Web 2.0 for EFL classrooms

According to Per Christensson, author of TechTerms’ Free Online Dictionary of Computers and Internet Terms, the term “Web 2.0” refers to the “second generation of the World Wide Web”. This new generation has a series of technological improvements, for example in Web 1.0 we had Britannica Online, personal websites, and content management systems that nowadays, in Web 2.0, they are Wikipedia, blogging and wikis, respectively. As opposed to Web 1.0, Web 2.0 is used in a dynamic and interconnected way, so as to become part of online communities. As this type of web offers free services, it makes easier to share information worldwide. As students nowadays have the possibility to address audiences beyond their classroom, Web 2.0 is a useful tool through which we can provide them the chance of using the foreign language in an authentic way.

As it was already claimed, using technology in the classroom is an interesting way of engaging students and make them feel comfortable with the learning of a new language, so we searched and tried out some Web 2.0 pages which we would recommend using in a modern foreign language lesson. One of the web pages we found appropriate for using with secondary students is Comic Master (http://www.comicmaster.org.uk/), it is a web page in which students can create comics or graphic novels online and they can practice grammar, vocabulary or writing skills creating dialogues. They can print and show them to their classmates. Another page chosen is ABCya! (http://www.abcya.com), on this web page students (preschool and primary levels) can play a lot of educational games - selected according to different levels of education - against other kids, in order to practice writing and listening skills.

Students nowadays are using technological devices all the time (to communicate, play, learn, among many other functions), so if we want to motivate them to learn and use the foreign language at the same time, it would be a proper idea to start thinking of including these new technologies to our lesson plannings. Although we only suggested two web pages, there are lots of them and they all offer different kinds of activities, games, and tools for you to present to your students. You can find many Web 2.0 sites on this web page: http://edjudo.com/web-2-0-teaching-tools-links (They are classified in different sections for you to find what you are looking for really easily!!)

Working with presentations

As future teachers, we are learning, discovering and practising (sometimes with “real students” and some others with our classmates) a new methodology called “Task-based learning approach” to teach English non-mechanically, without following the “traditional” methods of teaching, using language that is related to the topic of the task students will be dealing with. By using this approach in class students learn not only how to use English communicatively in real everyday situations, but also how to use technology to improve their learning skills and strategies.

To put it in a nutshell, in the task-based approach, students have a series of related activities in which they have to work in groups using the foreign language in order to complete them and achieve the final task. Working in groups is one of the best advantages of this approach because students are required to interact with others in order to learn not only to use the language for communicating, but also to be more tolerant to each others’ ideas or opinions, as students have to work in order to produce something they get involved and motivated when learning the new vocabulary. They also get interested when working with this type of approach because they actually see an outcome at the end of the project. What we want to achieve through this methodology is that students focus on meaning and on authentic tasks which create opportunities to acquire the language by using it.

As we already mentioned, the use of technology is of paramount importance. So, in one of the subjects in the English Teacher Training Programme we worked with ICTs in the classroom. In one of the activities proposed in this subject we had to design a project in which we worked on an imaginary task-based lesson plan in which students from a local school have to create a presentation talking about cities and using comparatives adjectives.

First, we thought that it would be better if we showed them a model of what we expected from them. This is another characteristic of the TBL approach, teachers have to design all the material they want to use in the classroom. For example, we created this Prezi for our “imaginary students” as guidance and authentic material:

https://prezi.com/fog2rruiyxcw/london-and-paris/

After having seen the Prezi we produced, students will be more confident and secure about what they have to present to their classmates on the next lesson.

This project deals with TPACK model because it integrates technological, pedagogical and content knowledge. In this case, the content knowledge is the use of comparatives adjectives to describe cities; the pedagogical knowledge has to do with the Prezi we used to present the content to our students and finally, the technological knowledge is the "partner", it means that we used Prezi to teach this content instead of using a poster, for example.

This model was originally created by Shulman. You can find more information about him and his model in this link. We strongly recommend you should visit this web page, it's very interesting!!

References:

Littlewood, W. (2004). The task-based approach: some questions and suggestions. ELT Journal Volume 58 (4). Oxford University Press. 319-326.

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054.


Shulman, L.S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4-14.

Considering the use of ICTs in EFL classrooms

This study carried out by Marta Kopinska and David Lasagabaster in the University of the Basque Country, in Spain, deals with the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Second or Foreign Language Classrooms and gives us (future teachers) an idea of whether the use of ICTs is interesting for our students or not and what for or when do our students use ICTs. The link will take you to a YouTube video created by Kopinska and Lasagabaster on this (very) interesting and updated topic.

In this video we will learn about the attitudes that students have towards ICTs. In this case, Kopinska and Lasagabaster speak about students having a positive attitude; but it is important for us to use these resources in a meaningful way, as we are working in education. Not only should we use ICTs because they are more attractive, appealing or engaging for students, but because they are an incredible resource in which they can find lots and lots of information and web pages or programmes where they can practice the new language. Our learners have to understand that the use of ICTs in the classroom makes learning more interesting, but it does not mean that they will use them for fun. In a learning environment, rules must be set up when using ICTs, if not they may get things out of control, with students using them in inappropriate ways.

HOW TO CHECK IF A WEBPAGE IS RELIABLE: VERY INTERESTING!

Nowadays, most of us, who are studying at secondary school or at University, even those who are curious readers or those who like to be updated with what happens all around the world, look for information in the net. We tend to read all the web pages that are related to the topic that concerns us to get information or - if we need to make a paper or a presentation - we sometimes quote in order to get our paper to look reliable. But how do we make sure that we are looking for information in a trustworthy web page?

Here we analyse two web pages Oxford University Press- Student’s site (https://elt.oup.com/learning_resources/?cc=ar&selLanguage=en&mode=hub) and ESL KIDS STUFF (http://www.eslkidstuff.com/flashcards.htm) to see whether they are reliable or not. In order to do that, we take into account a series of parameters that we strongly recommend that you should consider when you visit a web page for any purpose.

• Purpose: a web page may have many objectives: educational, commercial, personal, institutional, entertaining, among others. Both web pages we analysed have the same purposes commercial and educational. Oxford University Press web page offers students the possibility to access many coursebooks to find extra practice (grammar, vocabulary activities, etc) related to each unit in these coursebooks and students can also buy them. While the ESL KIDS STUFF site offers flashcards, games, songs, and lesson plans that teachers can use when developing their own lessons.
• Reliability and currency: what is important to point out here is whether we can contact the authors of the web page or not, who they are and the frequency in which they update the site. In the case of Oxford University Press site, it is one of the most prestigious publishing houses around the world making the information found here both trusty and authentic, apart from that it was recently updated in 2015 and it has a section in which we can contact the authors.On the other hand, though the authors of ESL KIDS STUFF do not belong to any publishing house or prestigious university, still they are experienced English teachers who design their own material and we can contact them by facebook, twitter, blogs, among others. All that is what makes the webpage reliable. Furthermore, it was last updated on June 6th with the latest trends on the English teaching lesson. Another thing that we should observe here is that added to the fact that anyone who wishes can contact the authors of these web pages, one of them (ESL) accounts for the fact that whatever it appears on their page was designed and produced by them, and the other one (Oxford’s) makes clear where the information is taken from, they account for every article, activity or anything else that was not produced by them.
• Appropriateness and relevance: We think that these pages we dealt with are appropriate each for different levels of proficiency in the English language. ESL KIDS STUFF is a web page directed to teachers who either work in the preschool level or in the primary levels, though preferably the first years only; while the Oxford page works with many books and other (more advanced) levels. They are both reliable, interesting and good pages, each with different purposes at view and aimed for different levels. If you are a teacher, make sure that the content you choose to work with in class would be contextualized and adapted to your students.

Clarity: While ESL KIDS STUFF is a webpage that intends to attract kindergarten or primary school teachers and the Oxford web page intends to attract higher levels, they are both well designed, according to their aims. ESL KIDS STUF has a lot of interesting pictures, and funny fonts, with a very colorful background. Oxford’s page is more formal, with few colours in its fonts and background. Still, they are both clear as to which their contents are and who they are meant to serve. Clarity is a really important feature!!

Having seen all these parameters that we should take into account when looking for information on the Internet, next time you are trying to make a paper look “wiser” or you are playing the “geeky/nerdy” guy in front of your friends, think first: is this source as reliable as I thought? … Really?

These are two articles that can help you solve any doubts you may have on how evaluating criteria to distinguish reliable and valid online information:

• From Lesley University
• From the British Council

We hope you can find them helpful!!

Why "Designing the English Teaching World"?

As our blog’s name states, we are interested in the design of materials for EFL classrooms. So if you also think that designing is a good idea, here are some advantages, guidelines and factors to consider when designing materials that you can find in Howard and Major’s text: "Guidelines for Designing Effective English Language Teaching Materials"

What they say is that it is important to design authentic materials that aim a specific group of learners in a particular context because, usually, materials designed by publishing houses are directed towards the world market instead of specific audiences/contexts; this is what they call “contextualisation”. Another benefit they mention is called “individual needs”, which is connected to the previous one in the sense that it deals with learners’ needs. Thus, it explains that materials should be adapted to every student in the classroom, taking into account their culture, their previous knowledge, their learning capacities, among many other aspects.

Two other advantages mentioned in the article are “personalisation” and “timeliness”. The first one refers to the fact that making our own materials will give them a “personal touch” and makes them more attractive for students, who will appreciate our hard work when preparing lessons. The last one makes reference to the fact that there is no doubt that if you create your own material it will be adequate for both international and local events. What is more, they will never be out of date!

Whenever a “coursebook vs authentic material” discussion appears, you (as a teacher) will have these advantages and this article at hand for you to support your teaching decisions and your teaching methodology. So don’t feel threatened by this new tendency, try it, you will enjoy the experience of creating your own material and students will thank you for doing it.  

References:

• Howard, J & Major, J (2004) Guidelines for Designing Effective English Language Teaching Materials. Christchurch College of Education.

Digital Natives or Digital Immigrants? That is the question..

Even though we enjoy searching the Net and using most of the social networks, we would not consider ourselves “digital natives”. We think there are a lot of things that you can do on the Net that we don’t know about and we still enjoy reading a “real” good book and using pen and paper for some of the activities that our teaching proposes.

We think that age is the most influential factor to take into account when talking about natives and immigrants, because the absence of the digital media when “the old” were growing up defines the fact that most of them do not understand or do not even care about technology. While the presence of all the technological devices we may find nowadays in the lives of “the young ones” may be the reason why they can control and use all these devices, softwares and tools.

But another variable to take into account might be the fact that technology is not available for everybody and this may be one factor that divides “the young ones” into natives and immigrants. The high rate of poor people all around the globe has to be taken into account; those countries that do not have access to new technologies are left behind when talking about the advances of the digital era and this puts aside young kids who live in these countries. It is not just a matter of being old or young; it also has to do with the economic facilities that people have.

The concept we agree the most with in Prensky’s article (see Prensky's article for more information) is the one that poses: “if Digital Immigrant educators really want to teach Digital Natives - i.e. all their students -  they will have to change.”; we think that this statement acts out of pure logic: our students are constantly changing their thinking processes because the information they get from the new technologies, and specially the way in which they get the information are constantly changing. The Internet and the websites they visit everyday are constantly being updated, changing their formats and designs; students get in touch with everything that is happening everywhere by just being in front of a computer or using their cellphones, they can read every book, access every page, and listen to every single new song that comes out in the whole wide world by using only one tool. We, as teachers, should adapt our teaching techniques taking advantage of these advances, we should embrace all the information that is available for us (and our students) in the Internet and try to keep up with them; if not, our subject - and ourselves -  will be left behind, as if it did not matter what we can teach, or learn, or say.

References:

• Prensky, M. (2001) On the Horizon. Digital Natives, Digital, Immigrants. MCB University Press, Volume 9 (5). pp. 1 - 6.