Introducing an App: Sock Puppets

This week's task is to introduce and write about an app that can be installed and used on a mobile device for language learning/teaching purposes. It actually took me a while to decide on an app. I went through bunch of apps as I wanted to introduce something that allows students to be productive and comes in really useful for them. So I decided to introduce and review "Sock Puppets"!

Sock Puppets is a great storytelling app that both teachers and students will enjoy. The app lets you create lip-synced short animated videos using sock puppet characters. All you have to do is download the app through App Store to your mobile phone or your iPad to get started! There are both free and paid versions available on App Store  but I am only going to review the free version. 

Learning how to use the app is actually simple and fun. To create a video, you simply;

1. Select your puppets

2. Select a background

3. Select the props and scenery

4. Move your puppets and props into their positions

5. Record your voice

6. Save the video and upload it to Youtube (optional)

Recording is so easy with a record button. You can also move your puppets side to side while recording. It detects voice so the puppets will automatically lip-synch to your voice while also applying a cute cartoon effect to it, which is a perfect way for shy students to record their voices and speak with confidence.

The only downside of the app is that there is 30-second recording limit for the free version although you can purchase extended recording time which is 90 seconds.

Overall, this app is both imaginative and fun especially for younger students. It simply allows them to get involved in creative storytelling. I think there are many ways to use this app in a classroom setting. For example, students can retell a story, prepare and perform a short poem, pair up and create amusing conversations on a specific topic or work in groups and create their own short story. Students can either improvise or prepare their speech beforehand. Socket puppets app help students boost their imagination as well as improve their language skills and their creative thinking.

I highly recommend this app to English teachers as it is an app that will surely enhance the learning experience for students.

Digital Storytelling Project: How to make Pompoms

This week’s project is digital storytelling. My partner Elçin Çepni and I worked together on this project. Our instructor gave us three options to choose from and we decided to go with the second option which is ‘HOW TO project’.

 For this project, we were required to demonstrate either a real or an imaginary process. In order to demonstrate the process, we had to explain it step by step adding videos, photos and narration. Our video was not supposed to be longer than 2 minutes, which I found inadequate for this task but after all, the task itself has to be challenging! Finding a creative idea was also a bit challenging. However, we managed to come up with a lot of different ideas but not every one of them was creative. We had to discuss every aspect of each idea we found including having had to explain it in just two minutes. In the end, we decided on the idea of how to make pompoms. We thought it was creative, cute and explainable-in-two-minutes kind of idea! We asked my mother to help us demonstrate pompom making as she is really a crafty person. We took the video of her making a pompom first and added narration to it later. We recorded our voices and explained the process step by step. We used Movie Maker to edit our work.

 I found this project quite enjoyable, to be honest. It was a bit challenging to come up with the perfect idea and also kind of time consuming to arrange and complete everything but during the process, my partner and I actually had fun. We enjoyed this task more than both our podcast and film review task even though it took much longer to complete. I believe that my partner and I came up with a good outcome as a result of our collaborative work. After all, this task would not be efficient if done individually. It is important to discuss the ideas and organize all the work together as it leads to the best outcome. People can always lead each other for the better if they work collaboratively.

 In my opinion, creating a digital story would contribute to students’ foreign language development as students get to practice their writing and speaking skills but it especially enhances creativity, communication, collaborative work and technological skills. I think these four are the most important aspects of digital storytelling project. 

Here is our project: