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.