Using Penpal/Talking Pen?

[Angelika Baxter Ethnic Minority Achievement Adviser EMTAS SIEY SCF]

Hi All,

Would anyone be willing to share how Mantra’s Penpal (aka Talking Pen) has been used in schools (both primary and secondary)? I’m getting enquiries from schools who are considering buying one  – but I think we’ll need some real life examples of what has been done/achieved to justify the expense.

 

Any info gratefully received!

Angelika

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[CHRIS PIM]

Hi,

Here are some useful ideas of how to use the RecorderPEN taken from some case studies done a couple of years ago.

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Teacher initiated learning

1. Working with small groups of KS2 ethnic minority and ‘White British’ children, an EAL advisory teacher used the RecorderPEN to focus on improving grammatical and writing skills. The children were given a story box - 6 objects related to a theme -  the sea. They used the story mountain to orally devise a story collectively to include these objects. The pen was initially used with indivdual children to record each part of the story and then show/perform to the rest of the class and school staff. When the story was performed, it was plugged into the IWB connection for a louder audio output. The sound was clear and during the plenary many of the children who hadn't participated in the original activity were able to give quotes from the story to back up their responses.
Many of the children who used the pen showed their excitement by usual phrases like -'It's so cool', 'It's extraordinary' 'It's magic' etc. From a learning skills point of view, the children said that hearing back their reading clearly showed them how they needed to improve their expression/tone and also speak clearly.

2. An EAL specialist teacher worked with new arrival EAL learners at KS3. The RecorderPEN and labels were used to record a shy Philippino student with limited English talking about what she had done in a Food Technology class. She had prepared various dishes (pasta salad, fruit salad) and had been given a picture sheet with the vocabulary on it, showing the equipment and the specialist verbs needed, eg. rinsing, chopping, mixing etc. She gave a full response, which she would not have managed had she needed to write it all down in the time. In another context the technology was used for recording a speaking assessment for a Humanities topic on Civil Rights. The student used her bilingual dictionary and writing frames or matching exercises to prepare the topic, and while the rest of the class had to give a talk up at the front this Polish student recorded her answer on the RecorderPEN in a separate room, so the teacher could then give her a grade. She was unwilling to do the activity in front of the class, which was understandable.


Pupil initiated learning

 
1. Pupil R, a Year 5 boy with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Dyslexia, had all but disengaged with the curriculum and was essentially refusing to produce written work. Using a small notebook and a set of labels, pupil R was encouraged to use the RecorderPEN to record his thoughts, ideas and answers regarding class work as frequently as he wanted. The transformation in this pupil has been huge, describing the pen as "The best gadget ever." He is now far more positive about school, more engaged with the curriculum and has started to write for himself, which is a major breakthrough.

2. In small groups, Year 2 children were invited to create some games or activities that could be used/played by their peers. Some of the materials that were created included:
 Interactive globe in Geography
 Interactive treasure hunt with directions for mathematics and an outdoor adventure;
 Interactive mathematics board games
 Interactive stories, glossaries and quizzes in literacy and science

It was very good for EAL children in particular as it allowed them to independently listen to vocabulary as many times as they needed.  The children were very motivated to hear their own voices, and it enhanced speaking and listening as it emphasised the need to talk clearly.  It also boosted the self-esteem of SEN children, as they could create interactive mathematics and literacy games without the need to write. It was easy for the teacher to assess speaking as the pen recording is repeatable, and it does not require a PC to listen to it.


3. Year 3 and Year 6 children in two different classes were asked to produce a booklet about bullying for parents. They used digital cameras to take freeze-frame photos of bullying scenarios and then added narrations using the sticky labels and RecorderPEN.

All children found the activity fun and were able to join in. There was very little writing involved so SEN children were not hampered. EAL children were allowed to use their home languages. One Lithuanian girl in Year 6, who was too embarrassed to record her own voice using the pen, taught two other boys how to say some Lithuanian words and then record them. All three of them were laughing and having a lot of fun at the time and the boys appreciated some of what she had to do to learn English. One boy even remembered some of the Lithuanian words. In Year 3 some quite under-confident children with EAL were able to show off and participate in new ways and their peers were able to see them in a new light and realised they were actually perfectly capable!

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Best,

Chris Pim

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From: Angelika Baxter Ethnic Minority Achievement Adviser EMTAS SIEY SCF <Angelik...@essex.gov.uk>
To: eal-bi...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, 2 February 2012, 15:30
Subject: [EAL-Bilingual;1401] Using Penpal/Talking Pen?

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[Robene Dutta]

Hi Angelika,

The PENpals are at last beginning to take up in UK. (USA, Norway, Sweden have used them very successfully over the last 2 years and we even publish dual language books in Norwegian, Swedish, American English for the minority communities there.) In UK over the last year schools are finding these very helpful in communicating with new arrivals. I am copying a mail received last Thursday from a EMA teacher (who incidentally was not a member of the EMA group and I have given her all the information to join.)

"

Hi Robene

I and my head of department here at Ellacombe school would be delighted to have my comments posted on your EAL forum.

They are well deserved and we look forward to using more of your products in the future.

 

Many thanks to you all

Tracy

----Original Message----
From: r...@mlpub.co.uk
Date: 03/02/2012 16:25
To: <tparpwort...@ellacombe.torbay.sch.uk>
Subj: Re: Technical support

Hi Tracy

Thank you for your comments and we have copied everyone in the company your mail, so Nitesh is feeling very chuffed.
Please could I have your permission to post your comments on the eal forum. In case you are not a member the forum is on eal-bi...@googlegroups.com.

Regards
Robene Dutta
Managing Director

---- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Tracy Parpworth-Reynolds" <tparpwort...@ellacombe.torbay.sch.uk>
To: in...@mantralingua.com
Sent: Friday, 3 February, 2012 16:03:55 GMT +00:00 GMT Britain, Ireland, Portugal
Subject: Technical support

Hi all

I am fairly new to my role as an EAL specialist teaching assistant and therefore a relatively new customer to you and your products. After encountering a few technical problems I rang your team for some help.  My problems were quickly sorted out. 

I would like to congratulate you on your super friendly service and support and your products.The children in particular love the 'talking pen', the look on their faces when newly arrived in class with little or no English and this clever piece of 'kit' begins to explain things in their language...'Priceless!'

 

Tracy Parpworth-Reynolds

Ellacombe Primary School

Ellacombe Church RD

Ellacombe

Torquay

Devon

Robene Dutta

Managing Director
Mantra Lingua Ltd
Global House
303 Ballards Lane
London N12 8NP
t:0044 (0)208 44 55 123
f:0044 (0)208 446 7745
This email was written with voice recognition technology.
Please excuse any typing errors.

[Angelika Baxter Ethnic Minority Achievement Adviser EMTAS SIEY SCF]

A| big thank you colleagues who shared their PENpal ideas – really, really useful! Angelika

 

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From: eal-bi...@googlegroups.com [mailto:eal-bi...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Angelika Baxter Ethnic Minority Achievement Adviser EMTAS SIEY SCF
Sent: 02 February 2012 15:31
To: eal-bi...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [EAL-Bilingual;1401] Using Penpal/Talking Pen?

 

Hi All,

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