We Like to Move It! Mobile Language Learning Activities

“Learning is not the product of teaching. Learning is the product of the activity of learners.” – John Holt
If you like these ideas, take one of my courses or check out my books. Ask me about training your teachers, [email protected]!
With a mobile device students can learn any subject hands-on while engaging in activities that get them out of their seats talking and exploring. With a mobile device students can create, problem solve, critical think, and engage with the world around them. This is real world active learning! With the right activities, teachers can get learners out of their desks observing and learning about their surroundings and engaging with realia. With their devices students can capture images, make videos, record audio, access the Internet, and so much more!  These features also work without an Internet connection. When we download apps and have Internet access, our learners have endless opportunities to learn by creating, exploring, researching, and playing. In my book, Learning to Go, I provide ideas, lesson plans, rubrics, and mobile ready handouts to accomplish this. 

Ideas & Resources

General Ideas
  • Send them on field research!
    • For young learners, they can go on nature walks, observe, and take photos of the nature, ecosystems, animals, and bugs in their environment. Observation logs are just one of the 32 resources in Hacking Learning with Edtech Missions.
    • Students can document their observations using the iNaturalist iOS/Android app.
    • They can include their observations, photos, and research in interactive field guides or digital scrapbooks using iBooks, EduBuncee, or Book Creator. There is one mission dedicated to this in my book.
  • Try VR and AR!
  • Go on a scavenger hunt! Try these apps and web tools- Goose Chase app,  QRWild.com, and the Qr Treasure Hunt Generator.
  • Geocaching is where you search for little treasures people hide using GPS coordinates. Many are at local parks or landmarks.
  • Integrate QR codes.
    • You and your learners can create and scan QR codes with Quickmark(Web/iOS/Android).
    • Put the QR codes on objects to get students out of their desks moving and engaging with objects.
    • The PE Geek has a wonderful video with his learners scanning a skeleton with QR codes. QR codes can connect to interactives, polls, text, links, audio, video, or a Padlet.

Photo Challenges
  • Selfie Adventures- Find templates and resources here.
  • I Spy with My Device is a type of formative assessment in which students take photos to reflect their learning. Find this activity in my book, Learning to Go: Lesson Ideas for Mobile Devices.

Video Tasks
  • Find ideas and resources here. 

Audio Recording Tasks
  • Find ideas and resources here. 

​Icebreakers and Get-to-Know You Activities
  • Digital Bingo
  • Mobile Show and Tell- Divide students into small groups (3 to 5 students). Each student spends about 30 seconds sharing a personal photo from a mobile device and the anecdote behind the photo.
  • Recreate a Photo- Students choose one of the Mobile Show and Tell images to recreate as a group. They share the original then the newly created photo.
  • Selfie Adventures- Find templates and resources here.
  • Draw and Dash- Each student will need to use a piece of paper or a drawing app. Name a category like favorite dessert, cartoon, sports team and so forth for students to draw the answers to on their tablets. Give them 30 seconds. When the time is up they should lift up their drawings and run to a peer they believe drew a similar choice. Give them 1 minute to talk about their drawings and exchange one fact or experience related to the choice. Find the Knowledge Swap handout that accompanies this activity in Learning to Go.
  • Mobile Me Pictionary- Give each student 3 notecards. Students write on one side a category like a talent, hobby, dream job, or favorite place. On the other side they write down an answer but show no one. Divide students into small groups. Each group will need to use a drawing app. Students stack all the cards with the categories facing up. When you start the timer, one student chooses a card and draws the word(s) on the app. The group tries to guess the answer and who it describes before the time runs out.
  • Vision Boards- Students can use digital poster and scrapbook tools and apps to create goal collages and vision boards. Learn more here. 
  • My Timeline- Students create multimedia timelines highlighting significant moments using a tool like Mindmeister or Popplet which both have free apps.
  • Icebreaker Mingle- Find my lesson plan that uses the Icebreaker question app here.​
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My Mobile Learning Posts/ Presentations
One part of my job is traveling worldwide and helping teachers integrate technology and mobile learning effectively even if all they have available are the devices students bring in. If your school is interested in having me work with your teachers and students, contact me at [email protected]. Below is a video of me in Croatia.

Bookmarks