction by incorporating visual and auditory elements and is very effective with vocabulary acquisition for junior high school students. I mostly play Bamboozle games in my classes as supplementary activity to energize my students and to enhance their participation. However, the group who won the game may laugh at the group who lost; therefore, teachers should be warning students to follow ethical rules of the classroom in the beginning of the game. 

Not every student may be included to the game actively. Introvert students may stay silent throughout the game while talkative and active students may be shouting and giving answers because the rule of the game is based on speed and correct answers. Not involving all students can be the limitation of the game. Another limitation could be Internet connection, computer technologies and projectors to facilitate the game in low resource contexts. 

I have created several games with Bamboozle😊 and I use them in my classes to achieve better productivity. Here are the links of some of the Bamboozle games that I made for Linguistics, Assessment and SLA classes for MA TESOL students. You may feel free to visit these links and use them in your classes😊

https://www.baamboozle.com/game/2181740 

https://www.baamboozle.com/game/2115489

https://www.baamboozle.com/game/2050212

https://www.baamboozle.com/game/1906754

https://www.baamboozle.com/game/2011061

https://www.baamboozle.com/game/1871494 

https://www.baamboozle.com/game/1959851 

Photo credits: Pixabay

References

Muslimin, A. I., & Ivone, F. M. (2024). Exploring Game-Based Language Learning Applications: A Comparative Review of Quizwhizzer, Oodlu, Quizalize, and Bamboozle. Indonesia Technology-Enhanced Language Learning (iTELL) Journal, 1(1), 20-28.

Wulandari, W., Susanto, D. A., & Hawa, F. (2024). Exploring Bamboozle as Games-Based Learning Media to Support Students’ Vocabulary: Its application in the classroom. Innovative: Journal Of Social Science Research, 4(2), 6542-6551. 

Captivate your students with TED Ed videos!

Using TED Ed sources to make lessons more productive

TED Ed videos are great source of materials to develop listening skills and improve vocabulary. There are several subjects to choose in the catalogue that makes it useful for everyone with different interests. Another advantage is that the videos are designed to last 4-6 minutes which may not take too long time to watch. The videos provide reasonable information within this time. Also, this length of time can make them suitable to use in language classrooms.

Most of the videos are animated and can attract learners' attention easily. Videos are skillfully crafted with vibrant colours and amazing animations. 

TED Ed is not only useful for language learning, but also to learn other sciences like chemistry, environmental studies or history. Students will expand their horizons by watching diversity of topics.  To be honest, I myself as a teacher find TED Ed videos fascinating for giving me a lot of aha moments. Teachers themselves are learners through their careers, after all. 

I usually recommend my students to watch TED Ed at home too. These videos help to improve listening and speaking skills. Damayanti and Sumarniningsih (2022) noted that TED-Ed videos can be applied as authentic listening materials in EFL classrooms to enhance student’s listening skills. 

Generally, this source is suitable to intermediate level learners. Also, TED Ed sources maintain learner autonomy through independent learning. Interestingly, I sometimes find my students discussing and debating the issues they watched in the videos after the classes which made me believe that TED Ed videos stimulate group discussions and collaboration. Therefore, I recommend teachers to use these sources in the lessons. 

The videos have subtitles which may be helpful for learners to improve vocabulary and grammar. Also, subtitles may facilitate better understanding of the context. Moreover, the animations used in the videos based on interesting content can enhance involvement, promote learning by remembering the words easily (Rashtchi et al., 2021).

However, TED Ed videos have some limitations. Firstly, these videos are not specifically aimed for language learning. Language level of the videos are quite advanced that may make it difficult to understand for lower level learners. Teachers should take scaffolding into consideration while choosing TED Ed videos as lesson materials. Secondly, the videos often reflect Western perspective that might cause cultural misunderstanding in some other contexts. These factors may urge teachers to be more careful and selective. 

Overall, TED Ed videos can be used as stimulating materials in the lessons considering their limitations. 

A link for a TED Ed video

References

Damayanti, D. A., & Sumarniningsih, S. (2022). The effectiveness of TED-ED videos as audiovisual input in listening activities. Journal of English Language and Education, 7(1), 114-122.

Rashtchi, M., Khoshnevisan, B., & Shirvani, M. (2021). Integration of Audiovisual Input via TED-ED Videos and Language Skills to Enhance Vocabulary Learning. Mextesol Journal, 45(1), n1.

Canvas platform

 

My thoughts on Canvas

 

I have been working at MA TESOL programme at Webster University in Tashkent since 2023. This is how I started using Canvas online platform as a teacher. Canvas offers a lot of advantages to a teacher to stay organized, prepare for the lessons productively and deal with the cognitive and emotional load effectively.  

Here is how Canvas looks. It is well organized with Dashboard for the courses in the middle, teacher's account, Inbox for communicating with students via email, Help centre for emergencies on the left and teacher's To Do list for checking formative and summative assessments on the right. 

I find Canvas easy to navigate and comfortable to use. As most educational institutions in Uzbekistan still do not have an online platform to operate systematically, I would recommend them to implement Canvas to create  better and easier working environment for teachers and accessible sources for students to help them thrive in learning. Mpungose and Khoza (2022) investigated strengths and limitations of Canvas and found out that this platform can provide students with several useful options.

Each course has the following elements as given in the photo. The syllabus is outlined in the Home section that makes it easily available for the teacher and to students to address throughout the course. Also, grading policies, library guide, instructions for using APA citations and other important guidelines are placed along with syllabus. I find this layout very well-structured. 

A limitation I noticed while using Canvas is it requires passcode confirmed by Microsoft Authenticator app every 14 days. It does not require passcode in each access. If the device is lost or stolen within 14 days time, third parties can have access to sensitive information such as students' personal information and grades which is dangerous. Other drawbacks of Canvas mentioned by Oudat and Othman  (2024) are navigational difficulties, issues with integrating some third-party tools and difficulties with mastering the platform’s full capabilities.

Formative and summative assessments are submitted with a due date and there is an automatic subtraction for the scores for late submissions. Standard rubrics are provided for assignments so that the teacher will have a credible assessment while marking the students. Another useful feature I like about Canvas is there is a section for the teacher to provide feedback with several useful functions such as voice recording, video recording, writing text and emojis. I use all of these functions while I am providing feedback that help me to be more flexible.

Announcements section is an important element on Canvas. Teachers use it to send welcome messages in the beginning of the course that are motivating for students. Moreover, it is useful in emergencies to announce lesson time change or to inform about Office hours when needed. 

Organizations may facilitate both face to face and online learning through Canvas. Zoom is used for online sessions. I schedule 8 recurring Zoom sessions in the beginning of the term and announce it to students. Another useful function is the lesson can be automatically recorded in the cloud to make it accessible for the students who are unable to participate in the lesson to watch and learn later. 

 

In conclusion, Canvas can be a very helpful platform to create better teaching and learning environments. 

Here is the link if you want to try Canvas!

https://www.instructure.com/en-gb/canvas utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=canvas-redirect

References

Oudat, Q., & Othman, M. (2024). Embracing digital learning: Benefits and challenges of using Canvas in education. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 14(10), 39.

Mpungose, C. B., & Khoza, S. B. (2022) Postgraduate students’ experiences on the use of Moodle and Canvas learning management system. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 27(1), 1-16.

 

How can you take effective use of ELSA AI?

 

The prize for Teaching Pronunciation 

Excellence goes too... ELSA AI👏👏👏

The world has gone digitally advanced now. I am very impressed to see how technology is granting opportunities to us to study languages easily, effectively, with less stress, in shorter time compared to the past. 

There are a wide variety of apps anyone can choose today that serves this purpose. I compare this case to the scene in "Rock Dog" animation movie when the musician dog chooses a guitar in a huge collection of more than thousands of guitars according to his taste. Or in the Aladdin movie, the Genie makes the wishes possible in a blink of an eye like the apps for language learning are facilitating these days. Learning English is becoming easier and more accessible thanks to the development of technology. Learners choose the apps according to their needs and preferences. 

One of these apps is ELSA AI. It is a very helpful tool to learn and develop pronunciation. As an EFL teacher, I would recommend it to other colleagues and students to enhance their pronunciation. Especially, it is useful to A1 and A2 levels. Also, ELSA AI can motivate the students to engage in learning (Kholis, 2021).

One should download the ELSA AI app to start to practise and improve pronunciation. There are 3 versions of the app: ELSA Free, ELSA Pro and ELSA Premium. 

ELSA AI offers conversational practise and role playing scenarios. Proficiency comes with practise in learning languages. Obviously, it takes some time. Learners may feel confident while talking to this app without the fear of being judged or making mistakes. There is no human factor as it is an AI app. This app provides thorough feedback for your pronunciation and feedback is objective. I prefer this app for this reason. Also, a research by Dennis (2024) on AI-powered speech recognition technology for enhancing pronunciation and speaking abilities found out that considering the dynamic relationship between language acquisition theories, the use of technology and learner factors are important to create effective language learning environments.

There are some limitations of ELSA AI app. Advanced levels might find the app too basic, as it is mostly tailored to beginners and elementary levels focusing on accent and clarity. Also, it may provide incorrect or very strict feedback, especially with varied accents or intonation which may hinder its objectivity.

Companies can use this app as well, for example, to boost pronunciation skills of their employees. 

Here is the example for pronouncing the word "confidence". Learners should write the word on the app, then may tap to listen and say it. I would recommend to use this app along with other apps to promote language skills, because one drawback of ELSA AI app could be it is only focused to develop pronunciation. 

Here is the link for a YouTube video about ELSA AI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFuhtAi5tJk

References

Dennis, N. K. (2024). Using AI-Powered Speech Recognition Technology to Improve English Pronunciation and Speaking Skills. IAFOR Journal of Education, 12(2), 107-126.

Kholis, A. (2021). Elsa speak app: automatic speech recognition (ASR) for supplementing English pronunciation skills. Pedagogy: Journal of English Language Teaching, 9(1), 01-14.

A visit to Kedleston Hall

 

My unforgettable journey

We have been to Kedleston Hall a day ago with our Warwick Applied Linguistics team. It was my first trip to a historical castle as an international student. I dreamt to visit such castles since my childhood, to be honest. I really wanted to feel that atmosphere when I watched the movies "Pride and Prejudice", "The Duchess", "Wuthering Heights" etc. I am a huge fan of historical movies, books and sights. 

We have a great team of PhD and Master's students. We were guided by our amazing professor Tilly Harrison. We had such a nice experience thanks to her efforts.

I loved the clean and fresh weather and immense landscapes there. I am back home now with full of impressions, peace and tranquility in my heart. I love how people treat the nature here in the UK. Trees are sacred and not cut randomly. I have seen centuries old trees in the forest walk and felt so nice and harmonious with the nature. Besides, I am impressed how people care to their children's attitude to nature in England. They walk along the forest with their kids and play some interesting games with them which serves to spend the time meaningfully together, strengthen family bonds and promotes positive and loving attitude to the nature. I witnessed people bringing their kids to the castle, showing historical artefacts, the halls, portraits and answering to their questions in detail and patiently which I think raises intesest and respect in children to the glorious history. I experienced it in Oxford National Museum as well. I believe, such trips are important both for parents and the kids. People care so much about history here. 

   

I was very impressed by the decorations, portraits, dishes and the carpet in the dining hall. It is full of art and creativity. 

     

The trip was wonderful and adventurous. I believe, such experiences serve to build stronger rapport and broaden the horizons of people. Thank you!

An amazing tool for brainstorming and collaboration!

Organize your ideas easily with Bubbl.us!

Brainstorming and mind mapping ideas are vital part of education process these days, especially in language learning. I would choose to use a collaboration tool Bubbl.us, as it offers several and easy-to-catch ways of mind mapping for my students while for example, coming up with ideas for writing essays, analysing and sharing thoughts for project assignments. This tool has unique features like, note taking with pictures, links, and formatting that can help students to make their ideas in order. Bubbl.us may help to develop better critical thinking and promotes smooth organization. Also, Stair (2013) suggested that Bubbl.us as a useful online application that seamlessly enhances student-student and student-tutor engagement.

Here is the link you can use for this tool: https://bubbl.us/en

I can see variety of benefits of this tool for the teachers of all disciplines

• Teachers can show the tasks in big visuals and mind maps which usually help students to remember easily. To the best of my knowledge, this method is more interesting than showing simple notes in this technologically advanced era. It is obvious that most people pay more attention when the information is presented in visual charts and mind maps and remember better.
• This tool promotes collaborative learning in the classroom which in turn strengthens stronger rapport among teacher and students and within the small teams that are working together as well.

Bubbl.us offers great range of charts as you may see in the following photos. For instance, I would use Outline Right Align chart for brainstorming advantages and disadvantages essay. One group could search and discuss merits of a particular issue by using Outline Right Align form to tailor their ideas accurately and by implementing technology to the classroom while another group does the same for demerits of the same matter and in the end, both groups may share and discuss their opinions. I believe, students will be more engaged when they align the technology to the given task. Abd Karim et al., (2020) suggested that studied effectiveness of this tool and found out that Bubbl.us helped to improve learners' writing skills. 

Limitations of Bubbl.us could be the time and the resources. It can be time-consuming process to enroll students to brainstorm the task with Bubbl.us until they get quite familiarized with it. Also, it can be difficult to access to Bubbl.us in low resource contexts with poor Internet connection and lack of  computers and mobile phones.

So, my dear technophile friends, let's make our lessons more fun and interesting with Bubbl.us!

Here is the link for the chart for an SLA lesson that I created. You may have a look!

https://go.bubbl.us/e889cb/27ad?/Organization-Chart

Photo credits: Pixabay

References

Abd Karim, R., Tahir, M. H. M., Adnan, A. H. M., Idris, N., Ismail, I., & Abu, A. G. (2020). Bubbl. us: A digital mind-mapping tool to promote a mobile-based technology approach in writing courses. In Emerging Perspectives and Trends in Innovative Technology for Quality Education 4.0 (pp. 231-235). Routledge.

Stair, N. (2013). Bubbl. us–Web 2.0 Mind Mapping. Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 4(8).