Dvolver (Week1)

Hello and welcome to my blog. For my first entry, I will explore a tool that can help students learning language through Dvolver.

What?

Dvolver is a website where you can make a cartoon comic strip type movie online using pre-made graphics. It is a combination of moviemaker and animations. The dialogue in a movie will appear in a form of bubbles. Students can explore the process of making the movie as an activity in a classroom or as a homework. The tool is suitable to be used by the primary or secondary school students range age between 8-17 years old with different levels such as beginner, intermediate and advanced.

Dvolver Moviemaker page

How to do it?

Step 1: Go to www.dvolver.com and click on the Moviemaker balloon
Step 2: Select a background and sky and click Next
Step 3: Select a plot and click Next
Step 4: Select characters and click Next
Step 5: Type in what you want your characters to say. Click Next
Step 6: Select music and choose between adding another scene (and repeat above instructions) or finishing movie
Step 7: Select the movie title design and give the movie a title and director’s name
Step 8: Press Preview and Send and complete the emailing details to send your movie to someone.

*If you need a clear instruction on how to use Dvolver, you can visit to Russell Stannard website.

Suggested activities:

1. Teacher can ask students to make a comic strip on their own. It depends to the students to choose a suitable topic for the movie such as their experience at school or their plan for summer holiday. It can motivate students to learn the language more as it is something that they enjoy doing it.

2. Teacher can ask students to make a summary of a text that they had read into a mini movie using Dvolver. It is important as teacher can check students' understanding of a text. Students' understanding of text can be interpreted into a dialogue between characters.

3. Teacher pair up students and let them explore the website. In order to form a grammatical sentence, the collaboration between students can help them to improve their understanding of a language in a fun and interactive way.

The example of Dvolver




I like it because:

1. It enhances students' creativity in directing the movie.
2. Brings variety of activities in learning a language.
3. Encourage autonomous learning by the students.
4. It is free and do not need to create an account or sign up
5. The 'product' of learning can be sent to others via e-mail or post it on blog.
6. Students take fully charge on making a movie such as in choosing a background music, settings and the characters

I don't like it because:

1. Students may use an appropriate language while using it.
2. Once students published the movie, it cannot be edited. Students need to make a new one if they do not satisfied with the first attempt.
3. Time consuming for teachers and students if it is being done as a classroom activity
4. Certain character may not suitable for students such as Hottie which is a bit sexy.
5. There are only three scenes available for the movie and the text entry is limited to write.
6. Lack of ICT facilites especially in rural area such as internet connection

Related Link

• Dvolver on YouTube

• The following link may help you with troubleshooting that you encounter CLICK HERE