Interactive video for teaching: Simple Show Video Maker

#interactivelearning

#languagelearning

#SimpleShow

#text-to-video-maker

Before reading this blog post, watch the video in the link below and think about these questions:

1. Imagine that this is audio for a listening activity in class. What kind of learners would be suitable for this kind of listening text?

2. Now imagine that you show the video instead of just letting students listen to the audio. Would the video help students listen to the audio better? Why?

https://videos.simpleshow.com/bMvZxDSxe8

TL;DR:

Product: Simple Show Video Maker

Pros: Lively animations, easy to use, can upload or self-record voiceover

Cons: No subtitles, VERY expensive monthly subscription for a business account, boring free AI-generated voice

Price: around £129/month - roughly 4 million VND, teachers with school email account could get free account 

If you're a language teacher, especially one working with beginners, you've probably asked yourself this question more than once: Why is listening so hard to teach?

Among all four language skills, listening tends to be the trickiest, at least for me. Even with careful preparation before listening like reading the questions, identifying the keywords, or explaining new words, my students still struggle with getting the answer right, especially for my 6th and 7th grade students. I can't count how many times I have seen students go "Huh?" after their first time doing the  listening task: 

Image credit: Shrek meme from Reddit

It was only until I watched a short YouTube video online that I realised that even as adults, we sometimes struggle with listening. But when we watch a video, the images or slides support our listening comprehension and help us visualise ideas better. Then it dawned on me. What if listening is not just listening? But watching?

An idea that seems so simple yet I have never thought about. Maybe because back in the day, we could hardly have cassettes to play the CD, let alone a screen. But nowadays, many classrooms are equipped with TVs or projectors.

Of course, if students watch a video and all the information is there, with subtitles and clear images, what's left to listen? So it is important that the videos contain only hints of ideas, and students still need to use all their language repertoire and skills to figure out the meaning and gradually develop their listening abilities.

That’s when I stumbled across Simple Show Video Maker—an online tool designed for creating explainer videos with lively animations and voiceovers. And to my surprise, it turned out to be a pretty handy way to transform those dry listening tasks from textbooks into something more digestible and fun.

The advantages

• You get instant illustrations: It reads your listening script or text and suggests key vocabulary that deserves a visual spotlight. If you want more control, you can manually pick your keywords too. Perfect for vocabulary pre-teaching or scaffolded listening tasks.
• You can organise the layout of the illustrations in the video: Unlike generic video makers, Simple Show lets you organise the layout of illustrations and how they appear on screen. This saves significant time for video editing, which is very beneficial for busy teachers.
• You can select upload the listening audio, self-record, or use AI-generated audio: If you think a listening text is too difficult for students, you might not have to cut it short or use a different audio. You can use Simple Show to make a video from the audio and let students listen twice. Additionally, the self-recording option is gold if you want your students to hear your familiar voice.

Sounds too good to be true, innit? 

Here is the only downside:

If you plan to convert text to a video, the AI-generated audio feature might disappoint you. You could only produce a video with a monotonous voice that might send students to sleep. However, the premium account is surprisingly expensive: Around $129/month (~4 million VND). That is incredibly steep for teachers who only create 3-4 videos per month.

However, if you register using an education email account, like a teacher or school account, these features can all be free. 

My final remark

The use of this video-making website is only beneficial for changing the mode of listening. Real-life listening also includes human interaction. In those cases, we cannot have subtitles to save our life. Therefore, you must teach students how to develop listening skills with and without visual support. Or else your students will become Velma in Scooby Doo, like this:

Image credit: https://www.justonething.in/p/aint-no-title-like-a-good-subtitle

If your students are at Upper Intermediate to Advanced levels, they might be more comfortable handling listening tasks that do not require any visual supports. If the listening content is really challenging, like whale spawning season or the restoration of a historical artefact, then maybe the students would appreciate a bit of support from visual cues.

Let me know what you think about the website. Love it? Hate it? Have a better tool? Comment down below!