ELL+and+Fotobabble

Created by Kathleen L. Editted by Erin S. Fotobabble is a great Web 2.0 tool for English Language Learners (ELL). It is a social-marketing tool that uses photos and audio to reach audiences for organizations of all kinds. On Fotobabble, a person can upload a picture, record a description of it, tag and title it, and then click save. By recording the information instead of writing it, it will allow for the audience to listen to it instead of read it. Content on Fotobabble can be shared through Twitter, Facebook, emails, or phone apps. There are many icons that can be clicked on to share it to the popular social networking sites and email groups. The pictures and recordings can be made public or private.

Educators could use this in such a variety of ways and in all curriculum areas. At the primary level, it can be used to teach vocabulary. A picture dictionary can be made of classroom words, body parts, foods, common verbs….the list is endless. Along with the pictures, of course, would be the word/words describing the picture. If a dictionary is created, a short sentence could be added, using the word. Another idea would be for students to “write” a story with photos. They could find pictures, record a sentence or two to go with the picture. The assignment could be a requirement of a certain number of pictures. The teacher could also just post photos and let the students record audio to match the pictures.

For students who are a little bit older, they could learn to use a digital camera and take the pictures on their own and then upload them.

ELL students could benefit greatly in using a site like this to help with vocabulary development. They would also improve their speaking skills. It’s simple to use and very basic, with nothing fancy about it. Students would be able to focus on the learning and not struggle so much with the reading and writing of it. Especially at the primary level, visuals are so much more motivational and essential to learning. Students would also become more skilled at using a computer and digital camera.

Because this site is so easy to use, a higher student could learn it quickly with just a small amount of adult supervision (first-second grade). This student could in turn, help others. For some of the lowest students, they could be paired up with a higher student and work on a project together. This is one of the few (and small barriers) that ELL students might experience in using this Web 2.0 tool. Other barriers might be low computer skills (for the youngest) and no computer or camera access. Doing these projects at school with adult supervision would help ease these barriers. Many school districts might have this site blocked, as they already have so many of them. The only way around something like this would be to educate those powers about the benefits of such a great tool for enhancing lessons in the classroom.

Fotobabble Home Sample Fotobabble Lesson

ELL, Fotobabble & Photo Bubbler
Fotobabble is a free online tool that enables users to express themselves on the web while displaying a photo. The creator of this article did a very thorough job. My contribution is a way to combine the use of Fotobubble with a free online tool called the Photo Bubbler. The Photo Bubbler allows users to obscure parts of a picture. Using this, an ELL student could create a challenge for other students to identify what is pictured in the photo. The Bubbled photo can be uploaded to Fotobabble, and the ELL student can give verbal clues about what the picture is of. It could be posted on a blog or webpage, or shared using email or url links, and would cover four educational domains — writing, speaking, and listening. As stated, this is just one of countless possible uses. The point of using Photo Bubbler and Fotobabble with ELL students is that it can be highly engaging, while giving students opportunities to practice writing and/or speaking while also giving them the anonymity of having a photo instead of themselves on display. Any problems with language or writing can be easily reviewed and changed making it a “safe” learning environment for students to take risks. Possible Fotobabble access issues are low, but one is asked to create an account other issues are listed above. Possible barriers with Photo Bubbler is that the directions are in English, but it uses icons with rather clear pictures to identify how to use the program. With time to try it out, most ELL learners will be able to learn to navigate through Photo Bubbler. With assistance from a student or teacher who has used it before, the student maybe able to more quickly begin use. The possibility of blocking Photo Bubbler is a possibility as it has very little user constraints and some people have used it for non-educational uses.

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