Digital tools for teaching

from A Course in Language Teaching 2nd edition by Penny Ur, 2012

© Cambridge University Press 2012

Cambridge English Teacher © Cambridge University Press and Cambridge English Language Assessment 2013

14 Materials

212 A Course in English Language Teaching

Pictures: posters, fl ash cards Materials with pictures are invaluable, particularly for younger learners, and teachers of children fi nd that they constantly use them. The time is gone when teachers used to spend hours leafi ng through glossy magazines and colour supplements of newspapers to fi nd suitable pictures: today you can fi nd and download all the pictures you need at the click of a mouse. These can then be glued onto card, or laminated if you think you will use them repeatedly, and fi led (see below). It is, of course, possible to display visual material on IWBs, but paper materials have the advantage that they can be easily handled, moved and exchanged rather than stuck at the front of the class.

All supplementary materials based on separate sheets of paper or card need to be carefully fi led. It is very frustrating to invest a lot of time creating them and then fi nd that you cannot lay your hands on them when you want to use them again! Label and classify fi les clearly, either in a folder on a computer or in a box fi le. It is often a good idea to preserve paper versions even of material you have on your computer in digital form, as a useful ready-to-copy back-up.

Supplementary materials (2): digital A large amount of teaching and learning these days is done with the help of technology. The term CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) is, however, used less and less, as people become aware that the use of technology is not a supplement (as implied in the word ‘assisted’), but a staple component in the materials and facilities used for learning and teaching worldwide. Computers, in their various forms, with a wide range of software and access to the Internet, are, in many teaching contexts, taken for granted, in much the same way as the black- or whiteboard is.

Below is a list of the digital tools that can be useful in teaching. For more information on how to use them, see Unit 16: Classroom interaction , pp. 238–41.

The interactive whiteboard (IWBs) and data projectors You can use both data projectors and IWBs to display texts, pictures, pages from the textbook, presentations and video. IWBs can be controlled by the touch of a fi nger or special ‘pen’, which means that a teacher can write and erase in the same way as with a conventional board. But it is useful to take advantage of an IWB’s other tools: hide and display text and pictures; play audio and video directly from the textbook page; type in answers; insert your own fi les. The material can be saved, to be displayed later, fi led on the class website or emailed to students later.

Internet websites The Internet provides teachers with an immense source of teaching materials and ideas, some examples of which are listed below:

• reading texts, either from ‘authentic’ sources (i.e. not originally designed to be used for teaching), or from English-teaching websites

• listening texts as YouTube videos, or audio podcasts

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A Course in English Language Teaching 213

• tests, workpages, exercises and so on, from the various English-teaching websites, such as the British Council’s TeachingEnglish , accessible from www.teachingenglish.org.uk

• self-access exercises and tests for students to use on their own. See, for example:

Learn English: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/ Learn English Kids: http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/ English Grammar Exercises: www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/alle_

grammar.htm Guide to Grammar and Writing: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/

grammar/index.htm ESLfl ow: www.eslfl ow.com/index.html

Interactive digital tools Email, obviously, can be used for many purposes in communication between teachers and students: submitting and correcting assignments, notifying of absences or changes in schedule and so on. Mobile phones are often seen as a nuisance in the classroom, but in fact they can be used to help learning: for example, students can use them to practise informal communicative writing, or to list new vocabulary which they can then review at odd moments.

Wikis and blogs Wikis are a tool through which anyone can edit or comment on uploaded text: so they are useful for interactive editing and discussion of student-generated texts. They are increasingly used as a basis for class websites. Blogs are used as a way for students to comment on texts or respond to tasks: they often develop into full discussions, with ‘comments’ going back and forth.

Digital recording Digital equipment, including most mobile phones, can be used to create both video and audio recordings. Students can create their own video clips or sound recordings; the teacher can record students’ performance to play back later. Or live sound or video can be broadcast via the Internet (‘streaming’).

Production Desktop publishing enables classes or individual students to create and design pages or whole booklets for publishing, either within the school or beyond. This is particularly useful for the presentation of research-based or creative projects done by students.

e-books These may be used for the provision of extensive reading material; however, at the time of writing they are not systematically or widely used in English courses for this purpose. They may, however, answer the needs of more advanced students who can download novels for their own individual reading.

Digital tools are not a substitute for the face-to-face lesson or for direct interaction between teacher and student; rather, where available and well-used, they are

Digital tools for teaching

from A Course in Language Teaching 2nd edition by Penny Ur, 2012

© Cambridge University Press 2012

Cambridge English Teacher © Cambridge University Press and Cambridge English Language Assessment 2013

14 Materials

A Course in English Language Teaching 213

• tests, workpages, exercises and so on, from the various English-teaching websites, such as the British Council’s TeachingEnglish , accessible from www.teachingenglish.org.uk

• self-access exercises and tests for students to use on their own. See, for example:

Learn English: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/ Learn English Kids: http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/ English Grammar Exercises: www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/alle_

grammar.htm Guide to Grammar and Writing: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/

grammar/index.htm ESLfl ow: www.eslfl ow.com/index.html

Interactive digital tools Email, obviously, can be used for many purposes in communication between teachers and students: submitting and correcting assignments, notifying of absences or changes in schedule and so on. Mobile phones are often seen as a nuisance in the classroom, but in fact they can be used to help learning: for example, students can use them to practise informal communicative writing, or to list new vocabulary which they can then review at odd moments.

Wikis and blogs Wikis are a tool through which anyone can edit or comment on uploaded text: so they are useful for interactive editing and discussion of student-generated texts. They are increasingly used as a basis for class websites. Blogs are used as a way for students to comment on texts or respond to tasks: they often develop into full discussions, with ‘comments’ going back and forth.

Digital recording Digital equipment, including most mobile phones, can be used to create both video and audio recordings. Students can create their own video clips or sound recordings; the teacher can record students’ performance to play back later. Or live sound or video can be broadcast via the Internet (‘streaming’).

Production Desktop publishing enables classes or individual students to create and design pages or whole booklets for publishing, either within the school or beyond. This is particularly useful for the presentation of research-based or creative projects done by students.

e-books These may be used for the provision of extensive reading material; however, at the time of writing they are not systematically or widely used in English courses for this purpose. They may, however, answer the needs of more advanced students who can download novels for their own individual reading.

Digital tools are not a substitute for the face-to-face lesson or for direct interaction between teacher and student; rather, where available and well-used, they are

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214 A Course in English Language Teaching

a means of enriching it and making it more effi cient. The combination of conventional and digital teaching/learning, known as blended learning , often using programs known as LMSs (Learning Management Systems), will be discussed further in Unit 16: Classroom interaction , p. 240.

Review Answer as many as you can of the following questions, and then check answers by referring back to the relevant passages in this unit.

If you are working in a group, note down your answers fi rst alone, and then share with the other members of the group. Finally, check the answers together.

How necessary is a coursebook? 1. Can you give at least three arguments in favour of using a coursebook in your

teaching? 2. Can you suggest at least three disadvantages of using a coursebook in your

teaching?

Coursebook evaluation and selection 3. Why is the layout of a coursebook so important? 4. Why are tests and reviews in a coursebook less important? 5. What other important criteria for textbook selection can you remember

(20 are suggested in this section)?

Adapting course materials 6. What sorts of things can be done to improve a grammar exercise that is

boring and does not provide enough practice? 7. What can be done to add more challenge to a too-easy text? 8. What might be done to make a diffi cult text easier for the class to cope with?

Supplementary materials (1): paper 9. What types of paper materials should be available to teachers for use in

classes? 10. How can you make sure that teacher-made paper materials are available for

later re-use?

Supplementary materials (2): digital 11. What is an IWB? How can it be used? 12. Can you suggest at least fi ve other types of computer hardware or software

that are useful to teachers today?

Further reading Cooper , R. , Lavery , M. and Rinvolucri , M. ( 1991 ) Video , Oxford : Oxford University Press .

(Useful classroom activities for language learning using video)

Cunningworth , A. ( 1995 ) Choosing Your Coursebook , Oxford : Macmillan Heinemann . (Useful guidelines and checklists to help select coursebooks)