With the prevalence and importance of the IELTS examination world wide it is imperative that we are continually striving to best prepare our students for success. During this session I will demonstrate how by using mobile technology in the classroom we can create more engaging and effective lessons. Activities and strategies in the four main skill areas of listening, reading, writing, and speaking will explored with an emphasis on best practices. Additionally, we will look at how mobile technology can be used to give student feedback on writing and practice tests. The App Explain Everything is utilized in taking a piece of student work and then recording and annotating over the students work. This has been proved to be a highly effective way of making feedback more meaningful and intentional. I hope that people who attend my presentation will walk away with a range of activities and strategies that take their IELTS lessons from good to great and better prepare their students for success.

1. Elizabeth Birch
Academic Bridge Program
Zayed University, Dubai
Transform your IELTS Lessons
with Mobile Technology:
Going from Good to Great!

2. ZAYED UNIVERSITY
• English medium university established in 1998
• Two main campuses, one in Abu Dhabi and one in Dubai.
• Academic Bridge Program
• 3,000 students across the two campuses
• 1:1 iPad Program since Fall 2012

3. Zayed University - Abu Dhabi ...

4. ... and Zayed University - Dubai

5. I E LT S i n t h e UA E
Average of 5 or above to enter federal
territory education institutions.
2012: 16% of high school graduates entered
directly into bachelor programs (NAPO)
IELTS Preparation Programs
Master Key Skills and Strategies
Proven to improve students mean scores
(Hayes & Read, 2004)

7. Tips and Tricks to Integrate
Mobile Technology into your
IELTS Prep Classes!

8. First!!
!
- A way to easily share
information and interact with
students.
!
Second!!
!
- A place where students can
easily hand in work and
feedback given.

9. !
!
Keep a record of
homework instructions,
test dates, instructional
videos etc in a place
online where students
can access them at any
time.
1 . O n l i n e C l a s s r o o m P l a t f o r m
Schoology
WeeblyMobile Learn
Edmodo

10. Students more likely to
express themselves
online (p63)
Group brainstorming
online more beneficial
and productive (p89)
Barrier of the screen
Q u i e t b y S u s a n C a i n

11. Showbie
Quickly and easily assign, collect, review
and mark up student work within Showbie.
2 . S t u d e n t Wo r k f l o w

12. 2 . S t u d e n t Wo r k f l o w
1.Assign
3. Review
2. Collect

13. Reading
Skills Assessed
Listening
Reading
Speaking
Writing

14. S p e a k i n g
Easily record speaking exercises
Task 1 & 3: Pair Work - Role Plays
Task 2: long turn practice
!
Speaking portfolios - collection vs showcase portfolios
Book CreatorExplain EverythingEducreations

15. L o n g Tu r n P r a c t i c e

16. S p e a k i n g Po r t f o l i o s
Book Creator
Reflective
Barrier of the screen
Practice outside of
class
Record of progress

17. S p e a k i n g Po r t f o l i o s

18. Vo i c e R e c o r d P r o
Free
Record and Crop Audio Recordings.

19. Reading
Skills Assessed
Listening
Reading
Speaking
Writing

20. L i s t e n i n g
1. Choose a relevant video
2. Add multiple choice questions
3. Post link to class website
4. View student progress

21. E x a m p l e

22. Reading
Skills Assessed
Listening
Reading
Speaking
Writing

23. W r i t i n g
All stages of the writing process
!
However, in IELTS prep classes the two main processes
that work well are:
Brainstorming Feedback

24. E x a m p l e

25. I n c o r p o r a t e P r o j e c t Wo r k

26. Nearpod Code: AMBPC
Check student understanding
!
Student participation
!
Classroom management
Example Project 1: Introduction

27. Easily create interactive
how to guides you can
share with the world.
Applying: SnapGuide

28. S t u d e n t E x a m p l e 1 :

29. Feedback

30. Reading
Skills Assessed
Listening
Reading
Speaking
Writing

31. R e a d i n g C o m p r e s s i o n G a m e s
Socrative
Free
Space Race

32. R e a d i n g C o m p r e s s i o n G a m e s

33. R e a d i n g
Learning: 2 Step Process (Mazur,2005)
Transfer of Knowledge Assimilation

34. R e a d i n g
Learning: 2 Step Process (Mazur,2005)
Transfer of Knowledge Assimilation

35. R e a d i n g
Pre-Reading Online Reading Quizzes

36. Reading
Skills Assessed
Listening
Reading
Speaking
Writing

37. L e t s h a v e a c l o s e r l o o k . . .

38. R e f e r e n c e s
Cain, Susan (2012). Quiet: The power of Introverts in a World That Can’t
Stop Talking. New York: Crown Publishers.
!
Hayes, B., Read, J. (2004). IELTS preparation in New Zealand:
Preparing students for academic module. In L. Cheng, Y. Watanabe, &
A Curtis (Eds.), Washback in Langauge Testing: Research contexts and
methods (pp. 97-112). Mahwah, N.J.:Laurence Erlbaum & Associates.
!
Mazur, Eric (2005) The Interactive Learning Toolkit. Phys. Teach., 43,
398-398
!
National Admissions and Placement Office (NAPO), Ministry of Higher
Education and Scientific Research. Retrieved from http://
ws2.mohesr.ae/NAPO