Using Websites

Dudeney & Hockly (2007)

Some Lingos…

• Do you know these terms?–www

–Html

–WSYWYG

– internet explorer

–search engines

• Are there any other terms that

you know?

Some uses of web pages in the

classroom

• as printed pages, with no

computers

• with one computer with an

Internet connection

• in a computer lab with a set of

networked and connected

computers

Can you?

• Describe a situation when

each use of the web pages

above is advantageous and

not advantageous

ELT websites vs. authentic

websites?

ELT websites Authentic websites

Controlled

language work

Learner’s interests

For certain aspects

of the language

Total

comprehension of

the texts (like in

real life)

To prepare for

exam

Example of ELT Websites

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/learninge

nglish

• http://learningenglish.voanews.

com/

• http://learnenglish.britishcounci

l.org/en/

Example of authentic websites

• http://www.bbc.com/

• http://voanews.com/

How to find useful websites?

• Search engines

–www.google.com

–www.bing.com

• Specific keywords

• Phrase search

• Subject guides

–www.yahoo.com

–www.msn.com

–www.about.com

• Real language searches

–www.ask.com

• Specialist websites

–www.imdb.com – for movie

–www.amazon.com – for books

–www.fifa.com – for football

–www.apa.com – for APA

reference style

• Subject- or media-specific

search sites

–http://images.google.com

–http://video.search.yahoo.com

–www.youtube.com

–www.flickr.com

• Meta search

–http://www.dogpile.com

–http://www.kartoo.com

–http://www.mamma.com

Can you add one in each category?

Application in class

• Treasure Hunt

–Use your search skills to find

information

–Make a group of 3

–Find the answers to these

questions!

–You can only use 3 search

engines

Use your search skills to find this

information

• The name of the president of the World Bank

• The capital of Scotland

• The country that won the 1986 FIFA world cup

• The author of Around the World in 80 days

• Nationality of the architect of

‘La Pendrera’

• The director of the movie

Planning lessons using the Internet

• At this stage, you have:

–Set up your objective(s)

–Found some websites

–Evaluated the websites

(remember previous

discussion?)

–Decided the website(s) to use

Planning lessons using the Internet

• Decide the objective(s)

• Plan your session well

• Search the website

• Evaluate the website

• Visit the website and Know the way around

• Next: Consider how will this technology-based

lesson plan will look in comparison with the

traditional lesson plan?

Make a lesson plan

• Parts: warmer-web-what’s next

• Use the computer only as long

as it’s needed

• Time and task

Application

• Level of learners: upper-

intermediate to advanced

• Skills:

–Asking and answering questions

–Reacting to information

–Showing interest

Application

• Topic: movie stars

• Website to use:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/fe

atures/collections/film-

interviews/

• Time: 2 x 45 minutes

Now put yourself as the student!

• Warmer

–A simple class discussion

–A pair work Sample task

sheet

• Web

–Visit the web

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/feat

ures/collections/film-interviews/

–Find the actor you’re interested

in

–Read the task sheet

• What’s next?

–Class report

–Speaking Activity: an interview

–Writing Activity: ‘a day in the life’

–Writing Activity: an interview

–Writing Activity: a biography

Working with lower levels of language

proficiency

• Possible, but limited choice of websites

• Guidelines for choosing websites:

–Simple, clearly presented text

–Non-linguistic data which is easy to interpret (data as chart, etc.)

–Visuals

–ELT websites for beginners

Teaching dos and don’ts

• Always have a backup plan

• Use knowledge of other teachers and of your learners to help with technical side of the lesson

• Few web pages? Save in hard disk

• Don’t let them work alone in class! Pairs or threes are fine as long as there is a turn for everyone

• Layout of computers

• Filtering content