01 May 2015 / by Vincent Chieppa

How to... design paperless ESL activities





Be economical with word use and avoid excessive scrolling.  Make sure that the text is easy to read by using a clear typeface with a legible font size (on average between 14 – 16pt) and 1.5 line spacing. Also chunk longer texts in paragraphs.  Also remember to accompany your texts with visuals (e.g. images or video clips).  Remember that if you have text for reading to highlight the new target language in bold and/or capitals.



Tables should be numbered so that when teaching, both you and the students know exactly which cell you are referring to.  Also make sure that you randomise the table for activities where students have to match new target language with definitions/images.  This is also to ensure that students engage with the new target language rather than just no-effort reading from their part.

table



Remember to always use large images & rescale to keep quality rather than the opposite & be stuck with pixelated images.  Also try to save multiple images as a single picture when creating paperless ESL activities in order to ensure that you don´t lose picture integrity.



Keep in mind when using video clips in paperless ESL activities how appropriate the video is in terms of level, topic & the objective of the activity.  Aim for short & sweet – that is roughly 2 minutes.





When designing paperless ESL activities remember to apply the KISS principle & don´t forget that – as with most things – there are limitations and drawbacks to any tool:

https://youtu.be/HHEYtw4IMpY

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