Mobile Learning and Digital Games in School

Global Material Mobile Learning

Material for Mobile Learning

MacMillan has a book that is perfect for Mobile Learning. There are many levels to learn and teach English the mobile way.

GLOBAL

Global Beginner Coursebook

Kate Pickering & Jackie McAvoy

Macmillan ISBN 9780230032828

The book promises to be different, with a global outlook containing international voices, cultural knowledge and real live content. An electronic Workbook, 3 audio CDs, a teacher’s book with resource CD and part of the website macmillanenglish  were created to support this promise.

Are we purchasing a pioneer English course with a global approach using modern technology with this book?

The coursebook is divided into 15 units, each unit consisting of two parts. The exercises range from reading, listening, vocabulary and grammar to speaking, pronunciation and functional language. Listening plays a central part in the book.

Almost every exercise needs the audio CD, every page has colourful pictures, the topics are of global interest (meeting people, places, food, free time, different countries etc.) People from different countries speak about their lives, so the students get to listen to different accents. Students also learn about life in different continents, they become familiar with different cultures at the same time.

At the end of the book there are communication activities, phonetic symbols, grammar key to exercises, audio scripts and a list of irregular verbs.

The coursebook can also be obtained as a fully interactive digital version with embedded multimedia assets making blended learning a real pleasure for teachers and students. It opens a gate to “creative blended teaching”

 Global Beginner e Workbook

Robert Campbell and Adrian Tennant

Additional Material by Amanda Jeffries, Amanda Leigh & Jonathan Coxall

Macmillan ISBN 9780230032859

The installation of the workbook is easy if you are connected to the internet, the code is in the book. If you are not connected, then you have to follow the instructions, which tell you to key in the code, then to mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. via internet, and to wait for another code to key in. Depending on the time of the day, you might not get a mail with the new code immediately, so you will have to go through the whole process again later. 

Once the software is installed, it is easy to navigate through the workbook without a guide, although there is a very well explained brochure with lots of pictures that can be read before installing the software.

The exercises include videos, word lists, tests, dictionary, listening exercises, grammar exercises, writing tips, grammar help and extra material to use with iPod and mp3 player.  The e Workbook is intended for self study, the exercises can be printed out.

The website

The website is a great help for teachers, it contains:

1.  Blogs with topics like teaching tips and videos.
2.  Information about the course, the authors etc.
3.  Free resources like downloadable lesson plans.
4.  Scorm to try out for free before buying.
5.  Book parts to try out before buying.

Conclusion:

The amount of authors working together to produce different material ensures good quality, as well as diversity throughout the course.  The combination of media, global English and global culture is indeed pioneer work. No wonder the book was awarded in 2010.

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Workbook Global Elementary with answer key and audio CD

ISBN: 978-3-19-382980-1                      Level: A1/A2  

Additional Materials: Course book, class Audio CD’s, e-workbook, Teacher’s book and resource disk, Global Digital for classroom use, website: global                          

Topics:

The book contains photographs in black and white and has ten units, some of the topics include: Numbers, news & weather, schools, film & TV, family & friends, body, sports and food & drink.

The grammar treated is mainly present simple, present perfect, present continuous, past simple, wh-questions, comparisons, superlative, infinitive, if-sentences, phrasal verbs, adverbs, quantifiers, and countable & uncountable nouns.

Table of exercises included in the book:

Skill to develop	Exercise	Comment
Vocabulary	crosswords	Good for spelling
	gaps	Good for learning vocabulary
	pronunciation
Reading	Text comprehension	Students learn interesting facts about life in different countries, the small texts help students gain confidence in understanding written English, and they encourage them to ask questions or to engage in short conversations especially when the class is international. Furthermore, the tasks encourage students to write short paragraphs with their limited vocabulary. From unit 4 onwards, the texts contain a small glossary.
Grammar	Multiple choice	Good to test if typical mistakes are still being made
	Word order	One of my favourite tasks as it teaches low level students language structure and at the same time it reviews vocabulary almost automatically. My students liked doing these exercises.
Listening and speaking	Listening comprehension	Good to encourage correct pronunciation and get students used to understand different accents of English speakers from the beginning, just like in real life.

Preparation needed:

 If you have a large class of about 20 students and you want to do grammar, then you’ll have to prepare more exercises as there are only four to six for each topic.   It would make sense to have extra photocopiable sheets with exercises to each grammar topic treated in the book (as PDF’s to download.) However, if you just want to do reading or listening comprehension, you practically don’t need to prepare anything at all.

Tips & Ideas:

Class Audio CD’s

The Audio CD’s are an essential part of the course book, but I have used them on their own with A2/B1 students to practice listening comprehension before moving on to B1.

Website:

The Global Website offers a lot for teachers: Resources, blog, teacher development with interesting downloadable lessons on Mobile Learning including a video, podcasts, and the possibility to try Global downloading parts of the coursebook, listening materials, teaching notes, part of the teaching book and scope & sequence.

Resources:

There are e-lessons called Critical Eye with PDF’s to download (teacher’s notes and image), literature postcards with many exercises (for more advanced students) and international wordlists.

Mobile Learning and Online Learning:

Students appreciate interactive exercises. Global offers Global Digital for interactive whiteboards and Global for learning platforms (Moodle), which students can also access anytime, anywhere via mobile phone or tablet.