Learner-Created Interactive Smart-Posters Improve Language Learning

By Simon Wardman, ACE Teacher

Young learners at ACE’s Tuol Tom Poung campus have been creating “Smart Posters” using QR codes as part of their assessment project. The idea for the project originated from a 2019 CamTESOL workshop, “QR Codes and Reading Activities”. The workshop was delivered by Dr Rahamat and Mr Ishak, who created QR codes directing young learners to online reading activities.

Young learners were asked to research an area of technology that they thought would impact their future. They then created their own “Smart Posters” that summarised their research and embedded QR codes linking their posters to supplementary online resources for other learners to experience. The final steps were to arrange a classroom gallery of their posters and then invite other young learners from different classes to view the gallery.

The main aims of the project were to encourage and develop students’ independent research skills and to facilitate the use of informal spoken English in non-threatening collaborative activities. We achieved these aims by creating an informal learning space, without tables or chairs, where students could meet and engage with other learners from outside their normal classroom environment. We hoped that the young learners would use informal and authentic language during the poster project.

Questionnaires were used to gather data on how students felt about the poster project. Here are a few selected comments:

• “I got a lot of information when speaking to students from another class.”
• “I asked the questions I wanted. I spoke to who I wanted and made friends with new students.”
• “It was fun, different from a normal lesson.”
• “I spoke naturally and did not read from my notes.”
• “I enjoyed walking around the gallery. We weren’t sitting in our chairs.”

All students thought they had learned something from the project and a large majority (93%) reported that they would like to do a similar project next term.

The support and advice of my Lead Teachers and teaching colleagues were essential in setting up this project. Special thanks goes to Devona Jackson for her guidance and assistance during the gallery sessions, and to Rush Paisley, who encouraged her students to engage fully in the project and who also helped in the supervision of sessions and post-project collection of data.

In the future, the poster project could be developed by including NFC tags or by creating activities that involve “language quests” around the campus.

https://www.teachability.info/blog