"Mixing and matching" Podcasts, Vodcasts and Text-to-Speech tools to promote listening and speaking skills.

                                                         

                                                                  Modern Problematic 

    Authenticity, relevance and saliency go hand in hand with learner autonomy, engagement and motivation. In an attempt to avoid "fancy talk", I will start by saying that: "often enough we as educators find that "keeping it real" along with "keeping it short and simple" empowers us in helping our students learn easier and faster. So if that's the case, why does lesson planning that involves Podcasting and Vodcasting tools often enough, ends up in going towards the exact opposite direction, spreading the focus in a admittedly vast spectrum of conflicting subjects! Can we really hide behind the argument that "as long as students produce and practice the target language, the open-ended nature of the task justifies the absence of a clear outcome"? My answer is NO, especially in my teaching context where clear constructivist approaches into teaching involve Task-Based and Project-Based approaches with clear quantifiable outcomes that cover streamed course curricula.  

   In the next few lines, I will quickly skim through some of the tools used for Podcasting and Vodcasting. To my own defence (and for my assessors consideration), the reason I am deviating from my original path of outlining the functions and interface of a specific ICT tool is that there is a plethora of amazing web sites and blogs, which in all honesty, stand as shinning examples in matters concerning ICT usage in the modern ELT classroom. Even more so, as an MA student in ELT, that only recently became a blogger (about 6 weeks ago), I strongly believe that there is a very thin line that separates  recycling other colleagues blogs for "internal consumption" and reviewing entries for pedagogical, CPD or best practices dissemination purposes. 

    As mentioned in the previous paragraph, in an attempt to go deep and narrow, in order to outline the theories and pedagogy that underpin the use of these ICT tools, I will try and avoid those lengthy (and boring) "step sequencing" presentations.  The blog that by far stands out in this respect is called Teacher Training Videos (providing a step by step comprehensive guide of short and to the point video tutorials on how to use ICT tools in the classroom) and belongs to one of my teachers, Russell Stannard. In an effort not to look like I am "brown nosing" , Free Technology for Teachers, is also one of my favourite blogs also offering a step by step review with the difference that, often enough, it manages to go above and beyond the technology by underlining the  hidden pedagogical values of using these ICT tools.

A Brief Review on selected tools.

    Before I begin, I would like to underline the fact that the following review isn't exhaustive and as a matter of fact there are plenty of other tools that do the same job. However, for the scope of illustrating the various degrees and levels of "disruptiveness", "saliency" and "learner and teacher motivation in using them" , I will limit myself in a linear presentation of tools, moving from "heavily and inherently" disruptive tech to user-friendly, compatible with other tech, engaging, motivational technology.  
   First off is Audacity, which is admittedly the most complete, open-source audio tool that even transcribers use in Critical Discourse Analysis. The editing features are pretty much endless, but at the same time much more elaborate, so the potential for use by the students is ambiguous. Some argue that with greater challenge comes a greater reward-especially with advanced learners, however I don't feel confident letting my Cambridge Proficiency (CPE) students use it, because there are so many things that can (and probably will) go wrong, ending up with putting them off. The company that's behind the tool, obviously knows that, so they have created a complete set of Audacity Tutorials, which painfully reminds me of my own personal experience when making my first transcription for my Spoken English Assignment at The University of Warwick. So for the time being, I will only limit myself to saying that this tool is inherently "disruptive" and can in fact have dubious results that mainly concern measuring "output" in accordance to the amount of time "invested" in using this technology or "input". 

   Second in line in my review is AudioBoom (former AudioBoo). This tool empowers users to match pictures with their audio recordings to offer a multi-modal approach into input sessions. Amongst other features that include "a one button embedding procedure", AudioBoom comes in an "app" form for iPad, iphone and Android users. A possible scenario for its use would include learners taking pictures with their smartphones, recording a narrative where they have to describe the picture and then with a click of button embed it in the class blog for group viewing and classroom discussion. However, in my opinion, perhaps the best feature is the "AudioBoom for Education" section, that functions as a "case study" library. The added value here is that this section really assists educators in their attempts to incorporate AudioBoom in their teaching practice, functioning as a guide for best practices or in a way as a forum for Continuous Professional Development. 

    Vocaroo on the other hand is on the exact opposite side from Audacity. With the most user-friendly interface that doesn't require any account, sign-in or registration process, program downloads or plug-ins/media players etc, short recordings and embeddings are turned into a fun activity. 

    Next up is Clyp.it. This tool combines the user-friendly interface of Vocaroo with the advanced options offered by AudioBoom. What this means in practice is that users can just visit Clip.it and press the big red button to start the recording without again having to download any additional plug-ins or even register. At the end of the recording, users can either continue by just clicking a button to directly download the file on their computer or select "advanced options" to "grab" the embedded code and post the audio file on a blog. Another option would be to sign up for an account which allows for cloud storage and later access for editing purposes. Last but not least, Clyp.it also comes in the form of an application for iPad, iPhone and Android users. 

     On the same length, SoundCloud  offers the same features as Clyp.it with the extra options to add an image to your recording, save your audio recordings to your personal SoundCloud storage account, add tags, descriptions and give instructions, have advanced administrative rights to allow or block downloads from students, accessibility/visibility/sharing capabilities in social media, a dashboard with all of the recordings and finally the ability to send messages and reminders to all of the recipients. On the downside, although it's completely free, it requires an account which can  prove to be discouraging for many students that might encounter problems with registration.  

      AudioPal is a podcasting tool for teachers with an intimidating or high pitched voice that always seems to upset learners! On a more serious note, this tool allows users to modify their voice (to an admittedly high number of US, English, Australian and even Indian accents in both genders), using an advanced text-to-speech software. Even more so, while this tool is completely free, it also manages to incorporate more cutting edge technology that allows for recordings via calling AudioPal's phone system! On the downside, when trying to embed multiple Podcasts in one blog post using this tool, I sadly found out that it confuses embeddings. In simpler terms, I ended up with a blog post that had the same podcast over and over again. (with the last embedding overwriting the previous ones). A small drawback though, if we consider that there is a plethora of podcasting tools that can actually liven up a blog post further motivating learners by braking "repeated" patterns.          

       

     This is a podcast (an audio file) on what AudioPal's text-to-speech sounds like.

 


    And this is a vodcast (audiovisual file) on how we can create a AudioPal Podcast using the text-to-speech interface. Notice that I am using a very popular screen capture technology called Snag.it

     
 

  Finally, Voki is a FREE service that lets you create customized speaking characters. The possibilities for speaking avatars are endless however the most important feature for me is the pedagogic value that this technology fosters. More specifically, Voki seems to help timid students bypass inhibitions that derive from "stage fright" or "past bad experiences" that involve negative criticism from peers for a mistake they made. Suggestopedia, a method of learning languages in the 1970's was one of the pioneers in this field that helped students gain confidence by assuming another name and identity. Nowadays, this notion has been brought to its full potential with Second Life, linking careful listening with the production of accurate speech acts.  

 

Underpinning the theory of using Podcasts, Vodcasts and Text-to-Speech tools.

 

    The need to go beyond old practices that included the use of a tape recorder or a CD player in the classroom to help learners develop their listening skills, has resulted in a large number of books and journal articles presenting innovative research in this area.  The move from Computer Assisted Language Learning in its various forms (Structural/Restricted CALL, Communicative/Open CALL, Integrative CALL) to Technology Enhanced Language Learning (TELL) and the Web 2.0 (Dudeney. G., Hockly. N., 2012, p.533-4) brought forth the idea about 'digital natives' and 'digital immigrants'. (Marc Prensky 2001)
  In psycholinguistic terms, Levelt (1993) first cited that speaking processes mirror listening processes, which basically means that students (as receptors) first analyse the speech signal-using acoustic/phonetic processors-and then produce a representation of these sounds in a "bottom-up approach". On the contrary, in terms of the social aspects of listening-as a "top-down" approach-, Levelt cited that when listening, learners' brain is capable of processing different elements of the message at the same time.
    At this stage, I would like to place emphasis on the fact that nowadays there is a wide spread consensus amongst teachers that these two approaches into helping learners develop their competence in listening and speaking need to co-exist in harmony. Podcasts, Vodcasts and Text-to-Speech tools are primed to help learners develop a specific skill-set which is eloquently presented in taxonomies produced by many scientists. Elements in these taxonomies include (Walker, A., White, G.,2013, p.31):

1. Perception,
2.Matching sounds to language items in an effort to move towards understanding meaning,
3.Interpreting meaning using knowledge of the world,
4.Dealing with information and
5.Interacting with the speaker.
 
    Even more so, Podcasts, Vodcasts and Text-to-Speech tools, help learners develop their strategies in (Walker, A., White, G.,2013, p.32):

1.Inferring (or in simpler terms guessing the meaning),
2.Seeking Clarification,
3.Predicting and finally
4.Focusing.

    In terms of speaking - as an integral part of listening-, these tools can help learners develop their (Walker, A., White, G.,2013, p.37):

1.Pronunciation
2.Performing of Speech Acts (opinion giving, requests, denials, acceptances, comparing and contrasting etc)
3.Managing their Interaction (turn taking sequences, Q & A components etc)
4.Organising their Discourse (intonation, discourse markers etc).

    Putting theory into practice. 

    In the following lines, I will demonstrate just how easy it is to "tweak" an exercise into meeting the above aforementioned prerequisites. 

    One of the first tasks that I had to complete as an MA student in my ICT in ELT module was to access the Moodle Platform of my course and write 3 facts with one of them being a lie. The task was to try and "suss each other out". 

    A modified version of this task would be the following:

1. Learners are instructed to use AudioPal to create an audio file and send it to my email. I then embed it in the class blog. Learners are told to mention 3 facts about themselves with one of them being a lie. Emphasis must be given to the fact that they MUSTN'T REVEAL THEIR IDENTITY. Notice that, I am using a different Podcasting tool which is called Clyp.it.
    My main purpose for this is to build rapport by following a more individualized approach into instruction giving. In more simple terms, using my personal voice will hopefully motivate my students into trying out AudioPal's text-to-speech function. However, the underlining added value in this, is that, I am able to sneakily "prime" -or prepare, if you prefer- my (timid) students for the next steps, where they will have to use their own voice to produce an audio file. This linear, gradual passage "facilitation" through the use of technology is all what modern ICT in ELT is about.

2.Learners are then instructed to use Vocaroo to create a Podcast containing their guesses along with a full rationale that explains their choices. They are then instructed to send me this file via email so I can embed it in the classroom blog.

3.While the process of guessing is taking place, students are instructed to use Voki and create an avatar to present the 2 truths and the lie. When all members of the class are finished with their guessing, each student accesses the classroom blog and embeds his Voki avatar with the answers. 

                                                                 Audio and voice recording >>


4.The student with the fewest correct responses from other students is declared the winner (or the biggest "fibster")  .

    So the step sequencing in relation to the underpinning pedagogical values, can be illustrated in the following:

1.Using Clyp.it in step 1 manages to incorporate my own voice to deliver salient instruction giving, individualize input and engage learners and finally motivate students and build rapport. Furthermore, by asking learners to only use the text-to-speech function, I manage to "prime" my students to process stress, rhythm and intonation in response to written grammatical forms and place the language into context (and in my personal opinion, if I may, I really do think that we can't really do any better than this!)

3.After the "confidence building exercise" in step 1, learners use their own voice to make a podcast guessing on the "lie". Again notice that, Vocaroo which is by far the simplest, user-friendly tool that allows for multiple tries/recording, isn't a random choice here. Learners, take their time to record, listen and if not happy, try again to reach a final outcome, producing an audio file with their guesses.

4.As a last step, learners have the choice to either use their own voice or to use the text-to-speech function. The use of an avatar in Voki, again manages to motivate learners towards becoming more confident speakers with the sole purpose to prime them for opting to use their own voice. The added value in this is simply immense, especially in situations where learners have to present facts about themselves-I bet this sounds familiar to many teachers! (a situation which most of my learners experience when sitting their spoken exams module, where they have to speak about themselves for 2-but very critical- minutes as an "ice breaker").

Some "light" reading.

1. Aisha Walker and Goodith White, Technology Enhanced Language Learning. Connecting theory and practice. Oxford Handbooks for Teachers, Oxford 2013
2. Marc Prensky, Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants, MCB University Press, Vol. 9, no. 5, October 2001
3. Willem. J.M Levelt. Speaking from Intention to Articulation. Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, 1989
4. Gavin Dudeney and Nicky Hockly. ICT in ELT: how did we get here and where are we going?ELT Journal Volume 66/4  Oxford University Press, Special issue October 2012

Boom Writer: Fast Tracking Learner Motivation with a Price Tag!

   BoomWriter in a nutshell.

    Boom Writer is a really useful and agile ICT tool that assists learners in the production of written texts. And although it is true that by itself it is "just another ICT tool", it is my firm belief that Boom Writer can complement other tools in promoting motivation and learner autonomy. More specifically, through a continuous assessment, mirroring and feedback process, students are capable of co-constructing an end product in which they can actually claim complete co-authorship. This blog post aims in underpinning the theory and the mechanics that govern the aforementioned learning processes through the use of this highly sophisticated but at the same time user-friendly ICT tool.

Rationale and theory underpinning the use of this tool. 

    At this point, and before I proceed in highlighting some of the key features that Boom Writer has, I feel compelled to stress that this tool cannot in any way present itself as innovative. It is rather "a means to an end" tool, that empowers teachers who work in well resourced educational environments, achieve high motivation levels in writing-an area which is by nature one of the most challenging both for learners and educators.
  As a teacher that only recently endeavoured in a journey of Continuous Professional Development (CPD), undertaking a proposed 1 year full time MA in ELT with a specialism in ICT/MM, I really do feel the need to go above and beyond the traditional "cliché" of a low-resourced classroom containing 200 students situated in the middle of a jungle. And this is because, it is my firm belief that these kinds of mentalities that introduce barriers and varied contexts can't really contribute towards innovation in education. If we as educators believe that technology isn't "universally applicable" then why should we work towards widening the gap of the "digital divide"?  

  With the aforementioned kept in mind, a look back in my own teaching practice, revealed that learners in my country are very much reluctant to produce essays that entail tackling either an academic or a more traditional "story telling - continue the story" subject. In my opinion, this is mainly attributed to the fact that the former subject requires to a large degree advanced analytical skills and critical reasoning, which mainly entails a lot of effort on behalf of the students, while the later seems to bore them (not to mention me) to an admittedly high degree.
  Having spent countless hours trying to "tweak" a subject so it might present learners with some intrinsic or extrinsic motivation has had in numerous occasions taken its tool on my teaching practice often leaving learners with gaps in their writing skills. The memory of having to face a classroom, filled with students, where only half of them had completed their homework producing an essay - ultimately leaving me with no other choice but to force them to do it in class and in expense of valuable teaching time - is all to recent and painful. 

  And this is exactly were Boom Writer comes in. My basic inability to find the extra time and strength to devise alternative approaches into written activities or to motivate my students to produce final collaborative texts without having to fight over the content or erase each-others work (I must admit that learners in Greece aren't so much accustomed to peer-assisted learning as students in Great Britain), led me to seek ready made (but costly) solutions that could fit my needs.

  In more simple words, this inability, had in numerous occasions forced me to treat the writing section of each chapter as a separate lesson. Even more so, I could detect that traditional approaches that entailed students having to tackle a typical "continue the story" essay that followed a grammar lesson on past forms, almost always resulted in complete and utter boredom from all parties involved.

A "first" look.

     My initial review revealed that, while using Boom Writer, learners are placed in a unique on-line environment that tests and ultimately promotes their analytical and critical thinking skills constantly. The continuous voting and feedback process which is made user friendly through special software, allows learners to quickly scroll-through 4 documents at a time thus arguably promoting skimming and scanning dexterity.This feeling of collective creative work which is nurtured in a highly collaborative but at the same time competitive environment, not only allows learners to claim complete authorship on a final textbook but also motivates them to a large degree.

    Teachers using Boom Writer, can add students with the click of a button, classify them by grade, generate their unique username and password, scroll through the "Story Starts" section to find an admittedly great selection of 1st chapters (or create one that is custom tailored to their needs) and then simply click on the ‘New Book’ button. This then allows students to write the rest of the story! While using this tool, I was also pleasantly surprised by the attention to detail and the overall user friendly interface which includes classification of the "story starts" section into genres (science fiction, science, action and adventure, humour, mystery, realistic stories, suspense and thriller, myths and monsters) as well as difficulty levels (Basic, Intermediate and Advanced). The "market place" section also managed to arouse my interest because of the fact that it features story starts written by professional authors exclusively for BoomWriter.

A "closer" look.

    An even closer look on Boom Writer, reveals that, it is in fact an "open-ended tool" that allows teachers advanced controls over the number of chapters, the word limit, the deadline for submission and finally the voting. Even more importantly, teachers can extend, reduce or end the amount of the allotted writing time while they are placed capable to monitor individual progress at any given time. Some special features also include, an easy access dashboard that enables teachers to add, remove, move or approve students and a book section dashboard that enables teachers to monitor student production by seeing which books are active, await publication, are in draft mode, published or finally suspended. The aforementioned functions not only spells the word "power" for all prospective teacher-users but in my humble opinion manages to embody in the best possible way the true destiny of the future Teacher that functions as a multi skilled Administrator, Facilitator, Guide, Monitoring Agent in the Second Language Acquisition dominion.

    Once individual or pair/group work has been submitted for review, teachers then have the option to approve or request further alterations from the students. There is even an additional editing option for the winning entries prior to publication to address any spelling or grammatical errors. Following that, voting takes place with the teacher again being in a position to extend, reduce, or even immediately end this feedback process (voting process). As mentioned earlier, the novelty here is a special scoring system that allows students to quickly review 4 papers at a time, pick out their favourite and cast a final anonymous vote. The entry with the most votes is declared a winner and after receiving a final check by the teacher for any grammar or spelling mistakes, the essay is then included in the "published book".
    Subsequently, learners are then instructed to do the second, third...etc and finally the last chapter, each time ending up with a winning story. This continuous evaluation process results in a final collaborative book which is then printed out (for a fee) and then send back to the school and the authors which are no other but the students themselves.   

    

"Added" features.

    Early in the start of this post, I mentioned that BoomWriter is in a position to complement other tools in promoting learner autonomy and motivation. This can be achieved through the use of WordWriter and ProjectWriter. ProjectWriter refers to the option that the teachers have to individualize a writing component by going above and beyond the "story starts" section so we are going to focus only on WordWriter. 

    WordWriter uses an interactive interface that manages to deliver vocabulary filling exercises in an original content. What this practically means is that Educators can set up writing tasks that contain specific vocabulary. In simpler terms, teachers can evaluate learning outcomes by selecting the key vocabulary, which then subsequently appears to the students in the form of a list. The higher the use the better the marking. The vocabulary disappears from the list when students use it adding an element of interactivity and "marked progress" that positively motivates learners to devise elaborate structures in order to fully exhaust the aforementioned list.   

   The real novelty of this tool is that teachers can effectively measure student understanding, recognize possible inefficiencies and provide individualized feedback by focusing on target vocabulary. Teachers can also opt-in to include in this exercise harder-unknown vocabulary to "canalise" learners towards a pushed-output, as extrinsic motivation for obtaining higher marks or in a flipped classroom. 

    Last but not least, WordWriter can work along side any brainstorming tool, like Tricider and/or mind-mapping tool, such as Popplet, providing the necessary initial vocabulary. Learners through their own written work witness the growth of their vocabulary range but at the same time have a plethora of tools that assist them towards a maximum outcome in a minimum amount of time. 

    To better understand how these ICT tools can assist in the presentation of a seamless, well-paced and salient instruction giving just imagine a situation where:

1. Learners are directed to WordWriter that contains initial-key vocabulary. They are asked to speculate on the content of today's lesson. This can be done in individual tablets, PC's or the main screen in a "connected classroom". 

2. Learners are directed to Tricider and are asked to present their ideas on a key subject. They are instructed to use as much vocabulary as possible in writing their arguments.

3. Learners work collaboratively to skim and scan all the arguments, evaluate them by giving their opinions on other student's arguments and finally vote for the most convincing ones.

4. Learners are directed to Popplet and are asked to classify the main arguments in a logical order to support their basic ideas-outcomes.

5. Learners are directed in another WordWriter that contains  further, more elaborate vocabulary. They are instructed to split into 2 large groups (the advantages and disadvantages group) and produce two main arguments each. 

6. Open classroom discussion takes place with arguments and counter arguments from both sides. 

7. Learners use a google doc to produce a final collaborative essay that contains advantages and disadvantages. 

8. It is time for homework. Learners are instructed to log into ProjectWriter, use today's lesson and produce a full essay on a similar subject that contains the same key vocabulary.

    Through the process outlined above, learners reach a final collaborative text in which the claim COMPLETE co-authorship, during which my input/Teacher Talking Time was kept at minimal levels.

    To complement all of the above and setting aside the serious disadvantage that it is not free, in the advantages section we can also note that an educators' blog, coupled by a complete teachers manual and a quick guided tour, manages to place newcomers straight into the spirit. Finally, as a welcome "treat", newly subscribed teachers or institutions receive a complementary book token. This basically means that there is no printing cost for the first book, as long as 3 email addresses of fellow teachers/colleagues are added in the "referral" section.      

    

Conclusion

    So to sum up, I strongly believe that BoomWriter can either be used by:

1. teachers who work in well resourced classrooms and can spare a "buck" or to put it more mildly "invest in new technologies", 

2. busy education professionals that just can't afford time (but can afford the money) and

3. NQT's or older generation teachers that feel outside their comfort zone with technology and generally lack the experience and theoretical background to effectively design writing activities (and can afford the money),

or alternatively by: 

1. teachers who are familiar with ICT tools and want to used it as a"blueprint" or "best practice guide" to design their own activities with the use of free tools.  

     Either way, the technology is out there, but the choice on how, where and when to best use it always belongs to us.

   

Popplet: Beyond Mind Mapping.

Inter-subjectivity, linear and non linear representation of ideas, concepts and projects.

    Popplet is basically a mind mapping tool that teachers can use to effectively implement a Task-Based Approach into second language acquisition. The novelty however is that teachers can embed a plethora of materials that range from simple images, links and drawings to videos from YouTube and Vimeo. And provided that you are content with producing 5 Popplets a month it is completely free. 

    A few more of the features that make Popplet stand out from other mind mapping tools are that:

1. You can insert images directly from your Google Drive account.
2. It has an amazing user-friendly interface that allows for real time manipulation of data, images and drawings with all of this achieved through the use of a mouse with no added technical skills required.
3. It has a simple but effective tutorial which in reality allowed me to rapidly go through all of the functions which at no point seemed to be overwhelming. In fact, I was able to reach a final mind-mapping activity in less than 3 minutes.

    But perhaps the real added value that makes this tool extremely relevant to my teaching context can be located in the following:

1. Learners can proceed in synchronous and asynchronous editing. This can be easily achieved through the push of a button located in the upper right corner as I will demonstrate later on. This procedure resembles the way Google docs are shared and/or manipulated. In practice, this collaborative tool can be used to activate schemata or in any stage of the lesson (pre-lesson, during a lesson or post lesson activity) but even more importantly it can easily follow a Tricider activity. More specifically, Popplet can complement Triciders' inability to place arguments in a more coherent order and assist learners in either of the following:

a. Produce a full written text by following the mind mapping activity which can better illustrate the gravity or origin of each advantage or disadvantage
b. Assist learners to make a transition from a "bullet-point" presentation and "positive-negative" classification to a more coherent, seamless production of speech and/or written patterns that follows a logical order.  This function moves well beyond Triciders' "drop-down menu" approach which only manages to identify and classify positive and negative argumentative speech in an admittedly initial "raw" display of data.

    However, the synchronous and asynchronous nature of Popplet is complemented by the sharing function that it incorporates. A closer look reveals that this tool has a built-in function that allows easy sharing via embedding the link into a blog, web site, wiki, Facebook account or other educational platforms such as Moodle, Edmondo etc.

    For the purpose of illustrating all of the aforementioned advantages that Popplet has, I devised a complete task which can be seen in the following image. This is an IELTS writing task 2 assignment and the question used is:"There is a growing number of people who think that animals should have the same rights as humans do while an equally large number believe that animals exist to serve human needs. To what extent to you agree or disagree with these statements.Give examples" 

 


    As discussed above, in a "flipped classroom", a Tricider link (or "tricision") containing an initial brainstorming activity would have been already send to all of the students. Ideally then, this initial brainstorming product would allow the teacher to bypass the traditional bottom-up approach and move towards a top-down approach where he would enable learners to negotiate the content of the given task, initially in pairs and later in groups. This pre-lesson activity would allow for considerable more student involvement but even more so it would provide the "ground" for the following Popplet activity.
    This scaffolding activity is perhaps one of the very best ways to teach learners how to avoid "jumping in" to writing  an essay without having done any brainstorming and data classification activities first. According to my experience the absence of such skills often result in "dead locks" with students typically under performing in the IELTS writing part due to lack of time. More specifically, learners that neglect to brainstorm, classify and transform their data into basic arguments, almost always, find themselves in a position where they have to multi-task. In other words, these students, in their effort to save time, end up having to do the following things at the same time with often very poor results:
1.think of ideas-arguments (brainstorm),
2.evaluate their relevance and validity.
3.provide a basic taxonomy (classify them as positive or negative)
4.provide evidence of understanding or provide real-life examples.
5.provide evidence that they can achieve a balance of arguments which demonstrates ability to approach a subject "spherically" and finally
6.state their opinions based on those facts.
    If we take into serious consideration that learners have around 25 minutes to produce a full 250 word essay, then we can easily reach the conclusion that the aforementioned preparatory steps must be over in less than 5 minutes. Popplet can assist learners develop these "good practices"  especially in my teaching context where learners have 2 to 3 months to prepare to sit their IELTS exams. However, by defocusing from IELTS and honing in Young Learners and Second Language Acquisition, I was able to clearly see that Popplet can be classified as a collaborative tool for scaffold learning that really gives meaning to Vygotsky's theory of Zone of Proximal Development.      
    To sum up, the added value that Popplet has is located in the fact that it can effectively assist learners place into a logical order, raw data that either comes from a text, a listening activity, a group activity, the teacher or ideally themselves. The result is that it empowers learners to easily sharpen their logical, critical reasoning and sequencing skills by better understanding the value of steps, processes and procedures. It is my firm belief that this tool manages to effectively promote rapport and give learner feedback promoting better teacher evaluation processes through visually linking student learning outcomes to the outlined objectives and ultimately means improved Continuous Professional Development  and Action Research attempts for my teaching practice.

    Use this embedded material to produce a final essay on the subject matter