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!!)