Tried using Gamma to create a Website

 Gamma has one AI function which is to generate a website. Actually, it's a webpage, as it is just one single page. 

This time, I tried copying and pasting in part of an outline from one of my lectures. The outline is in bullet points. 

The output is one single webpage consisting of a number of cards (the number of which I could specify when I started) from top to bottom. As such, the webpage still looks like a series of slides strung together.

The webpage can be shared with others immediately.  

Gamma does not present the contents of my outline slavishly. It does quite a good job in assmilating my points and re-presenting them in the 'cards'. 

The webpage has quite appealing visual effect. 

One encouraging thing is that the URL in my original outline becomes a clickable embedded link in the generated webpage. https://master-the-tonic-syllabl-hl8cxsr.gamma.site/ 

Tried Gamma to create a presentation slidedeck

 MY PROMPT:

A topic: Teaching ESL Listening to secondary school ESL learners

OUTPUT: 

Default: a 10-slide slidedeck

https://gamma.app/docs/Teaching-ESL-Listening-to-High-School-Learners-Strategies-Resourc-al65dceen07umjl

==============================================

MY OBSERVATIONS

- Like other AI tools for creating presentations, to me, the output is: 

(1) too texty

(2) too general in content; not contextualised enough for my own use; OK for general introduction

Used POE canvas app to create a checklist of learning outcomes

 MY PROMPT: 

please convert the following list of learning outcomes for a lecture into an interactive checklist. At the end of the lecture, students will check those learning outcomes that they think they have achieved.

The learning outcomes:

• Explain the difference between Phonetics and Phonology.
• Give some example issues of Phonetics.
• Give some example issues of Phonology.
• Explain the relationship between Phonetics and Phonology on the one hand, and Pronunciation on the other, in the context of L2 teaching and learning.
• Explain the role of Transcription in the study of Phonetics, Phonology, and Pronunciation.
• Have a clearer understanding of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
• Have a clearer understanding of the transcription system normally used in dictionaries for ESL learners.
• Explain the purpose of Phonics in an English Language curriculum.

OUTPUT

https://poe.com/preview/gesqvvAGnDFEx5DPcGm7

Tried using Google Gemini to create an interactive Listening game

 For this attempt, I used the same story text and prompt for creating the 10-sentence listen-and-match game. When in Google Gemini, among the 4 options inside  the prompt box, I chose 'canvas'. 

OUTPUT: 

https://g.co/gemini/share/a15aae917247

HOW IT COMPARES WITH POE AND CANVA AI

1. It works. 

2. The resulting task can be shared via the share link. 

3. There is no 'publish' vs 'preview' distinction. 

4. The resulting task works in Opera immediately. But in Chrome, users need to log in to their Google account first. 

5. The audio for each sentence takes a bit of time to follow. In this regard, it is not as good as POE and Canva AI. 

Created with Canva AI: A listen-and-match game for KS1 - Colin's story

 MY PROMPT: 

Please create an interactive Listen-and-Match game for lower primary ESL students to practise Listening. On the left of the page are 10 play buttons, numbered from 1 to ten. On the right of the page are the 10 sentences in random order. Students will click on the first button, listen to the sentence, which is said in British English accent, and match it to the correct sentence on the right. Then they click on the second button, listen to the sentence, and match it to the right sentence on the right. And so on until they finish trying the 10 sentences. Then show students the number of correct answers they have got. 

Below are the 10 sentences to use in creating this game: 

One morning, Colin, a six-year-old boy, went to the park.

He wanted to play on the swing.

But the swing went too high, and his hat flew off!

Colin ran after the hat, but it landed on a dog.

The dog barked and ran around with the hat.

Colin laughed and chased the dog.

Then he tripped and fell on the soft grass.

When he got up, he saw a butterfly on his nose!

The dog finally dropped the hat.

Colin went home smiling, with his hat and a funny story.

====================

OUTPUT: 

https://paulsze.net/listening-game-colin-story

Created with Canva AI: A Listening Game for Phonics/Phonetics practice - Vowels

MY PROMPT: 

Create a Listening game. This game consists of 10 questions that correspond to the following 10 pairs of words. When each question is shown, the two words in each pair will be shown to students. One of the two words will be pronounced two times. Students listen to the pronounced word, and click the one which is being pronounced. Then the next question will show up, and so so. 

The 10 pairs of words to be used: 

sit, seat

cod, cord

bet, bat

pull, pool

men, man

cut, cart

live, leave

pin, pan

bull, ball

heart, hot

====================

OUTPUT: 

https://paulsze.net/listen-and-choose-vowels

Trying Lingotask as a student

I. GETTING A PROBLEM ESSAY READY

1.1    I copied the following Writing Task from the Teacher's dashboard: 

"You are the host of 'Teen Chat', a YouTube channel that explores a wide range of topics from a teenage perspective. Write an article for Teen Magazine about why you started this channel and what you have learned in the process."

1.2   I went to POE Assistant, and asked it to generate a problem in response to the Writing Task. 

My first prompt: "You're an ESL teacher in a secondary school. You're to create a response to the following Writing task topic. However, your response should be a problem essay which contains several spelling errors, grammar errors, choice-of-word errors, and illogical sentences. You will use the problem essay for providing your students with practice in improving an essay. Please provide a 150-word problem essay.

Below is the Writing topic. Please create a 150-word problem essay in response to the Writing topic. ...

1.3  I settled for one problem essay generated after asking POE Assistant for a few revisions (to include more errors): 

 "I started the YouTube channel "Teen Chat" because I wanted to talk about issues teens face, like school stress and friendships. At first, I thought it be easy to just record my thoughts. However, I quickly seen that making videos is actually very hard.

One big problem is that I didn’t knew how to reach my audience. Many teens don’t likes to watch long videos, so I tried to make them shorter, but then I lost some important informations. Also, I’ve learn that not everyone agree with my opinions, which sometimes lead to mean comments and hurted feelings.

Editing the videos are also a struggle for me, which take a lots of time. I often forget to add musics or graphics, and it makes the video boring. Sometimes, I feel like giving up, but I know I can’t. In conclusion, while starting "Teen Chat" was a good idea, it also come with many challenges that I didn’t expect at first. I hope to keep improving and make it more better for all teen."

2. Trying out the problem essay from Student's Lingotask app (mobile phone or tablet; not sure if laptops also work). 

2.1    I logged into the Student's Lingotask app using a dummy student account.

2.2    I located the original Writing Task, and started to respond. From the Student's dashboard, there are 3 ways to respond: (a) type out an essay, (b) take a picture of a written essay, and (c) upload an essay file from the Student's app. 

    In my case, I chose (b). The Student app then started to import the photo taken into a digital text. But I am not whether it would still work if I had handwritten the essay. 

3. Working through the feedback from the platform: Error Correction

3.1  The first response I got from the platform was my submitted highlighted with grammar errors. This page was interactive and I was asked to correct those errors. After each attempt, the platform would show me how my attempted correction compared with the platform's AI suggestion. I could choose the AI suggested correction, or stick to my own. After making a decision, I could work on the next error correction, and so on. 

Next error

4. First attempt to check out the remaining 3 types of feedback

After trying out a couple of error corrections, I wanted to check out what the other 3 types of feedback were like. But when I clicked on them, they all said that I first had to finish 50% of the error correction first. 

So I returned to the error correction and completed the remaining corrections. 

5. Checking out the other 3 types of feedback again

Below are extracts from each type of feedback: 

5.1  Refining the Writing

After reading the given comment, I could click 'Helpful' or 'Not helpful'. Then I would be taken to the next comment. 

And so on ....

5.2  AI FEEDBACK

This part provides higher-level feedback (ie, not just how to refine individual sentences). It is divided into (a) Content, (b) Language, and (c) Organisation. 

Below are extracts from the 3 areas of feedback: 

5.2.1  Content

5.2.2  Language

5.2.3  Organisation

3.2.4  Overall Comments

5.3  'Model Essay'

The third type of feedback is a 'model essay': 

======================================================

OVERALL OBSERVATIONS

- Overall, the platform does provide detailed and useful feedback to support students' writing development. 

- The next consideration is how teachers may guide students to make use of the feedback. 

***

Chatbots can create problem essays on demand!

 I never thought of asking a chatbot to create a problem essay. But as I was about to test-drive an AI platform which claimed to be able to give feedback on students' essays, I asked POE assistant to give me a problem essay containing some spelling errors, grammar errors, lexical errors, and illogical sentences. 

POE assistant did a 'GOOD' job: 

My Favorite Hobby

My favorite hobby is playing footballe. I like play it with my friend in the park. Football is very excite and it make me happy. We usually play on Saturday morning, but sometimes we plays on Sunday too.

I enjoy run and kick the ball. My friends is very good players, but I am not as good like them. Sometime I feel sad when I miss a goal, but I keep trying.

I also love to watch football games on TV. My favorite team is Man United because they has many trophy. I want to be like my favorite player one day.

Football is not only fun, it help me to stay healthy. I think everyone should try to played football because it is very fun and good for your health. I hope to become a great player in future!

==========

OBSERVATIONS:

This function can be employed to create passages for proofreading practice!

Created a story text with MagicSchool and turning it into a picture storybook with Gemini Storybook

 Getting the Story text: 

1. I went to MagicSchool. Asked Raina, the chatbot, to give me a story that contained some adjectives and their corresponding adverbs. The story was to be within 120 words, and read by lower primary ESL students. 

2. Got the story which was immediately usable. 

Turning it into a blank-filling exercise 

by leaving out the adjectives and adverbs, and providing a Word Bank containing those words. 

Turning it into an interactive blank-filling exercise

I asked Raina if she could provide an interactive version. She gave me an HTML file, which I copied into POE's 'app creator'. This succeeded in creating an interactive version of the blank filling task. 

https://poe.com/preview/Rufa5C6bbu11s19l89sV

Creating a picture storybook containing the story text using Gemini Storybook

Once upon a time, a little rabbit lived in a green forest.

The rabbit was very quick and happy. E

very morning, it hopped quickly through the trees and smelled the sweet flowers.

One day, the rabbit saw a small bird singing loudly on a branch. T

he bird had a beautiful voice.

The rabbit wanted to sing too, so it practiced carefully every day.

Soon, the rabbit sang beautifully and made all the animals happy.

They clapped their paws and wings happily.

From that day on, the rabbit and the bird sang together loudly and joyfully in the green forest.

I pasted in the above sentences, and specifically asked the app  not to add in other sentences. It succeeded in creating the storybook I needed for contextualising the first presentation of Adjectives vs Adverbs. 

https://g.co/gemini/share/2840d26f41b3

Using MagicSchool to generate a story that incorporates a target grammar item

STEP 1: 

 MY PROMPT for Raina: 

the story should contain some adjectives and their corresponding adverbs. This story is to be read by junior primary ESL students. Keep the story within 120 words.

OUTPUT: 

Once upon a time, a little rabbit lived in a green forest. The rabbit was very quick and happy. Every morning, it hopped quickly through the trees and smelled the sweet flowers. One day, the rabbit saw a small bird singing loudly on a branch. The bird had a beautiful voice.

The rabbit wanted to sing too, so it practiced carefully every day. Soon, the rabbit sang beautifully and made all the animals happy. They clapped their paws and wings happily.

From that day on, the rabbit and the bird sang together loudly and joyfully in the green forest.

---------------------------

STEP 2: 

Then I asked Raina to turn the story into a blank-filling exercise by changing the highlighted words to blanks. 

OUTPUT

Certainly! Here’s the story turned into a blank-filling exercise with the adjectives and adverbs as blanks for students to fill in:

---

Once upon a time, a little rabbit lived in a ____ forest. The rabbit was very ____ and ____. Every morning, it hopped ____ through the trees and smelled the ____ flowers. One day, the rabbit saw a ____ bird singing ____ on a branch. The bird had a ____ voice.

The rabbit wanted to sing too, so it practiced ____ every day. Soon, the rabbit sang ____ and made all the animals ____. They clapped their paws and wings ____.

From that day on, the rabbit and the bird sang together ____ and ____ in the green forest.

---

STEP 3: It offered to provide an Answer Key: 

OUTPUT: 

1. green
2. quick
3. happy
4. quickly
5. sweet
6. small
7. loudly
8. beautiful
9. carefully
10. beautifully
11. happy
12. happily
13. loudly
14. joyfully

It offered to provide a WORD BANK TOO. 

==========================

 STEP 4: 

I asked Raina whether it could convert the above blank filling exercise to a web-based, interactive, version. It couldn't do that directly, but it generated an HTML file. I copied the file, went to POE's Canvas App, chose 'Build Manually', and pasted in the HTML FILE. 

It WORKED:

https://poe.com/preview/SFg27ZFs3w6tJu6OAGi5

================

STEP 5: 

Still in POE'S App Creator, I asked: 

    Please put the answers in a word bank. Students can then drag each word in the word bank into the correct blank in the passage.

OUTPUT: 

Bravo: 

https://poe.com/preview/Rufa5C6bbu11s19l89sV

Settled for POE for creating an interactive tasksheet for recapping the main points of a lecture

 My WORD file format: 

POE'S output format:

In other words, POE is able to keep the section formatting, and word-bolding. This is not the case with Canva.AI. 

Creating interactive blank-filling tasks from lecture notes: POE vs CANVA.AI

In my last few attempts, I started with an existing worksheet. What if I start with original lecture notes?  

I put some lecture notes in a WORD file. I then italicised the target words for blank-filling. I did this because the prompt box in POE does not allow for italised words. I then uploaded the file to: 

POE (GPT-5-mini). 

I asked the app to turn the italicised words into blanks. But POE did a poor job in recognising my target words. 

When I tried again by putting the target words in asterisks, it worked. 

=========

Then I went to Canva.AI

Like POE, it does not accept italisised words in the prompt box. And unlike POE, it does not accept uploaded WORD file. 

So I copied the version with asterisked words into it. It worked. It also gave me a WORD BANK, which POE doesn't. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

POSTSCRIPT

1. I tried again, attaching just ONE asterisk to each target word. It worked with both POE and Canva.AI. 

2. PROS AND CONS

- POE accepts uploded files. Canva.Ai does not. 

- Canva.AI has a more appealing interface. 

- Since POE can accept uploaded files, it can keep the original section/paragraph formatting in the output. This could be an asset. 

Created a Table-Completion task using POE's GPT-5-mini

 This time, I tried creating a table completion task. 

I found a grammar table (Forms of Simple Present tense: affirmative; negative; question). 

After I uploaded the table, I asked the app to leave out certain parts of the table (ie, the words after the subject in the Negative column; and make the Question boxes empty). 

The app succeeded in creating the table completion task, after 3 revisions: 

https://poe.com/preview/uRi7youUePOrvJLKO7Rx

LESSON LEARNT:

When converting a traditional worksheet to an interactive tasksheet, you can just start with the answer key version  (in this case, the original full table), and use prompts to indicate what you wish to be left out. 

Converting a traditional worksheet to an interactive tasksheet using POE's GPT-5-mini

 (copied from my FB)

多謝夏Sir的提示，我嘗試用Poe 內的GPT-5-mini把現成的worksheet convert成web-based的interactive tasksheet；原來過程很簡單，轉换時還可順道改變練習的形式，例如填充轉多項選擇題；輸入的工作纸可以是Word, PDF, Image file, 甚至是cap 圖；generate 出來的interactive task讓學生自己對答案，和看feedback。

以下是我的嘗試(which can be further refined)：

Blank filling: Choose the right lexical verb: https://poe.com/preview/6ZwHQUybvIk82YrjOQYB

MCQ; choices given in dropdown list: Present Simple vs Present Cont.

https://poe.com/preview/xwBxnrK2GujAFBBiNJyP

Complete a table on Simple Present tense: https://poe.com/preview/uRi7youUePOrvJLKO7Rx

以下是夏Sir的explainer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gpBgk819IA

當然今天已有很多AI app可以製作worksheet, 但把現成的工作纸轉做interactive tasksheet,對老師應該是很有用的功能。

PDF worksheets also work with POE's canvas app; original worksheet format can also be changed

 My further explorations in using POE's GPT-5-mini to create interactive worksheets. 

FIRST: 

I tried a WORD, and then a PDF worksheet (uploading them to the AI app). That worked. 

SECOND:

I asked the app to convert the original blank-filling format to a MC quiz. It worked. 

THIRD: 

I repeat the above attempt, but stated the choices for each question should be presented as a drop-down list.

It worked too. 

https://poe.com/preview/xwBxnrK2GujAFBBiNJyP

Repeated the above procedure with a WORD document

 This time, I had a go with a WORD file uploaded to GPT-5-mini. The WORD file contains some lecture notes. The key words in the notes were in quotation marks. 

I uploaded the file to GPT-5-mini, and used the same prompt. 

It worked again!

==================

Then I tried again with the key words being bolded. The result is not good. 

======================

then, just now I simply copied some lecture notes into the prompt, and asked the AI to convert the key words into blank filling. The result is not very good: AI is still not adept at choosing the key words. 

Repeated the above procedure with pasted in text

 In the previous attempt, I used a published worksheet found on the Internet. 

Then I thought: "I have content notes for each lecture. I usually use the content notes for my own reference. Can I convert my content notes to an interactive task using the same procedure, so that my Ss can have a quick recap of the main points towards the end of a lecture?"

Then, I had a mini try. I just copied a few lines from one lecture rundown, pasted it into GPT-5-MINI, and put some of the key words in quotation marks. Then in my prompt, I asked POE to turn the words in quotation marks into blank-filling. It also worked. https://poe.com/preview/gGGZKJgecClSM2TMGyQr 

Used GPT-5-Mini to create an interactive blank-filling grammar exercise

 My Steps: 

1. In Google search, look for 'grammar exercises' in Images. 

2. Chose one, and copied its image URL: 

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT9y3Smdff-ggoY90kEAaKpbak8h2KDjSmv0A&s

4. Went to POE. Located GPT-5-Mini

5. Pasted in the above image URL in the prompt box, and typed: 

"convert to interactive exercise, check student answers and give feedback to students" (as suggested by Ha Sir"

6. It then asked me which of 3 options I needed:

a. a Web-based interactive exercise; 

b. a text version for copy-and-paste

c. a Google Form - like text to paste into an LMS

7. I chose 'a'. 

8. The following interactive grammar exercise generated: 

https://poe.com/preview/6ZwHQUybvIk82YrjOQYB

postscript: I started with the chatbot function. Actually, POE automatically switched to 'create canvas app' upon my instructions. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Afterwards I tried option 'b' again. Poe returns the text which replicates the original worksheet, and provides very rich suggestions for feedback and marking. 

https://poe.com/s/GrcL9bIp8U7cPo339aXI

Created the same prompt bot using Canva.ai for revisiting GOING TO

 Just now, I went to Canva AI's 'Code for me', used the same prompt I had just used with POE to see what would happen. 

Below is the result: 

https://paulsze.net/gram-going-to

==================

OBSERVATIONS

- I would say the result is even better than the one created with POE, in terms of page design, and the interactional vibes created. 

- Also, students don't need to log in, unlike with POE. 

- Downside, unlike POE, Ss can't refer back to their previous interactions with the bot. 

- I'm getting to think that such conversational bots have good potentials for helping learners to revisit/relearn grammar and vocabulary. 

Created a prompt bot for ESL students to learn/revise 'going to'

Another try of mine to create a prompt bot under POE, this time for ESL students to learn or revise 'going to'. 

This time, I inserted more scaffolding into my prompt. 

Base bot: GPT4o-mini

MY PROMPT: 

You're an ESL teacher. Please create an interactive, conversational, bot which guides ESL learners to learn how to use 'going to' to to talk about plans or decisions that we have made . Please refer to the below instructions.

Welcome the learner. Say you will help him/her learn how to use 'going to' to talk about future plans or decisions. Ask the learner if he/she is ready. 

(Wait for learner's response.)

First, let's compare these 2 sentences. Sentence A: I am going to school now. Sentence B: I am going to travel to Japan this summer. Which sentence is using 'going to' to talk abut a plan or decision. 

(Wait for learner's response.)

Respond to the learner's answer according to whether it is right or wrong.)

Then provide another 2 sentences similar to the above two, and ask learner which sentence is using 'going to' correctly. 

(Wait for learner's answer. Then respond accordingly.)

 Move on by saying: "Let's move on. You and your friends are planning to take the ferry to Mui Wo. What should you put in the blank: "We _______ (take) the ferry to Mui Wo."

(Wait for learner's answer. Then respond to learner's answer.)

Provide another blank-filling sentence beginning with 'I' for the learner to try. 

(Wait for learner's answer. Then respond accordingly.)

Say 'now, let's see if you can make sentences using 'going to'. You plan to visit your primary school this Saturday. How would you say that using 'going to'? 

(Wait for learner's answer. Then respond to learner's answer accordingly.)

Then, provide another sentence idea for learner to make a sentence using 'going to.'

(Wait for learner's answer. Then respond accordingly.)

Finish the conversation by congratulating the learner on his/her progress, and ask if the learner has any further questions. 

=================

RESULT: https://poe.com/TA-going-to

========

OBSERVATIONS

POE seems to be able to get hold of the level of difficulty I was pitching at. It also provided some example/practice sentences which I didn't include in my prompt.