This document discusses using mobile apps to support reading, vocabulary, and language learning in the classroom. It provides research showing apps can increase student engagement and independent study. Several free apps are described that can supplement vocabulary, reading comprehension, and fluency, including Quizlet, Flashcards, Nearpod, and Plickers. Websites with supporting materials for using apps are also listed. The document concludes with sample classroom activity ideas utilizing the recommended apps and resources.

1. LEARNING TO LOVE YOUR STUDENTS’ SMARTPHONES
How Mobile Apps Can Breathe New Life into Your Reading Class

2. THEORETICAL
FOUNDATIONS
Ground Your Practice

3. WHY CONSIDER APPS IN YOUR LANGUAGE CLASSROOM?
➤ Cakir (2015) suggested that when students can access English
learning resources at any time from any where, they become more
likely to do so in their free time.
➤ Samsiah et al. (2013) argued that a resource as ubiquitous as the
smartphone must be utilized by educators in order to stay relevant.
➤ Rosen (2010) suggests that students today have been “rewired”
and demand the use of technology in the classroom if we want them
to remain engaged.
➤ Wu (2014) found that a group of students that used a vocabulary
learning app (WordLearning) instead of traditional study methods
significantly outperformed the control group in vocabulary
recognition.

4. WHY CONSIDER APPS IN YOUR LANGUAGE CLASSROOM?
➤ Haintz, Pichler, and Ebner (2014) claimed that “the simplicity of the
system and the usage of the BYOD policy led to a high acceptance and a
high participation from lecturers and students. Lecturers mentioned the
higher attention and engagement of the students during lecture” (54).
➤ Al-Okaily (2013) found that “a BYOD policy is both practical and can
be effectively implemented in an English Language Program” (3).
➤ Ferriter (2010) aptly stated that “efforts to eliminate cell phone use
are also short-sighted, especially in an era when fewer dollars are
available for classroom supplies” (85).
➤ Brown (2014) argued that English language teachers should develop a
theory-informed stance on cellphone use in their classrooms,
cautioning against either extreme (complete prohibition or a cellphone
free-for-all).

5. VOCABULARY
Boost and Supplement

6. APPS FOR VOCABULARY
How to Use
Special
Features
Cost for
Students
Cost for
Teachers
Quizlet
You add words, let
students define,
practice at home,
then play games in
class
Support for images,
flashcards, multiple
games
Free $24.99/year
Flashcards
Assign an existing
word list or create
your own and ask
students to practice
at home
Flashcards with word
lists from Common
Core, Latin Roots,
TOEFL prep, and more,
or create your own
Free Free
Wordflex
Use it to look up
difficult words in
class, encourage
independent use
Gorgeous visuals,
shows relationships
between words
Free Free

7. READING
COMPREHENSION
AND FLUENCY
Read Read Read Assess Read

8. APPS FOR READING COMPREHENSION AND FLUENCY
How to Use Special
Features
Cost for
Students
Cost for
Teachers
Nearpod
Use existing reading
units or build your own,
embedding assessment
and reflection questions
with leveled texts
Can be used either as an
in-class or at-home
assessment tool, and
can allow for some
student choice in which
Nearpods they complete
Free
$12/month
(optional)
QR Reader +
MReader
Using your school’s
leveled reader library,
attach QR code links to
the inside of book
covers, letting students
take the quizzes they
choose
Allows students to
select the books they
prefer and take the
quizzes in their own
time, and teachers can
keep track of student
progress through
MReader
Free Free
Plickers
Do a quick, 3-5
question quiz to see if
students understood the
key concepts in a
reading
Students love using
Plickers cards and they
rarely think of it as
assessment
Free Free

9. WEBSITES TO
SUPPORT THE
APPS YOU USE
Readings and Resources

10. WEBSITES TO SUPPORT THE APPS YOU USE
➤ Read Write Think
➤ Intended for K-12, but many of the lessons
translate well to IEP
➤ Lessons on specific grammar, reading, and
writing topics with interactive games and
apps as well as worksheets and lesson plans
➤ Read Works
➤ Incredible bank of short readings with lexile
measures as well as comprehension questions
➤ Lesson plans to accompany a variety of
leveled novels
➤ Skill-based lessons for every grade level
➤ Vocabulary to accompany most lessons

11. WEBSITES TO SUPPORT THE APPS YOU USE
➤ Lit2Go
➤ A collection of short classic readings including
fairy tales, short stories, and poems
➤ All have audio files
➤ Most have comprehension questions to pair
with the passages
➤ Extensive Reading Foundation/MReader
➤ Hundreds of graded reader quizzes
➤ Incredible resource for those who want to
encourage students to read graded readers
➤ Amazing depth of information on the benefits
of extensive reading and how to set up a
program in your school

12. SAMPLE ACTIVITIES
Explore a sample text,
audio, and lesson
sequence from Lit2Go.
Watch a video about
setting up Plickers in
your classroom.
Try a Nearpod I
created to learn about
Sojourner Truth.
Study a Quizlet unit
my Dual Level
students created to
learn Latin roots.
Learn what the
Extensive Reading
Foundation can add
to your reading class.
Tour a sample passage
with supplemental
vocabulary & questions
from Read Works.
(Use the links or scan with your QR Reader app!)

13. THANK YOU!
courtneyelizabethking.com
king2ce@cmich.edu

14. REFERENCES
Al-Okaily, R. (2013). Device neutral assignments for mobile learning in an English language classroom.
QScience Proceedings, 29. doi:10.5339/qproc.2013.mlearn.29
Brown, J. (2014). Teachers’ Stances on Cell Phones in the ESL Classroom: Toward a “Theoretical”
Framework. TESL Canada Journal. Retrieved from http://www.teslcanadajournal.ca/tesl/index.php/
tesl/article/view/1177
Burston, J. (2014). The Reality of MALL: Still on the Fringes. CALICO Journal, 31(1), 103–125.
doi:10.11139/cj.31.1.103-125
Cakir, I. (2015). Opinions and Attitudes of Prospective Teachers for the Use of Mobile Phones in
Foreign Language Learning. Contemporary Educational Technology. Retrieved from http://cedtech.net/
articles/63/635.pdf
Ferriter, W. M. (2010). Cell phones as teaching tools. Educational Leadership, 68(2), 85-86. Retrieved from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct10/vol68/num02/Cell-Phones-as-
Teaching-Tools.aspx
Haintz, C., Pichler, K., & Ebner, M. (2014). Developing a Web-Based Question-Driven Audience
Response System Supporting BYOD. Journal of Universal Computer Science, 20(1), 39-56. Retrieved
from http://www.jucs.org/jucs_20_1/developing_a_web_based/jucs_20_01_0039_0056_haintz.pdf
Kim, H, & Kwon, Y. (2012). Exploring smartphone applications for effective mobile-assisted
language learning. Multimedia-Assisted Language Learning. Retrieved from http://kmjournal.bada.cc/
wp-content/uploads/2013/05/15-1-2Kim.pdf
Lin, C. (2014). Learning English reading in a mobile-assisted extensive reading program.
Computers & Education, 78, 48–59. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2014.05.004

15. REFERENCES
Nation, P, & Coady, J. (1988). Vocabulary and reading. Vocabulary and language teaching. Retrieved
from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=j2LXAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg
=PA97&dq=Vocabulary+and+Reading+Nation&ots=ijDZO3Jll-&sig=aMRi1T-
B59jccwxIWa2WNwCkc6A
Rezaei, A., Mai, N., & Pesaranghader, A. (2014). The Effect of Mobile Applications on English
Vocabulary Acquisition. Jurnal Teknologi, 68(2). doi:10.11113/jt.v68.2912
Rosen, L. D., Carrier, M. L., & Cheever, N. A. (2010). Rewired: Understanding the iGeneration and
the way they learn. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Soleimani, E., Ismail, K., & Mustaffa, R. (2014). The Acceptance of Mobile Assisted Language
Learning (MALL) among Post Graduate ESL Students in UKM. Procedia - Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 118, 457–462. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.02.062
Stoeckel, T., Reagan, N., & Hann, F. (2012). Extensive reading quizzes and reading attitudes.
TESOL Quarterly, 46(1), 187-198.
Wu, Q. (2014). Learning ESL Vocabulary with Smartphones. Procedia - Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 143, 302–307. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.409
Yunus, M., Nordin, N., Salehi, H., Embi, M., & Mahamod, Z. (2013). Managing Problems and
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