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About you

Our project. General information

The final challenge of this project is to create a video tutorial on your favourite online applications and games. But, before you start creating the video, you need to surf different websites and overcome several missions that will help you gain knowledge and acquire strategies.

Collaborative work is highlighted in this project, which means you will mainly acquire knowledge by working in pairs or small groups. Likewise, you will also work individually on interactive activities to which you will access by clicking on the website links provided.

Do not forget that your teacher can help you whenever necessary on your way towards the big final challenge.

Empresario
Geralt. Empresario (CC0)

The missions you will have done at the end of this project are:

  • a written paragraph about teenagers' smartphone use.
  • a list of suggestions to improve your classmates' text.
  • a digital poster on several apps and games.
  • a slide presentation giving instructions on smartphone use.
  • a call-in radio programme on smartphone security.
  • a questionnaire based on teens and tweens' routines regarding smartphone use.
  • a final challenge which consists of a video tutorial explaining about your favourite games or apps.

To create, design and edit your work, you will use the following apps, among others.

  • Cacoo, an online tool with which you will create wordmaps to work on key vocabulary.
  • Canva, which will enable you to design and create your own charts.
  • StoryboardThat. You will use this online app to prepare the drafts for your presentations. 
  • Google Slides, to create slide presentations.
  • Wevideo, the tool with which you will create and edit your big final challenge: a videotutorial, which will be published on a YouTube channel.

Notice that you will be performing several missions and we are sure that, by the end of this project, you will be proud of your great work, which you can prepare, publish or share with the help of the online tools and apps listed below.

  • To publish, you will use Weebly site. An email account is required to create your own site where you will be posting all your missions. Within this site, you will create a blog entitled 'Your learning diary', in which you will be including relevant information regarding your learning process.
  • To share your work with your classmates, you will use Pinterest, a digital board where you can publish your tasks and share them with your classmates.

Throughout the project, your teacher may award you with a badge from Mozilla Open Badges in case of excellent performance. 

Evaluation

Your progress on this project will be assessed according to the following criteria:

As you can see, you will get entirely involved in this project by acquiring, creating and sharing contents as well as assessing both, your own and you classmates' learning process.

Are you a "smart user"?

We will start this project by presenting a video about the use of smartphones.

By the end of this mission, you will have:

  • learnt about several uses of smartphones;
  • written a short paragraph about you regarding smartphone use.

Before watching the video, discuss with your class the following questions:

  • In America, getting a smartphone at the end of primary school or beginning of secondary school is the norm. Is it the same in your area?
  • Have you got a smartphone, tablet or any other smart device?

Now, click on the image below and watch the video entitled Mr Selfie. After watching, answer the questions below.

Mr Selfie

Pair work

  • Write down the actions that people do with their electronic devices. Compare your list with your classmate's list.
  • Do you do the same actions with your smartphone?
  • Write down other activities that you and your partner usually do with your smartphones.
  • What apps have you got in your smartphone? What about your partner?

Your opinion

On the video, you can see Mr Selfie using his smartphone for different purposes.

  • Do you think people spend too long using mobile apps or playing games? What about you?
  • Do your parents restrict your time to use an electronic device? How long do you usually spend on it?
  • Which app(s) do you normally use the most? What do you use them for?

Keep your answers for the writing practice that you will post on your weebly website. 

Writing about you

Your first mission in this project is to write a paragraph on smartphone use. This paragraph will be your first post on your weebly website that you will have created previously by signing up with your school email address and a personal password. In case that you need some help on how to use Weebly, watch the Weebly 2014 tutorial.

Moe
Jsks. Moe (CC0)

    The following instructions can help you fulfill your mission successfully.

    • Your site homepage must include a title, an index and a brief description.
    • Within your site, create another page entitled "My writing guide" where you will include your paragraph about smartphone use.
    • To write your paragraph, use the answers that you have provided in the previous section and connect them with the connectors listed below. Remember that they can help you put your ideas in a logical order.
      • In my case...
      • Regarding...
      • On the other hand...
      • Finally...

    Your text will be assessed taking into account the criteria included in the `Rubric for assessing informative/explanatory texts'  (download in editable odt format, download in pdf)

      Before you start writing, we recommend that you read the information below and practise linking words and the Present simple tense with some interactive activities.

      Connectors or linking words are words which you can use to link your ideas. They can express addition, contrast, order, personal point of view, etc. Enter the englishexercises.org site and learn about the use of some other linking words.

      For a correct use of the verbs in your paragraph, visit the agendaweb.org site and revise the use and form of the Present Simple tense.

      Finally, do not forget to use correct punctuation in your text.

      Learning diary

      In this mission, you are going to start creating your Learning Diary (download in editable odt format, download in pdf) It will help you reflect on what you are learning and, most important, what the best way for learning is.

      Your learning diary
      Peter O'Shea. Writing tools (CC BY)

      In your Weebly website, you have the possibility to create a blog which you will entitle  'Your fauvorite apps and games'. This is going to be your Learning Diary.

      After reading all the instructions related to your first mission, we encourage you to reflect and answer the questions below in your diary. Make a first post on your blog with the title "About you" and write your answers:

      • How could I sum up the sequence of contents I am going to deal with? What do I have to achieve to overcome the mission?
      • From my point of view, what aspects or tasks are the most important to be developed in this project? What do I expect to learn throughout this work project?
      • What difficulties may I face? What ideas come to my mind for developing the content sequence?
      • What doubts do I still have?

      Do not forget it would be great if you shared these feelings and thoughts with your classmates. You will have 10 or 15 minutes to complete this part.

      Creado con eXeLearning (Ventana nueva)