One site that I have frequently used with my pupils is Elevspel.se. It is a multi-functional site that enables students to get extra training on specific areas of different subjects. I have used it both for individual students, in pairs and with the whole class on the smartboard. This is easily done if you have access to tablets and smart board witch you can connect to eachother. I like to set up a fast link by putting it directly on the homescreen of the tablet.
The website is open for use for anyone, but you can also create an account as a teacher and then move on to create accounts for the pupils in your class. By doing this you can keep track of what your students are doing and which progress they have made. From the first page you can click on different subjects such as Swedish, English or Maths. Once you have chosen your subject there are lots of different exercises to choose from. Each exercise is labeled with what you can learn from it, for example Days, months and seasons or English prepositions. There is also some additional information about what specifically you will be training, which schoolyears it would be appropriate for and a rating from the users of up to five stars. Once you have chosen an exercise there are usually two or more levels or varieties of the exercise, marked with what you are training or the level. Every exercise consists of cirka ten questions that you answer by chosing the correct alternative. Most exercises have got the oportunity to hear the options read out by a computer voice. You get an instant respons if you choose the correct of faulty alternative and you get a scoore of how many questions you answered correctly. After you have finished an exercise you can get awarded a gold, silver or bronze medal if you have enough points.
The advantages of this website are:
- easy to use
- easy access
- can be used individually, in pairs or as a group exercise in the whole class
- a lot of different exercises to develop your skills
- several levels or options for each exercise
- easy overview of what the focus of the exercise is and who it is appropriate for
- you can track your pupils development
- you can get each pupil to work on the things that they need
The issues, or things to keep in mind are:
- the pupils need to be able to read, as the instructions are almost exclusively written
- not all exercises are good ones, the quality varies and you you need to check it out befor you put the students up to an exercise
- since there are options to choose from, you can get it right by making a guess
- the website should be used as a complement to other teaching
To sum it all up, Elevspel.se is a useful tool to work on specific areas both individually and as a group. It can be a good way to diversify the teaching and keep the pupils interested and motivated at the same time as you get an overview of what the class needs to work on and what thet already know. With consideration to its limits and a proper plan of what you want the children to learn it is a good tool.
