Aurasma - Collaborative jigsaw reading activity

Using Aurasma to set up collaborative jigsaw reading activity

Eleven months after my last post I am back blogging again. Since then I completed my Master's at the university of Warwick, I relocated to Spain, found my first teaching job and attended my first English language teaching conference. Right now, I am teaching 40 hours every week which leaves no time for blogging (even eating sometimes). At the beginning, it was really challenging. Trying to find the best teaching material for your learners in an ocean of different ELT materials has been a daunting experience especially the first three months. It is that period at the beginning of someone's teaching career in which you ask yourself, ‘Is this job for me?’And my answer is yes! It was that conference that I mentioned before that helped me to overcome this obstacle. Because of this conference, I am back blogging once again. The people that I met there, their passion for teaching English which they embodied into great ideas put me back into the game.

Augmented Reality technology and Aurasma

This post is a part of a series of blog post that will deal with different aspects of my dissertation, broken into short, easy to read, chunks. In this post, I will talk about some activities that I created for my Master's dissertation entitled 'Augmenting an English language teaching textbook using mobile-Augmented Reality technology to examine its impact in real classroom scenarios'. At the end of the series, I will also include a blog spot with all the difficulties that I faced while using Aurasma in an ELT class which every should know before stepping into a class and thinking of using this technology.

First and foremost, those activities make use of Aurasma, an Augmented reality mobile application, which blends the physical world with the virtual into a unique Augmented reality experience. If you are interested in learning more about the application and how to use it, there is another post on my blog which briefly explains the technology and which also includes a detailed video I created on how to use Aurasma Studio; a platform, accessible through your web-browser, which makes creating Augmented Reality experiences a piece of cake. You can find this blog post here.

Activity

My goal with all the activities was to create them in order to correspond to the modification as well as the redesign of the SAMR model (Puentedura 2014),  and at the same time, reaching the higher order thinking skills through the activities.

The first activity was based on a text from a very famous ELT textbook. I changed the book's reading into a jigsaw reading activity in which the learners were given a different source of information based on the text's  topic. The topic was about different ways of living a long life.

• One group of students was asked to read the textbook’s text.
• The second group was asked to use ‘Aurasma’ and scan the right half of the picture located above the book's text. This would trigger an article from a website dealing with a kind of superfood called kale.
• Finally, the third group of students was asked to watch a video which was about tips on living a healthy life. The video was triggered after the student would open ‘Aurasma’ and scan the left half of the picture above the textbook’s text.

 All sources were related to each other so that the students could then mingle in order to exchange ideas and tips on how to improve their lives. After that, learners would get into teams of three with learners from the other groups so that they would come up with a list of the top tips for living a healthy and long life.

The ideas behind the activity

So, as you just read I used the book's images as the trigger images for the Augmented reality material. I did that in an effort to increase the book's value by introducing the concept of a changeable book that would be altered according to our teaching context. Instead of replacing the book, by acknowledging its value, I tried to build upon it and use it as a springboard for providing extra and relevant information.

Depending on my students' level, age and interests I could have possibly used a different article or video. Also, thinking about the amount of new information that we are introduced every day, the video or the article which I used last year might have become outdated by now. With Augmented Reality and Aurasma I can just keep my trigger images and associate them with new videos or articles. Still, I would use the same book as the basis in which I would relate the Augmented Reality material. So, instead of demoting the ELT book, I am improving it, and making it an integral part of my teaching.

Moreover, augmented Reality gave me the opportunity to incorporate an article and a YouTube video into my lesson without having to print anything or move the students from their seats in order to sit in front of a computer for example. Thus, on the one hand, I didn't have to deal with printers and on the other hand with finding a computer for every one of my learners. One of the possibly greatest powers of this technology is the fact it requires minimum effort from the side of the student. In other words, students just open Aurasma, point the mobile phone's camera to the triggering image and the material, I decided to give them, is right there on their screens.

All work is done by me beforehand and therefore, makes technology a lot less disruptive. There is not need for changing seats, turning on a computer, typing and trying to find the correct website etc. And even if this activity had been done with a mobile phone, learners would still need to open their internet browser and write the correct web address. The nature of AR allows for the right material to be displayed when learners trigger the respective images that I have set to serve as the trigger images while preparing the activity. This allows for a smooth and unproblematic experience which allowed the teacher to be minimally involved in the activity. Therefore, it can be said that possibly one of the affordances of AR is to promote a learning experience, which can flow without the intervention of the teacher, due to the guarantee that the learners will be presented with the right material. 

Finally thoughts

To be honest, this activity which was the first among the three that I did with the class the participated in my research was quite a failure. Even though I had a very good understanding of the technology, problems emerged that hindered my research. Those problems I will extensively present them in a blog post at the end of this series. However, having experienced this failure, I tried the exact same activity with my group of learners and that time the activity was a success. My learners were engaged in the activity throughout it. Having done quite a few jigsaw reading activities with this group of learners. This modified jigsaw reading surely caught their attention. I was pleased to watch my learners watching the video a number of times until the have felt that they had a good understanding of its content. 

Finally, I feel that learners should be given the freedom to take control over their learning. Next time I would try this activity with another group of learners I would encourage them to go on and search the recommended list of videos that appear next to activity's video in YouTube, as well as similar articles in a way to make them more responsible about their learning, increase their exposure to English, and give them the opportunity to self-direct their learning.

Extra information

At the end of this blog post, you can find the page from the ELT book that I used to base my Augmented Reality material. You can download Aurasma, open the application, follow my profile Aurasma profile named Antonopa, click on the page below to make it larger, point your camera with Aurasma application open and experience the Augmented Reality material. 

References:

Puentedura, R., R (2014) SAMR In the Classroom: Developing Sustainable Practice [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2014/11/28/SAMRInTheClassroom_DevelopingSustainablePractice.pdf

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Aurasma - Can ELT textbooks come to life with this app?

Aurasma

What is Aurasma?

To begin with Aurasma is a free to use mobile application which is compatible with both Android as well as IOS mobile devices. It enables users to experience augmented reality by aiming the mobile's camera at different images, objects or even places. For example, a car magazine editor is writing an article about a new car but he wants to make the article more engaging. What Aurasma enables him to do, is to link a picture of the car inside the article, with a video/3D product model showing this new car. As a result, when the reader points his camera to the picture while using Aurasma , the preselected video/ 3D model of the car will appear. In order to better explain Aurasma I will present one of the uses I am very fascinated about.

Example Activity

Before presenting the examples I prepared, I would like to briefly explain how I came up with those examples. A significant number of teachers who teach English using a textbook will probably agree that textbooks have some flaws. For those examples, I would like to focus on two specific flaws. Sheldon (1988) in his article "Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials" describes textbooks as  static and at the same time he highlights the fact that they become outdated quite fast due to the long process of writing and publishing. Even though the article is quite old, textbooks have not changed dramatically. Both of those drawbacks still exist in many English language textbooks. Supplementing materials either in the form of CDs or computer software have considerably helped to improve the reputation of textbooks. However, the problem is still there. In other words, the actual textbooks will remain static even though most of the material those material refer to the book content.

How is Aurasma relevant to that? Before answering this question, I will present my examples and then I will try to explain how these are relevant to what I have said about the textbooks.  For those examples, I have used a very popular ELT textbook called New Headway Elementary written by Liz and John Soars and published by the Oxford University Press. I have made three examples. In the first two, students need to carry out a reading task, in which they need to read about two famous women, a singer and an actor/politician. When students point their camera at the pictures 1,2 a video of the singer performing and the biography of the actor/politician will appear on the screen respectively.

You can download the app on your mobile phone if you want to test the examples I created. Android - IOS (In order to be able to use my Auras you need to follow my Aurasma profile - username: Antonopa)

When students point their camera at these extracts the following webpages will open:

Shirley Temple Black IMDb Profile

The third example is a bit different. It comprises of a recording I created in which I demonstrate the correct pronunciation of four words that appear in a box. This box presents the words know, talk, girl and thought, all written in phonetic symbols.

Recording

Linking this to theory

During my practical teaching modules, I recall my groups' tutor highlighting the importance of activating schemata. Teachers should be able to help learners relate their previous knowledge so as to engage with the material.
Schemata theory proves that reading texts enable learners to construct their own understandings by taking part into an interactive process between the learner and the text (Carrell, Eisterhold 1983). Learners bring the own experiences, and background knowledge into the classroom which will be activated by the time a learner receives the input by reading the text (Carrell, Eisterhold 1983). However, what happens when learners background knowledge is not enough to engage with the text? Carrell and Eisterhold (1983) highlight the importance of a balance to exist between the learners' background knowledge and the knowledge that the text require learners to possess.

Example 1

I believe that Aurasma can play an important role at this problem which exists with outdated or irrelevant to the learners material. Namely, in the first example not everyone in the class might know Joss Stone. Considering the fact that she is a contemporary singer, watching a video clip of her will help learners engage with the material because they now have some exposure to her. Depending on the learners' age the song can be also changed to increase engagement. For instance, I choose a live performance of the song 'here comes the rain again' which was originally sung by  Eurythmics, an 80s band. As a result, in a class of adults who might not be familiar with Joss Stone, this song which they will probably know, will help them to engage with the material.

And this is how textbooks can actually become alive for the first time and within the boundaries of the pre-selected content can possibly change according to the learners' needs.

As I mentioned before teachers need to be able to engage learners with the topic. However, I have witnessed a significant number of trainee teachers and found it challenging to start and then handle a conversation which would activate learners schemata. Therefore the use of Aurasma, can possibly help those teachers who find it difficult to grab their students attention and engage them with the topic.

Example 2

The idea behind the second example is the same with the idea behind example 1. Shirley Temple Black was not a name I was familiar with when I was reading through this book for the first time. Therefore depending on my learners' age I assume that they would probably not know her, which in the worst case scenario may result in a lack of engagement.

However,  Aurasma's benefits are not limited to helping with students' engagement. In example 2, a webpage of a famous site will open which keeps record of all the actors in the world. This page includes Shirley Temple Blacks biography, filmography as well as famous quotes of her, trivia and strange facts. The possibilities for extra activities are significantly increased with this new piece of material. For instance, learners can scan the texts for particular information about some of he movies or they can create a group project about the different aspects of her life. Of course, the same can happen with example 1. Extra activities can be built around Joss Stone's live performance such as gap-filling activity based on the song's lyrics.

It must be acknowledge though, that the activities that I proposed are not innovative at all. Perhaps Aurasma can help with creating activities that were previously infeasible due to the lack of such technology, but this is not what I am examining in this post.

Example 3

Example 3 is significantly different to the other two. To begin with, while example 1,2 are designed to take place within the classroom environment, example 3 is designed to help learners while studying at home. In this example I have linked the image from a box which highlights the correct pronunciation of four words with a recording I created with Vocaroo (an on-line voice recorder). In the recording, I read the instructions of above the box as well as the actual words.

In my opinion, there is a lot of potential for publishers to improve their textbooks by implementing small sound clips or video clips depending on the Target language. In other words, learners, especially those who live in countries where English is not used for everyday situations, have limited exposure to English. Fours hours of teaching are not enough to receive an adequate amount of input, What if textbooks publishers would include sound clips modelling the correct pronunciation? Or small video clips in which teachers would explain some grammatical points? Or even some hints on how to finish a specific activity? The opportunities are endless. As long as those extra materials are carefully designed to help learners and avoid confusing or spoon-feeding them, textbooks will be considerably improved.

Target Audience

Regarding the use of Aurasma as in the third example, learners can be exposed and experiment with the material stored in an on-line repository as they would do in self-access centres. Assuming that there is at least one extra material (Aura) for every activity, rule etc. in the book, learners are able to choose which of those extra materials would experiment with. Therefore, we can describe this as self-directed learning. Either because of personal interest or because they identify their weaknesses, learners will be able to focus on different materials. What is more,  there is an element of programmed learning through this. Namely, learners would be able to work individually on their own pace, in pre-determined by the teachers or publisher, chunks of language (Benson 2011). Having said the above, I believe there is high chance that autonomous learners will be positively benefited by the use of Aurasma.

Concerning examples one and two, it can be generally said that, learners who enjoy using their mobile phone would like this new technology. I also believe that there is a strong element of active learning in those examples. In other words, teachers who implement Aurasma in their lessons, will give them the chance to discover on their own what comes next. This is utterly unpredictable considering the fact that learners will not have access to the Auras until teachers decide it. Therefore, there is high chance that high risk-takers, as well as active learners, would embrace Aurasma.

Limitations

One of the limitations, or to put it more correctly, disadvantages of this technology is the probability of distracting learners from learning. The fact that learners, need to open and use their mobile phones during the class-time can be a good reason for them to check their Facebook profile's news feed, In a big class monitoring what learners do with their mobile phones is a very difficult task. However, I believe that similar to example 2 (Shirley Temple Black), if learners use the App to access new piece of information which will enhance their understanding and maybe be a part of another task, under the correct management learners will not have the time to be distracted. In other words, if this becomes a vital part of the lesson which is necessary in order to progress into the next activity, task etc. , I strongly feel that learners will maintain their interest.

A tutorial video 

This is a tutorial video that I created and gives a good introduction on how to use Aurasma studio.

References:

Benson, P. (2011). Teaching and researching: Autonomy in language learning. Routledge.

Carrell, P. L., & Eisterhold, J. C. (1983). Schema theory and ESL reading pedagogy. TESOL quarterly, 17(4), 553-573.

Sheldon, L. E. (1988). Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials. ELT journal,42(4), 237-246.

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