textthing MFL KS2 Content Evaluation (by Suzanne Ford)

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1 Topologika Software Ltd commissioned TEEM (Teachers Evaluating Educational Software, ( to produce a 'classroom evaluation' and a 'content evaluation'. Here we have combined them into one document. textthing MFL KS2 Content Evaluation (by Suzanne Ford) Description 'textthing MFL' is software package that very cleverly generates letter, word, sentence and comprehension activities in Dutch, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Danish, Welsh, Cornish and Scottish Gaelic. You are not restricted to using these languages, and can add your own using the additional on-screen keys for non-keyboard characters, or a European keyboard. Use the preinstalled texts to start you off or import your own prepared texts via the options menu. There are nine varying text activities students can choose from in the main menu including word searches, cloze, spelling tests, punctuation and text sorting. Some languages in the program have a speech engine facility where text can be read aloud, namely Dutch, Spanish, French, German and Italian. If alternatives are already installed in the system these will be picked up and offered as options. Technical Support I had occasion to contact Topologika regarding some of the more challenging procedures. They were very knowledgeable about their product and talked me patiently through the difficulties. Curriculum Relevance Purpose of the Program This program is designed to help specialist teachers of Modern Foreign Languages to provide differentiated computer generated text tasks for their pupils. It offers the opportunity to convert text in pretty much any European language into letter, word, sentence and comprehension level activities. Primary generalists would also find this program useful in providing their more able pupils with written work. Curriculum Relevance This software is essentially a tool and does not purport to provide the basis of a full curriculum for the teaching of any of the Modern Foreign Languages taught in Schools. It does however, provide some texts to use, as suggested starter activities that the teacher will add to or use to try out the capabilities of the software. What is apparent is that the texts provided (the ones I can translate) are appropriate to intermediate level. Extent It is difficult to relate the extent of coverage of the curriculum of the ten languages included in the package. The pre-installed text includes in the Primary activities, Days and Months, 'Hello my name is..', My family, Places we go and School. Secondary/Adult activities include Directions, Film Review, Recipe and Book Review. Topologika say that some of the text starters are linked to the QCA guidelines for Key Stage 2 and above.

2 Analysis of Contents Appropriateness As a support to the teaching of Modern Foreign Languages 'textthing MFL' is relevant to the target audience. The activities are screen versions of tried and tested methods of delivering text exercises. Quality Generally this is an excellent product. Having said that a teacher must, as in all good software, learn how to administrate it effectively and allow time to do this. Differentiation Differentiation is the main focus of this package and is probably the key to it's usefulness. The teacher can input a text as short as thirty words long in the language of their choice, and set controls which allow any combination of difficulty levels. The software is interactive whiteboard friendly and may be used with any specially adapted hardware for students with physical difficulties, including switches. One added benefit is that there are speech engines included with some languages so that students working orally can listen to the text read aloud. Providing the student can read and use some sort of keyboard there should not be any barriers to using the software. Supporting Documentation There is no shortage of information regarding the software as the package contains a hefty 64 page downloadable handbook, a quick start guide both in hard copy and downloadable from the disc as well as a visual walkthrough guide with narration on the disc. This however is not a tutorial and I would strongly recommend reading the larger handbook and working directly from it in order to get a good working knowledge of the software as my 'suck it and see' approach using the QuickStart book led to complications. Other features include setting the levels of differentiation for each group or individual, time-limited sessions, score recording and pupil tracking. Text already available as part of the software is appropriate for both Primary, Secondary and adult learners at beginners' level. Exercises are printable for homework or can be ed to students who have a copy of the software. It is assumed that teachers will adapt the materials they load into the program themselves to suit the level of the pupils they teach. In order to appeal to both the young and the more mature student, there are two screens to work from. The Primary screen or 'interface' has jazzy colours and a 'Genie' in the help menu to guide pupils through the activities, whilst the Secondary/adult interface has a chap in a suit called Jack to give assistance. You may choose to turn Jack and the Genie off after a while as they seem compelled to go through their whole routine before they let you get on with your work. There are no lesson plans provided as the program is designed to be a tool for teachers to make their lessons more interesting for pupils and reduce the workload of planning text exercises. The handbook mentions helpful websites which will provide extra foreign language texts to download. The QuickStart Guide makes clear that text you import yourself, say from your own computer, must be in 'Rich Text Format'. A separate program - the textthing MFL File Creator and Editor - will loads several kinds of files, (including.txt,.rtf, Word and even.html files) and should be used for

3 this purpose. It is easy for the pupils to re-save a piece of text in 'rtf' then use the facility of dragand-drop to move it into their program. Summary textthing MFL is a very powerful program. If you are a specialist teacher of Modern Foreign Languages and you have a desire to offer your pupils differentiated on-screen text tasks that stimulate and motivate, this is the package for you. You will need to spend an hour or two familiarising yourself with all the possibilities offered by this extensive software and learning how to use the package. Use the already installed text in a choice of ten European languages as a starter and then import your own text and pass it over to the program to turn it into ready to use activities. An excellent and fun program to aid in the teaching of MFL. textthing MFL KS2 Classroom Evaluation (by Anne Cowan) Installation & Access This software was very easy to install. You simply put the CD into the drive and follow the onscreen instructions. After installation the program checks for necessary speech software and if it is not found gives you the chance to install it. Several languages are offered and during installation you can select those you are likely to use. After that all parts of the program can be accessed and used using the keyboard and mouse. Planning Classroom Use What This Product Offers textthing MFL can handle most European character sets and can link them to speech engines. It can be used throughout the Primary and Secondary age ranges supporting learners from beginners to A level. It provides tailored activities based on texts provided, or additional texts chosen by the user. The ten activities can be used straight from the pack which has many texts supplied, but it is easy to add your own from websites, magazines and other sources. The software manages personalised learning settings and can save results for multiple groups of named students. The languages that can be displayed and read aloud are Dutch, Spanish, French, German and Italian. There are also texts for Danish, Welsh, Cornish and Scottish Gaelic. A mouse, keyboard, switches and touchscreens can all be used in most activities, and on-screen keyboards for foreign characters are displayed. textthing MFL is also ideal for use on an interactive whiteboard. Purpose of Using This Product MFL was introduced into our school last year. Three different languages are being taught, with French being the one assigned to Year 4. This title was used to help develop and consolidate the children's knowledge of the language.

4 Differentiation This package allows you to group children and differentiate in a variety of ways such as the text offered, choice of activities and the level of difficulty. Classroom Experience Classroom Organisation I used textthing during my MFL lessons. As the class only just began learning French at the beginning of the term I used it as interactive whole class activities before allowing the children to have a go themselves. Context of Use Before starting to use the software I had to set up the groups and decide on the activities that I wanted the children to have available and at which ability level. Having tried out the different levels myself it was obvious that, as the children had only just started to learn French, we needed to use the easier activities. For the purpose of this evaluation I chose the 'Days and Months' text as this was the most simple one available. As the children have only just begun to learn the language, I used the software mainly as a group resource on the interactive whiteboard. After they had completed the task in a group they then went on to try it again individually to reinforce the learning. This worked well with the more able children but the less able struggled if left too long without adult intervention. Over the two weeks of using the program we had a go at three activities using the chosen text. These were Scrambled Sentences, Fill the Blanks and Scrambled Words. The children coped well with Fill the Blanks which comprised of a simple cloze procedure where the children selected words from a box and inserted them into the correct place in the text. They found the Scrambled Sentences a little more difficult as they had not had much experience of the written word in French. Most of the work we had done previously had been oral with children occasionally matching a word to a picture. Scrambled Words was the most difficult. Ease of Use - Design & Navigation The software is quite straightforward. The pupils need to choose their group, select their name, click Start and select their text. After they have read the text, clicking the Use text button will take them to the list of activities available to them from the coloured buttons. Any that are greyed out are not available to the pupils during that session. Monitoring & Assessment When the children have completed an activity they click on Next person and a window appears which tells them their score for that activity. There is an option to print this if required. The software will also save the results of individual students so they can be accessed at any time. Completed work can also be printed out so a paper record of children's progress is available. Feedback from Pupils and Other Staff This is a no-frills piece of software and this was reflected in the children's reaction to it. When asked to say what they felt about it, the concensus of opinion was that they found it easy to access

5 and use, although the activities were quite difficult for them as they were new to written French. The staff felt that it was a useful piece of software that consolidated children's learning in a way which did not involve them in too much writing. They also thought it was useful to be able to print the completed work as well as having an electronic record of the score. Uncompleted work could also be printed off for use as homework. Summary Ease of Use textthing MFL is easy to use. A few clicks of the mouse and the pupils have access to the activities they need to complete. Each activity features talking help and the text extracts can be spoken in most activities so long as speech is enabled. Similarly for the teacher it is easy to install and set up for the pupils to use. Classroom Experience I used this program with a class of Year 4 children who had started learning French at the beginning of the school year. Because of this I initially used the activities on the interactive whiteboard before allowing the children to have a go individually. The children were familiar with the type of activities provided as they mirror those they complete in literacy word and sentence level work. As they were beginners the children found some of the activities difficult, but I think the program will come into its own when they have more experience of the French language, and we look forward to trying some of the other activities which include crosswords, word searches, rebuilding texts word by word and punctuation.