Bring joy to your classroom
Source: www.tripticoplus.com
Today's tool is a task-based one that promotes interactivity. What I mean here is the conversation that takes place among learners. There are many learning styles where this approach dominates such as collaborative and cooperative learning and peer teaching (Philp et al 2013). Leaners can share both their linguistic and cognitive knowledge with their classmates whether by providing a context to practise the language, corrective feedback or polishing their language.
A trip on Triptico
Interactivity with Triptico goes beyond the linguistic aspect and extends to the technological one by using an interactive whiteboard. You can still use it if you have a classroom monitor and speakers, in both cases it will make a great environment for your students because it has features of games such as being amusing and competitive. An example of an activity I created using Triptico can be found here.
The magic toolkit offers a wide range of activities that I can't address in a single post, however I will explain one of them in details. The example shown above is called 'Find Ten' where you ask a question and provide fifteen options of which ten are correct. You can divide into pairs or small groups (not more than five students per group) and give them some time to interact and find their way. A useful tip for teachers while students are doing an activity on their own is to move among them and 'volunteer' help. Another worthy tip to mention is to bend or sit down so that your head is at the same level of the students. Finally, a member of the group can come to the interactive whiteboard and tab the answer his/her group think is correct. What is enjoyable about Triptico is that it's really 'funky, it will 'buzz' for a few seconds and suspense will be present, then 'hurray' if they get it right, the option will be green and a winning music is played or 'oops' if they get it wrong, a red colour and music is also provided. You can also write feedback or give more explanation at the back of the option card, this can be seen only if the option is picked. You can consider it as a motivation initiator for it breaks the ice and monotony of the session.
How can I create my own 'Find Ten'?
First, you need to subscribe on Triptico in order to be able to use its tools. You can sign up for a free trial period of thirty days.
The second tool bar shows Activity, where you ask a question about any feature or write a message and you will get an answer from Triptico team and users, My Saves, where you see the activities that you have created/started, My Details where you can see and edit your personal and membership details and Resources (shown on the picture below).
In the resources section, there are lots of useful choices coming under four categories: tools, timers, selectors and quizzes. Our target, 'Find Ten' is in the quizzes section. You will then find a menu icon, click on it and you will be able to see the screen below.
Select (I'd like to create a new 'Find Ten' activity), type the question or the rubric on the title bar then type the correct answers/options on the green boxes and the misleaders on the red ones. The correct answer are not literally ten, you can edit the number of the correct answer from the icon that shows 10 on the bottom right hand side. After designing the activity, you can add more information or feedback about each option.
It is clear that you need hardware (interactive whiteboard or a monitor) and internet connection to use Triptico. Another constrain is that if the Trial period is over, you will need to pay
£15 for a year's subscription ($23). If you are lucky and convinced your institution or if you are a decision-maker there, the website offers an institution subscription which can be used by all the staff. Lastly, bear in mind that Triptico has limitations with the tasks it offers, therefore it is not possible to use it to deliver all the aspects of language teaching.
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