Teachers and Nurturers of Culture: Create and Share Your Own “No-Coding Needed” Learning App!
Encore!!! Language Learning app has three powerful foundations:
- A carefully curated library of text and audio with elements ranging from vocabulary to conversations;
- A powerful underlying software that gives the freedom to choose what and how the student wants to learn;
- A unique feature called My Entries allows a student or teacher to add text and audio to the app’s built-in library. This new content can use all of the software functions that come with the app.
The Encore!!! library follows the L1-L2-LE format, where
L1 is a language that the student already knows so it can act as a “helper” language;
L2 is the language the student wishes to learn;
LE is used for notations, which could be transliterations (how to pronounce the words in case Roman script is not used), or other text explaining additional concepts.
Playlists are the heart of the app. Encore!!! comes with pre-made playlists, which can be used immediately. Playlists can also be made using existing library content, and new content.
When using a pre-made playlist from the library these choices are offered:
1) “Semi-immersive” experience: Hear and see the text of L1 once and then hear and see the text of L2 a number of times (the user chooses the number of repetitions). Between each repetition a silent pause is given. The user chooses the length of the pause, allowing time to repeat what was heard;
2) “Immersive” experience: L1 can be “turned off” so that only L2 is heard repeatedly;
3) The languages are “switched” so that L2 is heard once and L1 is heard repeatedly;
4) “Switch” the language order and turn off L2 so only L1 is heard repeatedly.
Another powerful option is to select the speed of the audio. While playing a playlist three choices of audio speed are offered.
Finally a student can use the “TEST” feature to evaluate how well the content has been mastered.
How can a Teacher use Encore!!! Language Learning app for Teaching?
There are several scenarios in which a teacher can use Encore!!! to teach and reinforce lessons:
Scenario 1: Only the teacher needs the app.
The teacher creates and shares a “Screen Recording” of an Encore!!! playlist on a platform of the teacher’s choosing.
The teacher can add new content to his or her app through the My Entries function and then makes playlists from the Encore!!! library and/or the new My Entries content. The number of repetitions, the length of the pause, and the native language On or Off choices are made. Then the teacher uses the “Screen Recording” feature of the mobile device (smartphone or tablet) and records the entire playlist. The screen recording now contains the text and audio with all the playlist entries and repetitions.
The teacher can post this video on a storage site (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) and share the link with students. The students can play the video at leisure and use it to learn. No video editing software is needed to create this video. The teacher can add additional audio content by pausing the playlist and using the screen recording setting where both external and internal audio of the device are recorded.
The teacher can also play this playlist in class and have the students repeat aloud what they are hearing.
In case the teacher wishes and is comfortable doing some video-editing he or she can add images or audio to enhance the screen recording.
Scenario 2: In this scenario the students have the Encore!!! Language Learning installed on their devices.
The teacher shares his or her text and audio content with the students.
If the students can carry out simple functions like copy/paste, record then they can make use of the My Entries function of their own app. The teacher can place text and audio content on a storage site and then students can use the content to build the MyEntries content on their own app. Then they can use the software functions of Encore!!! listed above to learn the content.
Scenario 3: Students have Encore!!! installed on their devices.
The students record the teacher during the class.
In this case the teacher allows the students to record the audio for each entry in My Entries (the text for each entry can be emailed to the students so they can add it before the class or the text can also be added during class). The students can then make playlists with this new content and learn from it.
Scenario 4: (This will require an advanced version of Encore!!! app that is currently under development).
In this scenario the teacher can upload his or her content onto a server maintained for Encore!!! by Gurmentor. The students will be able to download the content onto their app. The content creator can decide who should have access to the content.
It is important for teachers and promoters of culture to recognize that the use of MyEntries can be extended to learning any content. For example, one can use it to learn songs, poetry, plays, sacred prayers, etc. The ability to use Encore!!! Language Learning thus allows one to create a product that is unique. Indeed schools can use Encore!!! to create their own unique apps and share them with their students. To learn more about the many possibilities please contact us at [email protected].
