Teaching writing to students with tablets using voice to overcome keyboard shortcomings

Vance Stevens, HCT/CERT/KBZAC

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on Friday March 9, 2018

at the ALLT conference at Zayed University in Dubai

Teaching writing to students with tablets using voice to overcome keyboard shortcomings

Vance Stevens

HCT/CERT/KBZAC

Friday March 9, 2018

ALLT conference at Zayed University �in Dubai, UAE

​

Find the write-up of this �presentation online here, http://toolkit4learning.blogspot.com/

Or use the QR code at right

Previous work along these lines

Blogged here:

http://toolkit4learning.blogspot.com/2015/07/teaching-writing-on-ipads-and-other.html

Previous work along these lines

Published here:

Stevens, V. (2015). Finding Your Voice: Teaching Writing Using Tablets with Voice Capability. TESL-EJ 19 (3) 1-11. Available: http://tesl-ej.org/pdf/ej75/int.pdf�http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume19/ej75/ej75int/

PROBLEMS TO BE OVERCOME IN MY CONTEXT

• My students at the UAE military aviation college in Al Ain do not like to write.
• The do not understand the writing process, see little value in correcting errors, prefer to sit writing exams with as little preparation as possible.
• Writing instruction where I teach is assessment driven.
• Activities are formulaic and boring to the students.
• Some teachers feel that since the essays are usually written out longhand during test, preparation for tests should also be in longhand. I think format shouldn’t matter as much as the process
• attempts to get students to write on PCs and iPads have met with limited success,
• in the first instance due to lack of keyboard proficiency,
• and in the latter due to a lack of keyboard.

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WHAT STUDENTS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE WRITING PROCESS

I try to inform my students about the writing process in a handout I give them�http://vancesclass.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/120489444/writingProcessSection10.docx

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EVIDENCE OF SUCCESS WITH GOOGLE DOCS

Clear evidence of success, with one student who clearly benefited from synchronous student / teacher interaction in Google Docs

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View the screencast here: http://screencast.com/t/fmW5zZoZUF

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DISADVANTAGES TO USING TABLET DEVICES TO BEGIN THE WRITING PROCESS

The main disadvantage to using tablets at the early stages of writing is the lack of keyboard

Two counterproductive strategies.

• Copy swathes of text from the Internet and submit it as their work,
• Compose in Arabic, run that through a translator, and spew out the result in 'word salad'.

Student 1 - �First attempt

I want to play football but there is an effect of anxiety of badminton players and its relation to the level of accomplishment. This study aimed to investigate the level of anxiety of the badminton players and its relationship to the level of accomplishment. Also the effect of the professional player in developing the level.

Student 1 - Attempt 2

Football is one of the most famous sports in the world and I like to play the football. Countries and organizations attach great importance to the formation of teams for each country to compete in the world and to represent the country in international and annual competitions, whether annual, monthly, weekly, or otherwise. This is a very enjoyable sport, as well as a source of income in countries with large teams with high skills that win the world level and gain a strong competitive edge in this field. And I like UAE teams because they are strong teams and I love them, and I like sports because it helps my life.

Cloze passages used against plagiarism

Use machine-readable transcription to see whether students can supply missing words.��Countries and organizations __________ great importance to the __________ of teams for each country to __________ in the world and to __________ the country in international and __________ competitions, whether annual, monthly, weekly, or otherwise. This is a very enjoyable sport, as well __________ a source of __________ in countries with __________ teams with high skills that win the world __________ and gain a strong competitive __________ in this field.

Teacher voice helps students use writing process

I have my students

• Start writing on paper in class.
• Create and share a blank Google Doc with me.

Teacher

• Speaks what they wrote into their shared Google Docs. This corrects their spelling, grammar, and punctuation and gives them something to go on in revising their work in a follow-up class.
• Prints out a hard copy of the student's work,
• Make corrections and suggestions, in particular addresses more global issues that the student might work on.

Student 2 writes - Teacher reads, corrects, prints

Student 2 revises on iPad

Student 3 uses Essay Planner, drafts essay

Teacher reads into G/Docs, student revises

Meanwhile, Student 1 produces first original writing

Student 1 uses Essay Template, produces best work

In conclusion

• Teachers need a technique that will enable them to address the initial efforts of all students quickly and draw them out the way that Student 2 was encouraged to make meaningful revisions in his paper.
• Having students start the writing process on paper usually gets them to write something, and putting that into Google Docs gives them something to take to the next level without having to re-write anything from scratch.
• This technique an effective way of dealing with several classes which collectively produce several dozen short essays in a day.
• I can usually address the work of a class of up to 20 students in about an hour, and return them something next class that will get them moving into the next phase of the writing process.
• The technique seems to work well with some of my students.

Teaching writing to students with tablets using voice to overcome keyboard shortcomings

Vance Stevens

HCT/CERT/KBZAC

Friday March 9, 2018

ALLT conference at Zayed University �in Dubai, UAE

​

Find the write-up of this �presentation online here, http://toolkit4learning.blogspot.com/

Or use the QR code at right

This presentation has since been published here:

Stevens, V. (2019). Teaching writing to students with tablets using voice to overcome keyboard shortcomings. In Zoghbor, W., Al Alami, S., & Alexiou, T. (Eds.). (2019). Proceedings of the 1st Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching Conference: Teaching and Learning in a Globalized World. Dubai: Zayed University Press, pp.22-47. Retrieved from https://www.zu.ac.ae/main/en/research/publications/_books_reports/2018/ALLT2018Proceedings.pdf.