Wikiwars, self-testing and video-aided speaking assessment

There are many ways to inspire your students. Your, virtual learning environment (VLE) is simply another tool. But when used well, it’s possibly the most powerful digital tool at your disposal. Here are just some ideas that might inspire you to find new and engaging ways to use your VLE.

Raising boys’ achievements with Wikiwars

Literacy among boys is a big problem in many schools – and getting teenage boys engaged in poetry classes is one of the biggest challenges a literature teacher faces. Dane Court Grammar School in the UK solved the problem by launching Wikiwars, and has since seen boys’ average poetry grades jump from C to A.

A Wikiwar is essentially a discussion forum created in the VLE that focusing on a number of poems at the same time. Students pair up, and then join in the debates to ‘win’ the argument. As well as inspiring a sense of competition, the Wikiwar allows students who would normally be too shy to speak up in front of others take part without embarrassment – and students can refer back to the debate as part of their exam revision.

Watch the concept in action on teachers.tv
(Note: there are three case studies on this clip. The Wikiwar case study starts at 7 minutes 55 seconds.)

Increasing the incentive to learn with self-made tests

If you had to test someone’s knowledge of the American political system, and you only had ten questions, what questions would you ask? According to it’s learning trainer Trond Skeie, this is the kind of dilemma facing students at some schools in Norway. The reason? They have to write the questions for the class’ end of term test themselves.

“Many VLEs have really flexible test tools and you can even use music, video or images in the questions,” explains Trond. “So why not turn this over to the students? They love using the tool and are motivated to understand the subject so they can ask the others tough questions.”
Once the questions have been submitted, the teacher then chooses which questions will be used in the final test. According to Trond, this brings an added incentive to the exercise. “Students know that if they come up with a good question it will be in the test – and that guarantees them at least one correct answer.”

Download our top ten tips for creating digital tests
Check out the test tool in it’s learning

Easier speaking assessments for language teachers

A language teacher needs a good memory if she’s going to assess every student’s speaking development. She has to remember how each of her students spoke at the start of term – and then compare it to how they spoke at the end of the course. Not an easy task, even with extensive notes.

The solution could be to give the students regular spoken assignments that they record directly in the VLE. This way, the teacher can go back over the recordings, and see how her student’s pronunciation and fluency has improved.

This can also be a great motivator for students, who can play back the recording and hear their progress, and also spot the things they need to work on.

See how the voice recorder works in it’s learning