- Didactic Guidelines -

Didactic proposal

This open educational resource entitled Apps & Games is based on the curriculum of English as a foreign language and it is aimed at students of the 2nd year of compulsory secondary education. However, it can be implemented on other levels,. As a teacher, you can adapt or modify its contents. Likewise, feel free to use the whole resource or just the sections that best fit your teaching demands.

As this resource topic is about apps and games on electronic devices, it is granted that students will become interested and fully involved in it since they are regular smartphone users.

Here, students will learn and practice contents, procedures and attitudes related to the basiic knowledge areas of communication, multilingualism and intercultural values.

*Download this Didactic proposal in editable or pdf format.*

By working on this resource, students will face some individual activities, but also some collaborative tasks and a final project in which they will use all their knowledge and will demonstrate how able they are to develop and consolidate some specific and key competences in several learning situations very similar to those in which people may get involved in real life.

This project is the first of a set of projects entitled "What a Digital World'"which is based on the curriculum for the 2nd year of compulsory secondary education.

The following objectives have been considered in the design of this project:

to learn while working on a project.
to encourage collaborative work, since most assignments require information sharing and interaction with other students.
to foster students' self-learning process by using IT resources.
to reinforce students' communicative skills through activities of listening and reading comprehension, but above all, through tasks in which they must produce their own oral and written messages.

The project includes several stages that students will need to go through to eventually do the final challenge based on the production of a tutorial about their favourite online applications and games. Within this learning resource, relevant language contents can be practised and a wide range of tasks is presented so that students are encouraged to practise and improve the linguistic skills required for their final output.

This unit starts with the About you section in which students are required to answer some questions based on a video related to the use of smartphones. This section aims at fostering students' reflection on their lives as netizens. Here, students will create a written paragraph giving their personal opinion about the topic.
Sharing online. In this section, students will focus their attention on the channels that they will use to publish and share all their work as we think that they will be happy to showcase their familiy and classmates the poster, slideshow, writing composition, radio programme, graph, etc. that they will have done by the end of the project. From the wide range of websites and social networks available, we suggest that students have their own site at weebly.com, just like a portfolio, where they can post all their work and complete a Learning diary that will help them reflect on their own learning process. Encourage students to design their site following a clear structure. Their site must contain at least these pages:
- Homepage, the first and main page which must include a title, index, images and a description of the project.
- 'My writing guide' . This page will include all the student's writing tasks and tips for good writing.
- 'Smartphone vocabulary'. Students will include here links to the wordmaps that they create using key vocabulary.
- 'My digital resources'. On this page, students will publish the links to the tasks that they will have created with digital tools, like their digital poster, slideshow, radio programme and video.
- On the other hand, students can use Pinterest to share their outcome with the people they like. Google drive apps will be also used for writing texts and preparing presentations collaboratively.
- Besides, students can collect and add notes about vocabulary and grammar using online tools such as cacoo and padlet.
At the Play Store presents mainly the vocabulary and grammar necessary so that, at the end of the section, students manage to explain about the use of their favourite apps and games. They will design a digital poster where they can include relevant contents.
Download completed provides students with the possibility to practise instructions using computer-related vocabulary. By the end of this section, students will have created a slide presentation with the necessary steps to download and install apps and games into e-devices.
The Playing safely section presents modal verbs of prohibition, obligation and advice which students can practise through a role play based on a call-in radio programme. Besides, students can learn about tips to get online with their smartphones in a safe way.
At the Statistics: showing the results section, students will find out about teenagers' habits regarding smartphone use by preparing and asking a questionnaire so that they can get relevant information from their classmates. The results of this questionnaire will be reflected on a graph that each group will present in class on a fixed date.
Finally, the You are the expert section challenges students to show how much they have learnt about online apps and games. They will have to create a video tutorial on their favourite apps and games, using the language contents they have focused on.

Curricular Framework

Competencias clave

Competencia en comunicación lingüística (CCL)
Competencia Plurilingüe (CP)
Competencia en conciencia y expresiones culturales (CEC)
Competencia digital (CD)
Competencia personal, social y de aprender a aprender (CPSAA)
Competencia ciudadana (CC)
Competencia emprendedora (CE)

Competencias específicas y criterios de evaluación

Competencia específica 1: Comprender e interpretar el sentido general y los detalles más relevantes de textos expresados de forma clara y en la lengua estándar
Criterios de evaluación 1.1. Interpretar y analizar el sentido global y la información específica y explícita de textos orales, escritos y multimodales breves y sencillos sobre temas frecuentes y cotidianos, de relevancia personal y próximos a la experiencia del alumnado 1.2. Seleccionar, organizar y aplicar de forma guiada las estrategias y conocimientos más adecuados en situaciones comunicativas cotidianas para comprender el sentido general, la información esencial y los detalles más relevantes de los textos.
Competencia específica 2: Producir textos originales, de extensión media, sencillos y con una organización clara, usando estrategias tales como la planificación, la compensación o la autorreparación, para expresar de forma creativa, adecuada y coherente mensajes relevantes y responder a propósitos comunicativos concretos.
Criterios de evaluación 2.1. Expresar oralmente textos breves, sencillos, estructurados, comprensibles y adecuados a la situación comunicativa sobre asuntos cotidianos y frecuentes, de relevancia para el alumnado 2.2. Organizar y redactar textos breves y comprensibles con aceptable claridad, coherencia, cohesión y adecuación a la situación comunicativa propuesta, siguiendo pautas establecidas, a través de herramientas analógicas y digitales. 2.3. Seleccionar, organizar y aplicar de forma guiada conocimientos y estrategias para planificar, producir y revisar textos comprensibles, coherentes y adecuados a las intenciones comunicativas.
Competencia específica 3: Interactuar con otras personas con creciente autonomía, usando estrategias de cooperación y empleando recursos analógicos y digitales, para responder a propósitos comunicativos concretos en intercambios respetuosos con las normas de cortesía.
Criterios de evaluación 3.1. Planificar y participar en situaciones interactivas breves y sencillas sobre temas cotidianos, de relevancia personal y próximos a la experiencia del alumnado.
Competencia específica 4: Mediar en situaciones cotidianas entre distintas lenguas, usando estrategias y conocimientos sencillos orientados a explicar conceptos o simplificar mensajes, para transmitir información de manera eficaz, clara y responsable.
Criterios de evaluación 4.2. Aplicar, de forma guiada, estrategias que ayuden a crear puentes y faciliten la comprensión y producción de información y la comunicación, adecuadas a las intenciones comunicativas, usando recursos y apoyos físicos o digitales en función de las necesidades de cada momento.
Competencia específica 5: Ampliar y usar los repertorios lingüísticos personales entre distintas lenguas, reflexionando de forma crítica sobre su funcionamiento y tomando conciencia de las estrategias y conocimientos propios, para mejorar la respuesta a necesidades comunicativas concretas.
Criterios de evaluación 5.1. Comparar y contrastar las semejanzas y diferencias entre distintas lenguas reflexionando de manera progresivamente autónoma sobre su funcionamiento. 5.2. Utilizar y diferenciar los conocimientos y estrategias de mejora de la capacidad de comunicar y de aprender la lengua extranjera con apoyo de otros participantes y de soportes analógicos y digitales. 5.3. Identificar y registrar, siguiendo modelos, los progresos y dificultades de aprendizaje de la lengua extranjera, seleccionando de forma guiada las estrategias más eficaces para superar esas dificultades y progresar en el aprendizaje, realizando actividades de autoevaluación y coevaluación.
Competencia específica 6: Valorar críticamente y adecuarse a la diversidad lingüística, cultural y artística a partir de la lengua extranjera, identificando y compartiendo las semejanzas y las diferencias entre lenguas y culturas, para actuar de forma empática y respetuosa en situaciones interculturales.
Criterios de evaluación 6.1. Actuar de forma empática y respetuosa en situaciones interculturales construyendo vínculos entre las diferentes lenguas y culturas. 6.2. Aceptar y adecuarse a la diversidad lingüística, cultural y artística propia de países donde se habla la lengua extranjera, reconociéndola como fuente de enriquecimiento personal.

Saberes básicos

A. Comunicación

Estrategias básicas para la planificación, ejecución, control y reparación de la comprensión, la producción y la coproducción de textos orales, escritos y multimodales.
Conocimientos, destrezas y actitudes que permitan detectar y colaborar en actividades de mediación en situaciones cotidianas sencillas.
Funciones comunicativas básicas adecuadas al ámbito y al contexto comunicativo: describir objetos, dar y pedir instrucciones y órdenes, expresar parcialmente el gusto o el interés, describir situaciones presente, expresar la opinión, la posibilidad, la capacidad, la obligación y la prohibición.
Unidades lingüísticas básicas y significados asociados a dichas unidades tales como la expresión de la entidad y sus propiedades, cantidad y cualidad, el espacio y las relaciones espaciales, el tiempo y las relaciones temporales, la afirmación, la negación, la interrogación y la exclamación, relaciones lógicas básicas.
Léxico de uso común y de interés para el alumnado relativo a identificación personal, relaciones interpersonales, lugares y entornos cercanos, ocio y tiempo libre, vida cotidiana, salud y actividad física, vivienda y hogar, clima y entorno natural, tecnologías de la información y la comunicación.
Patrones sonoros, acentuales, rítmicos y de entonación básicos, y significados e intenciones comunicativas generales asociadas a dichos patrones.
Convenciones ortográficas básicas y significados e intenciones comunicativas asociados a los formatos, patrones y elementos gráficos.
Convenciones y estrategias conversacionales básicas, en formato síncrono o asíncrono, para iniciar, mantener y terminar la comunicación, tomar y ceder la palabra, pedir y dar aclaraciones y explicaciones, reformular, comparar y contrastar, resumir, colaborar, debatir, etc.
Recursos para el aprendizaje y estrategias básicas de búsqueda de información: diccionarios, libros de consulta, bibliotecas, recursos digitales e informáticos, etc.
Identificación de la autoría de las fuentes consultadas y los contenidos utilizados.
Herramientas analógicas y digitales básicas para la comprensión, producción y coproducción oral, escrita y multimodal; y plataformas virtuales de interacción, cooperación y colaboración educativa (aulas virtuales, videoconferencias, herramientas digitales colaborativas, etc.) para el aprendizaje, la comunicación y el desarrollo de proyectos con hablantes o estudiantes de la lengua extranjera.

B. Plurilingüismo

Estrategias y técnicas para responder eficazmente a una necesidad comunicativa básica y concreta de forma comprensible, a pesar de las limitaciones derivadas del nivel de competencia en la lengua extranjera y en las demás lenguas del repertorio lingüístico propio.
Estrategias básicas para identificar, organizar, retener, recuperar y utilizar creativamente unidades lingüísticas (léxico, morfosintaxis, patrones sonoros, etc.) a partir de la comparación de las lenguas y variedades que conforman el repertorio lingüístico personal.
Estrategias y herramientas básicas de autoevaluación y coevaluación, analógicas y digitales, individuales y cooperativas.
Léxico y expresiones de uso común para comprender enunciados sobre la comunicación, la lengua, el aprendizaje y las herramientas de comunicación y aprendizaje (metalenguaje).
Comparación básica entre lenguas a partir de elementos de la lengua extranjera y otras lenguas: origen y parentescos.

C. Interculturalidad

La lengua extranjera como medio de comunicación interpersonal e internacional, como fuente de información y como herramienta para el enriquecimiento personal.
Interés e iniciativa en la realización de intercambios comunicativos a través de diferentes medios con hablantes o estudiantes de la lengua extranjera.
Aspectos socioculturales y sociolingüísticos básicos relativos a la vida cotidiana, las condiciones de vida y las relaciones interpersonales; convenciones sociales básicas; lenguaje no verbal, cortesía lingüística y etiqueta digital; cultura, costumbres y valores propios de países donde se habla la lengua extranjera.
Estrategias básicas de detección y actuación ante usos discriminatorios del lenguaje verbal y no verbal.

	About You	Sharing online	At the Play Store	Download Completed	Playing safely	Statistics: showing the Results	You are the expert
CCL	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
CP	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
STEM				X		X	X
CD	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
CPSAA	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
CC		X			X
CE		X	X	X	X
CCEC	X						X
Competencia en comunicación lingüística (CCL), Competencia plurilingüe (CP), Competencia matemática, ciencia, tecnología, ingeniería (STEAM), Competencia digital (CD), Competencia personal, social y de aprender a aprender (CPSAA), Competencia ciudadana(CC), Competencia emprendedora (CE), Competencia en conciencia y expresión culturales (CCEC)

Learning Path

Section	Objectives	Sessions
About you	Make students become familiar with the structure of the project and the tools they will use to perform, publish and self-assess the tasks and the final challenge. Learn about several uses of smartphones. Write a short paragraph on teenagers' smartphone use.	2 sessions
Sharing online	Improve a written paragraph. Learn how to make suggestions. Use smartphone-related vocabulary in a proper way.	1 Sessions
At the Play Store	Write down and talk about the use of some apps. Express capacity and possibility Do some online research and design a digital poster on the students' favourite app/game.	3 sessions
Download completed	Listen to instructions related to application downloads. Learn about computer-related verbs. Give commands. Give some instructions on how to download, install and remove apps and games on an electronic device.	2 sessions
Playing safely	Comprehend oral information about the responsible use of electronic devices. Express obligation and prohibition with modal verbs. Give advice with Should /Shouldn't. Prepare and record a phone-in programme on smartphone security.	3 sessions
Statistics: showing the results	Comprehend written reviews about games and apps. Practice interrogative sentences. Carry out a questionnaire on teenagers' preferences about apps and games. Report the questionnaire results with computer graphics.	2 sessions
You are the expert	Put together and organize all the contents that students have learnt all along the project. Design a storyboard for the students' video. Edit and publish a video about students' favourite app / game.	2 sessions

By the nature of the resource topic, the English teacher can work in collaboration with teachers of other didactic departments to coordinate the students' tasks.

Introduction to Entrepreneurial and Business Activities (optional subject). The teacher giving this subject can encourage students to invent, develop and promote an app or game as if they were business people launching a new product.

Information and Communication Technology. The IT teacher can take part by helping students in the development of a real app. or game.

Last, but not least, students can study the grammar structures and key vocabulary of the English subject and compare them with those in their mother tongue. This way, they will be able to reflect on both languages and will be able to understand better how they work.

Assessment

Teachers can use different tools to evaluate students' performance throughout their learning process. Likewise, students, will be able to self-assess their work. The evaluation will be formative and it will take place at the stages listed below.

At the beginning of the resource

Teachers can assess their students' previous knowledge about smartphone use and sound out how interested they are in the topic. Teachers should inform students about the project rubric so that they know how their work will be assessed.

During the process

Teachers will assess their students'work by observation in class and, also, using a rubric for each of the tasks they are required to do
Students will be also able to assess their own learning process by completing a learning diary with which they can reflect on how well they are doing.
Do not forget that the website that students will create to publish and share their tasks and final challenge can also be used by teachers as an assessing tool.
Throughout the project, students will be able to assess their classmates'work in some tasks such as the supervision and improvement of a written paragraph on smartphone sue.

At the end of the process

This resource includes a project rubric that includes the necessary items for teachers to check to what extent students are able to achieve the required learning objectives.

Tips for teachers

As a teacher, you may feel free to use the entire resource or just the sections that best match your teaching demands and the real conditions of your class group. Notwithstanding, if you decide to use this resource in its totality, we recommend that you consider the guidelines below before your students start working on the contents.

Info about structure & contents

Make sure your students know about the different tasks and the final challenge they will be carrying out. You can devote one or two lessons to clarify the different stages throughout the resource and the tools which students are required to use to produce their work.

Assessment info

Raise students' awareness about how and what you will consider to evaluate their work. Focus their attention on the rubrics of the different tasks and of the final challenge so that they get to know about the way their performance will be assessed.

Encourage students to use their learnig diary so that they can reflect on how well they are performing in their learning process.

Info about tools

Clearly, this resource fosters the use of digital devices and includes a wide range of apps to produce and share the students' outputs. However, in case that your students or school suffer from a digital divide , we encourage you to use this resource as a guide and make students work in an analogue way by using cardboards instead of digital posters, notebooks as learning diaries or your class notice board, which can be used to publish and share your pupils' work.

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