Awardee: Mootacem Mhiri
Semester of Award: Spring 2017
Materials Awarded: iPad Pro + Apple Pencil
Project Description:
Using the iPad Pro has had a significant impact on my lesson preparation and on my one-on-one office hour consultations with my Arabic language students, especially at the elementary level of instruction. But, I have also found ways of enhancing my teaching of Intermediate Arabic using applications on the iPad Pro.
At the beginning of the fall semester, when we start teaching the Arabic alphabet, I was able to research and identify a number of letter writing worksheets on sites like Pintrest. In one-on-one office hour consultations, I would either use my iPad Pro or have the students use their own to trace over the letters and learn/practice the proper way of connecting letters, using the Apple pencil which came with this award. students who struggled with learning the letters indicated that this method helped them and increased the pace of their learning.
later in the semester, I started using the iPad Pro in sentence-building and syntax exercises, with both elementary and intermediate Arabic learners. Typically, students would bring their iPad or smart phone to our drill sessions. We would download selected apps like (Mondly: Learn Arabic FREE – Conversation Course, by ATi Studios). I would pair students up based on mixed proficiency levels, and we would start doing the various sentence-building activities designed by this Application.
another use that I was able to make of the this iPad Pro is with more advanced proficiency students (and fast learners) who were asking for a more individualized learning plan. I worked with two students in this category throughout the academic year. I met with them individually each week to read children’s books, by using an application designed to help starting readers expand their vocabulary and speed up the pace of their reading. I would select a story from the app. for the student to read and practice at home before our meeting. Then, we would speak about the story using the target language (Arabic) exclusively. And at the end of our meeting, I would typically ask the student to perform an aloud reading of passages from the story.
I summarized above three different uses of the award that have truly enhanced the quality of my teaching of Arabic language. The flexibility of having an iPad everywhere I go on campus (class, meetings, office hours etc) has also enhanced my working conditions overall, and I am still discovering more ways of making use of this wonderful gadget.