Teach Middle East Magazine September 2014 Issue 1 Vol. 2 | Page 17

Sharing Good Practice
MORFO
Morfo is a well-known app these
days but still one that could be better
harnessed in the Arabic classroom.
Students can scan their faces into the
app then add costumes and features
to alter their appearance before
recording a short narrated video. They
can also import an image of a person
and animate them. I’ve had kids
animate Winston Churchill and recite
his speeches for example. This could
be easily adapted to the Arabic lesson
by morphing an iconic Arabic figure for
example. Another idea would be to let
the students morph the teacher and
then record their Arabic narration in a
neat little role reversal!

and instantly saw huge potential for
it in the classroom. The app is like a
cross between iMovie and Puppet Pals
with a Middle Eastern theme!
It takes the form of a talk show and you
can record the voices of both the host
and guest as well as add animations
to them. This is all tied together in a
film-editing style timeline along the
bottom of the screen. The animated
characters are superb, and so is the
overall production quality.
I didn’t recommend this app along
with the others as it was not originally
designed to be used for education. I felt
that several aspects needed tweaking
before I could suggest it to educators.

I contacted the developers and they
agreed. They’re currently overhauling
the app in order to re-launch it later this
year aimed at the educational market.
I genuinely believe that when this
comes out it will become a core app in
the region for educators. So why not go
take an early look now?
Please check out
www.ipadeducators.com for exclusive
interviews, feature articles and reviews
of the best educational apps.
Mr Bambury is the founder of
www.ipadeducators.com

CHATTERPIX
Chatterpix is the best option for
younger students, as all it requires is
that they draw a mouth onto a photo
and then give it a voice. It’s simplicity is
its greatest strength and means it can
be used quickly – perhaps even solely
as a lesson starter or plenary. How
about students speaking Arabic in the
form of a cartoon character or even a
camel? If a key topic is being covered
then relevant images that relate to it
can be sought out and used effectively
e.g. a picture of a policeman when
studying jobs.

GULF TALK
So those are the four main apps I’d
recommend. The App Store always
has something new to play around
with. In May of this year, I discovered
an entertainment app called Gulf Talk

Class Time

September 2014

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