GavinDudeney

andNickyHockly

how to
Pearson Education Limited
Edinburgh Gate
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o PearsonEducation Limited 2007

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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce photographs:
pg 8 Alamy Images:Nicola Armstrong (t); Bob Handelman (c); Punchstock:Pixland (b); pg 14 Alamy Images:
ImageState/RobertLlewellyn; pg24 Ardea:Clem Haagner;pg 47 Getty Images:FrazerHarrison; pg 123Corbis:
Najlah Feanny.
pg 30 Google*! search engine; pg 3l Yahoo! Lnc.2007; pg 37 www.bbc.co.uk; pg 40 www.krysstal.com; pg
55ff www.xtec.es;pg 88 http://internationalexchange.blogspot.comA Class Blog Project between students at
CasaThomas fefferson (Brasilia) and EstrellaMountain Community College (Phoenix); pg 8S Google Blog-!
weblog (t); eslblogs.orgpart of edublogs, free blogging servicesfor teachersand students (b); pg 92 Google
Blog*! weblog; pg 93 www.bicycle-sidewalk.com; pg 94 www.wikipedia.org; pg 95 www.etwinningwiki.
pbwiki.com; pg 96f pbwiki; pg 98 www.englishcaster.com;pg 100 www.podomatic.com; pg l0l aprilfoolsday.
podomatic.com;pg 105 thesaurus.reference.com; pg ll7 www.oup.com;pg l18 wwwlearn4good.com;pg
12l feremy Hiebert (t); pg 127 a4esl.org;pg 130 hotpot.uvic.ca; pg 132 www.halfbakedsoftware.com;pg 139
Carl Dowse; pg 145 Yahool Inc.2007/IATEFL TeacherTrainers and Educators SpecialInterest Group; pg 150
Valentina Dodge; pg 151 www.myspace.com;pg 155 SecondLife.
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders and we apologisein advancefor any unintentional
omissions.We would be pleasedto insert the appropriate acknowledgementin any subsequentedition of this
publication.

Author thanks
We would like to thank colleaguesand friends - both'real'and'virtual'- for the support, insights and ideasthey
havebrought to our working lives and to this book.
We would also like to thank JeremyHarmer for supporting us before and during the writing process,Katy
Wright at PearsonEducation for her superb management of the project and Will Capel for his insightful and
efficient editing. Our thanks, also, to the multimedia and audiovisual teams at PearsonEducation for their
creative work on the accompanying CD-ROM. And, finally, thanks to Adrian and Helen Stenton for their
excellentdesignwork on the book.
As always,a book like this is the distillation of the combined knowledge and experiencenot just of the
authors themselvesbut of all the people we have met at work, at conferences,on training coursesand online
- we hope we have used it wisely.
This book is for colleaguespast and present, and especiallythe Webheadsonline community of teachers,
many of whom you will hear on the CD-ROM.
Contents
Page
lntroduction 5
1 Technologyin the classroom 7
. tchnology in languageteaching
' Attitudesto technology
. ImplementingICT in the classroom
. Skillsandequipmentfor gettingstarted

2 Word processorsin the classroom 15

. Why useword processors?
. Word processors
for teachers: creatingmaterials
. Word processing
activitiesfor learners
. Usingword processors:considerations
3 Usingwebsites 27
. Usingwebsitesin the classroom
. ELT websitesor authenticwebsites?
' How to find usefirlwebsites
. How to evaluatewebsites
. Planninglessonsusingthe Internet
. Workingwith lowerlevelsof languageproficiency
. Web teachingdosanddonts

4 Internet-basedproject work 44
. Why do Internet-basedprojectwork?
' Basicprojects
. Internet-basedsimulations
. Webquests
. Webquestcreation

5 How to useemail 62
' The benefitsof email
' Basicemailskills
. Usingemailwith learnersout of class
. Usingemailwith learnersduring class
. Keypalprojects

6 How to usechat 71
. Chat in languageteaching
. Typesofchat
' Chatprograms
. Why usechatin languageteaching?
. How to startusingtext or voicechatwith learners
. How to structurea text or voicechatlesson
. A sampletextchatlessonplan
7 Blogs,wikisand podcasts 86
. Social software
. Blogs in languageteaching
' How to start using blogs with learners
' Wikis in languageteaching
. How to start using a wiki with learners
. Podcastsin languageteaching
. How to createlearner podcasts

8 Onlinereference
tools 103
. Dictionaries and thesauruses
. Concordancersand corpusesfor languageanalysis
. Tianslators for languageanalysis
. Encyclopediasfor researchand project work
9 Technology-basedcourseware 113
' CD-ROMsandDVDs
. Evaluating
CD-ROMs
' Computer-basedtesting
' Electronicportfolios
. Interactivewhiteboards

10 Producing
electronic
materials 126
' What are electronic materials?
. Creating electronic materialsonline
. What is an authoring tool?
. Using authoring tools to produce materials
1 1 e - l e a r ni n go:n l i n ete a ch i n ga n dtr aining 136
. What is e-learning?
. Teaching and learning online
. Course designfor online learning: examples
. Course designfor online learning: considerations
' How to get startedwith online learning
. tacher training and online learning
' Discussionlists and online groups
12 Preparing
for the future 148
' The state of the art
' How to keep up-to-date
' Web 2.0
. The future of online learning
. Virtual learning
' m-learning
TaskFile 159
TaskFileKey 175
Glossary 183
lndex 188
Instructions
on usingthe CD-ROM 192
lntroduction
Technologyis becomingincreasinglyimportant in both our personaland professionallives,
and our learnersare using technologymore and more. Yet teachertraining programmes
often ignore training in the use of Information and CommunicationsTechnology(ICT),
and teachersare often far lessskilled and knowledgeablethan their own studentswhen it
comesto using current technology.This book bridgesthat gap by providing clear,non-
technicaldescriptionsof new technologytools,and by showinghow teacherscan usethese
new tools in the classroom.As such,it is about the practicalapplicationof technologyto
teachinglanguages.
How to TeachEnglishwith Technology has been written for teachers,teachertrainers,
coursedesignersand directorsof studiesinvolvedin teachingEnglishasa foreignlanguage,
althoughit will alsobe very usefulfor thoseinvolvedin the teachingof other languages. The
book is for thosewho havelittle or no experienceof ICT tools or how to usethem in the
classroom,and alsofor thosewith more experiencein the applicationof ICT to teaching,
who will find freshideasfor using ICT tools,aswell as references to new developmentsin
the field. Teachertrainersand directorsof studiesmay take the contentsof the book as a
guideto areasto coverin implementingICT training with their traineesor staff.
The book is organisedinto 12 chapters,with ThskFilesat the end of the book for each
chapter,and coversa very broad range of technologicalapplications,from using a word
processorto looking at SecondLife. The websitesreferredto in the book wereall live at the
time of going to press,but rememberthat websitesdo disappear,and links do break.We
havetried to counter this by only choosingreliablewebsitesthat are likely to havea long
'shelflife',both for the book, and in the extensiveWebliography,which is on the CD-ROM
at the back of this book.
If you are a lessconfident user of technology,we would recommend that you read
Chapter I first to getan overviewof the book and to helpyou decidewhich of the subsequent
chaptersto focus on. The book is organisedin such a way that simpler technologiesand
technologicalapplicationsare coveredfirst, but you may prefer to dip into the chapters
which seemmost relevantto your teachingor training situation.
While having accessto the Internet as you read the book or look at the CD-ROM is
not essential,it certainlyis an advantage. The Webliographyon the CD-ROM providesyou
with a launch pad to a huge range of content, ideasand information.
On the CD-ROM you can hear real teachersfrom around the world talking about
their experienceof usingnew technologyin their teaching.In addition to theserecordings,
there are nine video tutorials on using various piecesof software.And you can go on a
tour of a dictionary and seea short video of an interactivewhiteboard (IWB) in action in
a classroom.
Throughout the book we mention proprietorial software programs and operating
systemsby name, for example Microsoft Word, Skypeand Blogger.We do this to provide
concreteexamplesof tools that teacherscan usein their classrooms, and not becausewe are
specificallyendorsingthese products.
 We are also aware that referring to PCs (personal computers) but not to Macs
(Macintosh computers) will mean some slight differencesfor Mac usersreading this book.
For example, Mac userswill often have Firefox or Safari as a browser and not Internet
Explorer.PC userscan right click the mouse to shortcut to a context sensitivemenu for an
object on the screen,while Mac usersneed to hold down the control (or apple) key and
click at the sametime to accessthis function. However,apart from Chapter 2 where we look
specificallyat Microsoft Word, Mac userswill find that all the other tools referredto in this
book can easilybe used on a Mac.
If you are using content such asphotos from the Internet for your worksheets,or plan
to use audio or video files from the Internet with your learners,you need to ensure that
copyright is respected.The Webliography contains a link to advice on Internet copyright,
and it is worth knowing that you can freely use any content which is CreativeCommons
licensed. The Glossary on page 183 contains all the information technology terms
highlighted in bold within the twelve chapters.
Finallp we would welcome feedbackon this book, and to hear about any ICT projects
that you implement with your learners- let us know how it went, and what you think!
Contact us at www.longman.com/methodology/.

Gavin Dudeney
Nicky Hockly
 in
Technology
the classroom
r Technolog;yIn language r lmplementlngICTIn the
teachlng classroom
r Attltudesto technology r Skllls and equlpmentfor
tettlnt started
I

In languageteachlng
Technology
Technology in language teaching is not new. Indeed, technology has been around in
languageteachingfor decades- one might arguefor centuries,if we classifr the blackboard
as a form of technology.Thperecorders,languagelaboratories and video havebeen in use
sincethe 1960sand 1970s,and are still usedin classroomsaround the world.
Computer-basedmaterialsfor languageteaching,often referredto asCALI (Computer
AssistedLanguageLearning), appearedin the early 1980s.Early CALL programs typically
required learnersto respond to stimuli on the computer screenand to carry out taskssuch
as filling in gapped texts, matching sentencehalvesand doing multiple-choice activities.
Probably one of the best-known early CALL activities is that of text reconstruction,where
an entire text is blanked out and the learner recreatesit by typing in words. For all of these
activities the computer then offers the learner feedback,ranging from simply pointing
out whether the answer is correct or incorrect to providing more sophisticatedfeedback,
such as showing why the learner is mistaken and offering remedial activities. The CALL
approach is one that is still found on many published CD-ROMs for languageteaching.
As accessto Information and CommunicationsTechnology(ICT) has becomemore
widespread,so CALL has moved beyond the use of computer programs to embracethe
useofthe Internet and web-basedtools. The term TELI (TechnologyEnhancedLanguage
Learning) appearedin the 1990s,in responseto the growing possibilities offered by the
Internet and communications technology.
Although the use of ICT by language teachers is still not widespread, the use of
technology in the classroom is becoming increasingly important, and it will become a
normal part of ELT practice in the coming years.There are many reasonsfor this:
r Internet access- either in private homes,or at Internet caf6s- is becoming
increasinglyavailableto learners.
o Youngerlearnersare growing up with technology,and it is a natural and
integrated part of their lives.For theselearnersthe use of technology is a way to
bring the outside world into the classroom.And some of theseyounger learners
will in turn becometeachersthemselves.
Cha pte 1
r

a English, asan international language,is

being used in technologicallymediated
contexts.
Technology,especiallythe Internet,
presentsus with new opportunities for
authentic tasksand materials,aswell as
accessto a wealth of ready-madeELI
materials.
The Internet offers excellent
opportunities for collaboration and
communication betweenlearnerswho are
geographicallydispersed.
Technologyis offered with published
materialssuch as coursebooksand
resourcebooks for teachers.
Learnersincreasinglyexpectlanguage
schoolsto integrate technology into
teaching.
Technologyoffers new waysfor practising
languageand assessingperformance.
Technologyis becoming increasingly
mobile. It can be used not only in the
classroom,lecture hall, computer room
or self-accesscentre,it can also be used
at home, on the way to school and in
Internet caf€s.
Using a range of ICT tools can give
learnersexposureto and practice in all of
the four main languageskills - spefing,
listening, writing and reading.
The contextsin which teachersareworking with technology can vary widelS and the access
that teachershaveto computers - the so-calleddigital divide - will affect what we can do
with our classesin terms of implementing technology.A gbnerallack of ICT training for
teachersalsomeansthat we still havesomeway to go until the normalisation of technology
in languageteaching,where the useof technology in teachingbecomesasnatural asthe use
ofbooks or pensand paper.

Attltudesto technology
Many people are afraid of new technology and, with the increasingpresenceof the Internet
and computers,the term technophobe has appearedto refer to those of us who might be
wary of thesenew developments.More recently,the term digrtd native has been coined
to refer to someonewho grows up using technology,and who thus feelscomfortable and
confident with it - typically todayt children. Their parents,on the other hand, tend to be

8
 T e c h n o l o giyn t h e c l a s s r o o m

digital immigrants, who havecomelateto the world of technology,if at all. In many cases,
teachersare the digital immigrants and our youngerstudentsarethe digital natives.
Think about yourself.Where do you stand?How confident do you feel about using
the Internet and computers?Although there is a tendencyto call computer userseither
technophobesor technogeeks(a term for a technologyenthusiast),the truth is that most
of us probablyfall somewherebetweenthe two extremes.
A large part of the negativeattitudes teachershave towards technology is usually
the result of a lack of conlidence,a lack of facilitiesor a lack of training, resulting in an
inability to seethe benefit of using technologiesin the classroom.It is also often the case
that teachersmay not be fully in control of their work situations.A teachermay want to
use more technologyin their teaching,but the school may not havethe facilities,or, on
the other hand, a teachermay be instructedto start using technologyfor which they feel
unpreparedor untrained.
Here area few of the more negativecommentswe'veheardfrom teachersin schoolswe
havevisitedor trained in:

Hereareour responses
to thesecomments:
I Timetablewhen you are going to usethe computer room well in advance,and use
a booking form which coversseveralmonths or a term. Put this booking form on
the door of the computer room so that all teachersand learnerscan seewhen the
room will be used,and by whom.You can usethe computerroom regularlyfor
projectwork (seeChapters4, 5 and 7), or regularself-studywork (seeChapter9).
Cha pte 1
r

This can easilybe timetabled in advance.You might also want to negotiatewith

the schoolabout the possibilityof havingone computer in your classroom.Some
activitiescan be done using a singlecomputer in the classroom.
Somecomputer-basedwork can be done alone,for exampleusing CD-ROMs
(seeChapter9), but a lot of ideasfor using technologyand the Internet explored
in this book involve pair- and small-group work. The ideal scenariois to haveone
computer availableper pair of learners,but many activitiescan alsobe carried
out using a singlecomputerwith a whole class,or with small groupsof learners
(threeto four) per computer.
This is an often-heardremark,and reflectsa very real lack of training in the
classroomuseof technologyin ELL When pressed,teachersusuallyadmit
that they do in fact know a bit about technology- they usuallyknow how to
useemail, a word processingprogram and the Internet. This knowledgeis
certainlyenoughto get startedwith using technologyin the classroom,asyou
will seein this book. The lack of ICT training in ELI is an issuewhich is slowly
being addressedby training bodies,and there are also severalonline teacher
developmentgroupsdedicatedto exploringand learningabout the useof
technologyin the classroomfor teachersto join (seeChapter I I ).
This remark is often true for teacherswho teachyounger adults, or young
learners,and who, like the teachermaking comment 3, may havereceivedno
training in the use of technology.However,having learnersin the classwho
know more about technologythan you do is no bad thing. When startingto use
technology in the classroom,teacherscan rely on thesemore technologically
knowledgeablelearnersfor help and support. Learnersare usually delighted to
be called upon to help out, and to get a chanceto demonstratetheir skills and
knowledgein this area.
The useof technologyin the classroomdoesnot replaceusing traditional
materials such as a black/whiteboard or a coursebook- rather, technology tools
are usedto complementand enhanceregularclassroomwork. Imaginethat a unit
in the coursebookdealswith animals in danger of extinction. Technologycan be
usedto do complementaryactivitiessuchasa data collectionemail project (see
Chapter5), or a webqueston animalsin dangerof extinction (seeChapter4) or
evento createa podcast on the topic (seeChapter7). The teachercan produce
additionalelectronicmaterialsto reviewcoursebookmaterialon the topic, too
(seeChapter l0).
This dislike and fear of computers is often expressedby teacherswho havehad
negativeexperiences with technologyin the past.The bestway to addressthe
situation is to make teachersawarethat they already havecertaintechnical skills
- they probablyknow how to usea taperecorderin the classroom,for example,
and often alreadyusetechnology in their personallives,such as an MP3 player,
the Internet or email.In other words,rather than dismissingvery real fears,these
needto be acknowledgedand addressed. The technophobicteacherneedsto be
encouragedto get startedby implementingsimple,undemandingtechnology
with learners.Using a ready-madewebquestfrom the Internet,for example,is a

10
 Technology
in the classroom

good way to start (seeChapter4). Teachersalsoneedto realisethat technology

doesand will break down occasionally,and that it's alwaysgood to havea backup
plan that doesn't require the useof technology.Also, providing good training in
the useof technologyin the classroomthrough face-to-faceworkshopsor online
coursesis key to encouragingthe long-term acceptance and useof technologyby
technophobicteachers(seeChapter 11).
7 Making new materialsfrom scratchcan be time-consuming,both for paper-
basedclasses and for classes
usingtechnology.Teachersneedto collaboratein
schoolsand pool resourcesand lessonplans,aswell asusethe technology-based
resourcesthat most commercialcoursebooksprovide nowadays.Typically,a
coursebookwill haveits own web pageson the publisher'swebsite,a list of
recommendedwebsitesto visit for eachunit, a CD-ROM and/or DVD, and
occasionallyteachersupport online, in the form of frequentlyaskedquestions
(FAQs),or discussionforums.

lmplementing
ICTin the classroom
As we know teachershavevarying levelsof accessto computers and technology,and teach
in all sorts of contextsto all sorts of learners.Here are someof the questionsyou may be
askingyourself about using technology in the classroom.
How can I use ICT with my classif there is only one computer in the school?
Introducing a rota or booking systemfor the computer with your colleagueswill ensure
equal use for all the teachersin the school.You will need to use the Internet mainly as a
resourcewith your learners,accessing the Internet to download and print out materialsto
use offline with classes.Technology-basedactivities you can do by printing off materials
include:
. usingwebsites(seeChapter3).
o Internet-basedprojectwork - especiallywebquestsoffline (seeChapter4).
. email keypal projectsusing the teacher'semail account(seeChapter5).
. a classblog with learnerspreparingtheir contributionson paperand the teacher
typing them into the computer (seeChapter7).
. using online referencetools suchasconcordancerson paper (seeChapter8).
o electronicallyproducedmaterialsprinted out for learners(seeChapter 10).
You can alsojoin freeonline teacherdevelopmentgroups (seeChapter 11).
What can I do if mylearners haveverylowlnformation Technology (IT)
experienceand skills?
You need to first find out about your learners'IT skills and degreesof experience,for
exampleby meansof a questionnaire,and then start offby usingthe simplesttechnologies
in the classroom.For learnerswith zeroor very low IT skills,or literacyissues,a good place
to start is with simpleword processingtasks(seeChapter2). Oncelearnersarecomfortable
with this, basic email (seeChapter 5) or searchingthe Internet (seeChapter 3) can be
introduced.Try to pair up more technicallyexperiencedlearnerswith the absolutenovices

ll
Chapterr

for any lCT-based classwork,so that the more experiencedusershelp the lessexperienced
ones.
I teach classesof 30+ students. How can I use computers with such large groups?
You will need to haveaccessto a minimum number of computers,with no more than four
learnersper computer doing small-groupwork online. Largeclasses, with more than 30
students,canbe divided into two groups- while one group is doing online computerroom
work, the other group is doing paper-basedwork. The two groups then changeover.You
will be ableto implement most of the tools and activitiesdescribedin this book.
I'm keen to use ICT in the classroom,but don't know where to start! Could you
suggestwhat I try first?
If you don't havemuch experienceof ICT, we would suggeststarting with simple tools and
projectsin class,suchasusing websites(seeChapter3), or using ready-madematerialsfor
languagelearners,such as webquests(seeChapter4). You might alsowant to start using
email with your learners,simply for receivingand marking work, or for simple collaborative
writing projects(seeChapter5).
I don't have much time for material preparation. What chapters in this book
would you recommend I read first?
UsingICT-basedactivitiesdoesnot meanthat completelynewmaterialsneedto be prepared
for every class.The Internet has a wealth of ready-madematerials available- you simply
need to know how to find them! First hone your Internet searchand evaluation skills (see
Chapter3), then look for ready-madematerialsto usewith your classes, suchaswebquests
(seeChapter4) or technology-based courseware(seeChapter9), or usesimple tools that
needlittle or no preparation,suchasemail (seeChapter5) or chat (seeChapter6).
What types of ICT tools and activitieswouldyou recommend as best foryoung,
learners?
All of the ICT tools, and many of the activities,discussedin this book are suitable for use
with young learners - indeed many of today's young learners are more tech-sawy than
their teachers!You might want to askyour young learnerswhat tools they alreadyknow or
use,and start offby usingthose.Many teenagers, for example,will alreadybe familiar with
email, instant messagingand chat, and perhapsevenwith blogs.For younger learners,you
may want to use some of the ready-madematerials and websitesavailableon the Internet
for this age group. There are also plenty of webquestson a range of topics availablefor
youngerlearners.
I'd like to use the Internet to put my learners in touch with learners in other
countries. Howcan I do this?
SeveralInternet tools provide an excellent way to put learners in contact with learners
from other countries and cultures,aswell asproviding them with realistic and motivating
opportunitiesto practisetheir English.The simplestway to setup a projectbetweenclasses
is via email (seeChapter5) but this canbe extendedinto collaborativeprojectsusingblogs,
wikis or even chat (seeChapters 6 and 7). foining an online teacherdevelopment group
(seeChapter 11) will makeit easyfor you to contactother teachersaround the world, and
to set up thesekinds ofprojects.

t2
 Technology
in the classroom

My learners need to use the computer room mainly for self-study or research)
without a teacher being present. What can they do on their own?
There may be times when learners are scheduledto work alone on computers in a self-
accesscentre.Typically,CD-ROMs (seeChapter 9) are provided for theseoccasions.In
someschoolsstudentscan accesscontentplacedon a centralschoolservervia an Intranet.
However, if the computers are linked to the Internet, learners can also be encouragedto
work on Internet-basedprojectsin pairs,suchas:
. webquests(seeChapter4).
o electronic materialsdevelopedby the teacherespeciallyfor thesestudents (see
Chaptert0).
o researchfor later presentationto the class,using online dictionariesor other
referencetools (seeChapter8).
They could alsobe listeningto podcasts,preparingand updating their personalblogs or
developinga classwiki (seeChapter7), or evenusingtext chat (seeChapter6).

Skitls and equipmentfor getting started

What doesa teacherneedto know to be ableto usetechnologyin the classroom? Well,you
don't need to have any specialisttechnical knowledge or skills, much asyou don't need to
be a mechanicto know how to drive a car!
The basicskillsyou do needto havein placebeforeyou start readingthis book arehow
to usea simpleword processingprogram (e.g.Microsoft Word), how to useemail and how
to accessand usethe Internet.By readingthis book, and trying out the activitiessuggested
with your learners(with plenty of step-by-stephelp provided in the tutorials on the CD-
ROM if you feelyou needit), you shouldbe ableto greatlyincreaseyour ICT skillsset,and
to feela lot more confidentabout using technologyin the classroom.
You will alsoneedsomeessentialequipmentin order to get the most out of this book,
and to start to implement technologywith your learners:
r at leastone computer (preferablyone per two students).
o an Internet connection.
a Printer.
'
o an audio card in the computer,and a headset(audio and microphone)for every
computer.
. basicsoftware(a word processingprogram, a web browser like Internet Explorer,
Firefox,Safarior Mozilla, and an email program).
As we saw above,teaching contexts and teachers'accessto computers and technology can
vary widely.While readingthis book, you'll find plenty of activitieswhich can be done if
only one computer is availablein class.However,accessto a computer room to which you
can takeyour classwill provide more opportunitiesfor implementingtechnology,for both
you and your learners.
It is worth bearingin mind that the layout of your computer room will directly affect
the tlpes of activitiesyou are able to do with your learners,and how they interact with
one anotherand with you. A layout which hascomputersat desksaround the walls,facing

13
Cha pte r

the walls,with a largetable in the centreof

the room, allowsthe teacherto walk around
and easilyseewhat the learnersareworking
on and what they're looking at on the
computer monitors (screens).The central
area provides an easily accessiblespace
wherelearnerscan go when they don't need
the computers,and for when we might want
to do more communicativegroup work. If
the central spaceis reasonablylarge,more
movement and activity is possiblein the
centreof the room; this will offer up more opportunitiesfor kinaestheticlearners,and the
chanceto usegamesand physicalactivitieswith youngerlearnersawayfrom the computer
monitors.
Of course,few of us are lucky enoughto be ableto choosehow our computerfacilities
look, but it may be possiblefor you to makesomesmall changesin the work environment
so that it's more comfortableto work in the room, and easierto teachin. It's well worth
consideringhow your institution'scomputer room could be made more user-friendlyfor
you and your classes.

Conclusions I h thischopterwehave:
r considered the causesof technophobiaandsuggested waysof overcoming it.
r examined specificteacherdoubtsaboutusingtechnology in theclassroom and
suggested somesolutions.
r lookedat a varietyof EFLteachingcontexts
andteachers' access to computers, and
discussedthe types of computer-based you
activities cando with yourlearners.
r thebasicskiltsandequipment
outlined thatteachers needin orderto startusing
technology in their
teaching.

ON THE CD.ROM YoU cAN HEAR THRTE TEACHIFIS T4ILKING

AtsOUT THT,IR USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM.
 Wordprocessors
in the ctassroom
ffiWhy useword processors? mWordprocessingactivitiesfor
mWordptocessorsfor teachers: learners
creatingmaterials u Usingword processors:
considerations

Whyusewordprocessors?
In many ways it may seem paradoxical to devote an entire chapter to the use of word
processors, when there are so many other more excitingsoftwaretools one could turn to.
Yet word processorscan be used in many inventive ways,by both teachersand students.
Teacherscan prepare,create,store and sharematerialsfor their classesby using a word
processingprogram, and learnerscan usea word processingprogram both in and outside
the classroom,to practisewriting skills,grammar and other languagepoints, aswell as to
presenttheir work.
Also, most teachersand learnersthesedayswill be familiar with the basic functions
of a word processingprogram, and know how to create,saveand storedocuments,which
makesa program like this a good startingpoint. In this chapterwe assumebasicknowledge
of creating and saving documents,and focus on how to use word processingsoftware
efficiently and creatively,introducing you to word processingfeatures you may not be
awareof, but which are particularlyusefulfor both languageteachersand learners.
We will be focusingon MicrosoftWord. Although not everyoneusesMicrosoftWord,it
is currentlythe most ubiquitousof word processingpackages, with an estimated300million
usersworldwide at the time of writing. However,the processes and tools we discussin this
chapterwill be similar in other word processingsoftwarepackages,likeOpenOffice.
A lot of the activitieswe will be examining here envisageone or two learnersto a
computer,but with somethought they can be adaptedto the single-computerclassroom,
or assignedashomework if your learnershaveaccessto computersat home.

Wordprocessorsfor teachers:creatingmaterials
As a teacher,you may alreadyuse a word processingprogram to prepareworksheetsand
materialsfor your learners.You may also use one for correcting,editing and providing
feedbackon your learners'digitallysubmittedwritten work. In this section,we will look at
both of thesetwo 'teacher'usesof word processors.

lnsertingimogesand links
Two of the things you will probably want to do when creating materialsare to incorporate

l5
Chapter2

imagesinto your worksheetsto brighten them up, and to include links to websiteswhich
your studentscan go to for further researchor practice.
Imagescan be incorporated from your own computer (if you havea collection of them)
or from Internet sources(copyright permitting). To insert an imagewhich is alreadystored
on your own computer into a document,click the'Insert' menu, then select'Picture'and
finally'From file ...' . You will now be ableto browseyour computer for any picturesyou
may have stored on it. To grab an image from the Internet, simply find a page with the
image,and right-click on it. A menu will pop up and you should choose'Copy'from the
menu,then return to your word processorand pasteit into your documentwhereyou want
it to be.
The trick with images is knowing how to make them interact with the text you have
on your page,flowing the text around your images,rather than havingit.aboveand below,
with your picture isolated in the middle. This is called text wrapping. To work with text
wrapping you will first need to enablethe picture toolbar: click on'View'then'Toolbars'
and finally'Picture'.Now selectyour picture by clicking on it once and look at the picture
toolbar.

In the screenshot here we have highlighted the text

ln LirE fftiithText
wrapping option. With your picture selected,click on
the'Tight'option and watch how the text redistributes
itself around the image. Now you will be able to drag
the picture around your page and put it exactly where
you want it to be. Tiy experimenting with the other
text wrapping options, too. This screenshotshowsthe tsehhdTiext
results of wrapping text around an image, leaving a
small white border around eachelementof the image. IUFrontofText
Including a web link in a document is simple and
can be accomplishedin a variety of ways.The easiest TgpfrndBotbm
way of doing this is to open the website you want your
learnersto visit in a browser,and then click once on the 1!$ongh
addressof that websitein the Address'bar at the top
of the browser.This will selectthe address.Now copy f,ditWrapPoints
the address(by using Ctrl+C) and then open up your
document and pasteit onto the page (by using Ctrl+V). As soon as you hit the spaceor
return key, the text you havepastedin will automatically become an activelink. Note that
to activatelinks in Word it is customary to have to hold down the Ctrl key while clicking
on them.

Creotingforms
A form is a Word document which has interactive elementsin it, resembling closely the
kinds of simple exercisesyou might find on the Internet. These elementscan include
(among others) drop-down menus for making choices,text entry fieldswhereyour learners
can n?e in text, and buttons to selectone of a setof choices.

16,
 Word processors i n l he ctassroom

Look at the readingexercisebelow composedof a short text and a form featuring

comprehension questionsfor learnersto answer.When this is done by learnersin Word,
the form is lockedbeforehandand becomesinteractive,allowingthem to click on answer
choices(questionsI and 6), type answersin (questions3 and 5) or selectfrom a drop-
answers(questions2,4 and 7). Oncethe form in the exercise
down list of suggested above
is'locked',eachlearnercan readthe text and do the exercise.

Barcelona- An Introduction
Barcelona, the second[argestcity in Spain,is a modernand cosmopolitan placelocated
on the nofth-eastcoastof Spain.Todayalmost4.5 millionpeoplelive in the Barcelona
metropolitan area.
Thecity is 16okilometres southof the Pyrenees mountainrange,and lies at an
altitudeof 4 metresabovesea leve[.TheareaaroundBarcelona hasa weatthof
attractionsincludingthe laid-backresorttownson the CostaBrava,northof the city
towardsthe Frenchborder.
Barcelona is a typicalMediterranean city,not only due to its geographicallocation,
but also becauseof its historyand culturalinfluences.Therearetwo officiallanguages
spokenin Barcetona: Catatan,generallyspokenin all of Catalonia, and Castilian
Spanish.
Getspectacutar viewsoverthe city and the coast[inefrom the hitlsof Tlbidabo
and Montjuich. Wanderthe otd streetsfor plentyof examplesof Romanesque, Gothic,
Renaissance and Modernistarchitecture. Discover moreaboutone of Spain'smost
famousarchitects: AntoniGaudf.
Barcelona also has a lot of interestingmuseums, art galleries(withsignificant
collectionsby Picassoand Mi16),theatresand restaurants whereyou cantuck into
typicalCatalanand Spanishdishes.At night,enjoysomeof the trendiestnightclubsand
discosin Europe.
Thereare six beachesin Barcelona, totatling4.2 kilometresof goldensands.They
havealt the facilitiesand servicesnecessary for peopleto enjoya pleasantand safeday
at the beach.
Now answerthe questions:
NAME:
r) Wherein Spainis Barcelona?
D in the south-west tr in the north-east tr in the south-east
z) Howmanypeoplelive in the city?
chooseone ...
l) Whichmountainrangeis nearestto Barcelona?
chooseone ...
+) What arethe two mostcommonlanguages spokenin Barcelona?
chooseone ...
5) Namea famousBarcelona architect:

6) Howmanybeachesare therein Barcelona?

fl three E four E five I six
Z) How longare the beaches,in total?
chooseone ...
Now print this out and give it to your teacher,or send it by email.

t7
Chapter2

ilAilE: N
1) Wherein Spainls Barcelona?

I tre souhwest I Uenorttr-east | $e southeast

2) Hor manypeopletivein thecity?

n
$ VUhictr
murnuin
range
isnearest
toBarcelona?

ru
{ li{hatare0ntwom6 cammon
languagec
spohninBarcelona?

omBrrcelonaarciltecf

rac,hes
alelhec in hrcelonr?

Ithr* ltur Ifiw Isix

fl Howloryarelhebeaciea,
inlobl?

n
llowpriril0risoutandgiveit toyowteacher,
orsendit byemail

In this secondversion abovethe form is activated.Note that the form doesnot automafically
checkthe answers.For more information on how this softwaretool works, seethe Microsoft
Office website, and the section dealing with forms (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/
assistance/HP 05230270 1033.aspx).
To get startedwith adding forms to your documents,you will needto displaythe'Forms'
toolbar in Word. Click on 'View',then 'Toolbars'and finally'Forms'. You will now seea new
toolbar which will allow you to add various interactive choicesto your page.

Let'slook at the more useful of theseelements.

I Adding a text box to your form:
Typeyour question,then hit Enter and click on the'Text Form Field'icon.You
will seethat it createsa small text box. Click on it, then click the'Format'icon
(fourth icon in the Forms toolbar). From here you can format what the text box
doesand the sort of input it expects.
2 Adding a check box to your form:
Typeyour question,then hit Enter and click on the'Check Box Form Field'icon.

l8
 Word processorsin the classroom

You will seea checkbox appear.Type your first answernext to this. Now pressthe
Tab key and repeatfor asmany answersasyou need.
3 Adding a drop-down menu to your form:
Typeyour question,then hit Enter and click on the'Drop-down Form Field'icon.
Double-clickthe newly-createddrop-down, and usethe'Drop-down item'box to
add eachindividual choiceyou want to offer your learners.After you type each
choice,click the Add'button. When you finish, click'OK'to activateyour drop-
down.
Theseare the basic elements.When you have finished with your form, be sure to click on
the'Lock'icon to lock the form and activateit. This is the last icon on the Forms toolbar.
Forms can be very useful for making collections of basic exercises,and are a solid
introduction to the more complex area of making web-basedinteractive materials (see
Chapter 8). The advantageof creating activities using Forms is that it is simple. The
disadvantageis that you cannot build in feedbackto your students.

UsingTrackChonges
Word comeswith certain 'document tracking' or'versioning' tools built in. Thesetools
allow documents to be sharedamong a group of users,with eachuser'schangesand edits
highlighted in a different colour and identified by their initials (or by the username usedto
install the word processororiginally). When a document hasbeen edited using thesetools,
any changesmade by the secondwriter (format changes,word order, deletions, inserted
comments,and so on) will be highlighted for the original author to see.The original author
can then chooseto acceptor reject eachsuggestedchange.

Tcachsns and Tcchnologf

I Thecort$(ts in whichtcachem{gS-U!l_t?-ct'@gfl_g?!t-_".ery_S{9[._qlC--tt_r-e__qc_ggf_s._tla.4::.-..
teachffi haveio compute€(th€secallid 'digitaldivide')will afiectvrh.t th€y crn do sith th€ir
dasss io tms of implementingt€chnology.Some teachoraare lucky €noughto hava
comFlts6 in sach cla$room, or accassto a fully equippadcomFisr room rdth lntemot
rcces- OtheiteachgBmakedowih onecomputerin a school,enderrsticIntam€taccffis.

I rhe ffiffiDE@939{i!*__hl.Ctv-.rtpI(.!tt__"_Cry_qt&FI'!__sS$'t'SC...l'!ti_.V-ar-yi_'tg-.+-e?FF_.tgt
-.-.
computeB rnd technology - us d'3cdbe their conten8 ard mako aom€ suggestions for the r,
knds of technologyiaaed ac*ivities mh teacber can do with her leemera.

Fellaworks inc lowresource environment withonlyonecomputer in herschool. Shedoesnot

Iiidi cdi'iiiaiHhiifi. Hd-hiii;ild-6i6ifd hiii'-e-djlfti.-Aftfiiii'ifr'
'id-E6ii!-ri'iftAt-i
th€r6 ara Intsmgt cafds in the towfl, th€!, tend to bs too erpenrive br leamars to us6 regulady,
Della's laama.s hav6 very low lT skilla and atpod€nc€. The oD€ cofiiputs itt th€ school is
fetlia;'iV1i6i'is'ii;rd-5t-d,he?-iaai;fiati;
inifih'C tiitiii-dfiftttAtld'i'"th6iii.;fr'J6'i;'i'tf
dieble,withfrequent po*€rcuts-Thecomputer isconnected to a prifiter-
Suoor.doos: Dolla wifl n€€d to use the Intsm€t mainlv as a r€Eourcs wiih her I
acceggins th€ T'it?-rilf td d6fiit#a';i'iA-Ffrif dut'niadiiE'id'irir6- 6ffiiiui iitli'frii'
Introducing a rotaor booldngsysternbr ths comFrt€r$th he. collsegu€sryillen3ureoquslu3o
tor dl the teechers.T€cnnobgy+as€dactivitiesthat oolie can do ryithher learnersby pfldinS
offmateddeinclude:

A documentfeaturing TrackChanges

l9
Chapter2

In the screenshoton page 19 you'll seepart of a document sent to a colleague,who

turned on TiackChangesand made some suggestions. Notice how we can add comments
to various parts of the text, deleteand changesections,and format the text as well. When
the documentis returned,the writer can seethe suggestions and decidewhetherthey want
to incorporatethem or not.
You can turn thesetools on in Word on a document-by-documentbasisby opening a
document,then clicking'Tools- TiackChanges'.
Teacherscan use TiackChangesto provide feedbackon a learner'swritten work. The
learner'stext can be correctedby the teacherusing TrackChanges, or comments added
suggestinghow the learner might improve their own work. TrackChangesalso offers
possibilitiesin terms of peer review and correction of written work. A basic use of
TrackChangesin Word might look like this:
o LearnerA finishesher documentand sendsit to LearnerB.
o Learner B turns on TrackChanges,edits the document and returns it.
r LearnerA editsthe document,acceptingor rejectingLearnerB'ssuggestions.
o LearnerA sendsthe documentto her teacher.
o The teacherturns on TrackChanges,
editsthe document and sendsit back.
o LearnerA examinesher teacher'ssuggestionsand makesa final edit.

UsingMorkin
This is anotherWindows program that aids the correction of word processedwork from
learners.It comeswith a seriesof tools for marking up grammar mistakes,spellingerrors,
word order and other common errors)usinga seriesof abbreviationswhich will be familiar
to most teachers('sp'for spelling,for example)and different colours for different tlpes
of errors. Once the teacher has finished correcting a text, it can be returned as a word
processeddocument, or uploaded to a web serverasa webpage.It can evenbe mailed from
within the program itself.
In many ways, then, Markin can replace the TrackChangestool we looked at above.
Experimentation with both options will help you to decide which is best for you. It's
worth bearingin mind that Markin wasdevelopedby teachers,and is thereforeboth more
teacher-friendly,and more suitable for teachingpurposes,than TiackChanges,which is an
all-purposetool. The advantageof TiackChangesis obviouslythat it is built in, and does
not cost anything. Markin costs!20 at the time of writing (http://www.cict.co.uk/software/
markin/index.htm).

Wordprocessingactlvltiesfor learners
As we suggestedabove,most learnersthesedayswill be familiar with using a word processing
program for simple tasks like writing, saving and storing documents. However, before
experimenting with word processors,you will need to check that your learnershave some
basicword processingand file managementskills. It is a fact of life that many people who
work with computers sometimes forget where they are saving documents, what they call
them, and so on. It is particularlyimportant when usingword processorsfor teachingthat
certain systemsare implemented - and skills taught - that make life easierfor everybody.
You may find that your students already have theseskills, but it is worth checking before

20
 in the classroom
Wordorocessors

you start working regularly with computers. Below are a few simple word processingtips
worth bearingin mind and sharingwith your learners:
r Encourageyour studentsto savetheir documents in a consistentway, naming
them with their own name and a descriptionof what the documentcontains,e.g.
JoanAndres- Letterof Complaint.doc.In this way both your learnersand you
will be able to find their work more efficiently.
r With the price of external USB pen drives falling rapidly, it is advisablefor
learnersto keep a copy of their work on one for themselves,so that your copy at
work is the master copy,but another is stored safelyoff-site.
o Make sure that you checkwith whoever looks after your centre'scomputers- if
you are lucky enough to havesuch a facility - that files are not deletedon a daily
basis.Plentyof good work hasbeenlost this way.
. Be preparedto deal with some computing terminology: hard drive, c drive,
printer, word processor,stve,print.Before eachintroductory class,try to identifr
the computer-relatedvocabulary that is likely to occur, and make sure that your
studentsunderstand it.

Using word processorsfor creativewriting

Word processorslend themselveswell to creativewriting both in and outside the classroom.
As we have seen,learnerscan work together with documents that can be exchangedeasily
betweenpairs or groupsof learners,and betweenlearnersand teachers,encouragingboth
teachercorrections,and peercorrectionand revision.
Word processorsalso include dictionary,grammar and thesaurustools. Putting your
cursor over the word happy for example,and then clicking on the 'Thesaurus'option (in
Word, this is found in Tools- Language)will open up a sidepanel with a rangeof synonyms
for happy content,pleased,glad, cheerful,and so on. There is some debateon the wisdom
of using thesetools.The argumentis sometimesmadethat they encouragesloppywriting
and give learnerstoo much support in the writing processitself.
A similar criticism is levelled at the spell-check option found in word processing
programs.Our opinion is very much that it dependson the focusof the task and the level
of the learners.Using the thesaurusoption, for example,doesseemto havethe potential of
broadening a learner'svocabularS although the teachermay then need to addressarising
issuesof meaning and use.In the exampleabove,there is a differencebetweenthe meaning
of content and cheerfulas synonyms for happy. For more on electronic dictionaries and
thesauruses, seeChapter8.
If your learnersare engagedin any kind of creativewriting, then spell-checkerswould
seemto be of help in the sameway that we often encouragethe use of dictionaries, and
professional people and other writers will use these tools as a matter of course in their
day-to-day work. In these circumstancesit would seemrather pointless (not to mention
frustrating) to deny our learnersaccessto thesetools. Using the spell-checkeron a piece
of written work can make a learner more aware of errors, and provide a chancefor self-
correction. When using a spell-checker,learners need to ensure that they have set the
languageproperly for exampleto American or British English.
If your learnersare working with word processorsto practiselanguageand structures,
the spell-checkermight bestbe turned off- at leastfor the first attempt at any exercise.Peer
correction can be a more valuabletool in thesetypes of activities.
2l
Ch ap terz

It is worth pointing out theseeditingtoolsto your learners, highlightingwaysof using

them properly,much aswe do learnertrainingwith dictionariesand other languagetools,
and then establishing rulesfor their usein your own classroomsetting.One thing that we
would recommenddisablingis the grammarchecker, which is perhapsthe leastreliableof
thesetypesof tool. You can do this by clicking'Tools'then'Options'and highlightingthe
'Spelling& Grammar'taband disabling'Check grammarasyou typel
Thebasicadvantage of using word processors in writing activitiesis the abilityto model
texts,sharetexts,producethem collaboratively and engagein peerand teachereditingon
a more interactivelevel.Word processing activitieswill put the emphasison the processof
writing ratherthan on the final written product,for example,brainstorming,note-taking
and revising,all of which makesfor a more creativeuseof language.

Usingwordprocessorsfor languagepractice
Word processors arenot only capableof enhancingwriting skills,but canalsobe excellent
tools for introducingor practisinglanguage.The ability to move words and chunksof
text around the pageeasilycan guide learnerstowardsa deeperunderstandingof how the
language works.The abilityto undo and redomovesand editsmeansthat experimentation
is easierand lesstime-consuming.When used in conjunctionwith grammar exercises,
word processors can activate'noticing'skills,increasingawareness
of languagestructures
and encouraging learnersto playwith the language.
Many of the activitieswe do with pen and paper can work equallywell on a word
processor- filling in blanks,sentencereordering,addingtitles to paragraphs, and so on.
They also work well on another level,coveringbasictext manipulation skills.In this way,
the useof word processorsin our teachingnot only servesas an aid to languagepractice
or for the improvementof writing skills,but alsoteachesour learnersvaluableICT skills
which will carrythrough into other areasof their lives.
Below are two examplesof activitieswhich require text manipulationand editing
in a word processingprogram. The first is a samplelistening activity.The teachertakes

Samplelistening activity
Put the following conversationin order,then listen and check
JoHN:Hey!Lookwho'sherelltt beena white! Yeah,long time no see.
MIKE: Working,mostly.
loHN: Sameold stuff- you know
- the book.
MIKE: It does!Howaboutyou?
joHN: Whathaveyou beendoing
with yourself?
MIKE: Alt this time?Whaton?
J O H N: Not too bad.Onemore
chapterto go.
MIKE: How'sit going?
IOHN: Great- must feet good to
be nearlydone.
MIKE: Alrightfor some!
JOHN; Theusua[- just takingit easy...
MIKE:

22
 Wordprocessors
in the classroom

any listeningdialoguefrom the coursebook(or another source)and types it into a word

processed document.In class,learnersopen the documenton a computer,then selectand
drag the sentenceson the right into where they think they might go in the conversation
on the left. (The first sentenceof the dialogue is provided.) Learnersthen listen to the
conversationto check.
This activity doesn'tdeviatesignificantlyfrom the pen-and-papermodel which you
might find in a coursebookor in supplementarymaterials,but it doesallow your learners
to play with the text more easily,before they listen, and also coverstext selection,and
draggingand dropping, rather effectively.Note that this activity can be done in pairs if
there are not enough computersto go around, or evenin the singlecomputer classroom
with group discussionabout the correctorder beforethe text is reorderedand prior to the
listeningphase.
Here is a samplegrammar activity,in which one extra word hasbeen addedto a text.
The text could be an original text, as below,or a text from the coursebook,to which the
teacheraddsextrawords.

Samplegnlmmaractivlty
Someof the llnsr ln fiis text haveoneexbawordin them.ldendfyand
conectwherentcsssary.Thefir*t oile has beendonefor you.
| firstdid visitedBoroughMarketin Londonon a brightspringmorningin
Aprilzoo4.ltt an amazingly busyptace,futlof the peoplefroma richvariety
of countries andbackgrounds - all lumpedtogetherin searchof a fresh
food,a neweatingexperience. lf you'rea 'foodie'thenthisis the mostbest
placefor youl organicostrichsteaks,olivesfromSpain,freshfish,farm-made
cheeses, home-made cakesanda varietyof organic vegetables whichalt
lookedandsmeltveryfantastic. lf you'renot muchof a cook,therearealso
plentyof stallssellingtakeaway foodfromburgersto soups,sandwiches to
tapas- and a lot more.lf you'venot neverbeento a modernfoodmarket,
Boroughis a greatptacefor to start- the onlyworryis howmuchmoney
yorlltendup withspending, andhowmuchweightyoumayput on!

Building up a collection of worksheetsand activitieslike the ones abovewill allow you

to give further practice,extra homework or examination preparation materialsto your
learners.The advantagethat thesematerialshaveovermany of the other optionswe will be
looking at in the courseof this book is that they are generallyvery small files- and so are
easilytransportable- and they are also more likely to fit into a wider rangeof computer
accesssituations since they do not necessitatean Internet connection or high-powered
computersto work.

Furtheroctivities
Dictation
A simpleword processingactivity to start with is a dictation from the teacher- in this case
the opening few lines of a creativewriting narrative.This should be treatedas a standard
dictation, and the learnersshould input (type) the text as they listen. Once you have
dictatedthe first few lines,try introducing a small round of peer correction,with learners

23
Chapter2

exchangingtexts and making edits to their partner's text, possibly using TiackChanges,
before moving on to a final round of teacher-ledcorrection.
Once the dictation phasehasbeen completed,learnersreturn to their own documents
and have a fixed period of time in which to add to your model narrative opening and to
developthe story further, before turning it over once again to their partner. Their partner
then hasto read what hasbeen added,make edits and is then given more time to add to the
text. This processcontinues until completion, at which point the final product is turned in
to the teacherfor correction.
There is a lot of activity in this kind of process,from dictation and text modelling,
through peer correction, reading, use of narrative structures and sequencingto final text
production, and the combination of thesetechniquesand skills can havea significant effect
on the quality of your learners'writing.
Noticing activity
An activitywhich encourages noticing of structuresat lowerlevels,and foryoungerlearners,
is for pairs of learnersto produce a short descriptivetext (for exampleof a mystery animal),
including the third person-s.
Thisanimalis largeand grey.lt livesin Africaand India,and it has largeears
and a shorttail. lt eats leavesand grass,and it likesto washin the river.lt
remembers everything!
Pairsexchangetexts,read the description and guesswhich animal is being described.They
then underline and/or highlight all the examplesof the third person -sthey can find, either
by using WordArt (in Microsoft Word), or highlighting the -s in a different colour, font or
size.They can also be askedto searchthe Internet to add a photo to the highlighted text.
Thesefinished, highlighted and illustrated texts are then displayedaround the classroom.
An Elephant!
Thisanimalis largeand grey.lt liveSin Africaand India,and it haS
largeearsand a shorttait. lt eatSleavesand grass,and it ]ikeSto
washin the river.lt remember5 everything!

Collaborative writing activity

A well-known writing activity is that of the collaborative story, where a story is started
(perhapsfrom a prompt such asan evocativeseriesof sounds,or a painting) by one learner
or pair, and then passedto subsequentpairs of learners,who add to the story. This works
particularly well if learnersare first askedto listen to an evocativepieceof music for two or
three minutes, and askedto closetheir eyeswhile they imagine what is happening,asif they
were watching a film. In the computer room, after listening to the music and imagining
what is happening in the film, pairs can start a story on one computer and then move
around to the next computer terminal after a certain period of time (say five minutes) to
add to the story on the next computer. The teacher can provide a narrative structure for
eachstagein front of the computer - for example:
I Describethe sceneand the characters.
[changecomputers]
2 What happensfirst in the story?
Ichangecomputers]
24
 Wordorocessors
in the ctassroom

3 What happensasa resultof this?

Ichangecomputers]
4 What new characterarrivesand what do they do?
[changecomputers]
5 How doesthe story end?
Ichangecomputers- go back to the story you started]
The final version of the story is then read by the pair who started it, for revision and
correction, using TrackChanges, or in a copied document which is edited directly.The
final editedversionsofthe storiesare then printed out and displayedfor learnersto read.
Learnerscan then comparehow many differentstoriesfor the imaginedfilm therewere.

Usingwordprocessorsfor presentingwork
One final use of word processorsto consideris that of encouraginglearnersto put their
word processeddocumentsinto a presentationpackage,possiblyas part of an ePortfolio
of their work. (SeeChapter9 for more on electronicportfolios.)
As we have seen,word processorsfacilitate correction and redrafting, and easethe
pressureto produce'goodcopy'in the finalisedpiece.They alsoencouragelearnersto take
more pride in their written work, often with surprisingresultsfor thoseteachersusedto
encounteringmotivationaldiffrcultieswhen trying to get studentsto write.
Enhancing produced documents with images and photographs from the Internet
(takinginto accountcopyrightissues)can alsohelp to increasethe time and effort put into
the writing processby learners.
Specificpiecesof work can easilybe transferredfrom word processedformat to a
presentationformat like Microsoft PowerPointfor public presentations, or addedasfilesto
students'webpagesor blogs (seeChapter7).
Once learnershavea final pieceof finishedwork as a word processeddocument,they
can be encouragedto keepdocumentstogetherin files on a USB pen drive or diskette(as
well as on their own computer if they haveone) as a portfolio of work produced during
a course.This can then form part of their electronicportfolio, a format that is becoming
increasinglyimportant for learnersin a mobile working and learningenvironment.

Usingwordprocessorss
considerations
There are some potential downsidesto using word processors- not the leastof which is
working with mixed technologicalability classes wheretyping skills(or lack of them) may
play a largepart in performanceanxietyand in the paceat which activitiesare carriedout.
Someattentionmust be paid to not putting too much pressureon your learnersto perform
too quickly.
Youshouldalsonot expectgreatsuccess with thesecyclesofrevision and peercorrection
if your learnersare not used to doing such activitiesawayfrom the computers.In short,
trying to introducetoo much too quickly into your word processingclasses may ultimately
makethem more challengingthan they should be, and frustratingfor your learners.
Startingwith simple activities,suchasthe oneswe looked at in the first sectionof this
chapter,and gettingyour learnersusedto the mechanicsof word processingbeforemoving

25
Chapter
z

on to the more creativeside,will help with this process,aswill a good grounding in the
writing processin the more traditional fashion.
More ideas for exploiting word processorsin the classroomcan be found at the
following addresses:
. http://edvista.com/claire/wp.html
o http://www.geocities.com/vance-stevens/wordproc.htm

Concluglons I h thtschapterwe
have:
r considered
whyweshouldusewordprocessors
inourteaching.
r lookedat howteacherscanworkwith word processorsfor materialscreation.
examined wordprocessing
specific toolssuchasinserting images andlinks,creating
formsandusingTrackChanges.
canworkwithwordprocessors,
lookedat howlearners writing,language
for creative
workandpresentationof work.
consideredsomesamplewordprocessingactivities.

26
 Usingwebsites
r UslngwebsltesIn the r Plannlnglessonsuslng the
slassroom lnternet
r ELTwebsltesor authentlc r Worklngwlth lower levels of
websltes? languageprcflclency
r How..toflnd usefulwebsltes r Webteachlngdosand don'ts
r Howto evaluatewebsltes

Uslngwebsltesin the classroom

In this chapter we look at the basic skillset needed for effective use of the Internet with
'your students and take a closer look at the processfor introducing the Internet into your
teaching.
Using websites is one of the easiestand least stressfirlways of getting started with
technology in the classroom. There is a large and constantly expanding collection of
resourceson the web, at a variety of levels and covering an amazing aftay of topics. You
can choosefrom authentic (written for Internet surfers in general)sourcesor Ell-specific
sites(made by, and for, teachers),monolingual or multilingual sites,siteswith multimedia,
or just simple text, for those on slower connections.
The web is a source of content which can be used as a window on the wider world
outside your class,and is - of course- a readily availablecollection of authentic material.
As such, it is a much larger repository of content than would previously havebeen readily
availableto you and your students.
Perhapsone of the besttips we can giveyou at this point is to work asa team with other
teachersin your centre.Everybodyhastheir favourite websites,and plenty of teacherswill,
at some point, have used websitesin class,or taken material from the web and adapted it
for teaching purposes.Thke the time to share sourcesof content with other teachersand
organiseregular get-togetherswhere you sit down and discusswhat you have found on
the Internet and how you have used it in class.Collaboration like this can help to reduce
the time you spend searchingfor good materialsand the time spent preparing activities or
making worksheets.fust as the Internet is becoming more of a collaborative medium, so
should your use of it in your teaching.
The technology needed to use the Internet for teaching is relatively limited and the
chancesof something going wrong are greatly reduced over.more complex technology
approachessuch as attempting to carry out live chat or video-conferencingsessions.
Another advantageof this tool is that you don't necessarilyhave to rely on a constant
Internet connection if you bear in mind that it is possibleto savelocal copiesof websiteson

27
Chapter3

your computer,or print out potentiallyusefulpagesfor later use.Indeed,you can useweb

pagesin the classroomin a variety of ways:
. as printed pages,with no computers. Although printing is not necessarily
the cheapestoption, it is certainlya viableone in placeswheretheremay be
limited accessto the Internet.Indeed,a lot of activitiesusingweb pageswill
only necessitatethe printing of one or two pages,which can subsequentlybe
photocopied.
. with one computer with an Internet connection. This can be enhancedby
connecting the computer to a data projector or evenan interactivewhiteboard,
allowing for greatervisibility in class,but it is also possibleto make useof a single
computer on its own connectedto the Internet for reference.
. in a computer lab with a set of networked and connected computers. If you're
lucky enoughto be in this kind of situation,then you are ideallyplacedto
incorporate Internet content into your regular teaching.
It's important that both you and your learnersseethe use of the Internet as an intrinsic
part of the learningprocess,rather than asan occasionalactivity which hasnothing to do
with their regular study programme. We would therefore recommend that, if you plan to
use the Internet, you should talk to your learners and explore the reasonsfor using this
resourcewith them. This can be done at lower levelsin their own languageor in English
with higher-levelclasses. You will need to talk to your learnersabout why Internet content
may be useful to them and discusstheir attitudes to technology in general- when they
usecomputers,and what for. Show them how the coursebookand other materialscan be
enhancedby extra materialfrom the Internet,but aboveall, make it clearthat this is not a
toy, not something that you are just using to fill in the time.
With some learnersthere may be some resistanceto regular computer use in, the
classroom.We have often found, for example,that professionalpeople view computers as
work tools rather than asresourcesfor learning.It is vital that they appreciatethat this is a
useful, as well as an entertaining, tool in the classroomand that it can contribute to their
languagedevelopment in a variety of ways,for exampleby giving them the opportunity to
build vocabulary or improve their listening skills. Lower-levelclassescan be engagedwith
visual and multimedia materials,the useof songsand other video materials.,

ELTwebsitesor authenticwebsites?
Your choice of website will depend largely on what you want to achievewith it. Many
teacherstend to steerclear of authentic websites,and by this we mean any site not created
with the languagelearnerin mind, believingthat their studentswill find them too difficult.
But, aswith all authenticmaterials,the level and languagechallengesposedby thesesites
can be largelymitigatedby the type of taskyou expectyour learnersto carry out.
A well-designedtask will allow your learnersto deal with authentic sites,guiding them
through not only the text, but also the layout and navigation problems that may otherwise
impact on their learningexperience.
It is also the casethat many learners these days are far more used to working with
computer-based text and information than they are to dealing with more traditional,

28
 Usingwebsites

paper-basedforms of text, and this familiarity with the conventions of web design can
count in your favour when deciding to useauthentic content from the Internet.
Of course there are plenty of ELI websiteswhich provide content that your learners
can use, for example languagepractice activities they can do on their own. They provide
valuable opportunities for more controlled languagework and are often a great help to
learnerswho needto brush up on certain aspectsof the languageor to preparefor an exam.
Suchsitesare often ideal for homework, accessto the Internet permitting.
Authentic sites,on the other hand, can be chosen to fit your learners' interests.This
is a key factor in keeping motivation high in your electronic classroom.When evaluating
authentic sitesfor possibleincorporation into your teaching,try to find oneswhich havean
easystructure and navigation, and with smaller chunks of text per page.Thesewill be more
approachableand understandable.Design your tasksto make them achievable,and show
your learnershow they can useonline dictionary sitesto help them - if they needthem.
Authentic sites also provide an ideal opportunity to work through the issuesof 'total
comprehension'that plenty of learnershave to deal with at some point in their studies.
They can be guided towards being comfortable with understanding the content of a site
and identifring what they needto know or find out without getting boggeddown in having
to understand everyword on the screen.

Howto flnd usefulwebsites

As already mentioned, the Internet is a vast repository of information and resources,and
it is perhaps exactly this range that makes it seem,at first, daunting and unapproachable
to most teachers.In the following two sectionswe take a look at how to find and evaluate
resourcesfor usein class.
The ability to searchthrough Internet content, and quickly and efficiently find suitable
resourcesis perhapsthe most underrated, and yet most useful,skill that both teachersand
learnerscan acquire.
For teachers,having good searchskills meansfinding useful resourcesquickly, speeding
up lessonplanning and facilitatingweb use in class.For learners,it meansbeing able to
quickly accomplishweb-basedtasks,thus ensuring that the technology enhancesthe
learning experiencerather than impeding it. It makessense,then, both to acquirethese
skills, and to spend some time sharing them with your learners.
There are three basic ways of searchingon the Internet, and we will briefly describe
them below, and look at waysof making searchesmore targetedand ef6cient.

Searchengines
Although there is a largevariety of searchengines,perhapsthe most well-known is Google
(www.google.com),which currently indexesover twelve billion web pages.
A searchengine is almost directly analogousto a telephonedirectory, or any other
databaseof storedinformation. You searchfor a name or a title, and the directory givesyou
more information about that entry. But with over twelve billion pagesto choosefrom, it's
not quite as easyto use asa phone directory. So how do you find exactlywhat you want?
The answercomes in knowing what kind of information Google actually has on each
web page that it indexes.What Google knows about a page is generally the page address
on the web, the pagetitle, when it was last updated and a few keywordsassociatedwith the

29
Chapter3

content itself. Thesekeywords are defined by the designerof the page,and can reasonably
be expectedto accurately reflect the content of the page.The key to good searchingin
Google is to define your keywordsproperly.
Sayyou havea classproject on the history of the Olympic Gamesand you want to focus
on the Barcelonagameswhich took place in 1992.This means that instead of searching
for olympicgames,youshould try something more specific:Barcelonaolympicgames1992.
In this example, more is less:the more keywords you put into the searchbox, the fewer
pageresultsyou will get.Olympic garnesgives30,500,000pages,whereasBarcelonaolympic
games1992 gives619,000 and Barcelonaolympic games1992 10000meterswomen'sgold
medal winner gives738 - with the name of the winner (Derartu Tulu - result two) clearly
visible in the top few results.

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The other techniquewhich you may find useful is to use the'phrase' searchtechnique
which involveswrapping part of a phrasein inverted commas,thus ensuring that Google
will treat the words not as individual entities, but will actually look for sentenceson web
pageswhich contain those words in that particular order.
Thus, instead of searchingfor cheaphotel in Rome,which can searchfor any or all of
thesewords, in any position and order, on a page,try searchingfor "cheap hotel in Rome"
aspart of a phraseyou might expectto find on a web page.
To elaborate on our example above, "Barcelona olympics marathon" returns only
twelve pages,since the likelihood of thesethree words being on a web page in this exact
order is significantly smaller than the chanceof the words being on a pageseparatelyin
any position.
This technique is particularly useful for finding songlyrics, where searchingfor "I never
meant to causeyou trouble" will return 11,800results,with the first result being the lyrics
of the Coldplay song,whereasa searchfor Coldplaylyrics will give you accessto 7,640,000
websites,but you will haveto visit eachone to seeif that particular song lyric is there.
The ultimate trick with Google is to try to imagine the web pageyou are looking for,
and then try to visualisethe content that is on this ideal page.This technique will help you
decide on exactlywhat to searchfor.

30
 Usingwebsites

In our next example,one learner is doing a project on the singer,Shakira,and needs

somebiographicalinformation. Searchingfor Shakiraon Googlereturns43,200,000pages.
But how exactly would biographical information be presented on a website?Perhapsa
searchfor "Shakira wasborn in" would be more useful,sincethe only possibleinformation
which could follow such a phrase would be a location or a date. This searchreturns 266
results,with the first few all leading to biographiesof the singer.

Subjectguides
Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com) currently claims to index nearly twenty billion pages, and
is still the searchvenue of choice for many people who remember when it was the only
way of searchingthe Internet. The approach here is slightly different in that Yahoo! was
never intended as a keyword searchengine,but rather asa way of browsing titles. Whereas
Google might be likened to a telephone directory, a more familiar metaphor for Yahoo!
would be that of the library, where usershave a notion of what they are looking for, but
not necessarilythe exacttitle. So,in that sense,we are invited to browse,to wander around,
rather than directly key in searchterms or words we are interestedin exploring.
Yahoo! derivesits description of subject guide from the fact that it divides its content
into subject areas,and subdivisions of those areas.Instead of a keyword searchfrom the
main page,usersbrowse the section which best reflectstheir interests,and then search.
Using Yahoo! to find our biographical information about Shakira, we would access
the Yahoo! directory by clicking on the more dropdown list at the top of the Yahoo! main
page and chooseDirectory. From there we can browse to Shakira:click on Entertainment,
then Music then Artists, and finally searchfor Shakira biography, making sure to select
the this categoryoption. What this essentiallymeans is that Yahoo! will only search in
'Entertainment - Music - Artists' rather than in its entire directory. This vields six results,
shownbelow,all of which leadto biographiesof the singer.

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Chapter3

It is worth noting that Yahoo!searchresultscan often be more accuratethan Google

resultsas they tend to lead searchersto the first pageof a website,rather than dropping
them indiscriminatelyinto the middle, wherethe chancesof confusionare higher.

Reallanguagesearches
A reallanguagesearchsuchasAsk (www.ask.com)allowsthe userto type simplequestions
as searchqueries.Thus our learnerwho is investigatingthe life and times of Shakiratypes
somethingalong the lines of WhenwasShakiraborn?insteadof a selectionof appropriate
keywords.Note that the website does not actually analyseor indeed understand the
questionitseli but rather selectsthe keywordsfrom the query ('when','Shakira','born') and
constructsa searchbasedon them.
A searchon Ask should give you a resultspagewith the answerto your question at
the top (whereAsk hasbeenableto find a direct answer),and links to relevantsitesbelow
that.
Your choiceof searchfacility will dependon how you like to work, and which siteyou
find particularlyattractiveand useful.However,it is worth taking the time to play with all
threeand to spendsometime exploringthem with your learners.Learnerscanbenefitfrom
an exposureto all three types,as they activatedifferent linguistic and mental processes.
Keywordsaregood for exploringword relationshipsand lexicalareas.Subjectsearches help
defineand re{ineideasand contexts.A real searchcan provide usefulpracticein question
formation.
A simpleway of introducing the topic of searchingthe Internet in classis to producea
trivia quiz or short'treasurehunt' type activity for your learnersto do. Give them a set of
questionsand allow them to useall three searchpagesto find the answers.Make it into a
timed quiz, with the first team to finish bringing the activity to an end. Then go over the
answersand help them to seehow to improve their searchskills.
It is at this point that you can examinewhich searchpagewasusedin eachcase,if it was
the appropriatechoice,and work togetheras a group to extrapolategeneralconclusions
about searchtechniques.

Samplefreassn hunt
llse your searchskills to find this Inbrmation:
r the nameof the presidentof the WorldBank.
r the capitalof Scotland.
r the countrythat won the 1986FIFAWorldCup.
. the authorof OfMiceandMen.
o nationalityof the architectof 'La Pedrera.
. the directorof the movie,Vorfhby Northwest.

In this examplewe can seehow a variety of approacheswould be possible- and how these
might lead to a usefuldiscussionon searchskills,aswell as somebasiclanguagework, on
question formation, for example.The first searchencouragesthe use of Google and the
'part of a sentence'approachdiscussedabove,with perhapsthe bestsearchterm being" ls
thepresidentof the WorldBank",while the secondone might work nicelyasa reallanguage
search,with learnerscoming up with the question What'sthecapitalof Scotland?
The third

)L
 Usingwebsites

searchinvolvesreformulation to be successful,perhaps Wo won the 1986FIFAWorld Cup?

Theseare the skills which are the basisof many of the activities you will do on the Internet,
so it is worth spending some time refining them and examining them a little more closely.
It is also worth consideringspecialistsitesas a sourceof information. Teachyourself
and your learnersto think a little more laterally.For example,any queriesrelatedto movies
might be better directedto the Internet Movie Database(wwwimdb.com) than a search
engine.Similarly,book information can be easilyfound on the Amazon site (wwwamazon.
com), and football World Cup information on the FIFA site (www.fifa.com).
Variations on this treasurehunt activity include learnersthen making a quiz for another
team to do. They must be able to find the answersthemselvesbefore they hand over the
task to the other team. Or the whole classcould make a quiz for you, the teacher,to do as
homework! This can be a highly motivating task for learners,as they pit themselvesand
their Internet skills againstthe teacher's.
There are also subject- or media-specificsearchsiteswhich are worth having a quick
look at,,though do bear in mind that much of what you find on media searchsites will
be subject to copyright, so pleasecheck the terms of use before including anything in any
materialsyou might make.You might like to try the following to get started:
. http://images.google.com/- Google image search,allows you to searchan
enormouscollectionof imagesin various formats.A good placeto start looking
for illustrationsfor worksheets,teachingmaterials,projectsor presentations.
o http://froogle.google.com/- Googleshoppingsearch,givesyou accessto
comparativeshopping resultsfor products. Usethis to find products you are
interestedin, read reviewsand find the best prices.
o http://video.search.yahoo.com/ - Yahoo!video searchallowsyou to searcha
large databaseof online video material by keyword or category.Ideal if you
want to demonstratesomething in a more lively way,for music videos and other
multimedia classes.
. http://www.altavista.com/video- AltaVista video searchworks in the sameway as
the Yahoo!one above,but videos are also classifiedby different formats, allowing
for a range of multimedia playersand softwareto be usedto watch them.
. http://www.altavista.com/audio/default- AltaVista audio searchgivesyou access
to a largeonline collectionof audio files.Particularlygood for searchingfor the
popular MP3 format songfiles.
. http://search.singingfish.com/sfi^/home.jsp
- SingingFish multimedia search,
combining both audio and video resultsin one interface.It has a large collection
of sources,and you can searchby category,including movies,news,TV sports
and a host of others.
. http://w.blinkx.com/ - Blinkx TV video searchallows you to searchpopular TV
broadcasterslike the BBC and CNN for short video clips on a wide variety of
subjects.Again,this is an ideal sourceof newsmaterial.
You may alsolike to try one of the meta searchsites.Theseare siteswhich searchmore than
one searchengineat the sametime, giving you, for example,the ability to searchYahoo!,
Googleand Ask from one singlepage.Examplesinclude:

33
Chapter3

o http://www.dogpile.com/ - Dogpile.
o http://www.kartoo.com/ - KartOO.
. http://www.mamma.com/ - Mamma.
You will, of course,get far more results than if you simply used one single searchengine,
but you will also get a senseof balance from a meta searchengine, as the results come
from a variety of sourcesusing a variety of searchtechniques.You will tend to get a more
rounded view of what is out there on the Internet. Concentrating on the first couple of
pagesof resultswill help reducethe potentially overwhelming quantity of data returned.
One final hint: wheneveryou visit a searchengine,be sure to click on the help link to
seewhat hints and tips the site owners recommend for improving your searchtechniques.

Howto evaluatewebsltes
Having found potentially useful websites,the next step is to evaluate how useful and
appropriate they are for the classroom.You will also need to think about the aims and
objectivesof your lesson.Does the website you have found fit in with these,and does it
enhance and complement the other materials and activities you have planned for the
class?Sometimesthe Internet content will be the core of a particular lessonbut at other
times it will merely serveas a jumping-off point into something more closelyrelated to a
particular coursebooktheme or unit, or be a sourceof extra material to follow up on the
core classroomcontent. There are various standard criteria for judging websiteswhich can
serveas a starting point for your evaluation:
I Accuracy
o Who wrote the page?Is this person an expert in the subject matter?
Checkqualifications,experience- look for an'about me'link.
o Is the pagecontent reliable and factually correct?
Cross-referencewith other similar websitesand encyclopedias.
2 Currency
o Is the content up-to-date?
Check factual information againstother reliable sources.
o When was the pagelast updated?
Check for information at the bottom/top of the page.
3 Content
o Is the site interesting and stimulating?
Considerthe content from your learners'pointof view.
. Is it attractive and easyto navigate?
Check the colour combinations, the logic of the links and visual structure.
4 Functionality
o Does the site work well?Are there any broken links?
Be sure to checkall pages,and follow all links to all pagesyou intend to use.
o Does it use a lot of large files or alternativetechnologies(e.9.FlashX
Check how quickly it loads for learners;check sound, video and animation work.

34
 Usingwebsites

It may well be that the accuracy and currency criteria, both essentiallyfactual, are not
of interest to you if you are working on a purely linguistic level, that is planning a class
that exploits the languageof the site, rather than the content itself. On the other hand,
accuracyand currency might be the most important criteria if learnersare taking notesand
interpreting information in preparation for producing a project.
Another thing to bear in mind as a languageteacher will be the linguistic accuracy
of the web page.If this is important to you, you will need to add this to your evaluation
criteria. This again will depend on the purpose of the site in your lessonplan. This is an
areaof contention among teachers,and a subjectthat almost alwayscrops up in technology
training sessions.Only you can really decide on the linguistic content of a particular site.
Spending lots of time on a site devoted to mobile phone texting languagewith a class
preparing to do an examination is probably not in the best interests of the learners,for
example.
As far as content is concerned,note that criteria such as ease-of-useand interest are
taken into account,but you may also want to consider adding a further set of criteria here
along the lines of appropriateness.In this subcategoryyou would note which groups or
levelsthe site would be suitable for and any problems you foreseewith the site itself.
Functionality will be a categorywith consequencesfor all teachers.Not only can it be
very frustrating to follow through the content of a site to be met with broken links and
missing information, but it can be equally frustrating to wait twenty minutes for a short
video to download due to the speed of your connection. Again, careful preparation and
investigation in the lessonplanning stagecan go a long way towards making the learners'
experienceenjoyableand trouble-free.
However you evaluatethe usefulnessof the websitesyou find, make sure that you keep
a record ofthe content and addressso that you begin to build up a large stock of evaluated
sites.

Planninglessonsusingthe Internet
By this stageyou will havefound, evaluatedand decidedon a collection of web pageswhich
you want to use as part of your teaching.The next area to consider is how a technology-
basedlessonplan will look in comparisonwith the sort of plansyou usuallyproduce.What
will the differencesbe?What might go wrong, and how will you deal with it?
The first thing, of course,is to plan your sessionwell: visit the websitesyou intend to
useand make sureyou know your way around them properly. Try to usesiteswhich appear
to have a potentially long 'shelf life' - ones made by large institutions and commercial
organisations,rather than personalhomepages,which have a tendencyto come and go
with alarming frequenry.
Make a note of the particular pagesyou want your learnersto work on - you can use
the Favoritesoption in Internet Explorer, or Bookmarks in Firefox to log web addressesfor
later use- and make sureyou're familiar with the content.Your ability to answerquestions
asthey arisewill add to your confidenceand also inspire confidencein your learners.
Planning a web-basedlesson,rather than one where the web content plays an ancillary
role, is not intrinsically different from planning a more traditional one.We like to divide a
typical web-basedsessioninto three parts (www): warmer, web, what next.

35
Cha pte 3
r

The warmer part of the lessonis the kind of thing we all do as a matter of course,
with introductory activities,interest-generating ideas,and so on. This part preparesyour
learnersfor what they are going to be doing in the web part of the lesson.Our view is that
this part of the lessonis best done in the familiar environmentof the normal classroom.
In the web sectionof the lesson,it's important to spendonly asmuch time asyou need
working with the computers.We prefer to take learnersto a computer room for this part
rather than spendthe entire classin there.This hasthe double advantageof allowing more
groupsto usethe room and of keepinglearnersfocusedduring their time there.It is also
an opportunity for learnersto stretchtheir legsand providesa changeof pace.On the other
hand, moving from the traditional classroomto a computer room doeshavethe potential
to disrupt your class,so careful planning of the logistics may be necessary.
If you havelimited access to computers,or perhapsonly one computerin the classroom,
you canprint off the web-basedmaterialsyou want to usewith your learnersin advance,and
simply usea print version.This is, of course,not asexcitingasusingcomputersthemselves,
but can bring the Internet into more resource-poorenvironments.
Of course,there are certain teaching situations where teachersare obliged to take their
learnersto a computer facility for one or more lessonsper week.If you do find yourself in
this position,/ou can adaptyour lessonplansto make greateruseof the Internet than we
are suggestinghere.
You may even choose to incorporate the use of websitesmore consistently into the
curriculum of the courseyou are teaching- perhapssubstituting a part of the course
materialsyou are using for websites,for examplethe reading texts or the listening material.
Howeveryou decideto do this, it must be a transparentprocessfor the learners,and they
must be ableto appreciatenot only the thought processes that havegoneinto this decision,
but also the relevanceand value of the change.This can be achievedin part by helping
learnersto cast a critical eye over the materials they work with in class,and encouraging
them to talk about what they like doing and what they don't.
It should also be born in mind that your learners will have favourite websites of
their own, and it is well worth investigatingwhether thesecan be incorporated into your
classroomteaching,partly as a motivator, but also as a link to their lives,interestsand
experiencesoutsidethe class.This againwill help them to seethe value of the technology
appliedin class.
It's worth rememberingthat onceyou put peoplebehind computer monitors, it's easy
for them to forget that you are there, and - more importantly - why they are there. So the
two vital words here are time and task.Make sure your learnershavea clearly-definedtask
to achieveand a clearly-definedtime frame in which to achieveit.
Once the group hasgot what you intended from the computers,it's time to move them
back to the classroomfor the what next stageof the lesson.This part should dealwith the
tasksset for the web part and then proceedwith more familiar follow-up activities to round
off the lesson.
Movie starsisa samplelessonplan basedon this structure.Youcanusethis asa template
for your own planning.It is worth noting that there is nothing intrinsically different from
the more traditional coursebookapproachhere- perhapsthe major value of this material
is its intrinsic motivational element: real actors being interviewed for a real programme.
This, plus the contemporarynature of most websitecontent,makethe web an idealsource
of material.

36
 U s i n gw e b s i t e s

A lessonplon - Moviestars
This is an upper-intermediateto advancedlessonconcentratingon famous movie stars
and their livesand work. The languageareascoveredare:askingand answeringquestions,
reacting to information, and showing interest. Learners will also explore interview
techniques,and waysof interactingon a sociallevel.The classusesthe BBC website,and its
sectiondevotedto The Film Programmeon BBC Radio4, which you can seebelow.

Setuday 5.30pn.6pm

*Es=f86= $i#tiffi* Qulz:at

Bost of Th€ Film Programme Intsvld's

Oontact it8
fi/r2lAXF - Eeot of 2005

71/2008- Ftlm Gub: Bullltt

18/2/2008- Geoqe Ooonefl

3/9/2006- Ths Oscars

1##AX)8- &hn Wllltarns

195/2006-Sydnq Poltadt

Warmer
Introduce the subjectby talking about learners'favouritemovie starsand their work. At
this level,a simple classdiscussionwill work fine, but be preparedto prompt with various
subjectareas:favourite movies,recentvisits to the cinema,forthcoming films, best and
worst films. and so on.

37
Cha pte3r

Samplewarmer
Talkto your partner.
r Whatkindof filmsdo youlike?
r Whoareyourfavouriteactors?
r What'sthe bestfi[myou'veeverseen?
r What'sthe worstfitmyou'veeverseen?
r Whendid youlastgo to thecinema?

Which movie star would they like to interview,giventhe chance,and what would they ask
that person?

Web
Haveyour learnersvisit the siteand find an actor they areinterestedin - theseareall audio
interviews,with no transcripts.Thereis plenty of choice- note that interviewsarearchived
by year.
Let each learnerchoosean interview to listen to, and ask them to make notes on
the main themesdealtwith, and to examinehow the interviewis constructed- how the
interactionswerestartedand developed(seetaskbelow).

Sampletask sheet
Listen to your choseninterview.
r Who was interviewed? Who was the interviewer?
r What topicswere discussed?
r Howdid the interviewerconstructthe interview?
- introduction
- initiatouestions
- reactionsto answers
- foltow-upquestionsand comments
- conclusions
r How did the interviewee
react?
- gettingstarted
- answersto questions
- additionalinformation
- conclusions
r Makea note of someof the usefutinterviewexpressions.

Whatnext
Give eachlearnera chanceto report backon what they listenedto, who was interviewed
and what the main themesof the interview were.What did they find out and what would
they haveliked to havefound out, but didn't?
Developinga conversationwith someoneis a difficult skill to acquirein another
language.Elicit some of the ways they heard the interviewer and intervieweeworking
togetherto constructthe dialogue.Write someof the languageand techniquesup on the
boardand analysestructures, purpose,and so on.

38
 Usingwebsites

There are plenty of follow-up activities to do here,including:

. speakingactivity: an interview.
Give eachpair a role (famous person or interviewer) and havethem conduct an
interview. This could also be recordedor videoed for later languagework.
o writing activity:'a day in the life'.
This is often seenin UK Sundaynewspapersupplements,where a famous person
is interviewed about a day in their life, or a particularly interesting day in the past
week.
o writing activity: an interview.
As for the speakingactivity above,but styled for amagazineor newspaper.This
could be done individually, or in pairs - with one writing the questions,the other
the answers.This could be presentedasan email interview.
o writing activity: a biography.
'A more formal written piece,exploring the life of a famous person.This might
involve more researchon the Internet.
Working with professionalsat higher levels,you might also like to consider the differences
in languageand registerbetweena socialinterview like the one they listened to and a more
formal job interview.

Worklngwlth lowerlevelsof languateproficlency

One of the most often askedquestions is if it is possibleto work with lower-level classes
and the Internet. The simple answer is that it is, of course,feasiblebut that the choice of
websiteswill be far more limited than for higher levels.
Afamiliarworryforlowerlevels is howmuch of a giventextthe studentswillunderstand.
Lower-level learners often feel they have to understand everything and this will lead to
problems, if not dealt with beforehand.
Choosing the right websitescan go some way towards raising their comfort levels,
though you may need to have shorter lessonsthan the higher level one describedabove.
Websiteswhich are more suitable for lower levelswill include:
. websiteswith simple, clearly presentedtext.
o websiteswith non-linguistic data which is easyto interpret (e.g.data in the form
of a chart, such as a weather page).
o websiteswith visuals- a task can be basedaround the visualsonly.
r ELI websites,where the content hasbeen written, edited and preparedwith this
audiencein mind.

39
Cha pte 3
r

Borrowedwords
This is a low-level lessonconcentratingon different Ianguagesand the words they have
contributedto English.The languageareascoveredare countriesand languages. The class
usesthe KryssTal:BorrowedWords in Englishwebsite:

urourdon. hnaur6.a
Frf T€n S Sr4rb ad art b bm b4!4o olss on
ht I @, Fd d.tury
ffib9ur9m&.o_uk

The EnglishLanguage
Words Borrowedfrom Other Languages
ErElish Isngu€qo hss d ffi m@nt of wd€ thst hde b66n bonu^€d (q loarEd) lm oth€r langua96, lhis b a colleti@ ol tsud listino wds lm ttre many i
Jags that heo cortdhn€d wds io Engiish. Fd sm6 lsr€!6q6 lh9 wd list is completo; ld olhd8 (F@h, Grek, Latin, Amtic, Spqnish) diy a ssl*ti6 of l
,$€d w& i6 (ivs a lh€B @ so marry.

us€6 re listed dphsbelicai dds. Oick m a ldtd link bdw to tird a la.Eoo0o. Click tho link lo go to a tado of w& bo.ro^€d ido Engtish lM that lsngue0a. I
'n
e i8 a brief BxCeatid lq mct wds ard lhe origlml lltsel m$ing il €lfrwiato.
I
a cca EE qH r J(!M !
NoEoB s r l J v w x y e i

Warmer
Ask your learnersif they know of any words in their own language that have come from
other languages.Build up a chart on the board.You may need to help with the English
versions.
Odginal Orlginal Odginal lbur Your Word English
country language word country language in your version
language
Spain Spaniah paella Sweden 9wadish paella paella
[apanak
maffattJ

Web
Put the learnersinto pairs (StudentA and StudentB) and giveeachlearnera copy of the
chart opposite.Givethem time on the websiteto completetheir column,leavingthe other
column blank for the next phaseof the activity.Note that theywill not only needto identifr
the languageand country for the given words, but also find words to go with the given
languages or countries.

40
 Usingwebsites

Bonowedwordsin English
lfse the websiteto completeyour part of the table.

In the npxt phasethey will need to ask their partner questionsto complete the other half
of the chart. Go over the questionsthey will need to ask, as in the examples(for Student
A) given below:
o What languagedoesthe word saunacome from?
o What country doesparachutecome from?
. Can you tell me a Russianword used in English?
Give eachpair some time to ask and answerthe questions,and complete the table. Provide
feedbackon a model table on the board and help out with any vocabulary problems which
may havearisen.

Whotnext
This is an ideal opportunity to do more work with the country and languagevocabulary
areascoveredabove.You may also want to brainstorm English words which are currently
used in your learners'languages,and build up their collectivevocabulary in this way.
An additional follow-up project idea is for learnersto'collect'English words they find
in their environment, if they live in a non-English speaking country e.g. English words
on TV, or on advertising billboards and signs. These could be added to a poster in the
classroom.

Webteachlngdos and don'ts

Planning carefully and adopting a structured approach to the way you use websitesin the
classroomshould give you the confidence to try out different ways of introducing your
learnersto Internet content.
Most of the time you will be using websitesto provide your learnerswith knowledge
and content which they perhapsdo not know or would normally not have accessto, or to
supplement more traditional course materials. This can be highly motivating for them,
leading to more languageproduction and a higher stakein the successof the class.
It is worth bearing in mind that it is not necessarilythe'all-singing, all-dancing'websites
- oneswith a lot of animation, video, audio or other multimedia content - which will be of
most interest or use in your classrooms.Don't discount simple text-basedwebsiteswhich
might be very beneficial in your own context.Apart from anything else,they are lesslikely
to malfunction or causeproblems when you go to usethem.

4l
Cha pte 3
r

However,havingsaidall this, things can and sometimesdo go wrong. To round offthis

chapter,here are a few considerationsand some contingency plans:
I Wheneveryou usetechnology you should alwayshavea backup plan in place.
There might be times when the websitesare down, or the computers crashor,
worse still, the electricity goesoff. So be prepared.
2 Use the knowledgeof other teachersand of your learnersto help you with the
technical side of the lesson.We often team teachwith lessexperiencedteachers,
taking careof the small technical problems which occasionallyarise,and leaving
them free to enjoy the technology and to teach.Asking tech-sawy learnersto
assisttakesthe pressureoffyou and also givesthem some investment in the
outcome of the class.
successfi.rl
3 If it's a lessonthat involvesrelatively few web pages,try savingthem to your
computerhard disk. From Internet Explorer,choose'File..."SaveAs...' then give
the file a name and makesurethe'Web Page,complete'option is selected.This
will savethe web pageand all its imagesand you'll be able to open the pageseven
if the connection goesdown. You could evengo so far asto print them out.
4 Unlessyou are working on something like an email pen pal exchange,it is rarely
conduciveto havelearnersworking alone on computers.Pairsare best,but
three to a computer can alsowork fine - just make sure that everyonegetsa
turn in the'driving seat'.Pairwork and small-group work will help to encourage
oral communicationand break down the'computer asbarrier'effectoften
prevalent in technology-basedclasses.For the one computer classroom,use of
the computer can be rotated betweensmall groups,with the groups who are
not working on the computer occupied with other stagesof the samelesson,for
examplepreparing a poster or text.
5 As was mentioned in Chapter 1, try to arrangethe computer room in such a way
that you can easilymaintain control over learner activities.An ideal layout is to
havethe computers around the outside walls of the class- allowing you to view
what is on eachscreenand to help should the need arise- and a central table
where learnerscan congregatefor more communicative activities.This table will
also serveas a storageplacefor pens,books and dictionaries, and thus help keep
the computers free of clutter and easyto use.
6 Not all of the content that you come acrosswith your learnerswill necessarilybe
suitable for them. The wonder of the Internet is that it catersfor a wide variety of
people,interestsand tastes,so much so that you are almostbound to encounter
what you consider to be questionablecontent at some point in your exploration,
and the samecan safelybe said of your learners.We have generallyfound an
open discussionabout the kind of things the group considersacceptablein class
hasbeen enough to put an end to any further unsuitable exploration, but if you
work in a context where this is likely to be a bigger issuethen you may need to
take more robust stepssuch as installing filtering softwarealong the lines of Net
Nanny (www.netnanny.com),which will limit accessto a wide range of content
which can be user-specifiedand controlled.

42
 Usingwebsites

Bearingin mind all thesesuggestions

- andtfing into accountthe successfulcombination
of these evaluating
searching, and planningskills- you shouldnow be in a position to fully
explorethe webwith your learners.

Concluslong I h thischopterwe
have:
r considered the differencebetweenEFl-related andauthenticwebsites.
r lookedat howto find websitesusingdifferenttypesof searchengine.
r how
considered to evaluatea websitefor classroom use.
r lookedat lesson planning usingInternetresources,at bothhigherandlowerlevels.
I provideda list of Internetteachingdosanddon'ts.

43
 lnternet-based
proiectwork
r WhydoInternet-based r lnternet-based
slmulatlons
profectwork? r Webquests
r Baslcprofects r Webquest creation

profectwork?
tthy do Internet-based
A natural progressionfrom using individual web pagesand websitesin the classroomis to
move on to online project work. This will be an extensionof the kind of individual-lesson
work we have looked at in Chapter 3 and will involve the use of the Internet over a series
of lessons.There are many compelling reasonsfor using Internet-based projects in the
classroom:
I They are a structured way for teachersto begin to incorporate the Internet into
the languageclassroom,on both a short-term and a long-term basis.No specialist
technical knowledgeis neededeither to produce or to use Internet-basedprojects.
However,it is certainly true that they will take time to plan and design,so it
is well worth looking around on the Internet to seeif something appropriate
alreadyexistsbefore sitting down to createyour own project.
2 More often than not, they are group activities and, as a result,lend themselvesto
communication and the sharing of knowledge,two principal goalsof language
teaching itself. The useof projects encouragescooperativelearning, and therefore
stimulatesinteraction.
3 They can be used simply for languagelearning purposes,but can also be
interdisciplinary, allowing for cross-overinto other departments and subject
areas.This can often give them a more'real-world'look and feel, and provide
greatermotivation for the learner.
4 They encouragecritical thinking skills. Learnersare not required to simply
regurgitateinformation they find, but haveto transform that information in
order to achievea given task.
In the context of doing project work, the Internet can be thought of as an enormous
encyclopediabecauseit gives our learners quick accessto a wealth of information which
they can useto carry out their project tasks.A good exampleof such a sourceis Wikipedia
(www.wikipedia.org), a collaborative encyclopedia produced by and for the Internet
community. Wikipedia hasthousandsof articleson many different subjects,and is an ideal
placeto start when doing project work that requiresfactual information about people and

44
 proiectwork
Internet-based

places.We will be examining Wikipedia and other online referencetools in greaterdetail

in Chapter8.
Project work online can range from a simple low-level project like making a poster
presentation about a famous person to high-level investigative work where learners
researcha subjectand presentpolemical views and opinions in a report or debate.In order
to prepare for Internet-basedproject work, you will need to do the following:
o Choose the project topic
Will your learnersbe researchingfamous people,an event or an issue?
r Make the task clear
What information will they need to find - biographical, factual,views and
opinions?
o Find the resources
Which websiteswill your learnersneed to visit? Do thesewebsitescontain the
jnformation they need and are they at the right level?Referback to Chapter 3 for
more ideason selectingand evaluatingwebsites.
o Decide on the outcome
What is the final purpose of the project?For example,will your learnersbe
making a poster,a presentationor holding a debate?

Basicprofects
A low-levelproject- My fovouriteactor
For this project you will need:
o three lessonperiods of at least45 minutes each (two if the first lessonis done for
homework).
. accessto the Internet for the secondand third ofthe three suggested
lessons.
. word processingsoftwaresuch asMicrosoft Word or OpenOffice.
This is a common topic for project work, but our experiencehas been that learnersrarely
know more than the basicsabout their favourite actor, pop star or sports personality and
certainly not usually enough for a full project. This is where the Internet comes into its
own, providing the information they will need to fill the gapsin their knowledge.
This particular project aims to provide the opportunity to focuson theselanguageareas:
countries,nationalities,dates,places,past tenses,likesand dislikes,and opinions. During
the project, learnersresearchtheir favourite actor and preparea poster presentationabout
them. This is also an ideal opportunity to tie in some of the skills we have coveredboth
in Chapter2 (word processing)and in Chapter3 (searchingand using websites),showing
your learnersthe real value of acquiring theseskills.

Firstlesson
If you are short of classtime, a good deal of this first lessoncan be done for homework and
then finished offwith the collaborative element in the secondlesson.Be careful, however,
to emphasisethat what you are looking for at this stageis what they alreadyknow, and that
they do not need to go to the Internet for any information at all.

45
Cha pte 4
r

Haveyour Iearnerswrite down the name of their favouriteactor and mind-map what
they know about him or her.Usethe following asa guide:

PRIVATE
LIFE
EIACK GROUND

JOH N NY
Ef EPP

AWARDS

Once they havewritten down what they knoq havethem make a list of things they don't
know, but would like to find out.

Secondlesson
This secondlessonrequiresa fair bit of work on the part of you, the teacher.If you think
you may be short of time, limit the namesof actorsin the first lessonto a small selection
that you havealreadyresearched.
Beforethe lessonyou will needto find useful sitesto match the choiceof actorsyour
learnersmade.Make sure that they are simple enough for the level,and include as much
of the information sought as possible.You can usethe skillsyou acquiredin Chapter3 to
accomplishthis. Rememberthat for biographicalinformation you can searchusing a part
phrasesuchas"lohnnyDeppwasborn ln". Alternatively,and if your learnersarecomfortable
with searchingand dealingwith websites,havethem find their own. In this lesson,your
learnerswill visit the identifiedsitesand completetheir mind-map, asfar aspossible.
In the next stage,you will need to provide them with a model biography.Check out
Wikipedia for examples(e.g.http:i/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lohnny_Depp)and rewrite one
exampleto your students'language level.You may decideto do somecomprehensionwork
on your model text at this time, working on the structuresand vocabularyareasthat you
want them to include in their biographies.

46
 proiectwork
Internet-based

Third lesson
This third lessoninvolvesmaking the final product. By now your learnerswill havecollected
all the information they need and will alsohaveseenyour model biography,so they should
be in a position to come up with one of their own.
One way of doing this is to havethem preparea short text basedon the model from the
previous lesson,and then to work this up into a poster (using Microsoft Word or similar)
with illustrations and photographs also taken from the Internet. Rememberthat you can
usehttp://images.google.comfor relevant images.
Pleaserememberthat much of what you find on the Internet will be copyright material,
so pleaseensurethat you check that you are able to use the information and imagesyou
find. In the education field this is not normally a problem -'fair use'of copyright materials
is flexible when it comesto classroomuse and a picture or two from a site such as Google
will be acceptableas long as you keep the materials in the classroom or your learners'
homesand they are not published anywhere.When in doubt, however,it is best to email the
owner of the site you are using to checkthat they do not mind. Their final projects might
look somethinglike this:
Elementarv
!t,lr lt2.t'

AAYFAVOUR]TE
ACTOR
iAr.JoftnnyD€pp

$ HisnameisJohnnyDepp,
tl Heis,f4 yearso$.
* HeisAmerican.
* Hewasbornin Kentucky.
'1, Heisanactor.
* HefivesinFrance.
*l Heis marded.

47
Chap te4r

A high-levelproject- Globalwarming
This project aims to provide learnerswith the opportunity of examining a seriousissue
in depth.You may want to work beforehandon someof the languageareasusefulfor the
activity,for examplegiving opinions,agreeingand disagreeing.However,this will depend
on the level of your learners.It is ideal for groups at an upper-intermediatelevel and
above.
Whilethelower-levelprojectwehavejustlookedat isanidealopportunityfordeveloping
specificcommunication skills,this project goesdeeperinto a topic and encouragesmore
complex thinking and reasoningprocesses. With higher-levelprojectslike this one there
is plenty of opportunity for cross-curricularapplications,working with teachersin other
departmentswherepossible,and for coveringother areasof the overallsyllabusaboveand
beyondthe teachingof English.For this projectyou will need:
o threelessonperiodsof at least45 minuteseach.
. accessto the Internet for the first and possiblysecondof the threesuggested
lessons.
r optionally,accessto video recordingequipmentfor the third lesson.

Firstlesson
This lessoncan easilybe done in 45 minutes,but learnerswould benefit from more time
for their researchinto the topic and for the subsequentdiscussionof their findings,if that
time is available.
Brainstormwhat your learnersknow about globalwarming. Usethis chart asa starting
point:
Globatwanning
Evldence
for Evidence fountries Fossibteeffects Fossible B
agblnst Involved solutions

Now divide them into five groups,one for each topic in the table above.Thke them to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global-warmingas a starting point, and give them time to
add to their column. They may alsousetheir own searchskillsto find out more, if there is
time. Return to whole classdiscussion,and discussthe contentsof the refinedtable.

Secondlesson
This secondlessonwill alsofit into a 45-minute period, but againthe depth and quality of
their preparationwill improve if they are given more time. Sincein the third lessonthey
will be role-playinga televisiondebate,you might also like to encouragethem to think
about how they can enhancethe final product with, for example,the use of props and
arrangementof the furniture.

48
 proiectwork
Internet-based

Divide the classinto four groups,working towards a specialtelevision debateon global

warming:
o TV debatepresenters.
o scientistswho deny that global warming exists,or that it is potentially dangerous.
o environmental campaignerswanting to inform the public of the dangers.
o TV studio audience.
In the third lessonyou will have the actual debate,so now they must prepare their section
ofthe debate.
o Presenters
Decide which areasyou want to cover in the televiseddebate.Who will speak
first? How long will they speakfor? Will interruptions and questionsbe permitted
and how will you managethem?What questionswill you need to ask?How will
you deal with difficult speakers,or members of the public? Will you need any
visual aids for vour introduction?
r Scientists
Look back at what your group discoveredin the'evidence against'column of
the global warming table in the last lesson.It's your job to convince the studio
audience,and the viewing public, that global warming doesnot really exist,and is
certainly not dangerous.Your view is that it is a naturally occurring phenomenon
and not man-made. Decide on your arguments,and prepareany visual elements
you may need to illustrate your points.
o Environrnentalists
Look back at what your group discoveredin the'evidence for'and'countries
involved'columns of the global warming table in the last lesson.It's your job
to convince the studio audience,and the viewing public, that global warming
doesexist,and is definitely dangerous.Your view is that it is man-made, and the
product of certain countries. Decide on your arguments,and prepare any visual
elementsyou may need to illustrate them.
r Studio audience
You may decideindividually on your views of global warming, basedon what
you found out in the last lesson- look back at the global warming table for a
reminder. If you decidethat you do not believein global warming, preparea
couple of questionsor statementsto support the scientists(evidenceagainst).
If you opt to support the environmentalists,prepare a couple of questionsor
statementsin their favour. If you adopt a more pragmatic view, that (rather than
worrying about the causeand whose fault it is) we should insteadbe looking at
waysof dealing with rising global temperatures(possiblesolutions), then prepare
a couple of questionsfor that standpoint.
Eachgroup should nowprepare their role, doing further researchif necessarSand preparing
charts and other visual aids if they will be of help to them.

49
Chapte 4
r

Thirdlesson
Hereyour learnerswill havethe actualdebate.If it is possible,simulatea TV studio in your
classroomby moving the tablesand chairsaround,creatingspacesfor the four groupsand
encouragingyour learnersto decoratethem. If they have props, arrangeeverythingand
preparefor the programme.
The presenterswill be in chargeof the debate,and ultimately responsiblefor what
happens.If you haveaccessto a video camera,you may want to record it for later playback.
It can be particularlyvaluablefor examiningthe languageusedin the processand for error
correction.A simple home video camerashould suffice,but ensurethat lighting in the
room is adequatefor filming, and encourageeveryoneto speakas clearly as possibleto
achievegood audio quality.That is more important than the quality of the video.If you're
alreadyadeptat video editing,takethe programmehome and add sometitles and music to
end up with a polishedproduction.
Make surethat the stagesof debatedo not overrun.The worst thing that can happenis
that you run out of time to concludethe debateproperly.

Internet-based
simulations
Internet-basedsimulationsbring real-lifecontextsto the classroom,helping our learners
to deal with situationsthat they may come acrossduring foreign travel or in encounters
with other speakersof English.The more traditional approachhas teacherscutting up
preparedrole-cardsin order to simulatethesecontexts.The Internet largelydoesawaywith
this approach,giving learnersaccessto authentic websitesthat provide stimulating and
relevantcontent that enablesthem to carry out thesesimulations.Simulationslike these
work particularlywell in the field of businessEnglish,where the languagelearning is very
task- or goal-oriented,but they alsowork well with generalEnglishlearnerswho may have
lessclearlydefinedreasonsfor using English,aswe will seebelow

A businessEnglishsimulation
This samplesimulation looks at the caseof a personalassistanthaving to organisetheir
manager'sbusinesstrip to the United Kingdom. The benefit of this kind of simulation is
that it usesreal websites,and a potentially real situation,to further the learner'sreading,
inforrnation processing,planning and communication skills.As an additional benefit, it
also addressestechnology skills that are useful in this professionalcontext.
Of course,a busyteacheris not going to preparecomplexsimulationssuchasthis on a
daily basis,but for occasionalactivitiesthey reallycan bring home not only how usefulthe
Internet is for busy professionalpeople,but can also be an important confidencebooster
for learners.Working through carefully guided but complex tasks such as these - tasks
which havea direct relation to what they do in their work - can reinforce the value of their
languageclasses and keepmotivation high.
In this particular simulation,we takethe caseof a learnerwho communicatesprimarily
in the written form, usingletters,faxesand emails.It is this factorthat influencesthe nature
of the tasksin the simulation (seeopposite).
 Internet-basedproj ect w ork

Situation
Yourbossworksfor the Barcelona officeof Candlewhite
Consutting andhasto go to
theUnitedKingdom at theendof the month.Themeeting itineraryhasbeenprepared
by yourcompanytheadofficein London,but the logisticsof the trip havebeenleft to
you.Lookat yourbosst itinerarybelow.
It'syourresponsibilityto getyourbossto eachmeeting on time,organising travel
ticketsanditineraries,andto arrange suitable
accommodation for eachnight.Foreach
day,organise transport allowingyourbossto getto the meetings on time,anda good
hotelto restin at the endof the day.Remember, she'sa heavysmokerandsheneeds
Internetaccess in herhotelroom.Thefollowing websiteswill helpyou:
Travel Accommodation
.http://thetrainline.com ohttp;//www.hotels-london.co.ulV
ohttp://www.opodo.co.uld ohtt p://www.manchesteronli ne.co.uk/hotels/
rhttp ://www.glasgowguide.co,uklhotels.htmI
rhttp:/Aruww.aferry.to/stranraer-ferry.htm
. http://belfast.
gtahotels.coml
r http://www.city-visito htmI
r.com/bristoVhotels.

ldnerary- Sralrina Taneias

Primary officevisits

Date Moming Afternoon Evening

11 10:oo*12:oo 12:OO-14:OO 19:O0
Briefing, London office Lunch,Directors Dinner,Manchester
office
t2 10:O0-13ioO 16:oo-17:oo 20;o0
Briefing,Manchester Opera
Afternoontea, Liverpool Manchester
office branch House- RockyHorror
Show
13 09:3O-11;3O 13:oo-15roo FREETIME
Briefing, Glasgow office Lunch,Glasgowoffice
t4 11:OO-13:OO TIME
FREE 20:oo
Briefing,Belfastoffice Dinnermeeting,Bristol
office

Youwill needto find ftights,trainsor ferriesand to work out whichis the best
way of gettingfrom meetingto meeting.Notedown pricesand timetables.For
accommodation, checkonlinebookingformsto ensurethat roomsare availabte,
and also note down the cost.Youmayalso needto emailto ensurelate check-ins,
earlycheck-outs and otherspecificssuchas smokingroomsand lnternetaccess.
Fill in the chart on page 52 as you get the information.

51
Chap ter4

Date Moming Afternoon Evening

10 Flight:Barcetona-LondonLondonhotel
Flightnumber: Hotetname:
Departure time: Address:
ArrivaItime: Bookingname:
Price: Price:
11 Transport:London- Manchester hotel
Manchest€r (z nights)
Type: Hotetname:
Departure time/place: Address;
Arrivaltime: Bookingname:
Price: Price:
t2 Transport:Manchester- Transport:Liverpootr
Liverpool Manchester
Type: Type:
Departure time/place: Departure timelplace:
Arrivaltime: Arrivaltime:
Price: Price:
13 Transport:
Manchester- Transport:Glasgow-
Glasgow Betfast
Type: Type:
Departuretime/place: Departure time/place:
Anivaltime: ArrivaItime:
Price: Price:
Belfasthotet:
Hotelname:
Address:
Bookingname:
Price:
74 Transport:Belfast-Bristol
Type:
Departure time/place:
Arrivaltime:
Price:
Bristothote[:
Hotelname:
Address:
Bookingname:
Price:
15 Transport:Bristot-London Flight:London-Barcetona
Type: Ftightnumber:
Departure timelplace: Departuretime:
Arrivaltime: Arrivaltime:
Price:
Totalcost:

Whenyou haveall the informationyou need,preparea writtenreportfor your

boss,detailing
thecomplete itinerary
includingall travel,accommodation,meeting
andentertainmentinformation.

52
 l n t e r n e t - b a s epdr o i e c tw o r k

A generolEnglishsimulation
As observedabove,simulationsneed to addresspotentialreal-lifesituationsin order to
appealto the learner.The business-oriented exampleaboveis a clearcaseof this approach,
but how can this kind of activity be preparedfor Iearnersof generalEnglish?
The activity abovecould easilybe adaptedfor a more generalcontextby turning it into
a holidaybeingplannedby a group of friends,or evena schooltrip. In this context,small
groupswould plan an itineraryaround the United Kingdom,researching traveloptions,
accommodation and things to do in eachplacevisited.
This might be presentedasan award
givento the students, with a limited budget,making the actual more
logistics challenging,
but more real.Shortersimulationsarealsopossible,asin this example.

Situation
As chairperson of the studentcommitteeyou havebeennominatedto presentthe
studentawardsthis year.Yourjob is to proposethe prizesto be given,and to arrange
for them to be boughtand delivered.Thereare threeprizes:
r Beststudent- €3oo prizemoney
winner:FrancineDumas,r7 - interests:computers,science.
o Bestvolunteer- €z5o prizemoney
winner:PawelKrajka,r5 - interests:the environment,
hiking,travel.
r Bestsportingachievement - €2oo prizemoney
winnerrPabloCastro,t5 - interests:extremesports,ctimbing,camping.
Yourcommitteehas decidedto buy the prizesonline.Visitthe fotlowingontine
shoppingsitesand find threepossibleprizesfor eachperson.
o http:llwww.amazon.co.uk
o http:l/www.pcworld.co.uk
. uk
http://www.dell.co.
o http://www.expedia.co.uk
r http://www.opodo.co.uk
r http:/lwww.extremepie.com
r http:/lwww.simplyhike.co.uk
e http://www.blacks.co.uk
r http://www.gear'zone.co.uk
. http://www.ecoshop.com.au
Completethis chart.Remember to includea pictureof eachpotentialprize,as well as
the site it is availablefromand the price.
Ferson Suggestionr z
Suggestion Suggestion
3
Francine
Pawel
Pablo

Nowwrite a short reportfor the committee,explainingthe threepossiblechoicesfor

eachpersonand makinga personalrecommendation aboutwhichone you feelshould
be bought.Includeyour chart.

53
Chapter4

Webquests
Webquests are mini-projects in which a large percentageof the input and material is
supplied from the Internet. Webquestscan be teacher-madeor learner-made,depending
on the learning activity the teacher decides on. What makes webquestsdifferent from
projects or simulations is the fairly rigid structure they have evolvedover the years,and it
is this structure - and the processof implementing webquestsin the classroom- that we
will be exploringhere.
Bernie Dodge, a Professorof Educational Technology at San Diego State University,
was one of the first people to attempt to define and structure this kind of learning activity.
According to him, a webquestis 'an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the
information that learnersinteract with comesfrom resourceson the Internet'. He goeson
to identifr two t)?es of webquest:
o Short-term webquests
At the end of a short-term webquest,a learner will havegrappled with a
significant amount of new information and made senseof it. A short-term
webquestmay spreadover a period of a couple of classesor so, and will involve
learnersin visiting a selectionof sitesto find information, and using that
information in classto achievea set of learning aims.
e Longer-termwebquests
After completing a longer-term webquest,a learner will have analyseda body of
knowledge deeply,transforming it in some way.They will havedemonstrated
an understanding of the material by creating something that others can respond
to, online or offline. This is the big differencebetweenthe longer-term and
short-term webquests- learnershaveto transform the information they acquire,
turning it into a new product: a report, a presentation,an interview or a survey.
Longer-term webquestsmight last a few weeks,or even a term or semester.'
Webquestshavenow been around long enough for them to havea clearly-definedstructure.
However, this structure, while being unofficially recognisedas the definitive schemafor
these activities, should only really be taken as a basic guideline and you should design
your webqueststo suit the needs and learning styles of your group. In the example,we
will be examining an ELT webquest about responsibleconsumerism. It ls designed for
intermediate-levellearners.There are usually four main sectionsto a webquest:

Stept - lntroduction
This stageis normally used to introduce the overall theme of the webquest.It involves
giving background information on the topic and, in the languagelearning context, often
introduces key vocabulary and conceptswhich learnerswill need to understand in order to
complete the tasksinvolved.
In the exampleopposite,learnersareintroducedto the ideaof responsibleconsumerism
by consideringvarious scenariosrelevant to their own circumstances.

54
 proiectwork
lnternet-based

Yq loorl xfduld rair rly.5lcb6 poadoorbF. nay'ta

&o rldlt clr..F (}rAy.frt n llJ. yoothd 0ro&p.6 m&
fm poario.. *$n D gbLd byot{ttn Urldb tm,lh.
oElttnnndp.|d. lh.'sl( 12lil adry. A|trye.t L.bld
rd o ffi*|e [pl, lilay of fm s !lc* ard u.$tFy,
Q[dw lrbfr mt lq ArylO ltp artq?

Stepz -Tosk
The task section of the webquestexplainsclearly and preciselywhat the learnerswill have
{o do as they work their way through the webquest.The task should obviously be highly
motivating and intrinsically interesting for the learners,and should be firmly anchored in
a real-life situation. This often involvesthe learnersin a certain amount of role-playwithin
a given scenario,as in the example,'Youare a team of investigativereporters'.

TAST

Vd il | lm d hr[tleal$ raotln. Ya nmpapcr ho

deiad tcr rb i..f d |mchg it malioJ arDldtdiE
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!ildra.d Jd irlcbd Yulob h !o Frl!. . Slt of t|c rd hd
2lirsk O|e bru.trm, 0d r |tpoi io l$lit ytr lbl.

Step3 - Process
The processstageof a webquestguidesthe learnersthrough a set of activities and research
tasks,using a set of predefined resources.
These resources are predominantly Internet-based, and are usually presented in
clickable form, that is, as a set of active links to websiteswithin the task document. It's
important to bear in mind that it's much easierto click on a link than to type it in with any
degreeof accuracy.

55
Chapter4

lflho Mada lty Tralnoc? How To 8e A

Ferponrlbh Consumor
PROCE3A
OFESOIJFCES
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7. Odlon|l Fo[of.tbTart
3 Process

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iliIEf , Fu ril n6d to Frds th.

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(L|dvltrd)

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4 Products

In the caseof a language-basedwebquest,as opposed to a purely content-basedone, the

processstageof the webquestmay introduce or recyclelexical areasor grammatical points
which are essentialto the task. The processstageof the webguestwill usually have one or
sometimesseveral'products'which the learners are expectedto present at the end. These
'products'will often form the basisof the evaluation stage.

Step 4 - Evoluation
The evaluation stagecan involve learners in self-evaluation,comparing and contrasting
what they have produced with other learners,and giving feedbackon what they feel they
havelearnt and achieved.
It will also involve teacherevaluation, and good webquestswill give guidance to the
teacherfor this particular part of the process.SinceBernie Dodge developedhis model in
1995,many educatorshave addedboth to the theory and the practice of webquests,and it
is now possibleto find severalgood examplesof them in many different subjectareas.

56
 projectwork
Internet-based

Who Made My Tralnenr? How To Be A

Fcrponalble Conaurner
SELF.a'ALIJATION
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fndvhdy) wi. E oo.iFhlo ln Eqibh d &otn 260 - flD !r.rb,
ffifr!DEqFfl6:

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z Ylhd dd I lm.bort lh. lorlo! n Breh.d?
3. Horiddmy Endch lmwv.dolrlglhb prdEl?

E {. llhra dd I Lrn sbod ulne lh. lnaffpl?

t'lrls! | b r!dy, fiv. mr lc{qrftdlon lo }ew tetr,

5 Evaluation 6
Webquestcreatlon
Creating a webquest does not require much detailed technical knowledge. It is relatively
easy to produce a professional-looking and workable design using any modern word
processor.The skillset for producing a webquestis very similar to what we explored earlier
for planning Internet-basedlessons,and might be defined as follows:
. Researchskills (seeChapter 3)
It is essentialto be able to searchthe Internet and to quickly and accuratelyfind
resources.The best searchenginescurrently availableare Google (www.google.
com) for wide searchesover a large databaseof websitesand Yahoo! (www.yahoo.
com) for a more theme-basedapproach.
r Analytical skills (seeChapter 3)
It is also very important to be able to casta critical eyeover the resourcesyou do
find when searching.The Internet was once describedas'vanity publishing gone
mad', and it is worth bearing in mind that quality is not guaranteed.Make sure
to check out any websiteyou are considering using thoroughly before basingany
activity around it. Simply becausethe author of a websitebelieveselephantsto be
bulletproof - a real example- doesn't mean that they really are.
. Word processing skills (seeChapter 2)
You will also need to be able to usea word processorto combine text, imagesand
weblinks into a finished document. This particular set of skills can be acquired
quickly and easily.
Before sitting down to plan a webquest- as noted at the start of this chapter - it is always
worth searchingaround on the Internet to seeif someonehas produced something which
might fit your needs.There are plenty of webquest'repositories',so there is little point in
reinventing the wheel. Use Google to havea good look round before you do the hard work
yourself - try a searchfor ELI webquests- or start with one of thesesites:
. http://wwwwebquest.org
o http://www.fi .muni.czllCT4Ell/websites/webquests-nepouzivase.html
o http://www.theconsultants-e.com/webquests/
Chapter4

In the event that you do have to design and produce your own webquest,Tom March, a
colleagueof Bernie Dodge,has produced a flow chart for the designprocess,which you can
seeopposite.Let's examinehow the processworks.

Exploringthe possibilitiesstage
In this section we decide what we're going to base our webquest on, and start to find
resources.
r Choose and chunk the topic
The first thing to do is to decideon a macro (or large) topic and then break it
down into micro (smaller) chunks of topic areaswhich will be addressedin the
processstagesof the webquest.In our example,the macro topic is'responsible
consumerism', the micro topicsinclude:animal testing,child labour,sexism,
ethicalproduction and marketing.
. Identi& learning gaps
As we have seen,webquestsare good for dealing with critical thinking skills,
problem solvingand group dynamics.Identifr which areasyour learnerswould
benefit from, and designtasksfor the processstageaccordingly.The sample
webquestwe havebeen looking at has a wide variety of personal interactions and
content interactions designedto activatecritical thinking skills and encourage
collaborativework.
o Inventoryresources
This involvescollecting the resourcesfor the webquest,including links to
appropriate websites,imageswith which to decoratethe webquestand media
files.You will need to find all this before you move on to the designprocess.
r Uncover the question
In this stage,you need to ensurethat you havea central question or idea which
has no single answet and which necessitates researchand interpretation. This is
the centralpurposeof the webquest.In our example,the introduction states'you
will investigatethe way your favourite brands - of clothes,fast food, cosmetics,
etc - are produced and marketed,with a view to becoming better informed and
thereforea more discriminatingconsumer'.This, then, is the'question'- and it is
something that your learnersshould be interestedin, but not havefully formed
ideasabout.

Designingfor successstage
In this stage,we further structure the webquestand ensurethat the learning outcomesand
knowledgetransformation stagesare clearly delineated.
o Brainstorm transformations
This involvesdeciding what your learnerswill be doing with the information
they find on the websites.Bernie Dodge identified this stageaswhat happens
between'learninginputs'and'learning outcomes'.This is whereyou fleshout the
tasksin the processstage,guiding your learnersthrough the information they
uncover,and helping them towards an understandingand transformation of that
information asthey work towards the products they need to put together.

58
 proiectwork
Internet-based

Expluing*re
krb*ilnr

ffiffi

trsdgr*Efur
Srrffis

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,{F-F
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-

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designprocess
Thewebquest

59
Chapter4

. Identify real-world feedback

Tom March feelsthat learnersshould be engagedwith the wider world when they
are working with webquests.This meansthat you might try looking for waysin
which the information necessaryfor the webquestmight be gatheredfrom real
people- by the useof email,polls and questionnaires. This can alsobe'offline',
in the senseof interviewing colleagues,staff, friends and family. In our example,
learnersconduct a classsurvey on their favourite brands - and this could perhaps
be extendedthrough the school,or put online as an electronic survey,thus
widening the accessto the'real world'. In a school this would involve interviewing
other classes,while an online surveycan quickly be put togetherusing a tool such
asSurveyMonkey (www.surveymonkey.com).
o Sort links into roles
The links you identified in the inventory resourcessection should now
be assignedto the varioussectionsof the processstageof your webquest,
ensuring that the websitesare easilynavigable,understandableand contain the
information that your learnersneed to work through the webquest.
o Define the learning task
This refersto the products which are the direct result of working through the
webquest.In the samplewe havelooked at,learners haveto produce:
- a surveyresultsof classshoppinghabits.
- a list of acceptableand unacceptablebrands.
- a report to the classon the brands.
- a presentationofthe report.
- a self-evaluation.

Creatingyour webqueststoge
In this stage,we move on to the production of the webquestand its implementation.
o Write theweb page
If you're familiar with web designtools you will be able to turn your webquest
plan into a websiteand put it on a web server.But this is, perhaps,a slow way of
preparing a webquest.The easiestway to do this is to useWord, adding links to
eachsection of the webquest,some imagesto liven up the material and the links
to the resourcesyour learnerswill visit.
o Engagelearners
Now you haveyour webquestin place,think about an engagingand stimulating
introduction asa lead-in to the quest itself. Hopefully your webquestwill have
plenty of motivating tasksand websitesin it, so the final thing that you need to
do is to get learnersinvolved from the outset, and to draw them to a conclusion
that clearly demonstrateswhat they havecoveredand that rounds the quest
off satisfactorily.In our sample,learnersare invited to consider a variety of
consumer situations in the introduction phaseand to evaluatetheir learning and
participation in the conclusion.
 proiectwork
Internet-based

o Scaffoldthinking
In this stageyou need to think about the instructions given in the webquestitself.
Theseinstructions should not only guide the learnersthrough the webquest,but
should also deal with the learning gap identified in the exploring the possibilities
stage,and guide them towards answeringthe question.This will involve not only
support in the content areabut will also help with the languageneededto carry
out the webquest.Ensurethat your learnershaveaccessto the languagethat they
will need to use.
. Decision: implement and evaluate
The final stageis to try out the webquestwith a group or two, take feedbackfrom
them and also consider how it went for you, and make appropriate changesfor
future use.
Note that webquestscan alsobe produced by learnersaspart of a more detailedand longer-
term project. Often, this significant investment in the materials production side of the
teaching/learningprocessis a highly motivating classactivity in itself.

Concluslons I h thischapter
wehave:
r lookedat extendingInternetusagefromthe simple[essonptandescribedin Chapter
" 3 to moreextensiveprojectwork,simulationsandwebquests.
r seenhowthe Internetcanbe usedas an accesspointto real-wortdknowledge which
our learnersmightlack.
r examinedhowthe Internetcanactas a springboard for authentic,retevant
simutationworkandasthesourceof materials whichpromotecollaborative learning,
communication, knowledge sharingandhigher-levelthinkingskilts.
r exploredthe areaof motivationandconsidered howthis canbe increasedwith careful
taskdesignandjudicious choiceof Internetcontent.
r lookedat the methodologyfor creatingandusingwebquests.

6l
 Howto useemait

r Thebenefltsof email r Uslngemailwith learners

r Baslcemallskllls duringclass
r Usingemailwith learnersout r Keypalproiects
of class

The benefitsof email

Email is one of the most used and useful Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) tools around today. Most of us probably write emails in both our personaland
professional lives, and the same thing is true for many of our learners.Email allows us
to keep in touch with other teachersaround the world via mailing lists and discussion
groups, thus helping in our professionaldevelopment(seeChapter ll). It also allows us
to communicatewith our learnersoutside the classroom,for examplesetting,receiving,
marking and returning homework and other written assignments.
Typically,email will be used outsideclasstime. For example,learnerswill email work
to their teacheror to other learnersfrom their home or from an Internet caf6.However,in
the caseof keypal projects - email projects set up between learnersin different classesor
countries - and when learner accessto computers outside the teaching institution is very
limited, a school computer or computers may be used in classtime very successfully.
Readingand writing emailseither in or outside classtime givesa learner more exposure
to the targetlanguage,and interactionis'real' in the sensethat learnersare writing to real
people- eitherthe teacheror other learners- using a'real'medium.In addition, if learners
are writing to learnersin other countries, as in a keypal project, this allows therfi to make
contact and interact with people with different first languagesand from other cultures.
One of the biggestadvantagesof using email with learnersfrom the teacher'spoint of
view is that the technology is relatively simple to use,and most of our learnerswill already
be familiar with it. If our learners are not familiar with email, it is not difficult to teach
them to useit, and the technology is both ubiquitous and free.

Baslcemailskills
Before starting to use email with learners,you will need to check that your learners have
certain basic skills in place. Learnersneed to be familiar not only with the mechanicsof
sending and receiving emails and attachments,but also with the kind of languageused in
email, aswell as the'rules of engagement',or netiquette, required in email use.Basicskills
mar-be consideredin two groups: communication skills and technical skills.
 H o wt o u s e e m a i l

Communication
skills
It is a good idea to remind learnersthat, as in traditional letter writing, there are levelsof
formality in email writing. An email written to enquire about a job vacancywill have a
different level of formality to an email sentto a closefriend. While the email to a friend may
include abbreviations,emoticons,misspellingsor lower-casecharacterssuch as i, theseare
entirely inappropriate for a more formal email. If you are using email with your learners
- for example to receivehomework - you will want to negotiate with them the level of
formality you feel is acceptable.Probably you will apply the samecriteria you would apply
to a piece of written work on paper.
It is also a good idea to teachyour learnerssome of the basicsof netiquette. Theseare
'rules' for effectiveonline communication. Well-known netiquette rules include:
o not using only capitalletters,which is perceivedas'shouting'online.
e being sureto respectothers'opinions.
o avoiding'flaming'- ongoing argumentswhich becomeincreasinglypersonalised
and possibly public.
o making sure that files sent as email attachmentsare not too large,as the person
receivingthe email may not be able to download them.
Composing an email has the added advantagefor learners of allowing them to draft and
edit beforesending.Researchshowsthat this part of the writing process- so much easier
than with pen and paper - is somethingthat learnersappreciate.But communicationby
email is, of course,still very fast.

Technicalskills
Apart from basic word processingand typing skills, learners will need to have an email
account. Many learnerswill already have a personal or work email account that they will
be willing to use for their languageclasswork,but others may need help with setting up a
new email account. There are severalfree, web-basedemail services,through which it is
easyto set up and use an email account. The best known are Yahoo!, Hotmail or Google
Mail, although Google Mail currently requiresyou to receivean invitation from an already
registeredGoogle Mail user for you to be able to open an account.
Once learnershavetheir email accounts,they need to be ableto sendand receiveemail,
and to attach and open documents in email. It is also useful for learnersto havebasic ICT
skills, such as knowledge about viruses sent by email, and spam or unsolicited junk email
- what theseare,and how to protect themselvesfrom them.
Depending on your teaching context, you may want to first give your learners a
questionnaire to assessthe overall email skills of the class,and then to review basic email
skills basedon the resultsof that survey,either with the whole class,with individual learners
or by pairing up an experiencedemail user with a novice and asking the experienceduser
to teach the novice basic email skills outside classtime. If the languagelevel of the class
is low, there is a casefor providing this basic technical skills training in the learners'first
languageif you teach in a monolingual context.
On page 64 is a suggestedquestionnaire that you can adapt for use with your own
learners,to gaugetheir level of skill in using email, aswell as finding out about how much
accessto email they have, and what they know about viruses and spam. If the overall
email skills of the classare low, you should leaveout referencesto viruses and spam, and

63
C hapte 5
r

concentrateonly on the most basicemail skills of sendingand receiving,and of sending

and openingemail attachments.

Yrs tlo
r I have my own email account.
(lVhatemailservicedo you use?)
2 I us€emailat home.
3 I useemailat worldschool.

5 | know how to write,sendand reademails.

6 | know how to sendan attachmentby email.
7 | know how to open an emailattachment.
I knowwhata virusis.
I knowwhat to do if I receivea virusby email.
ro I knowwhat 'spam'emailis.
n I know how to receivelessspam by email.

Usingemailwith learnersout of class

There are many waysof using email with learners,from simple administrativetaskssuch
asthe submissionof assignments or homework via email,to more complexemail projects,
involving classesin different countriesover a number of weeks,a semesteror er,enover
an academicyear.Belowwe outline someideasfor using email outsidethe classroom.The
ideasrequire learnersto havetheir own email accounts,and accessto a computer outside
classtime, either at home or work, in a self-access
centre,or in an Internet caf€.
o Learnerscan submit classworkas attachmentsby email, which can be marked by
the teacher,and returnedby email.Learnerscan alsoshareclasswork/assignments
by email.
o The teachercan email learnersa summary of classwork,plus homework or extra
after eachclassor on a regular (e.g.weekly)basis.
material,or updateson classes,
A teacherblog can alsowork well for this (seeChapter7).
o The teachercan email learnersregularnewslettersabout the classand themselves.
This is especiallyusefulfor keepingin touch with learnersduring holidays.The
emailscould include'diary'or'journal'type information about what the teacher
hasbeen doing in their sparetime, and be sentto learnersweekly,fortnightly or
monthly. Learnerscan be encouragedto sendeachother emailsof this type, too,
eitherto the whole class,or to a partner.
o Learnerscan useemail to preparebeforeclass.For example,the teachercan ask
pairs to prepareinformation on a topic, which they can do via email.
o Learnerscan useemail to sendqueriesabout a topic, or a grammar area,to the
teacherbeforea class.This can help the teacherpreparea classthat focuseson
and addressessoecificlearnerissues.

64
 H o wt o u s e e m a i t

A classmailinglist canbe setup for generaldiscussions out of classtime. (See

ChapterI I for more on mailinglists.)Regularemailprogramscanalsobe used
for this, with learnerssimply settingup a classgroup in their email program
addressbooks.
Email can be usedasa collaborativewriting tool. For example,in groups,learners
are askedto producea story basedon a painting,with LearnerI startingthe
story,which is then forwardedto Learner2, who addsto the story,then forwards
it to Learner3, who addsto it, and so on. It is important to ensurethat all group
membersarecopiedinto the storyfrom the beginning,and that eachlearner
knows when it is their turn to contribute!Note that a wiki can alsowork well for
collaborativewriting (seeChapter7).

UsingemaiIwith learnersduringclass
Usingemailduring classtime is worth doingif more complexprojectsarebeingsetup and
if your learnershavelimited access to computersoutsidethe classroom. Belowwe describe
two examples of data collectionprojects.These can run over several weeksor even
classes,
months,and requirequite a lot preparationon the part of the teacher.
A datacollectionprojectrequireslearnersto sendemailsto realcompanies,individuals,
organisationsor websitesto solicit information.This information is then collatedfor
comparison,and a presentationor written report is preparedon the topic.Giventhat the
chancesof unsolicitedemails not being answeredis high, it's important to ensurethat
you choosea topic that requiresyour learnersto sendemailsthat stand a good chanceof
receivinga response.
Here are two exampledata collection projects for learnerswith an intermediateor
higher level of English.Given that emails for data collection projectsneed to be written
with a fair degreeof accuracy,they are lesssuitablefor low levels.
Datacollectionpnriectr: LanguagecourcesIn Australia
Theme language learning,
studyabroad,travet,cultures
Aim to collateinformationaboutEngtishtanguage in Australia
courses
Leamers adult learners,
intermediate
and higherlevels
Suggested z lessons
of 6o to 9o minutes
each
time ftame

Procedurc
Lessonr a Theteacherprovides pairsof learners
with onelanguage schoolwebsite
eachin Australia (oranotherEnglish-speakingcountry).Theseschoots
canbe in onegeographical area,e.g.NewSouthWalesor Queensland,
or all overAustralia.
b Pairsvisitthewebsite, readthe information findan email
available,
address for furtherenquiries
andcompile a seriesof questionsto email
to the schoolaboutthe tanguage courseon offer.Thesemightinctude
askingfor furtherinformation aboutaccommodation, transport,local
sights,attractionsandactivities,food,feesandcoursecontent.

65
Chapt e r

c Pairswritean email,whichcan then be checkedby anotherpair and/or

the teacher,and sendit to the [anguage school.To minimisethe risk of
learnersnot receivingan answerto their enquirythe teachercan supply
eachpair with two websitesto writeto.
Lessonz d Onceall of the pairshavereceivedan answerto their enquiries,tearners
are regrouped to sharewhat they havefoundout. Eachnew group
decideswhichcoursethey think is the 'best'and why. lf one pair is
withoutan emaitreply,the pair can be split up and eachlearnerjoin a
pair who has receiveda reply,to help them with their presentation.
e Follow-upactivitiesmightincludea spokenpresentation on each
[anguagecourseto the ctass,or a writtenreport,or findingscan be
presentedusingotherICTtools suchas a blog,or a podcast(see
Chapterz).

Datacollectionproiectz: Endangered
animals
Theme endangered
species,ecology
Aim to find out aboutendangered species
Learners adolescent (agedr4+) and adult learners,intermediate
and higherlevels
Suggested z to 3 lessons
of 6o to 9o minutes
each
time frame

Procedure
Lessonr Theteacherprovidespairsof learnerswith one websiteeach,which
dealswith animalsin dangerof extinction.Example websitesare:The
WortdWitdlifeFund,Greenpeace, the SumatranOrangutan Society,
the CheetahConservation Fund,the GorillaFundand Savethe Whale.
A searchin Googlefor 'endangeredspecies'or similarwilt bringup a
weatthof links.Youcangive eachpair a site dedicatedto one specific
animalin dangerof extinction.
Pairsvisit the website,readthe informationavailable,find an email
addressfor furtherenquiriesand compilea seriesof questionsto
emailto the organisation. Theemailmightinctudeaskingfor further
information aboutthe animalin questionand aboutawareness raising
techniques, as welI as a requestfor promotionalmaterialfromthe
organisation suchas posters,slides,brochures,membership formsor car
stickers.
C Pairswrite an emailcontainingcompiledquestions,whichcanthen
be checkedby anotherpair and/orthe teacher,and send it to the
organisation.
Lessona d Onceatl the pairshavereceived
an answerto theirenquiries,they
preparea writtenor oratpresentation to sharewhat they havefound
out about'their'animalwith the rest of the class,and to displayany
promotionaI materialthey havereceived.

oo
 H o wt o u s e e m a i l

Lesson3 e Follow-upactivitiesmightinctudenew groupspreparingthe overatl

findingsaboutall the endangeredanimalsresearched, whichcan be
presentedusingotherICTtools suchas a blog,a wiki or a podcast.
A schoolawareness can also be arrangedwith
raisingday/morning
student-made postersand promotionalmaterialsput on display.

Keypalproiects
Keypalsis the term for pen palswho useemail to communicate,and describedbelow is
a project betweentwo groups of keypalswho are learning English in different countries.
Emailprovidesa simpleand effectiveway of putting learnersin touch with other learners
of the same age and level in other parts of the world. Learnerscan talk about their
experiences of learningEnglish,and, of course,email is the perfectmedium for cross-
cultural communication.Keypalprojectsshould be startedin classbut thereaftercould
combinea mixture of in-classand out-of-classwork.
Keypatproiect:Leamersaroundthe world
Theme learningEnglish,othercountriesand cultures
Aim to find out aboutanothercountryand what itb tike learningEnglishthere
Learners youngtearners(agedrz+) and adult learners,elementary leveland higher
Suggested 5 lessonsof t hour each
timeframe
Procedurc
Before a teacherin anothercountrywith a similarclassvia email.
a Contact
starting Theeasiestwayto find anothertealheris via an onlineprofessional
devetopmentgroup.(SeeChapter n for moreinformation aboutmaking
theproject contactwith otherteachers.)
b Exchange detailedinformation aboutyourclasses - numberof learners, level
interests
of Engtish, andages.
c Decideexactlyhowyouwill pairup yourlearners withthe otherteacher's
learners.Whowittworkwith whom?
d Decide whetherpairswill be usingtheirownemailaccounts, or onemain
classemai[account - for examplethe teacher's email.Thislatteroption
workswe[[for the singlecomputer classroom.
e Decideon a timeframe.Whenexactty will the firstemailbe sent?Whenwitl
a replyemailbe sent?Forthis proiect,youwill needfiveone-hour classes.
f Compile a shortlist of websiteswhichcontain the informationthat your
learnerswilt needto complete the pre-proiect workbelow.
Lessonr a Pairworkusingthe Intemet.Tetlyour learnersthat theywitt be contacting
learners in anothercountryFirst,theywitl needto find out somebasic
information aboutthat country.
b As a ctass,brainstormwhat tearnersalreadyknowaboutthe country,and
put it on the board.
c Dividethe classinto smallgroupsso that eachgrouphasaccessto a
computer.

67
 d Giveeachgroup a topic to research(e.g.geography,typicatfood, languages,
tourist attractions),and provideeach groupwith a websiteaddresswhere
they can find this information.Givethem a time limit (e.g.ro minutes)to
f in d o u t a s m u c ha s th e v c a n .
e Regroupthe learnersto sharewhattheyhavefoundout. Noweachof these
groupsneedsto writetwo or threemorequestions
thattheywouldliketo
asksomeone who livesin the othercountrv.
Lessonz a Writingan introductory email.Teilyourtearners the nameof the keypalthey
wiltbe sending theiremailto. Learners (individuatty
or in pairs)compose an
emailto thiskeypat, including the fotlowing information:
. introduce yoursetf(name,age,gender, interests).
. describe whatit'sliketivingin yourcountry.
. describe whatit'slikelearning Engtish in yourcountry(number of hours
perweek,typesof activities, whatyoutike/don't [ikeaboutyourEngtish
classes,howmuchEngtish is present- or not- outside the classroom,
e.g.
subtitledfitms,TV magazines).
. includethe questions fromthe pre-project phaseabove.
As thisemailis a firstdraft,it canbe doneeitheron paper, or more
in a wordprocessing
effectively program.
b Checkingand revisingthe emails.Learnersnow exchangetheir draft emaiI
wi th a n o th e rs tu d e n ti n th e s a m ecl assfor checki ng.
A s the emai tw i tl be
sent to anothercountryand to someonethey don't yet know,tearnersare
usuattyvery keen for their emaiIto be as 'correct'as possible.
g i v e fe e d b a c kto e a c ho theron thei r emai l s.
c Le a rn e rs
d Learnerscorrect/revise
theiremailuntiItheyaresatisfied
that it is readyto
be sent.
e Learnerssend the email to their keypal.
Note: lt is importantthat you have previouslyagreeda timeframewith the
other teacherin the proiect.Learnersshould receivean introductoryemail from
their keypatin time for the next class.
Lesson3 a Learnersreceiveand read their emails.
b Learners
writea shortreptythanking
theirkeypal,
andanswering
the
questionsin theemail.Again,learners
spendtimein classchecking
and
revising
theiremailsbeforesending.
Lesson4 re c e i v ea n d re a dth e i r s e condemai l s.
a Le a rn e rs
I n s ma l lg ro u p s ,th e y n e e dto p re parea posteror presentati on descri bi ng
what they have learntabout the other country.They need to includetwo
m a i ns e c ti o n s :
r what they have learntabout the countryitself.
. w h a t th e y h a v el e a rn ta b o u t l e arni ngE ngl i shi n that country.
Givetearnersclasstime to preparetheir poster/presentation. You may want
t o a tl o wth e m to d o w n l o a dp h o to sfrom the Internetsi tesi n the pre-proi ect
phaseto decoratetheir posters.Altow them some rehearsaltime.
Lesson5 in theirsmatlgroupsnowpresenttheirposter/findings
a Learners to the class.
lf you haveverylargeclasses,
you coulddividethe [earners
intotwo large
groups, so thatyouhavetwo presentations
happening simultaneously.
b At the end of atl the presentations, you could have the ctassvote 'prizes'for
whose Dresentation was the most:
r fult of facts.
r visuallyattractive.
. a mu s i n g l yp re s e n te d .
. well researched.
Makesure that there is a prizecategoryfor all of the presentations.
 H o wt o u s e e m a i l

$uggested a Information
on whatlearnershavefoundout aboutthe othercountry
toltow-up canbe presented
usingotherICTtoolssuchas a blog,a wiki or
acdvldes a podcast,
andshared withthe keypals.
Theinitialemailcontact
by a keypalprojectsuchas this alsoprovides
established a goodbase
on whichto buildmorecomplexfollow-upproiectsusingtoolssuchas
blogsandwikis.
b A'culturebox'of realobiectscanbe postedto the partnerclass,and
mightincludeaudiotapesof fuvouriteEnglishsongs,advertising from
magazines,foodlabelscontaining andphotosof the group.This
English
simplymakesthe partnergroupsmore'real'to eachother.

Keypalproiectsissues
Here is a checklistof things to bear in mind when planning a keypalproject.Somepoints
havealreadybeenmentioned.
o Ensurethat you agreeon cleardeadlinesand time frameswith your partner
teacherfor emailsto arrive,and stickto these.Thereis nothing more
demotivatingfor learnersthan to put in the effortof writing emails,and to then
get no response,
or a slowresponse.
o Negotiategroupingswith your partner teacher,and decidewhetheremailswill be
written by individualsin one classto individualsin the other class,in pairs or in
groups,or evenasa whole class(good for very low levels).
. Decidewhich languages will be usedin emails,dependingon who the learners
involvedare.For example,if both classes are learningEnglishasa foreign
language,with one classin Chile, and the other in Germany,Englishwill be
usedfor all of the emails.If one classis nativespeaker,then it's worth trying to
pair up the languages- for example,a group of English-speaking learnersin the
UK studyingGermanwith a group of German-speakinglearnersin Germany
studyingEnglish.In this way,half of eachemail can be written in one language
(German)and half in the other (English),with learnerswriting partly in their
mother tongue and partly in the targetlanguage,which can feellessthreatening.
This kind of exchangeis easiestto set up at secondaryschoollevel.
r Ensurethat all learnershavethe basicemailingskillsand knowledgeof email
netiquetteoutlined earlierin this chapter.
. Keepthe keypalproject short and focused.The keypalproject outlined above
Ensurethat your learnersknow how long the project is to
runs over five classes.
last,and when it will be finishedby - don't let things drag on. Focusis providec
by havingcleartasksfor eachemail,as in the outline above.Don't expectlearners
to simply write an email to a strangerwithout any guidanceasto content or
language.
o Discusswith your partner teacherto what extenttherewill be teacher
involvement.Will the teachervet and approveeachemail,and to what extent
will accuracyand'correct'language This alsoneedsto be madeclear
be an issue?
Chapter5

to learners,especiallyif their emails are to be used in any sort of assessment

procedures.
Discusswith your learnersthe issueof possiblemisunderstandingsacross
cultures.For example,do emails come acrossastoo direct or blunt? Do they
sound rude? If so,what might causethis, and what writing conventionsdo we
need to use in English to avoid this? Respondingto email using the reader'sfirst
name, for example,and signing offin a friendly fashion, is important. Again, this
relatesto the areaof netiquette.
In terms of generalemail etiquette in email projects,it is worth reminding
learnersthat it is alwaysa good idea to remain polite, and to not respond to
aggressiveor insulting emails- although this is unlikely to be a problem if a
keypal project is set up well, and monitored. However,misunderstandingscan
and do arise in email communication, especiallywhen a secondlanguageis
being usedbetweentwo different cultural groups, so it is well worth making your
studentsawareof the dangers.

hove:
Conclusions I h thischopterwe
r lookedat the benefitsof usingemailwith learners.
r considered whatbasictechnical andcommunication needto useemail
skillslearners
effectively.
r lookedat howemai[canbe usedout of class.
r lookedat two typesof emailproiectthat canbe usedin class:datacollectionand
keypalprojects.
r discussed someof the issuesinvolvedin settingup andrunningkeypalprojects.

70
 Howto usechat

r ChatIn languageteachlng : Howto start using text or

r Typesof chat volcechat with learners
r Chatprograms r Howto structure a tert or
volcechat lesson
r Why usechat In language
teachlng? r A sampletext chat lesson
plan

Chatin languageteaching
Imagine a group of secondaryschoolstudentsin Spaintext chattingto a similar group in
Polandabout where they live and what their town is like ... or studentsin Argentina and
in Kuwait asking each other about the customs they are most proud of in their respective
countries,via voice chat.Chat has enormouspotential to link studentsaround the world,
in real time. It is a technology that many learnerswill often be familiar with and will use in
their sociallives,so it is worth exploitingin the classroomwherepossible.Having saidthat,
although the types of cultural exchangedescribedaboveare hugely motivating to students,
they will probably take placeno more than a few times a term or semester.
In this chapterwe look at the useof chat in the classroom,where the teachercan link up
classesand groups in different locations,aspart of collaborativeproject work or for one-off
chat sessionssuch as those describedabove.We also look at the most likely application of
chat,which is outsidethe classroom,wherelearnersin the sameclasschattogether(or with
the teacher)to improve their English aspart of their homework or self-studyactivities.
One important issueto bearin mind is that usingchatneedsto havea clearpurposefor
learners.There is not much point taking a classof learnerswho regularly meet face-to-face
to a computer room during classtime simply to chat to each other via a computer when
they can do so more effectivelysimply by turning to their partner! We will look at waysin
which chat can be effectivelyintegrated into teaching in the next sections.

IVpesof chat
Chat is a tool that allowsfor synchronous,i.e.real-time,communicationoverthe Internet.
When talking about chat,we need to distinguish betweentext and audio chat, and between
public and privatechat,all of which can take placeone-to-oneor betweengroupsof users.
What makes chat essentiallydifferent from other forms of synchronous communication
suchasmobile phonetexting,for example,is presence. Chat usersareableto seethe status/
availability of other chat users,such as whether the user is online, away,busy, and so on.

7l
Chapter6

To start with, we'll look at some of the differencesbetween text and audio chat, and then
betweenpublic and private chat.
. Textchat
Communication betweenchat userstakesplacevia typed text. The user types
their messageinto the chat program, sendsit, and it instantly appearson the
screen(s)of the other user(s).There is still a tendencywhen talking about
Internet chat to assumethat we are referring to text chat, but with increasing
accessto free voice chatware,audio chat is becoming more common.
r Audio or voice chat
Communication betweenchat userstakesplacevia audio, much like a phone
conversation,but is conducted on the Internet. Fastgaining ground in what is
known as P2P (peer-to-peer)communications softwareis Skype,which has the
advantageof being free.We will be looking at Skypein more detail, and at other
chat software,later in this chapter.For learnersto use audio chat, they need to
havea microphone and speakersand/or headphones.
. Public chat
There are innumerable public chat rooms on the Internet, on a huge variety of
topics, which any user can join. Typically,in a public chat room usersdo not
know eachothet although regular usersof a specificchat room will get to know
eachother over time, and usersmay decideto use an aliasinstead of their real
name.A typical exampleof a public chat forum isYahoo! Chat (www.chat.yahoo.
com), where chat rooms are grouped into categorieslike Businessand Finance,
Schoolsand Education, Movies, Music, and so on.
r Private chat
This requiresthe installation of a client program, which connectsindividual users
over the Internet. Alternatively usersmay be linked over an intranet, for example
within a company.Private text chat is also known as instant messaging.Some
of the most popular instant messagingprograms areYahoo!Messenger,MSN
Messenger,Google Thlk, Skypeand AOL Instant Messenger.Other chat programs
you may come acrossare Qnext, .NET MessengerService,Jabber,QQ, iChat
and ICQ. Many of theseinstant messagingprograms offer not only text chat,
but voice chat, and also video and web conferencingfacilities which allow the
combination of video conferencingwith instant messagingcapabilities.
There are severaldifferent types of educationalchat that one can set up with learners.One
way of classifring educational chats,suggestedby practising teacherDaphne Gonzalez,is
set out here:
o Freetopicchats
Here, there is no topic or agendaset for the chat, and no specificmoderator role.
An exampleof such a chat might be learnersmeeting in pairs or small groups
via an instant messagingprogram to practiseEnglish together,for exampleat the
weekend.
o Collaborative,task-oriented chats
With this, learnersmeet via chat out of classto complete a real task, such as
preparing a PowerPointpresentationor putting together the resultsof a survey
which they will then presentto peersin the classroom.Typically,the learners
72
 Howto use chat

arepreparingsomesort of 'product'togetheraspart of projectwork, and will

probably havepreviously emailed a document or PowerPointpresentationto
eachother, which they can then refer to during the chat itself.
Informative or academicchats
This kind of chat disseminatesinformation. For example,a learner or teacher
givesa presentationon a topic via chat. This is then followed by a question and
answerstage.Another exampleis where a learner or the teacherbrings specific
questionson a topic to be explored in the chat itself. This approachworks well in
the contextof a blendedlearningsolution,wherelearnersmeet someof the time
online and someof the time face-to-face. We focus on blendedlearningsolutions
in Chapters11 and 12.
Practice chats
Thesechatswill practisea specificfunction or form of language,or a specific
skill or strategy,and will probablytake placeout of classtime. Examplesare:a
voicechat practisinga telephonejob interview or indeedany telephonesituation;
practisingcommunicationstrategiessuchascircumlocution to describean
object;practisinga specificlanguageform suchasthe pasttense,or future tenses
for predictions;and practisingpronunciationfeaturesvia voicechat.

Chatprograms
Let's now look at some of the chat programs currently available,for both text and voice
chat. On the next page is a screenshotof Skype (www.skype.com).The Skype screenshot
showsboth text chat and voice chat in operation at the sametime.
Most instant messagingapplications include webcam (web camera) facilities, so that
you can not only text chat and voice chat, but you can also seeyour interlocutor, if they
havea webcam installed on their computer.
There are more sophisticatedprograms availablefor free,which allow video and audio
conferencingalongsideother tools. One well-known program is NetMeeting(http://www.
microsoft.com/windows/netmeeting/), which works with Windows. If it is not already
installedon your computer (for Windows 2000 and XP users),you can download it from
the Internet (do a Googlesearchof 'download NetMeeting'),and all you need to use it is
a pair of headphones/speakers, a microphoneand a webcam.Note, however,that with the
advent of Windows Vista (2007),NetMeeting is being supersededby Windows Meeting
Space.However,it is too early at the time of writing to state with any certainty whether
NetMeetingwill continue to be supportedby Microsoft, and if so,for how long.
Meeting Space,like NetMeeting,includesboth audio and video conferencingand a
whiteboard facility, as well as program sharing and file transfer. Program sharing allows
usersto look at the same'application'togetherat the sametime, for examplea web page,a
photo or a PowerPointpresentation.File transfer allows usersto send text, audio or video
files to each other, from within the program. Programs like NetMeeting can be used to
teach remotely, or as part of a blended learning solution. The video function will only
display two usersat once, so the video conferencingfacility is lessuseful for larger groups
of learners,but verywell suited for one-to-one teachingor tutorials. It is alsoworth bearing
in mind that more sophisticatedtypes of software like this require a reliable broadband
connection to work well.

73
Chapter
6

Skypein action

tthy usechatIn languageteaching?

A teacherdeciding whether to use chat with learners who meet face-to-face,on a regular
basiswill probably want to ask the following questions:
r Does using text or voice chat with learnersimprove their English?
o What kind of English should learnersuse in chat?
o What technical skills do teachersand learnersneed to be able to use chat?
r What benefitsdoesthe useof chat bring to the classroom?
o Is it better to usetext or voice chat with learners?
Let's consider theseissuesone by one.

Doesusing text or voicechot with leornersimprovetheir English?

There has been some researchinto how using tools such as synchronous text chat can
improve learners'languageabilities. Studiesto date seem to point to text chat providing
opportunities for negotiating meaning, seen as key to language acquisition by many

74
 H o wt o u s e c h a t

linguists,but it hasalsobeennoted that online chat,especially text chat,doesnot follow

the same rules of interaction as face-to-faceconversation.Text chat can often appear
disjointed:conversationthreadsget lost or questionsare ignored;there are overlapping
turns; and conventionsfor taking the floor are not automaticallyclear.Voicechat is more
likely to makelearnersproducemore fluent language.

Whatkind of Englishshouldlearnersusein chot?

Thereis the view that online text chat is the virtual equivalentto mobile phonetexting,in
which abbreviatedforms,for example,CU L8r for seeyou later,are the norm. We would
recommendthat studentsgenerallyusestandardwritten Englishconventionsin text chat
and email.They aremore likely to be interactingwith other non-nativespeakers and writers,
and abbreviatedforms can be confusing.And, after all, they are meant to be using chat as
anotherway of improvingand practisingtheir English.Perhapsworth teachingare:
. common abbreviationsusedin text chat,suchas btw for by the way,brb for be
right back,cu for seeyou, and so on.
. somebasicrulesof netiquette(or onlinecommunicationetiquette),which we
coveredin Chapter5. Netiquettecan apply to both text and voicechat,and covers
both how to behaveonline and somecommon conventions.
o in text chat,introducinglearnersto somebasicconventionsfor turn-takingis
worthwhilepreparationfor usingthis medium of communicationefficientlyand
smoothly.
. exampleconventionsincludeusing'...' to showthat you havenot finishedyour
turn and typing i to askfor the floor.
Belowis a short extractfrom a teachertrainingchat on the useof chat,which showshow
suchconventionscanwork in practice:

MoDERAToR:
OK, [et'stry usingthe chat conventionsfor a while - it can feel a
but is probablynecessary
bit restrictive, ...
MoDERAToR:
whenwe try to discussmore'meaty'topics...
suchas the next one ...
MoDERAToRt
the prosand consyou cansee for usingtext chatlike this with
MoDERAToR:
your own students- overto you!
MIKE: ?
MoDERAToR:
Go Mike
MrKE: students often use it anyway, so we should be ...
MIKE: he tp i n gth e m w i th th i s re a l ti fe ski l t.
lllLl ?.

SUE: (
MoDERAToR:
Go Jill,then Sue
ttLL: pro - it's fun, con:takestime
suE: I think it's greatfor socialactivitiesand somelanguagelearning
games,and ...
suE: don't they know moreaboutthis skill than us ...
suE: I meanis it a usefu[SKILLto teach?
Anyone?
MoDERAToR:
Chapte6r

Similarly with voice chat, as learnersdo not see each other, conventionsare worth
exploring,although the actual languageusedby learners,as it is in spokenform, will be
closerto standardEnglish.Evenif you are able to usewebcamswith voice chat, it is still
worth providingyour learnerswith someguidanceon turn-taking,asthe videoqualityon
webcamstendsto be poor, with jerky imagesand sometimesa time lag betweenvoiceand
image.For example,usingthe term Overor Doneto indicatethat you havefinishedspeaking
is a simple and effectiveway to shareturns on voicechat,with or without a webcam.
Chatswith more than two userswill typicallytakeplacein a blendedlearningcourse,or
an entirelyonlinecourse.In thesecontexts,severallearnersmight meetin a textchatroom,
or on a Skypevoiceconference call,with or without a teacher.In most chatswith more
than two users,the teacheror a learnerwill takeon the role of moderator.The moderator
introducesthe chat,statesthe chatagenda,allocates turns in the chat,keepsparticipantson
track,providesbrief summariesof pointscoveredin the chatand indicateswhen the chatis
over.Belowis a summaryof somesuggested conventionsfor usingboth text and voicechat,
when therearemore than two userspresent.You'llnoticethat the conventionsusedduring
a group voicechataresimilarto thoseusedfor a telephoneconference call.

Textchat Voicechat

o Use? to ask for the ftoor. . Usea conventionto ask for the floor
- this couldbe via text, or a special
phrasesuchas Turnplease.

. Use'...'at the end of your sentence r Usea specialphraseor word suchas

to showthat you havenot finisheda Averor Doneto showwhenyou have
contribution. finishedspeaking.

r Use'.' at the end of your sentence o Oneparticipantshouldbe responsible

to showthat you havefinisheda for takingnotesduringthe chat.
contribution.

r Usesquarebrackets[ ] to makean aside The moderatorcan nominatequieter

to anotherparticipant,
or an off-topic participants
by nameto contribute.
remark.

r Explainabbreviations the first time you

use them in a chat,e,g. btw = by the
way.

Whattechnicolskillsdo teachersand leornersneedto be oble to usechat?

The fact is that learnersare increasinglyusingtext and audio chat in their personallives,as
instantmessagingsystemsbecomeincreasinglycommon, to communicatewith family and
friends,so many are alreadyfamiliar with chat.Current chat softwareis very easyto install
and use,so no specialtechnicalskills are neededby either teachersor learners,apart from
knowing whereand how to type commentsin a chat window for text chat,and how to use
a microphoneand speakers, or a headset,for voicechat.
One skillsareathat can put learnersat a disadvantage in text chat is their typing ability.
Slowertypistswill find it more difficult to contribute,asby the time their contribution has

76
 H o wt o u s e c h a t

been typed out, the conversationmay havemoved on. Also, if the teacheris using the text
chat script for languageanalysisafter the chat, it may be difficult to seewhat constitutes
a mistake,and which learner errors are due to typographicalerrors (typos), or to the
conventionsof text chat.
Finally,althoughnot a'skill',usingvoicechatdoesrequirea reliablebroadbandInternet
connection.If you havea dial-up/modem connection,it is probably saferto stick to text
chatbecauseit generallytakeshigher connectionspeedsto transmit and receiveaudio and
videodata.

Whatbenefitsdoesthe useof chat bring to the classroom?

Using chat in the classroom- whether text or voice chat - can be hugely motivating to
learners.By using chat with learners,the teacheris bringing current technologyinto the
languagelearning process,creatingvariety by using a 'new' tool and also opening up the
possibilityof contactingand communicatingwith classes in other partsof the world. There
are increasingnumbersof teachersin all levelsof educationusing chat to connectlearners
at a distance,from primary studentsto adults.We saw some real examplesof this at the
beginningof the chapter.
Chapter1l providesyou with suggestions of onlineteachergroupswhich you canjoin
to link up with teacherswho regularlycarryout thesekinds of projectsin their face-to-face
teaching.

ls it better to use text or voicechot with learners?

Wefirst needto remind ourselves
that textchatandvoicechataretwo entirelydifferentmedia.
Textchatrequireswritten (typed) interaction,while voicechatrelieson spokeninteraction.
Learnersareusingtwo differentsetsof skillsfor thesetwo meansof communication.At the
sametime, manychatprogramscombinetext and voicecapabilities,and someincludeother
interactivefeaturessuchaswhiteboardson which to'project'PowerPointpresentations, or
to look at web pagestogetherduring a chat.
With increasinglyeasyaccessto voicechat,it is probablyworth exposingyour learners
to a combinationof both voiceand text chat,if possible.As with anytool, therearea number
of advantagesand disadvantages associated with each,severalof which havealreadybeen
mentionedabove,and which we summarisein the tablebelow:
Textchat Voicechat
Advantages . Learners mayalreadyusetext . Learnersmay alreadyuse voice
chatat home. chatat home.
r tsringscurrenttechnologyinto . Bringscurrenttechnologyinto
the classroom. the classroom.
o Useof a newtoolcanbe . Useof a new tool can be
motivatingfor learners. motivatingfor learners.
r Enables learnersto makecontact . Enableslearnersto makecontact
with learners
in othercountries. with learnersin othercountries.
. A lowtechoptiofi. r 'Reat"oral practiceof [anguage.
C hapter6

? Non-threatening and easyto r Voicechat softwareincreasingly

learnto use. easyto downloadand use.
r Chattranscriptcan be used later
for languageanalysis.
Disadvantageso Textchat can be chaotic o Suitablefor very smallgroups
(overlappingturns,disjointed, only.
topic decay...). . Reliablebroadband Internet
. Unclearwhethertext chat really connectionneeded.
improveslearners'Engtish. o Recording a chatmay be
. Do we needto teach'chat complexand requireother
speak'? software.
. Canbe difficuttto identiflrerrors
vs. typosvs. non-standard'chat
speak'.
. Weakertypists are put at a
disadvantage.

Howto start using text or yoicechat with learners

To start using chat in the classroom,we would suggesta carefullystagedapproach,which
will help get both learnersand teachersfamiliar with the chat program, how it works and
what it can be used for. We would suggeststarting out with text chat, and then moving
on to voice chat once learnershavehad a chanceto practisewith text chat.Ideally,using
chat with learnerswould include a 'real' use of chat,for examplechatting to learnersin a
different country, or using chat outside of classtime with learnersfrom their own class.
Initially it is a good idea to use chat in classwith your learnersa couple of times,to help
them becomecomfortablewith it, so that they can then go on and useit outsideclass.

Stept - lnstoll and learn to usethe software

Download and install a popular instant messagingprogram which includesboth text and
voice chat facilities(e.g.Yahoo!Messenger,MSN Messenger, GoogleThlk or Skype- this
last is especiallyrecommended)to your school computers.If you are not familiar with
instant messagingyourself,get a colleagueto practiseusing the program with you, and
make sureyou understandthe basicsof how to usethe text and voice chat in your chosen
program.Note that you will needa partner to do this.

Stepz - A procticechat class

Someof your learnersmay alreadybe familiar with text or voice chat. Find out if any of
your learnersusechat,and if so,what for, for exampleto make friends on the Internet or
to chat to family/friendsin other countries.Also, find out how many of your learnersare
familiar with common instant messaging programssuch as MSN, Yahoo!Messenger or
Skype.
Once you haveestablishedhow much chat experienceand expertiseyou alreadyhave
in the class,run a'practice'chat sessionwith your learnerson the computer,preferablyin
pairs,with lessexperiencedchat userspaired with more experiencedchat users.Explain
clearlythat the aim of the practiceclassis simply to encouragethem to chatto eachother to
becomefamiliar with the software,evenif the situationis somewhatunrealistic,aslearners

78
 Howto use chat

will be sitting together in the samecomputer room! Make clear to learnersthat the goal of
using chat will be for them to usechat to practisetheir English outside class.Rememberthat
before learnerscan chat together they will need to have createda usernameand password
for the software,and to haveinvited eachother to join their contact lists.
First, allow your learnerstime to get used to using text chat, then let them experiment
withvoice chat,inthe samechatsoftware.This isthetimeto teachand practiseanynetiquette
or turn-taking conventionsthat you would like your learnersto use in text or voice chat.
On the next pageis a brief outline of a lessonfor a first text chat practice session.

Step3 - Contactwith onother class

The potential of chat for linking groups of learnerswho are far apart,in real time, is vast.
How can a teachergo about settingup sucha project?Through an internationalteachers'
network (seeChapter I I ) make contact with teacherswho would like to link up their classes
via chat, and together decideon a time to chat. It is well worth first getting the two classes
to email each other to exchangesome personalinformation, so that learnersat leastfeel
they know eachother a little before chatting online. You might even want to first set up a
collaborativeemail exchange(seeChapter5) or a blog or wiki project (seeChapter7),and
to usechat aspart of sucha project.
To make the initial contact with a classin a different country lessintimidating for your
learners,you may first want to set up severalencountersusing text chat only. Once learners
feel that they know eachother a little, and are more comfortable not only with the medium
but with chatting to eachother, you could introduce a voice chat. Seethe following section
for how chatsbetweenlearnersin different countries may be structured and run.

Howto structurea text or yoicechatlesson

Like any lesson,a chat lesson needs a clear structure and aims. First, ask yourself what
learnerswill get out of your chat. If the chat is to be held, aswe suggest,betweenclassesin
different countries, there are,aswe have said,severalbenefitsfor your learners:
e contactwith other learners/cultures,
and the motivation that this brings.
. 'real'communicationwith a real purpose.
. useof a new medium in the classroom.
. a chanceto practisewritten and/or spokenEnglish.
There are severalpossible groupings for running chats between two classesin different'
geographicallocations:
a If learnersin both classeshaveaccessto individual computers,they can simply
be put in pairs, with one learner from ClassA being paired with one learner from
ClassB.
b If there are enough computers availablefor learnersto work in small groups
on a single computer, clear guidelinesfor turn-taking in eachgroup need to be
provided by the teacher.
c In the singlecomputer classroom,an entire classcan useone microphonefor a
voice chat, with the teacherallocating turns, introducing topics and signalling the
variousstagesofthe lesson.
Ch ap ter6

. Text chat practicesession(approximatelyone hour)

r We[1beforethe class,checkthat the text chat program(e.g.MSNMessenger or
Skype)is installed.
z At i'he beginningof the ctass,find out if your learnersare familiarwith instant
messaging, and if so, what they use it for.
3 Outtine the aim of the practicechatsession:to add eachotherto theirchat contact
lists,and to practiseusingtext chat,so as to be abteto use it outsideclassto
practisetheir English.
4 Learners set up individuatuseraccountsin the chat program,and inviteeachother
to join their contactlists.
5 Showlearnershow to usethe text chatfeatureof the program.Theeasiestway to
do this is if you havea computerconnected to a data projector, and can projectthe
stepsyou take onto a screen.Otherwise, you canwalk aroundthe classroom and
help learners.ldeally,eachtearnershoulduseone computeralone,but learnerscan
be pairedup and take turnsat chattingfor the tasksbelow.
6 Set the learnersa simpletask.Forexample,eachlearnerneedsto chatto five other
classmembers,and find out one unusualthing abouteachof thesefive classmates.
Learners shouldnote down what they find out, eitherin a word processing program
or on a pieceof paper.Set a time limit,e.g.ten minutes.
7 Oncethe time is up, stop the class.Checkwhat they havefoundout abouteach
other.
8 Repeatthe activity,changingthe task slightty.Thistime learnersneedto chatto five
differentclassmates, to find out how manybrothersand sistersthey have,and their
namesand ages.Again,learnersneedto note down the information. Givea slightly
longertime timit,e.g.sevento ten minutes.
9 Oncethe time is up, stop the class.Checkwhat they havefoundout abouteach
other.Who hasthe fewest/most sibtings? Whatis the averagenumberof siblingsin
the class?Whatis the most commonnamefor boysand for girls?
ro (OptionaD The aim of this final phaseis to providelearnerswith morepractice
in usingtext chat,whilealso raisingawareness of the usefulness of the tool and
addressing any questionsor difficultieslearnersmay havehad. lf the learnershave
limitedEngtishproficiency, they coutddo this task in their first language.
Pairthe learnersup. lf tearners are atreadyworkingin pairson a computer, then pair
the computersup, so that you havetwo computerscommunicating via chat.Givethe
tearnersa tist of questions(for exampleon a preparedhandout)that getsthem to
reflecton usingchat.Suggested questionsare:
. Haveyou usedtext chat before?What for?
. Do you like usingtext chat?Why/lrVhy not?
. Do you think usingtext chatis good for practising your English? WhyllrVhy not?
. Whatdo you find easyabout usingtext chat?
. Whatdo you find difficuttabout usingtext chat?
. Howcouldwe usetext chatout of classtime to practiseour English?
. Wouldyou [ike us to usetext chatduringctasstime?WhyAtrhy not?lf yes,how
often,and what for?
Givethe learnerstime to discussatt of the questionsvia text chat,and then conduct
openfeedbackwith the class.
u Follow-up: Announcehow you planto usetext chatas part of your teaching.For
example,you may want to set up an internationaI project,basedon the samplechat
lessonlaterin this chapter,or to set learnersregulartext chattasksto do with each
otheras homeworkto practisetheir English.
Note:lf you plan to introducevoicechatto your learners, you couldusea similar
chat practicesession,simptysubstitutingvoicechat for text chat in the stepsabove,
Or usetext chatfor stepsr-9 and introducevoicechat for step ro.

80
 How to use chat

For text chat, we would recommend that learnerswork only in grouping a above,as text
chat can be quite slow and unwieldS and becauseonly one usernameper computercan be
used easily.This makesit ideal for pairwork, where eachmember of the pair has accessto
a computer, but a lot lesseffectivefor bigger groupings. For voice chat all three groupings,
a, b or c, can be used.
Whichever of the above groupings most suits your context, it is not a good idea to
simply put two classestogether via chat and leavethem to get on with it. Providing a clear
structure for learnersto follow will give them a senseof purpose and also provide security,
which is especiallyimportant if your learnersare communicating in a foreign languageat
a distancewith people who they do not know very well, and if they are unfamiliar with the
chat medium. Any chat lesson,whether using text and/or voice chat, should include the
following broad stages:
o An introductory/warmer phase
This phasemay include detailedintroductions and an exchangeof personal
information if learnersare chatting together for the first time, or it may consist of
a simpleexchangeof information, suchas'What wasthe bestthing you did last
weekend?'for learnerswho havealreadychatted in the past.This stageservesto
set the sceneand actsas an icebreaker.
o The main content of the chat
. This may consistof one main task,or a seriesof short tasks,which learnersneed
to complete,and could be basedon a worksheetwhich learnershavebeen given
before the chat. Seethe samplechat lessonbelow.
o A closing stage
In this stagelearnersmay summarisewhat they have coveredor achievedin the
chat, and saygoodbye.The teachermight haveset a brief closing task, such as
asking learnersto tell eachother one thing they haveenjoyedabout the chat.

A samptetert chatlessonplan
This sample lesson describesa first text chat between two low languagelevel secondary
school classeswho are geographicallyseparated,preferably in different countries. The aim
of the chat is for learnersto find out things about their partner and to build up a profile of
that partner.

Beforethe closs
The teacherneedsto first make contact with the teacherof a similar classin terms of level,
classsizeand accessto technology.As outlined earlier in this chapter,we recommend that
the learnersfirst meet each other via an email exchange,or via a classproject using blogs
or wikis, and that the chat allows them to meet in real time, but not for the first time.
This makesthe experiencelessthreatening for learners,and provides a context for the chat
encounter to take place.If learnersare able to exchangedigital photos of themselvesbefore
the chat, this is a good idea,too, evenif this is only a photo of the entire class,but with the
names of individual learners provided. Learnersalso need to be confident about how to
usethe chat program.With the teacherof the other class,seta time for the chat,divide the
learnersinto inter-classpairs and decideon what will be coveredduring the chat lesson.It

81
Chapter6

is also a good idea for you and the other teacherto have tried out the chat program from
the computers to be used,in advance.

Classroommanagementissues
Ideally learnersare put in pairs for the first chat, with one learner in ClassA and the other
in ClassB, each sitting at an individual computer. For classeswith fewer computers than
learners, learners can either conduct the chat in pairs, or consecutivelearners can be
allowed accessto the samecomputer for a certain amount of time, e.g. 10 or 15 minutes.
The logistics for conducting text chat in a single computer classroomare more complex,
but could involve, for example, consecutivelearners or pairs of learners, each given 5
minutes to chat, and with the chat encountersspreadout over severalclasses.On the whole,
though, we would recommend using voice chat rather than text chat in the singlecomputer
classroom,as a text chat in this context is very slow and unwieldy, and those learners not
directly involved in the chat will need to be kept occupied with other activities.

Duringthe chot
First hand out worksheets,which your learnerswill need to complete during the chat itself.
Note that eachpartner has a slightly different worksheet,with WorksheetA for learnersin
ClassA and WorksheetB for learnersin ClassB (seeopposite).
Note that thesesample worksheetscan easilybe changedto reflect adult interestsfor
low languagelevel adult classes,and questionscan be added (or removed), or more open
questions set for higher levels.Learnerstext chat to their partner in the other class,and
make notes on their worksheets.Writing notes and text chatting at the sametime can be
distracting, so an option here is to allow learners to simply chat, asking the questions on
their worksheet,then ensurethat their chat scripts are saved.Each learner can then print
out their chat script and complete the worksheetfrom that, once the chat is finished.

After the chat

Eachlearner now has information about an individual in the other class,and can draw up
a profile of that individual. This can be in the form of a written text or a grid, and ideally
should include a digital photo of the learner. Theseprofiles can then be displayedin the
classroomseparatelyor on a large poster, and digital photos of the profiles can be taken
and emailed to the other class.Or the information collated could even be used td createa
learner profile in an inter-classblog (seeChapter 7). Learnersin ClassA could be askedto
decidewhose profile from ClassB is closestto their own: in other words, who is most like
them.

A summaryof issueson usingtextand/orvoicechotwithlearners

o Trythe software out in the computer room with the classbefore setting up
the'real'chat. This enableslearnersto becomefamiliar with the chat program,
with using chat itself, and for any technical limitations - such asbandwidth
being too narrow to effectivelyusevoice chat - to becomeapparent in advance.
This is also a chanceto introduce and practiseany netiquette conventionsand
communication skills.
o When using chat betweenyour classand a classin another country, allow them to
first make contact with the other class,for examplevia a blogs project or email,

82
 H o wt o u s e c h a t

ChatWo*sheetA
Askyourpartner aboutthesethings,andnotedowntheanswers:
Likesand dislikes:
favouritefilm
group/singer
colour
petanimat
sport
leastfavoutitsfood
subjectat school
colour
Daily activities:
Whatis your partnerusualtydoingat thesetimeson a Sunday?
8 a.m,
3 p.m.
6 p.m.
9 p.m.
Unusualthings:
thingsaboutyourpartner.
Findout two unusual

ChatWorksheet I
Askyourpartner aboutthesethings,andnotedownthe answers:
Likesand dislikes;
favouriteactor
s0ng
food
subiectat school
website
leastfiavoutitefitm
sport
colour
Dailyactivities:
Whatis yourpartner doingat thesetimeson a Saturday?
usualty
1 0 a. m .
1 p. m .
4 p. m .
7 p. m .
Unusurlthings:
thingsaboutyourpartner.
Findout two unusual
1
2
Chapter6

before getting them to use chat. Making contact can include exchangingbasic
personalinformation and digital photos in advance.This way learnerswill have
fewerinsecuritiesabout talking to'total strangers'online,a challengeevenin
one'snative language.
Set a clear task, or seriesof tasks,for the chat, so that learnersare not left
wondering what to chat about.
Ensurethat it is clear to learnerswhat the purpose of using chat is. As we
mentioned earliet there is not much point using chat if the learnersinvolved are
perfectly able to talk face-to-face!Using text or voice chat with the sameclassall
together in the computer room is fine for trying out the softwareand becoming
familiar with chat, but the use of chat will be far more effectiveif it mimics real
life and is used to connect people who are geographicallyfar apart. Most effective
of all is integrating chat into a wider project betweenclassesor countries, which
alsousesother ICT tools suchasblogs,wikis or podcasting.
The ideal group size for a text or voice chat is small! The bigger the group
the harder it is for participants to contribute, and for the moderator to keep
things on track - and this is especiallytrue of text chat. For us, an ideal group
sizeis about 6 to 8 people for text chat, and 3 to 5 people for voice chat. Some
chat software,such asthe chat functions found in certain Virtual Learning
Environments (VLEs), havebreak-out rooms for text chat. This meansthat a
large group of usersin a text chat can be put into smaller groups, and eachgroup
sent to a separatechat room. The moderator/teacheris then free to move between
the rooms and monitor the chats.
Record the chat. Most text chat programs will allow you to log (record) the
text conversationas a transcript, which can then be used for analysisandlor a
reminder of the content/topics coveredin the chat. Somevoice chat programs
also allow recording, with the chat recordedas an audio file. Recordingchats,
whether text or voice,is useful for learnerswho are not able to attend a chat,
as they can read or listen to the chat later in their own time. Recordingchats
also makesthe whole experiencelessephemeral,and provides a basisvia the
transcript or audio recording for later languageanalysis. :
Have a contingency plan! If your school'sInternet connection is down, or for any
reasonyou are preventedfrom being able to usethe computer equipment, ensure
that you have a backup plan to do something elsewith your learners!

84
 Howto usechat

concluslong I hthischopterwehave:
r considered howchatcanbeusedbothin andoutsidetheclassroom.
r lookedat variousUpesof chat.
r givensomeexamples of chatprogriams.
r discussedwhya teachermlgfitwantto usechatwithlearners.
r lookedat someof theadvantages anddisadvantages of usingtextandvoicechatwith
learners.
r lookedin detailat howto lmplement textorvoicechatwithlearners, andoutlined
a
sample textchatclass.
r provideda finalsummary bn usingtextor voicechatwithlearners.

85
 Blogs,wikisand
podcasts
r Soclalsoftware r Howto start uslng a wlkl
r BlogpIn languageteachlng wlth learners
r Howto start uslngblogswlth r PodcastsIn language
learners teaching
r WlklsIn languageteachlng r Howto createlearner
podcasts

Social software
Blogs,wikis and podcastsare all examplesof social software,computer tools which allow
people to connect, to communicate and to collaborate online. A blog is essentially a
web page with regular diary or journal entries. The term is short for web log.A wiki is a
collaborativeweb space,consistingof a number of pagesthat can be edited by any user.The
term comesfrom the Hawaiian word for'quick'. A podcast is an audio and/or video file that
is'broadcast'viathe Internet and can be downloadedto a computeror mobile devicesuch
as an MP3 player for listening/viewing. The word podcastcomesfrom combining iPod and .
broadcast,iPod being the brand name for the Apple portable MP3 player.Although these
three tools are different, we are grouping them together in this chapter asthey havecertain
featuresin common when applied to the classroom:
r They can be set up and usedby teachersand/or learners.
o They can be used to connect learnersto other communities of learners,for
exampleto a classin another country.
r The ideasand content can be generatedand createdbylearners,either
individually or collaboratively.
Although the useof ICT tools such asblogs,wikis and podcastscan be very motivating for
learners,teachersare themselvessometimesfearful of the technology,or feel that they are
not technically competent enough to use thesetools. However,as we will see,all of these
tools are easyto set up and use,with no specialisttechnical knowledgerequired.
Another common misgiving is one related to content, and the lack of control that a
teachermay feel about allowing learnersto generateand createtheir own content. Teachers
may find themselvesthinking:'Will the content be appropriate?Will the languageusedby
my learnersbe good enough?'In fact, thesetools engendera senseof social responsibility,
with learners working collaboratively on content. Also, the public nature of the content
created using these Internet tools ensuresthat accuracy and appropriacy become more
important to learners.

86
 Btogs,wikis and podcasts

Blogsin languageteachlng
The most common type of blog is kept by one person,who will regularly post comments,
thoughts, analyses,experiencesof daily life, interesting links, jokes or any other form of
content, to a web page.Blogsmay consistof written text only, or they may include pictures
or photos- photoblogs- or evenaudio and video.
Most blogs will allow readersto comment on blog entries, thereby creating an online
community around a common topic, interest or person. We can thus seewhy blogs are
referred to as social software, as they set up informal grassrootslinks betweenblogs and
writers/readersof blogs. Blogs will sometimesinclude a blogroll, or list of links to other
blogs which the blog writer admires, thereby widening the online community of blog
writers and readers.
On the next pageis a classblog with entries from studentsstudying at a collegein the
USA. The blog was set up aspart of an international exchangeof infomation with students
in other countries. Blogs used in education are known as edublogs. Edublogscover a wide
rangeof topics relatedto education,from musingson educationalpolicy and developments
to learnercompositions.
An edublog can be set up and used by a teacher,by individual learners or by a class.
A teachermay decide to use a blog to provide their learnerswith news and comments on
issues,extra reading practice or homework, online links, a summary of a classfor learners
who were unable to attend, study tips, and so on. In this case,learners will accessand
iead, and possibly add comments to, the blog outside the classroom.A blog set up and
maintained by a teacher is known as a tutor blog. The teachermay decide to allow their
learnersto write commentsin the blog. The one on page89 (top) is an exampleof a tutor
blog set up by a teacher in Argentina for her Cambridge First Certificate Examination
preparation class.In the blog sheprovides study tips, reviewsclasswork and provides extra
links on specifictopics such aspronunciation.
A teachermay encouragetheir learnersto eachsetup and maintain their own individual
blogs. These are known as student blogs. Learners can be asked to post to their blogs
once or twice a week, or however often the teacherjudges convenient, and content can
range from comments on current affairs to descriptions of daily activities.Other learners,
from the same class,from other classesor even from classesin other countries, can be
encouragedto post comments and reactionsto student blog postings.The one on page89
(bottom) is an example of a student blog set up by a learner in Brazil. Student blogs lend
themselveswell to teachertraining and development,too. A trainee teacher,for example,
can be encouragedto reflect on what they are learning, or on classesthat they are teaching,
by meansof a reflectiveblog.
The third type of blog is the classblog, one used by an entire class.Again, this blog
can be usedto post comments on certain topics, or on classwork or on any other issuethe
teacherthinks interesting and relevant to learners.In a classblog learners all post to the
sameblog.

87
Chapter7

A classblog

88
 Blogs,wikis and podcasts

A tutorblog

OD200645-10,ilipc $id...
'Weekend"
6 thc abid of {rEtcSorL.d

This w!.tdd ryB Ety !icc, bcsur I mt to ry friod'r bu d rc & r ht

of 6i!83, litc plsy gffi, pby ffi .,. ID s!&y rut to thc sh@ilg vitb s
fiqds aod w $s midm ir4osiblc 3, it'r Ey !ioo.

(h 2006{X{4 ,ilip6 5id.-

"my life"
On tL. sbj*lof ttuk8ori..d

Wdt Ds! b S& hto I ,lry s vilh Ey fridr I !o to rbo cie! vith tD@
Dd s to lo r ld of pls to8rths. SodiB I gp vllh Ey @d6 vatd w
ldd of oy tim htcie Ad s'|r'iha I g.t at with D y pe&rt!. tidc In
Sb Pulo rc he r lot of tiilge to do.

O 2006Ot-28 ,ftlipo $irt...

"about"
O! tl. sblFi of lh..btoriad

Ili pople, ny !@ lr Fdipo I'E 14 y6 old. I E bom i! Slo Palo Bnrjl ed I

sudy i! ! Ftard rch@l olhd Lyc6c Prcr.I llE h6 b Slo P{do, rhcc e
@y .ri'8. lo do h6 ud ffiyhilg is @1. I ajot brg otwith
friad!. vddd eiw mvic....

A studentblog

89
Chap te Z
r

Here are examplesof some ways in which you can use blogs with your learners.All
of theseblogscould include photos,which can be takenby learnersthemselves, or off the
Internet from free photo-sharingor clip-art sitessuchas Flickr (www.flickr.com).

Tutorblog Studentbtog Classbtog

r Set homework. . Personal
andfumily r Reactions to a film,
(inctuding
information article,classtopic,
photos). currentaffairs.
r Providea summary
of r Extrawriting practiceon r Thingstearnerslike/don't
classwork. classtopics. tikedoingin ctass.
. Providelinksto extra r Regutarcomments on o A classprojecton any
readingilistening currentaffairs. topic-
material.
o Questionand answer . Research and present
(e.g.aboutgrammar, informationon a topic
classwork). (e.9.an English-speaking
country).
. Exam/Study
tips. . A photobtogon learner's
countrylastholiday
town.

There are some obvious advantages to using blogs in the classroom.They provide a
'real-world' tool for learnerswith which to practisetheir written English, as well as a
way of contactinglearnersfrom other parts of the world if the blog is used as part of an
internationalexchange.Evenif a studentor classblog is not sharedwith learnersin other
partsof the world, a blog is publicly availableon the Internet.In theory anyonecan readthe
blog,althoughonly invitedmemberscanbe givenpermissionto add comments.
One of the issuesto bear in mind when settingup studentor classblogs is that of
correction - how much help are learnersgiven with their written work? Learnerstend
to want their written work in a blog to be as accurateas possible,given that the blog is
publicly accessible,and the teacherneedsto be preparedto give learnersplenty of time
for writing, reviewing,redraftingand checkingpostingsbeforethey are addedto the blog.
Asking learnersto prepareblog entries in a word processingprogram, beforehand,and
encouragingpeer review of work in progress,for example in pairs, can help with this
process.
A further areato consideris assessment. Giventhat a studentor classblog is essentially
a written assignment,blog postingscan be used for evaluation.If the teacherintends to
evaluateblog entriesas part of a writing assessment, aswith any written work the criteria
for evaluationneedto be made clearto learnersin advance.Criteria will probablyinclude
those used to evaluatemore traditional, paper-basedforms of writing, such as accuracy,
fluency,coherenceand relevance,but they may also include criteria relatedto the visual
natureof this electronicmedium, suchas the effectiveuseof visuals,or visualpresentation
overall,and other areaslike the lengthof postingsand awareness of audience.
 Blogs,wikis and podcasts

Howto start usingblogswith learners

A simple blogs project that you can use with learnersof all levelsis to get your students
to set up their own student blogs, writing about themselves,their interests,family, home,
country,and so on, and including somephotos.

Stept - Settingup a sompleblog (t-z hours)

At home beforeclasssetup your own blog, including information about yourselfsimilar to
what you would like your learnersto produce. Doing this has severaladvantages:
o It allows you to becomefamiliar with the blog interfaceand how it works.
o It showsyour learnerswhat a blog is.
o It providesa model for your students'blogsin terms of: content- what the
learnerscan write abouq language- the levelof languageexpected;and look - for
example,the blog could includephotos.

Stepz - Settingup student blogs (t hou|

Once you have shown your learnersyour sampleblog, for which you could prepare some
comprehensionquestionsto help them understandthe content,takethem to your computer
room, and help learnersto setup their own blogs.If there arethe facilities for one computer
per learner,eachlearnercan setup their own blog. If learnersneedto work in pairsor small
groupsaround one computerterminal,one blog canbe setup per pair/group.In the caseof
the single computer classroom,the teachercan set up a singleblog for the entire class,with
multiple usersaccessing it outsideof classtime.
Note that helping learnersto setup their own blogscan be quite labour intensive!You
will find yourself answeringquestionsfrom learnerswho are all at various stagesof the set-
up process,so if possibleit is alwaysa good ideato put learnersinto pairs or small groups to
set up their blogs,with one more tech-sawy learner per group to help out. Expectto spend
one entire classon helping learnerswith the mechanicsof setting up their blogs.
If you have the facilities to project a computer screenfrom a laptop connected to a
data projector or an interactive whiteboard, you can take learnersthrough the blog set-up
processstep by step on the screen,while they work on their computers.

Step3 - Posting to and visiting blogs (t hour)

When learners have set up their own, pair or small-group blogs, they are ready to spend
some time on preparing and posting content. Once the student blogs contain several
postingsand photos,encouragethem to sharetheir blog addresses and to visit eachother's
blogsand to post comments,or in the caseof a singleblog with multiple posts,encourage
them to comment on eachother'spostsin the sameblog.

Step4 - Follow-up(z-3 hoursor severollessons)

Both teacherand learnerswill havespentsometime on learningto useblogs,and on posting
their initial blog entries,soit is well worth carryingon usingthe blogsfor more than a couple
of classes. Learnerscan be encouragedto post regularlyover a certainperiod of time, for
example,a term or a semester,with the teacherproviding ideasand suggestionsfor content.
The blogscanbe kept asan internal classproject,or other classes canbe encouragedto visit
and to comment on the blogs.Teacherscan evenjoin an international network of teachers

9l
Chapter7

(seeChapter 11) and get learnersfrom other countriesto visit and to comment on the
student blogs.Blojs can be set so that only invited members havecommenting privileges,
which givesthe blog some measureof security.This will be particularly important if you
are working with younger learners.
Note that it is normal for blogs to havea limited lifespan.Only 50 percent of blogs are
estimated to be active three months after being set up. Blog fatigue, or blogfade,will set
in, so it is often a good idea for the teacherto have a clear time frame in mind for a blog
project,such as a term or semesteror a couple of months. If learners'interestdoesn'tflag
after this time, the blogs can alwaysbe continued! You may want to experiment with using
blogsfor differentpurposeswith the sameclasses.

Howto setup o blog

There are a number of free blog sitesavailableon the Internet. Theseinclude:
r Blogger (http://wwwblogger.com)
r WordPress(http://wordpress.org)
o EzBlogWorld(http://www.ezblogworld.com/)
. BahraichBlogs(http://www.bahraichblogs.com/)
o Getablog(http://www getablog.net/portal3.php)
Below is the start-up pagefor creatingyour own blog in Blogger.

gLOGg OF NO'E FANDOI' 8LOg3

{lii+ AFct.thln4ll
Eil@

Createa blog in 3
easy steps:

wq@b
Publbh
thd4hts
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Post
p|Itc
Go
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Q cr"ruan*rnt
f| namepurutos
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A blog ls yor 6y{rue u€b site, r,lF yq @ qqbkly pGt
thorgilr, inta-t with p.ode, rrd |w. All fq Ffi€E.

The blog pagesfreely availableon the Internet tend to be very user-friendly,and setting up
your own blog is usuallya straightforward process,with no specialisttechnicalknowledgeor
expertiseneeded.You simply visit the homepageof the blog and follow the instructions.

92
 Blogs,wikis and podcasts

Audio and videoblogs

To be ableto createan audio or video blog, you needaccessto audio or video equipment,
aswell asediting softwareand sufflcient spaceon a web serverto storethe multimedia files.
Audio equipmentwill include a headsetwith microphone,and video equipment a digital
video cameraor webcam,althoughwebcamimagestend to be of poorer quality overall.
For audio blogging, Audacity is software which is easy to use (http://audacity.
sourceforge.net/). Also take a look at Audioblog (http://www.audioblog.com/)for more
details,while for video filesyou may want to look at Freevlog(http://freevlog.org/).Bearin
mind that while the conceptof multimedia blogs is not overly complicated,you will need
sometime to acquirethe necessary skills,and this may alsoimpact on your classroomtime
if you are planning to do this kind of project with your learners.You will needto spenda
little time training them, too. If, for example,you want to try adding audio to your blogs,
you will first needto teachyourself to useaudio editing softwaresuchasAudacity,and then
teachyour studentsto useit, so they can recordthemselves. Belowis an exampleof a video
blog, or vlog, madeby a teacherliving in |apan,in which he commentson his daily life.

Wikis in languageteaching
First of all, how is a wiki different from a blog?A blog is essentiallyan online journal or
diary,usuallywritten by one person,which is addedto regularly.Most blogs allow visitors
to add comments,which arethen visibleto the blog owner and alsoto subsequentvisitors
who can in turn comment further. A wiki, on the other hand, is like a public website,or
public web page,startedby one person,but which subsequentvisitorscan add to, deleteor
changeasthey wish. Insteadof being a staticweb pageor websitelike a blog, a wiki is more
dynamic,and can have multiple authors.A wiki is like having a publicly accessible word
processingdocumentavailableonline, which anyonecan edit.

93
Chap terZ

Essentiallya wiki is not linear, like a blog. A blog consistsof a number of postings,
which arepublishedon one web page,in reversechronologicalorder with the most recent
postingat the top. A wiki hasa non-linearstructure,and pagesmay link backand forwards
to other pages.It might be helpful to imaginethe differencelike this:

A blog A wiki

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*r n F . E E s b *f r
.-tssLssrr{bry
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a cone|*

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One of the best-known wikis is Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org), an online enryclopedia

that anyonecan add to or edit. Wikipedia demonstratesseveralaspectsof socialsoftware:it
is collaborativeand grassroots,displaysmultiple authorshipand is not'owned'by anyone.
Its accuracy is a matter of debate.However, one analysis compares its overall accrlraq
favourably to that of EncyclopaediaBritannica. The screenshotbelow shows the entry in
Wikipedia for the word wiki.

Vu fr gte Itp tn d,W, q e4 b rrt *W Fedonl

f f i( 9
T$dMIdMWI FAQI ,|@NM'

Fom wlhpadlE, tD fr.! encydopadla

fu. otlw BB, s* lMkl (dle4ttrbigpstloo).

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'd!ger8dtoetclae,
A $,lfd 0PA: tva.kiJ aVtCK.c d [t{:.ti:l 4iVEE*e{rl i! a typo ot Wob sit6 ltr! elffi th6 visitffi thomsolv€ to @ily a&,
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. Cde.b
mak$ a tiki s etf*tivo tod fq cdlsbqdive suthdino Th6 tm rikl also ce r6fd to tlb collaboctive sofhrs it8€lf (wiki dEim) that
lelitql6 ilE opeElhn ol r&h a Wsb sitq a !o cqldo rp€lf€ rikl rh€, lrctudnO lha @gnq &kfto rho 0h. qurEl wlk0 WlldwiHwob
ad *liF myclopeds 8wh s Wklpoda.

94
 , i k i sa n d p o d c a s t s
B t o g sw

A wiki lendsitself especiallywell to collaborativewriting. The mechanicsof usinga wiki are

relativelysimple:learnerscanadd new pagesto a wiki, aswell asedit previousentries/pages.
One of the advantages of a wiki is that when a web pagein a wiki is edited,changedor even
deletedby mistake,previousversionsof the pageare automaticallysaved.This meansthat
it is easyto seewhat changeshavebeenmade to pagesby whom and when, and to restore
an earlierversionof a page.Below is the home pageof a samplewiki using pbwiki (short
for'peanut butter wiki'), setup for a secondaryschoolwiki project.

etwinningwiki I FrontPage

IHOTC$flEET HOIIE
kWG@d

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cemry,land the othtr sdroolis in Soain.
#.*
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ln this wikiprojectwe are goingto: CuBane in Parig
Gndbod, frnurBl
- tdl eadl other about our osn ountsy lights3&50€

- find out about our p3rtns ountry

8tt thse's a tskk! We are Ooingto write infomation about our counbi€s,but sme of k will not be true! We wi[ need to read
about eadr other and find out what i6 true and what isnt gue, and then dEnge what isnt bue h this wiki. At tfie sd of our
wi$ prqjed we hope to have a true and acflrate repres€ntationof ow two ountsiest We shall sel

We hop€ you enjoy rsding our wikil We ere writing aboutthese flings:
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foodn Gemany

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fams DeoDle
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history

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u'e ue.t ![!-".i-gt-;tqltjn-c.. r'.1

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The screenshotaboveclearlyshowsthe main functions of a wiki. At the top of the screen

you can click on a tab to:
. edit the page(if you havethe password).
. look at the changesthat havebeenmadeby other contributorsto the wiki.
. seea list of all the wiki pages.
. changethe wiki settings,and add files (including pictures)to the wiki.
o log out.
At the bottom of this wiki home pageare a number of links. Theselink to the other pages
in this wiki, and havebeensetup in advanceby the teacher.Links to wiki pagescan appear
within the body of text itself.They do not needto appearasa list, asin this example.

95
Chapte 7
r

Howto start using a wiki with learners

The bestway to start usinga wiki with a group of learnersis to setup a simplecollaborative
writing project.A topic that we have found works well is that of '(in)famous people',in
which pairs of learnerswrite short descriptionsof famous peoplethat contain a number
of humorous factual errors (but not grammatical errors!). Thesedescriptionsare then
'corrected'by another pair. The project outlined below can be usedwith learnersof any
level,and usingany of the freewiki sites.

Step t - Preporationbeforelesson(approximately3o-5o minutes)

Using a freewiki site (suchaspbwiki), the teachersetsup the first pageof a wiki, outlining
the topic of the project,and the stepsthe learnerswill needto takein the project.Belowis a
screenshotof the first pageof the wiki set up in pbwiki. The teacherhasaddedan imageto
the wiki page,and outlined the things the learnerswill needto do to completethe project.

infamouspeople
I FrontPnge mln
(h)t ffi!6oFht
qeffr.* RGstAdfft

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'|ir, Frrt d€da r+tp you t|.wc perconb, rd ODto f,*badi to fnd otrt morf abfif titrvtrtr,
ffffi, @cnrts r nrw p:gr
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U dva ytr grOa I mna . mata I tha €nar of yoc pririffigst rO tbralo). CIrk on 'qf*a mw ptga'.
t) fr/tte yry desirtioo oae lru pm, irdj*rfl fsnd Nron0 i.fodt*iofi. nffi!|br to rdd yoq ffi * tha sd of yff dffibtidl
d, Cl& m'Sry. bdor. yd l|ffi tlil $gc.

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$ turd ltod*r oM.p'r dcr('ittiss
b) Cofis(t ilt srong i{o.nati.n that ys lt |d.
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Prrt 3:
Gobad( to ys dcFi*in oatff s p€ffi. and read tftc oEidimr thit wsc m$€ . an th€y ri(t*?

Stepz - (ln)famouspeople:descriptions(opproximatelyt hour)

Put learnersin pairs and tell them that they are going to write a descriptionof a famous
personthat containsa number of factualerrors.Youmay first want to allow them to choose
and researcha famous personusing an online encyclopediasuch asWikipedia.They may
preparethis descriptionon paper,or in a Word document,or you could take them to the
computer room, where they could type their descriptionsdirectly into the wiki. You may
want to give the learnersan exampleof a description of a famous person with factual

96
 Blogs,wikis and podcasts

errors,which you havealreadywritten yourself in the wiki. The one below is an exampleof
an erroneous entry on Albert Einstein, in the processof being written, with the wiki page
in Edit mode. You will need to give the learnersclear directions on how to add a new page
to the wiki, and then how to add their descriptions. Once all the pairs have added their
description to the wiki,let them spend time reading the other pairs'descriptions.

infamouspeopleI eru.tt Einstein(editing)

lltBrtllB t! r lrDw IrcD rtG. rrho llvcl tr the g5l. Eic h1l -
.It Ir rll rclrtlrc | thc lrlE
', - nl ontba! oae lD lEp chtlt! lEu.

nr bon l'D Gcnmy l! 1923, A! r ch11d bc'rIFDt a lot o! tte

rGcDlDg Eo Dot} ro1c, ud rcrdtlg boolt or $ltrcw Echrartct, Bc ms

Step3 - |n)famous people:corrections(opproximatelyt hour)

Allocate one description to each pair from the previous class- make sure that it is not
their own original description! The pair reads the description, clicks on the Edit tab for
the wiki page and corrects any'wrong' information in the description. Again, you may
want to refer learnersto an online encyclopediasuch asWikipedia for them to check any
information about the famous person that they do not know. Depending on the level of the
class,you could askthe pairs to now add two grammatical errors to the entry, while they are
correcting the factual information. Corrections are done to the the wiki pagein Edit mode.
Eachpair then goesback to their original description, and readsthe corrections that were
made.Are the descriptions now correct?If traronew grammatical errors have been added,
can they spot the deliberateerrors and correct those,too?

Alternotive (opproximotely E-tt hou rs)

With higher-level learners a slightly more complex collaborativewriting project could be
set up on the sametopic of famous people which usesonline resourcesfor research(see
Chapter 8). In this versionof the wiki project, pairs or small groups of learnerseachresearch
a different facet of one famous person. For example,one famous writer, painter, musician
or scientistis chosenby the class,and different aspectsof their life are investigatedby each
pair, e.g. childhood, education, main works or influences on other artists/professionals.
Eachpair then preparesan entry on their topic, and createsa wiki pagededicatedto this. All
topics can link from the main wiki page.Groups can then read other groups'contributions
and edit/changeas necessary.The final result is a wiki with pageson v-ariousaspectsof a
famous person,rather like a mini encyclopedia.
Chapter7

Considerations
As with the blogs pioject outlined earlier in this chapter,the wiki can be kept asan internal
classproject, and given the public nature of the Internet, it is probably worth asking other
classes/learners (for examplein the sameschool) to take a look at the wiki, and possibly to
contribute to it. In the caseof younger learners,a wiki project can be viewed by parents.
Knowing that the wiki will be viewed by readersoutside the classroom,and will be available
on the Internet for public scrutiny, is an added incentive for learners.By giving the wiki
a password,only those who know the password can edit it, which gives your wiki some
measureof securiry but still allows it to be accessedand read on the Internet.

How to set up o wiki

Thereareseveralfreesitesfor settingupwikis,andsomeof thebest-known
are:
o Pbwiki (www.pbwiki.com)
o MediaWiki (http:/iwww.mediawiki.org)
r Wikihost (http://wikihost.org)
As with blogs, setting up a wiki is a straightforward process,with no specialisttechnical
knowledge or expertiseneeded.

PodcastsIn languageteaching
The closestanalogy to a podcast is that of a radio or TV show but the difference is that
you can listen to or watch a podcast on a topic that interestsyou whenever you want to.
A podcast can be downloaded automatically to your computer using RSS,podcatching
software which is described in Chapter 12. Typically, a podcast will consist of a 'show'
which is releasedeither sporadicallyor at regular intervals,for exampleeveryday or once a
week.A podcastcan be on any topic, and can include music and video. Video podcastsare"
alsoknown asVodcastsor PodClips. A podcastcan last anything upwards of a few minutes
to an hour or more. Podcastscan be authentic - for example,BBC radio shows are often
downloadableas podcasts- or speciallymade for languagelearners.
Podcastdirectories are one placeto start looking for podcasts.You or your learnerscan
click on a categoryand scroll though a list of podcasts,listening to and subscribirg to any
that interestyou. A podcastdirectory aimed specificallyat teachersand learnersof English
is Englishcaster(http://www.englishcaster.com).

H;l*-''
l&engtishcasler fu&r* tsssons
rnd moteb.lelrnersol €rElsh
hrrfrr.d

Aa b OEd. Lonh0lEndhOlllm

ffi
i!
l!H6 I
jl exrpa.x,*r,o I
Codr9r.h$.61$.
it
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98
 , i k i sa n d p o d c a s t s
B t o g sw

Therearetwo main usesof podcastsin teaching.Firstly,learnerscanlistento podcasts

made by others and, secondly,they can produce their own podcasts.It is becoming
increasingly common in tertiaryeducation,for example,for professors to recordlectures
as podcasts,so that studentswho miss a classcan download the lecturepodcastsfor later
listeningon their computersor mobile deviceslike an MP3 player.This is sometimes
referredto ascoursecasting.Lecturersmay havestandardlecturesthat havebeenrecorded
and are madeavailableat certainpoints in the universityterm/semester, and they may also
recordnew podcastsregularlyfor their students.Podcastscan alsobe usedin a similar
way in teachertraining, where traineeslisten to/watch podcastson issuesof teaching
methodology.
The languageteachercan direct their learnersto podcastsalreadyavailableon the
Internet, for self-studypurposes,or even use them for listening in classvia a computer.
Thesecan be EFL/ESLpodcastsmade especially for learners,suchas thosefound at the
Englishcaster directory,or authenticpodcasts.
Oneoption for the language teacheris to encourage learnersto find a podcaston a topic
that intereststhem and getthem to subscribeand then listento it regularlyin their freetime.
EFL/ESLpodcastsare availablefor all levelsof learners,coveringa wide varietyof topics,
from vocabularyitemsto discussions on topicsof interest,to jokesand to learningsongs.
Alternatively, you canencourage high-levellearnersto subscribeto authenticpodcasts, for
examplefrom sitessuchasthe BBC News(http://wwwbbc.co.uk).
More demanding,but ultimatelyperhapsmore rewarding,is the option of learners
actuallyproducingtheir own podcasts. Learnerpodcastscanbe a'one-off'podcast,which
is then storedon the Internet,or learnerscan producea seriesof regularpodcastson a
variety of topics,much like a radio show.

Howto createlearnerpodcasts
Learnerpodcastscan consistof a seriesof short audio files,lastingfrom l0-20 secondsto
severalminutes,madeby individuallearners, or of longerpodcasts, madeby smallgroups.
Belowarea numberof ideasfor podcastingprojects:

Fodcastldea Suggested Student lndlviduaVSmatlOne-off/Series

lengthof each languagelwel grouprccording of podcasts
podcast
Personal r-3 minutes Low lndividual One-off
information(e.9.
name,age,likes
& dislikes)
Viewson topics r-3 minutes Low+ lndividual Series
Describing 5 minutesplus lntermediate+ Smallgroups One-offlSeries
(e.g.national
customs/
holidays)
Tellingjokes/ r*3 minutes lntermediate+ Individual 0ne-off/Series
anecdotes
Chapterz

Here is an exampleof a classpodcastproject.

Stept - Setting-upa podcastpoge (approximately3o minutes)

Using a free podcast site like podOmatic (www.podomatic.com), the teacher sets up a
podcast page for the project. This needs to be done at home or in the computer room
before class.To record a podcast,the teacherneedsa computer and Internet connection,
and a microphone and speakersor a headset.Podcastsitesare extremelyeasyto useand no
specialisttechnical knowledge is needed.The podcastpageprovides a websitefor learners
to post their podcaststo. The teachercan provide a short text description of the project,
with photos and an examplepodcast,as in the screenshotbelow, on the podcastpage:

Thb b E 9od€rl bf w
.rdbltiar-hEntt$*

g
r5$. Lisiqr to qci

s6|ibrfird3
of r ir* lbout dElv6, ard er htcrcS

lr0lcdilranaslggt!&gllEg!&E
t
The teachercan alsoadd a podcastasa briefing for the class,including the information that
they would like learnersto havein their own podcasts.

Stepz - Creotinglearner podcosts(approximately45-6o minutes)

In pairs or individually, learnersprepare and rehearsea short text about themselves.Tell
them to include the following information:
. name and age.
o job or school year.
o hobbiesor sparetime activities.
. one unusual thing about themselves.
It is important to allow learnerstime to rehearsetheir texts severaltimes so that they feel
confident about being recorded.Although their podcastsshould not be directly read out
word by word, do allow learnersto make notesto help them, asthey will feel it is important
to be asaccurateaspossible.
100
 Blogs,wikis and podcasts

A podcastsite such as podomatic will allow learnersto record,listento and then re-
recordtheir podcastsuntil they areentirely happy with the results.Only then should learners
publish their podcaststo the podcastproject page.Recordingand re-recording requiresno
special technical knowledge or software apart from Internet accessto the podcast page
alreadyset up by the teacher,and a microphone and headphonesfor eachstudent to record
their podcast with. The recording software is incorporated into the podcast page and is
very easyto use.In the singlecomputerclassroom,learnerswill needto taketurns to record
their podcasts.When learnersare happy with the recordingsof their individual podcasts,
they publish them to the main podcastpage.

Step3 - Listeningto leornerpodcasts (approximotely454o minutes)

In a subsequentclass,put learners individually (or in pairs) with a computer and allow
podcasts.In the single computer classroom,the
them to listen to all of their classmates'
podcastscan be played one by one, via speakers.Tell learnersto note down what hobbies
eachperson has,and also the unusualthing eachpersonmentions.Once all the podcasts
have been listened to, allow learners to compare notes in small groups. What have they
found out about their classmates?

Step4 - Follow-upG-4 subsequentlessons)

Once learnershave produced one short podcast,and are familiar with the podcasting site
and how to useit, they can start to produce regular podcastson the topics which arecovered
in class.The more learnerspractisepreparing podcasttexts,rehearsingthem and recording
them, the more confident they will become, and the more'natural' their recordings will
start to sound.And the quicker they will carry them out.
Below is a screenshotof podcastsproduced by EFL learners(using podOmatic) to
celebrateApril Fools'Day,in which the learnersgive original excusesfor not doing their
homework.

101
Chapter
7

Youwill seethat podOmaticalsoallowscommentsfrom listeners,which canbe in text

form or evenrecorded,if permissionis given to do this. Other classes,
or the parentsof
youngerlearners,can be encouragedto listen to the podcastsand to commenton them.
PodOmaticis easyto use,and producesa pagesimilar to the one on the prwious page,
with your podcastembeddedin the page.You can choosefrom a variety of templatesfor
a different look You can alsoeasilyadd photos to your audio podcaststo makethe page
more visuallyattractive.

Conclugfong I hthlschapterwehove:
r introducedblogs,wikis and podcastsas examplesof socialsoftware.
r lookedat blogs,wikis and podcastsand howto useeachof them in language
teachlng.
r lookedat howtutor,studentand classblogscanbe usedwith learners.
r discussedhowto set up simpleblog,wiki and podcastproiectswith learners.
r introduced audioandvideoblogs.
r referredto softwareandsitesto helpthe teacherset up blogp,wikisandpodcasts.

r02
 Onlinereference
tools
andthesauruses r Translatorsfor language
r Dlctlonarles
r Concordancersandcorpuses analysls
for languageanalysls r Encyclopedlas for research
andprcfectwork

Dlctlonarles
andthesauruses
Dictionories
Whetheryour studentsare usingbilingual,semi-bilingual
or monolinguallearners
dictionaries in paper or electronic form, there is no denying that there is a far greaterrange
'of dictionary referencetools availablethan was the caseeven ten years ago. It is not the
intention of this section to adviseon the useof dictionaries in the classroom,but rather to
outline someof the featuresthat electronic dictionaries include and to show how they have
developedbeyond the printed page.Here we will be focusing on monolingual dictionaries.
Tiaditionally thesehavebeen usedby higher-levellearners,but increasinglythere is a wide
range of monolingual dictionaries that havebeen written for studentswith a lower level of
languageproficiency.
Of course, you may well have the experienceof students bringing into class small
hand-held electronic dictionaries, which have translation features and audio recordings
of the sounds of the words, alongside pocket-sizedbilingual dictionaries in book form.
The one thing we would say about these hand-held electronic dictionaries is that their
content is often inaccurate and that, if you can, you should adviseyour students on the
range of products before they purchase,asyou probably have done in the past with paper
dictionaries.
Virtually all of the major monolingual learnersdictionaries are sold with a CD-ROM.
TheseCD-ROMs often havesome or all of thesefeatures:
. searchability(which is not alphabeticallybased).
o audio recordingsof the words, often in both British and American English.
. gamesand exercises.
r information on typical errors.
. the ability to bookmark and personalise.
o thesaurusfunctionality.
. corpus informed information on frequency.

103
C hapter8

Somewill even'sit'in the backgroundon your computer,allowingyou to click on terms

in popular word processingprograms or on web pagesand be taken to the appropriate
dictionary entry automatically.Also, someelectronicdictionariesare availablefree online
with limited functionality, for exampleincluding the definition but not giving you the
audio.Your evaluationcriteria will not vary hugelyfrom the list we looked at in Chapter
3. Sufficeit to saythat the more authoritativethe site,the better the content will be. For
dictionariesand thesauruses, try to find resourceswhich are basedon availableprinted
materialswith a good history of accuracy.
Clearlytheseelectronicdictionariesprovide a powerful resourcefor studentsworking
on their own and for you in the classroom.In the classroomyou can havethe dictionary
availableat all times to check the meaningsof words, and, if you are fortunate enough
to have a PC linked to a data projector or interactivewhiteboard,you can integratethe
dictionary into your day-to-day teaching seamlesslyand also carry out dictionary use
training sessions more effectively.

Thesauruses
While electronicdictionariescan be usedat all levels,it is worth bearingin mind, initially,
that thesaurusesare more suited to the intermediateand advancedlevels than to the
elementaryor pre-intermediatelevels,where much more languageis new to the learner.
For higher levels,they can be usedto enrich and extendyour learners'vocabulary, whereas
lower-levellearnersmight find the variety of languageon offer too overwhelmingto be of
any direct use.
A thesauruscan do wondersfor writing projects.It can encouragelearnersto be more
adventurousin their creativewriting at the sametime as helping them to analysetheir
output more critically.The activity below can be used as an introduction both to what
thesauruses look like and to how they work.

Advanced-level
thesaurusclass
1 Emotions - find the odd wordout in theselists.
(visithttp:/lthesaurus.reference.com
andseethe screenshot
opposite):
disappointment misfortune blow shame r
happiness blessing elation Joy
anger tury rage disgust
love adulation optimism affection
envy jealousy resentment relief
disgust abhorrence discouragement abomination
fear suspicion angst anxiety
hope anticipation longing excitement
confidence enthusiasm assurance resolution
regret misgiving contrition caution
t{owffnd a synonymfor eachof the odd wordsout Whatcontextarc they
usedIn?
Canyou think of an antonymfor eachof the odd words?Usethe
thesaurus to helpyou.

This activity,which should take lessthan thirty minutes,will help your learnersto move
arounda thesaurus, and givethem valuableinsightsinto how entriesareput together.

104
 Onlinereference
tools

A0vfiTrS:rt{T

34 resultsfor:fear
1-10 of 34 rrsults tllxtt

Vld nrults from: Qigllbtrlg I Thrcrurus I En(wlopedb I All Rlfrtu. I th. web

Mt rl4 limefrh6n fh€ffi - C)r tlrb Sr@

Mrln Entry: ftar
Pln ot SF.dT ttout
o.tlnltlo|I .hfrn
Synotrymr: abhor.nca, lgltatiof,, angst, rnxlcty, rpprchanslvanr$, av€Blon,am,
bugbear,chlcklnheancdness*,cold feetr, coH sreatr, onc€m,
constarnation, cowtrdlc!, mcps, daspalr, dircrnposur€, dlsmly,
dlsquletudr, dlstru3s,douh, dEad, falnthrartcdm$. fonbodhg, fright,
funk', horror, Jineru, mlsglviig, nlghtmilc, pank, phobla, prcs.ntlmail,
qualm. rfircrncy, nE Gne, |wlslm, scarc,suSplclon,tcror, tlmldity,
trcmHlng! trrmor, $rpiddion, une$a, unGrsineas,mrry
Antorynri boldn€ss, brrvcry, couragG,ftad.ssness. nlor
&&t; tuCr(t Nat t/tumknr ttwar4 F|6'Ed1don P | 3,1)
qfigHO m W L.rtu F.iodltttutECt"up,LLC,Aildghbeirad
'.fr'btffilqdmg

Once they have seen how the thesaurus works, have them look back at some of their
writing and identiff the words and phrasesthey tend to overuse.Encouragethem to take
advantageof their new thesaurusskills to researchalternativesto make their writing more
interestingand varied. This kind of fine-tuning of their languageskills is particularly useful
at examination preparation levelswhere an individual writing style can help them to stand
out from the crowd.

Concordancers
andcorpusesfor languageanalysis
A concordancer is similar to a search engine in many respects.Essentially,it is a small
program that can examinelargequantities of text for patternsand occurrencesof particular
words or phrases.Concordancersare often consideredto be the domain of the language
researcheror the kind of tool usedby writers of grammar referencesand weighty linguistic
tomes.And indeed they are primarily used in this domain. However,they have played an
increasinglylarge part in the lives of materialswriters in ELT over the past few years.Being
able to make informed decisionson the frequencyof words and structures,their collocates
and particular positions in the languagenow influencesthe writing of much of the printed
materials we see in our daily teaching lives, and has transformed textbooks beyond all
recognition.
Projects such as COBUILD (Collins Birmingham University International Language
Database),which started in 1980 under the auspicesof Professor |ohn Sinclair, have
createdvast databasesof contemporary text which, in the caseof COBUILD itself, led to
the creation of the Collins COBUILD Englkh LanguageDictionary, which was based on

r05
C hapter8

an exhaustivestudy of the createddatabase,the corpus. Suchprojectshaveled to better

dictionariesand referenceworks,but they are alsowidely usedby other writers,and their
effectscan be clearlyseenin the coursebookswe usetoday,aswe havesaid.But they also
havea part to play in the classroom.Let'sturn now to examinehow a concordancerworks,
and what it does.
Concordancinginvolvesthe useofthe program itself(the concordancer)and a corpus,
or large body of text, to be analysed.Corpusesare compiled from a variety of sources:
written collectionssuchasnewspapersor journals,or spokencollectionstakenfrom radio
and televisionsources,or gatheredon the streetin audio format. The corpus of text is
tagged,meaningthat eachword is describedby its location,its position in relationto other
words in a sentence,its frequency,and so on. The concordancersearches the corpus,asksit
about a particularword and how it is used,and then you get a screenof resultsfrom a part
of the corpus showingthe word and enough text either sideto be ableto understandthe
contextin which it is used.Here we are looking at when the words sinceandlor occur in a
corpusof spokenEnglish.

1 He said well you'vebeen right sinceChristmasand if you say itt

2 is. Aren'tyou?No I haven'tbeen out sinceBoxingnight!Wh what are you
3 secret.Obviouslythe law has beenupdatedsinceeighteenninetythree.Theone
4 wife and that he had beenwith her sinceerm she was twelve.The problem
5 Youknowwhat, I had haven'tsat down sincehalf pastseven.Whatyou do is,
6 how old it was.Mm So he said oh no sinceI left. I saidwell l, I'd still
7 And liveson there.WellI've knownDereksinceI was six weeksold. I was taken
8 pic whichthe EEFhas beenpromotinghardsincelast October. We'vebeendoing
9 Act which,and we'vehad that law sincgnineteensixty eight.50 we've
10 asking.I'm, l'm asking,I've beenheresinceSaturdaynow I'vesat here
7 bits in therefor her a few kittensin there for a coupleof daysl, so they'd
2 they'remarriedand they'vebeen marriedfor a coupleof yearsI reckon,
3 going,you shouldof said oh I just comeup for a few days.Btairhad to look
4 your toes.We'vestill got that tape for a coupleof a weeks.Haven't
5 we do, but when he goes backto work now for a coupleof days it'l[ take
6 of Februaryer so. 5o he was only in for a coupleof daysthen?
7 mate!Are you cheeky!Had a sore throat for a coupleof days!Hiya i
8 yeahthat way.lt won't be like it for a coupleof years.But he's
9 who'sfriend of Mat's?That'sright yeah, for a little bit, I was on about
10 that'll say ah yeahwe'vebeen doing this for a tittte while,why don't we

As you can seefrom thesesimple examples,it is quite possibleto extrapolatebasicrules

about the wayfor and sincework. This is a simple exampleof the power of concordancers
- and one which certainlycould be usedwith lower-intermediatelevels,if the right output
waschosen.
When working with concordancingwe havethe option to download and install both
a concordancingprogram and a variety of corpuses(often calledcorporain the formal
or technicalliterature) to our own computers,or use an existingwebsitewhich queries
corpusesonline. It is often the casethat concordancingprogramswill be commercial,and
websiteswill not. In this sectionwe will list someof the main concordancing
programsand
corpuses,but will concentrateon freeonline resourcesfor gettingstartedin this area.

106
 Onlinereference
tools

Concordancing programs
o Monoconc (www.monoconc.com),$69.
o Concordance(www.concordancesoftware.co.uk),
$gg.
o Paraconc[for parallelcorpuses](www.athel.com),$95.
o Wordsmith Tools (http://www.lexically.net/wordsmith/index.html), $gz.
(All pricesat the time of writing.) Note that most of theseprogramswill comewith some
corpuses- or text collections - already included to get you started. The ICAME Corpus
Collection CD-ROM, for example, includes a set of corpusesand a copy of Wordsmith
Tools(for more information, visit the siteat: http://helmer.hit.uib.no/icame/newcd.htm).

Corpuses
When choosing a concordancer,the main evaluation criterion, apart from the price and
easeof use of the software,will be the type of languageyou want to work with: spoken or
written, American or British English, legal or journalistic, and so on. These choiceswill
influence which corpus you decide to query, and what kind of results you will get. These
are some of the most well-known corpuses.Pleasenote that accessis usually through
subscription.
British National Corpus (http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/),
100million words.
r COBUILD (http://www.collins.co.uVbooks.aspx?group=155),56
million words.
o InternationalCorpus of English(http://www.ucl.ac.uk/english-usage/projects/
ice-gb/index.htm),I million words.
. AmericanNational Corpus (http://americannationalcorpus.org/),22 million
words.
For a more completeguide to availablecorpusesgo to David Lee'sCity University of Hong
Kong collection at http://devoted.to/corpora. This page includes corpuseswhich can be
accessedfreely online or downloaded and incorporated into a concordancerprogram.
For those who do not want to spend money there are web-basedalternativeswhich
are both free and extremely useful and, while they might not help a writer of grammar
books or ELI referencematerials,are certainly good enough for classroomuse.One such
resourceis the LexTutor online concordancerdesignedby Chris Greavesat the Polytechnic
University of Hong Kong (you can find the site at: http://www.lextutor.calconcordancers/
concord_e.html).
At first, the page may seemdaunting, and indeed there are plenty of options to tinker
with, but for a simple concordance,put the word you want to find out about in the text
entry box marked'Keyword', choosethe corpus you would like to searchfrom the drop-
down'In corpus'list and then hit the'Get concordance'button.You will seeresultssimilar
to the for and sinceexamplesabove.The corpuseson this site are generallylimited samples
of some of the bigger ones available.They include:
r 1,007,000words of the written British National Corpus.
e 965,000words of the spokenBritish National Corpus.
r 1,000,000words of the Brown Corpus of StandardAmerican English.

t07
Chapte8r

There is also a variety of other, smaller corpusestotalling over four million words. It is
possibleto searchone corpus,or all at the sametime.Youshouldnot feelthat you necessarily
needaccess to the largercorpusesto useconcordancers effectively.Chris Tribble,who hasa
regularcolumn in the GuardianWeeklyELT sectiondevotedto the subject,hasarguedthat
much smallercorpusescanbe of equaluse(http://www.ctribble.co.uk/text/Palc.htm).

Usein class
But what is the useof all this data in the classroom- and is it only usefulfor higher levels?
The answerto the secondpart of that question,aswe sawabovewith the concordances on
for and since,isdefinitely not! Those examples could certainlybe used with lower levelsto
initiate somethought and discussionon the useof thesetwo words.The answerto the first
part of the questionis slightlylonger.
You can use the corpus for generatingtest material such as clozeexercises and exam
practice materials.At higher levels,a corpus can serveas a useful referencetool in the
classroomfor the more intricate examplesof languageuse. For example,'What's the
differencebetweenglisten and glittefl' Parallel concordancers,which compare texts ln
two or more languages, can alsobe usefulfor examininghow structuresare dealt with in
first and secondlanguages.Let'sturn to an exampleclassnow, using go to (+ the) on the
oppositepage.Notice that for this concordancewe havechosento sort right, ensuringthat
the words following the searchresultsare in alphabeticalorder.This makesit easierto see
which wordsoccur with go to the andgo to, andin what frequency.A concordancerwill also
allow you to sort left, orderingwords prior to the searchterm.
For anotherusefuldiscoveryactivity,try blankingout the targetwords in concordances
and having your learnerswork out which word is missingin each.Although this sounds
quite easy,it can turn out to be more difficult than you think and is only suitablefor higher-
level languagelearners.Make sure that the examplesyou use are logical enough for your
learnersto be ableto find the missingword. Try this one asan example:

1 Yorkgreenbelt to protectSkelton.lt is, xxxxxx,a functionof Skeltonto

2 Mhmandermin erm,speaking aboutit xxxxxxandin mentionlng aboutthe
3 werea mythicatthing. Xxxxxx,
as we writethesecontinuous
4 Northern Regionsupporta SpecialReport.Xxxxxx,at our pre-congress meeting,
5 on the wayto improved workingconditions. Xxxxxx,beforetheseaimscande
6 wantto getthroughthe business we canand xxxxxxbusywe are,erm.I wouldn't
7 be doingthat quitequickly.CanI start,xxxxxx,by tellingyouwhatthis case
8 the problems that mightariseermthereis, xxxxxx,causefor someer optimism
9 theywon'tbe inheritinganythinganywayxxxxxxclosetheymaybe.Andthe
10 knowI reckoner whenit is...Yeah,xxxxxxdid theyemployhim?{le'shad
r Whichwordis missingfromthe sentences above?
r Howdid you workouf the missingword(thinkaboutlocation,punctuation, etc)?
3 Whatconclusions canyou drawaboutthe useof tlre word?
q Whatis the differencein useof the wordin examples6 and9, and in examplero?
Key:Themissing wordis however.lt oftenstartsa sentence,
andis immediately
tollowedby a comma. Whenit is in the middleof a sentence
it is oftenpreceded and
followedby a comma, marking a pause.lt oftenintroduces
a counterpoint. ln sentences
6 and9 it conveysthe meaning of 'nomatterhow'.ln example ro it couldbe replaced
by Why.

r08
 0 n l i n e r e f e r e n cteo o t s

class(ower level)
Sampleconcordancer
Lookat theseexamplesentences. Whichonesarc conect?
r I mustgo to the bankandgetsomemoneyout.
o I go to theschooleverydayat 9 o'clock.
r Doyoufancygoingto thecinema?
r Let'sgo to theofficeandgetsomeworkdone.
r Oursongoesto the localsecondary school.
r Youneedto go to hairdresser's.
r Couldyougo to thesupermarket andgetsomemilk?
. Doyougo to the bedearly?
Canyou corrcctthe inconectones?
Checkyouranswerswith a partner.Nowlookat the sentences
again.ls therea rule
for whenwe usego to andwhenwe usego to the?
Dotheseexamplesfit your 'rule'?
Nowlobkat thesercal examplesfromLexTutor.
to the firm at Oxonand er I had to so to the bankand borrowthe money,
and so, I had to go to, I had to eo to the bathroomto the toilet very
the ideathat you weren'tgoingto so to the countyschool?Shewas very
with that on. So don't go to the hairdressers beforeus,
for the next lesson,I could go to the tibraryand I usedto sit
in the market.You go to the market,and I've beento the
MacDonalds and then we could go to the museumas well, thatb free
Yeah.But re r Brenwantedto so to the pub.WeltI don't,l, I
Wel[yesyou could go to antiqueshopsand buy that
to sleep.We wakeup and well we go to bed about half past ten,
Put on the clothesyou put on to so to churchon Sunday. Youmust
two policeofficersare to go to jail for their part in the
into Scotland.He did not even so to Londonmuch,but [ivedin
I couldn'tget up! 0n Mondayto so to school.I coutdnot get up!
ten percentof children go to specialschoolse.g.The Petd
No. l'd be quite happyto so to work if erm if I had a good
Nowget togetherwith anotherpair and makea list of whenwe usego to and when
we usego to the:
go to go to the
bed
Canyou add any moreexamples?
your list with the restof the class.
Compare
Chapter8

While they can certainly be useful, concordancerscan also bring a lot of 'noise' into
your classroomin ihe form of languagethat may be unfamiliar to your learnersand which
may be distracting for them, so distracting in fact that they detract from the main aims of
your lesson.
A tool like this, which givesaccessto such a quantity and richnessof language,should
be used sparingly and thoughtfully, when you think that the discoveryapproach may lead
to a better understanding of the languageyou are dealing with at that moment. You may
also find that it is better to tailor the results of a concordanceand present it in the form
of a word processeddocument, rather than give accessto the concordanceritself to your
learners.A concordancercan be a powerful ally and helper, even in the single computer
classroom,and is another tool to add to your collection of useful applications.
Whateverapproachyou adopt, make surethat the corpus fits what you areteaching,test
the concordanceresultsbeforehandso that you are not caught unawaresby the resultsyour
learners may get, and ensurethat they are comfortable with the tool and the technology,
leaving them free to concentrateon what it produces,rather than the production process
itself. For more freely-availableweb-basedconcordancers,try the following sites:
o British National Corpus (http://wwwnatcorp.ox.ac.uk/),limit of so results.
r Bank of English(http://www.collins.co.uk/Corpus/CorpusSearch.aspx),
limit of
40 results.

Translatorsfor languageanalysis
Tianslation software is still in its infanry and at the time of writing remains unreliable
and in many instancesof dubious quality. However, it is worth mentioning, if only to
point out to your learnersthe dangersit posesif they use it inappropriately,for exampleto
carry out a translation assignmentinto their own language.The AltaVista site, Babel Fish.
(http://babelfish.altavista.com/),leads the way in offeringquick web-basedtranslation,but
you shouldn't expect great results from anything other than single words or very simple
phrases.Nothing you will find on the web will be able to cope with the famous Groucho
Marx one-liner, Timeflies like an arrow Fruit flies like a banana.
By now you may be asking yourself why we are discussingtranslation sitesat all. The
simple answer to that is that it is preciselytheir fallibility and simplicity that make them
interesting vehicles for getting learners to notice the languagethey are working with, to
recognisestructuresand to processlanguagein an engagingand often amusing way.

An intermediatetranslationcloss
Apart from being a fun activity, this involves quite a lot of languageprocessing,and also
highlights the problems of relying too heavily on technology.
While the translation back into English opposite isn't perfect, Babel Fish Translator
wasnever intended to go backwardsand forwards betweenlanguageslike this. The original
translation into Spanishwas good enough to be understood, and we have used the site a
few times to get an idea of the content of certain web pagesin languageswe do not speak,
or evento engagein text chat with speakersof other languages.

n0
 0 n l i n e r e f e r e n cteo o l s

Thls text wits translatedfrom the originat Engtlshinto Spanishby the Babet
Fish translator at AltaVista. The Spanirh vercion was then translated hack
into Engtish.As you can soe, it wasnt a perfect translation. Work wi$r a
partner and try to constructthe original text
Translationback into English
Hil My nameGerardHuntand I am Englishprofessorand technologist. Alive
and work in Caracas,Venezuela, and I havehere been by r7 years.Work
with two colleagues,and we specialized in line in the education.Caracas
is a greatplaceand realtyioy livinghere.Thereis abundance to do - the
museums, the stores,the cinemasand the galleriesof art and the food and
the wine are great!
Orlglnal text
Hil My nameis GerardHuntand I am an Engtishteacherand technologist. I
live and work in Caracas,
Venezuela, and I've been herefor r7 years.I work
with two colteagues,and we specialise in onlineeducation. Caracas is a
greatplaceand I reallyenioy living here.There'splentyto do - mrlseums!
shops,cinemasand art galleriesand the food and wine are great!

for researchand proiectwork

Encyclopedias
It usedto be the casethat having accessto an encyclopediameant also needingto havea
large set of shelveson which to store all of the volumes.This collection of volumesthen
becamea small CD-ROM sitting next to our computers,and thesedaysis more likely to
be a collectionof web addresses to usefuland authoritativesourcesonline. Informational
referencesitesbasedon printed material are a good starting point and here we would
include paper-basedvolumes such as the EncyclopediaBritannica,as well as Microsoft
Encarta,which wasoriginallypublishedon CD-ROM.
Do checkout how often the contentis updated.Microsoft Encartais updatedregularly,
but more regularlyfor premium subscribersthan for the freeversion.Wikipedia is updated
every minute of every day, but then we have to bear in mind that it has thousandsof
editorsworldwide,with varying degreesof experience.All this must be weighedup when
decidingwhich to use.In the end referencinga variety of sourcesmay help. Sitessuch as
EncyclopediaBritannica,Encartaand the Columbia Encyclopediacan safelybe considered
both accurateand fairly comprehensive, but with somethis may not be the case.It is worth
rememberingthe caveatmade in Chapter 7 about Wikipedia being user-produced,and
thereforepotentiallyproneto inaccuracies.
The wealth of information containedon thesesitesopensup the world to our learners
in a way that more traditional collectionsof classroomobjectssimply can't.Projectwork,
biographiesand other fact-basedlessonsbecome lessarduous for our learners,leaving
them freeto concentrateon the languagesideof things,and ableto accessthe information
they needfor any particular task from a reliablesource.On the next pageis an exampleof
a fact-finding activity which involveslower-levellearnersusing encylopediasto find out
information about a countrv thev are interestedin.
Chap ter8

1 What do you know about your chosencountry?Comptetethis chart.

Ithat I know
l{ame
Capital city
Autonomous
communides
Poputation
Average age
Languages
ila0onal holidays
Flag

websitesand completeyour chart.

z Visit three encyclopedia
britannica.com wikipedia.org encyctopedia.com
Name
Gpltal city
Autonomous
communlties
Foputation
Averageage
[anguages
llational
hotidays
Flag

3 Compareyour countrywith othersin your group.What are the big differences?

classthis partof the activitycanbe a groupknowtedge-buitding
Note:In a monolinguaI
exercisewith everyone
exchanging whattheyknowto buitdup a biggerpicture.
4 Nowwrite a short reporton your country.Includesome picturesfrom Google.
Note:Entriesmayvaryfromencyclopedia to encyclopedia,depending on the depthof
eacharticle,and wheneachone was updated.lt woutdbe usefuIto discuss this with
yourgroup.

Conclusions I h thischapter
wehave:
r considered
theuseofonline
dictionaries,
thesauruses
andtranslation
services.
r examined
theroleof concordancers
andcorpuses ptanning
in [esson andteaching.
r examined
theuseof onlineencyclopedias,
andconsideredhowtheyprovideaccess
to
a much-needed'world
knowledge'
in theclassroom.

O N T HE C D -R OM Y ()U C A N L IS TE N TO A TE A C H E R TA LK IN G
A B O UT U S IN G ON L IN E R EF E R E N C E TOOLS A N D GO ON A TOU R
O F A LO N G MA N D IC T ION AR Y.

It2
 Technology-base
courseware
r CD-ROINs and DYDs r Electronlcportfollos
: EvaluatingCD-ROlls r Interactlvewhlteboards
r Computer-based
testlng

andDVDs
CD-ROtls
CD-ROMs
Firstof all,what exactlyis a CD-ROM?Short for'Compact Disc Read-OnlyMemory',a CD-
ROM looks exactlylike an audio CD but contains multimedia files that are programmed to
usetext, images,audio andvideo to provide interactivity. CD-ROMs are often included free
or at little extra cost with coursebooksand workbooks. CD-ROMs accompanyingcourses
typically have content related to each course unit, providing learners with extra reading
and listening materials, recording functionality to practise pronunciation and speaking,
and with grammar and vocabulary activities like matching vocabulary to definitions, drag
and drop exercises, gap-fills,crosswords,and so on.
TheseCD-ROMs are primarily designedfor learnersto work on alone as follow-up to
a lesson,either in a school self-accesscentre or at home. They can include featuressuch as
allowing learnersto choosetheir own path through the CD-ROM materialsby making their
own'lessonplans'- choosingwhich activitiesto do and in what order to do them. Many
coursebookCD-ROMs also havetesting materials incorporated, so that learnerscan check
their own progress,as well as
a grammar reference section
and mini-dictionary.As well as
the CD-ROMs accompanying
language coursebooks,there
are standalone CD-ROMs
aimed at different groups of
learnerswhich cover different
languageareasand skills, such
as examination preparation
and practice, grammar and
vocabularyandpronunciation.
And of course there are
dictionary CD-ROMs, which
we coveredin Chapter 8.

113
Chapter9

Pronunciation practice usually involvesa learner listening to a word or short sentence,

and then recordirig themselveswhile repeating the word or sentence.The learner'soutput
is then compared to a'model' of correct pronunciation and the results displayed to the
learner,often in the form of a graph. What is known asvoice recognition software is used
for this type of pronunciation activity. Note that voice recognition software is not always
reliable, and even native speakerscan be given negative feedbackif their accentsdo not
match the model provided!
CD-ROMs are particularly strong on providing grammar practice activities, and
listening and reading materials for learners. CD-ROMs are less effective for speaking
practice, as it is difficult to move beyond a'listen and repeat'model, given the technology
currently availableand the lack of 'real' interaction inherent in a CD-ROM. Writing, too,
will tend to be limited to'fill in the blanks'activities,or reordering sentencesinto paragraphs
or comparing paragraphsto a model. Any longer texts or creativewriting produced by the
learner will need to be corrected by the teacher,which makespractice of the writing skill
lesssuited to this kind of self-studv.

DVDs
Starting to make an appearancealong with CD-ROMs in the languageteachingworld are
DVDs - short for'Digital VersatileDisc'- which were developedin the 1990s.Theseare
similar to CD-ROMs in that a variety of data can be stored on them, but they have much
greaterstorage capacity than CD-ROMs. DVDs are usually used as an alternativeto video
cassettes,which are becoming increasingly outdated. DVDs allow the viewer to choose
from various languageoptions. On an EFL coursebookDVD you will generallyfind more
video, which takes up a lot of disc space,than you would find on a CD-ROM. The video
content on a DVD can be viewed on a computer with DVD viewing software installed, or
on a DVD player.Note, though, that DVDs featuring interactiveexercisesneed a computer.
Somepeople believethat DVDs will eventuallyreplaceCD-ROMs in the EFL world, givefl
their superior storage capacityand the high quality of video and audio. One particularly
useful feature of DVDs is that there is often an option to view subtitles along with a video
dialogue. In ELT coursewareDVDs these subtitles are generally only in English, but in
authentic DVDs, such as feature films, they can be in a choice of severallanguages.There
are severalways the subtitles in DVDs can be used with learnersin an English class.Here
are a few ideas:
o The subtitles for a dialogue are hidden during a first (and even second)viewing.
How much the learnersunderstood can then be checkedwith comprehension
questions,and the dialogue played a final time with the subtitles displayed.
o Learnerslisten to short sectionsof a DVD dialogue severaltimes, transcribe them
and then checktheir version of the transcript with the subtitles.
o Learnerswatch a short DVD dialogue betweentwo characterswith the audio
switched off, reading the subtitles severaltimes. Pairsare then invited to each
take a characterrole, and to read the subtitles for their characterat the same
time the dialogue is played again,still with the audio switched off. This can be
repeatedseveraltimes. Can the learnerskeep up with the lip movementsof their
characters?Finally, the dialogue is playedwith the audio switched on.
 Technology-based
courseware

Whilethe useof DVDs of featurefilms is not a featureof usingtechnology-basedcourseware,

it is worth pointing out that you can exploit the useof native languagesubtitlesfor English
languagefi.lms,if you teachin a monolingual context.Playa short dialoguefrom an English
languagefilm, with the sound switchedoff, and only the native languagesubtitlesdisplayed.
Allow learnerstime to translate their native languageinto what they think the characters
are saying in English. Replay the sequenceseveraltimes with the sound still off, so that
learnerscan checktheir translationswith the lip movementsof the characterson the DVD.
Finally, play the sequenceagain with the sound on. Compare and discussany differences
in the translations.

with learnersin the classroom

UsingCD-ROMs
Given that CD-ROMS are readily availableand easyfor learners to use, one of the first
issuesto resolveis whether to encourageyour learnersto use them entirely alone at home
or in the self-accesscentre, or whether to integrate them into the classroomin some way.
Self-studyuse of CD-ROMs at home is only possible,of course,if learnerseachhavetheir
own copy of a CD-ROM (or if the self-access centre in a school allows learnersto take CD-
ROMs home) and accessto a computer. There are severaltypes of activities that can be
done to integrate a CD-ROM into your lessons:
o In the single computer classroomor school,pairs of learnerscan take turns to
do a few CD-ROM activities,for examplea couple of grammar drag-and-drop
*
activities,while the rest of the classare busy with paper-basedactivities on the
samegrammar point. This introduces variety into the classroom.
. If you haveaccessto a data projector (or'beamer') and one computer, CD-ROM
or DVD content can be projected onto a screenfor the whole classto view and
work on together,with learnerstaking turns to take control of the computer
mouse.This is especiallyusefirl with video content, which in itself addsvariety to
the lesson.Using a data projector is also an excellentway to train your learners
about what is on the courseCD-ROM and how thev should use it at home or in
the self-studycentre.
. If the school has a computer room or self-accesscentre,the teachercan
programme in regular short sessions,for exampleonce a week or fortnight, in
which learnerswork alone or in pairs on CD-ROM materialsduring classtime.
Note that thesesessionsshould be kept short so that learnersdon't get bored or
losefocus.

EvaluatingCD-ROts
CD-ROMs are often cited as being particularly motivating for learners,as they use'new'
technology,provide a multi-sensory alternativeto paper-basedclassroomwork, encourage
self-study and autonomous learning, and can exposelearners to authentic languagevia
audio and video. The truth of the matter is that, like any tool, overusecan undermine the
'novelty' effect for students.Also, CD-ROMS have now been around since the late 1980s,
and are being increasingly supersededby newer technologies such as blogs, podcasts,
instant messaging,and so on, which we have already discussedin earlier chapters.The
one big advantagethat CD-ROMs have over these newer Internet-based technologiesis

115
Chapter9

that learners can work with CD-ROMs offline, and are thus not reliant on an Internet
connection,which in somecontextsmay be unreliable,expensiveor simply not an option.
Given the wealth of CD-ROMs available for learners of English, where do you, the
teacher,start in terms of evaluatingwhether one CD-ROM or another will be'better'for
your learners?In reality,teachersusually make the pragmatic decisionof encouragingtheir
learnersto work with the coursebookCD-ROM (if thereis one) in their own time, or refer
them to the self-accesscentre.However,for those teacherswho need to either recommend
CD-ROMs to their learners,or are askedto chooseCD-ROMs for their resourcecentres.
where do you start?
The first issueto consideris whether a specificCD-ROM is meant to be a standalone
resource,for examplea CD-ROM for exam practice,or if it is an additional resourcefor
a course.We will now consider how to evaluatea freestandingor standaloneCD-ROM.
Asking the following questions,and matching them to the needsand interestsof your
learners,will help in this process.
o What agegroup is the CD-ROM aimed at?Is the contentsuitablefor adults,
adolescentsor youngerlearners?Is the content suitablefor the cultural contextin
which you teach?
o What linguisticlevelis the content aimed at - beginners,elementary,
intermediate or advanced?
r What kind of Englishis being focusedon, for examplebusinessEnglish,general
English,Englishfor academicpurposes,and so on?
o How'interesting'are the materials,and how well are they presented?
Is the CD-
ROM easyto navigatearound?Is therea rangeof activity typesand is enough
variety provided?
o What skillsand languageareasare focusedon - reading,writing,listening,
pronunciation,vocabularyor grammar?
o Is it clearto the learnerswhat the aim of individual activitiesis?
o How much multimedia content,especiallyvideo and audio,is there?What is the
quality like?How much authenticaudioivideois there,and how suitableis this
for your learners?
o How is feedbackon activities given to learners?Does feedback,although
automated,help studentsreallylearn from their mistakes,and if so,how?
o How is testingintegratedinto the CD-ROM, and how do learnersmeasuretheir
own progressthrough the materials?
o What additional resourcesare provided, for examplea dictionary or glossary,
grammar paradigmsand explanations?
o Are non-linguistic areas,suchasinterculturalcommunicationskills,learner
training or differencesin learning styles,addressedin someway?If so, how?
o Does the CD-ROM meet any accessibilitylaws you may face?
Finally, you might want to consider what using a CD-ROM really adds to your learners'
languagelearning experience,and how motivated they will be to use CD-ROMs, before
you investin CD-ROM resources.One way to do this is to discusstheir value with your
learnersdirectly.It is alsoimportant to provide both teachersand learnerswith hands-on
ll6
 courseware
Technology-based

training in the use of CD-ROMs, and to link classroomwork as far as possiblewith self-
work
study CD-ROM work. Encouraginglearnersto keep a learning log of their self-access
are
and achievements,and even integrating this activity into your method of assessment,
ways of ensuring a senseof continuity between classroomwork and s€lf-study CD-ROM
work.

testlng
Computer-based
Computer-based testing, online testing, e-assessment... all of these terms refer to a
phenomenon which hasbecomeincreasinglyvisiblein English languageteachingin the last
few years,that of taking testsvia a computer rather than on paper. EFL learners can now
take a range of different testsand examinationsvia a computer. Here are some examples:
o Learnerscan be given a diagnostic test on a computer before they start a course.
This assesses their languagelevelsin the skills of reading,writing, listening and
errenin discrete-itempronunciation, aswell as in grammar and vocabulary.This
information can then be usedto assignthe learner to a certain classor language
programme, although for more thorough diagnostic testing, most institutions
will also include a spoken interview and ask for a sampleof the learner'swriting.
One commercial diagnostic text is the Quick PlacementTest (QPT), which is
availableboth on CD-ROM and in a pen-and-paperversion.Learnersanswer
<
multiple-choice questionswhich test their listening, reading and grammar skills.
The learner'stest resultsare presentedagainstthe ALIE (Associationof Language
Testersin Europe) Framework and the CEF (Common EuropeanFramework).

showingthestudentat ALTELevel3:UpperImtermediate
Theresultsscreen

tt7
Ch ap ter9

The QPT is commercially availablefrom Oxford University Press,but there are

also diagnostic test resourcesfreely availableonline. Below is an exampleof an
online diagnostic level test for a private English languageschool.

What is important to note is that both of thesetestsare examplesof adaptive

tests.The computer offersa question,and dependingon the learner'sanswer,it
mathematically estimatesthe level of ability and then finds a secondquestion that
matchesthat level of ability. It doesthe samewith the next question, the second
time revising its estimation of the learner'sability basedon the two answersit
now has.The sameprocesscontinueswith eachquestion,and eachtime the
computer has more information on which to baseits estimateof abiliry which
becomesincreasinglyaccurateasmore questionsare asked.
Note that the free languageschool adaptivediagnostic test aboveis based
purely on the recognitionof grammar items.More sophisticatedcommercially
availablediagnostictests(eitheronline or via CD-ROM) will takeinto accounta
range of skills, and will recommend learning strategiesfor individuals basedon
their test performance,aswell aspoint learnersto their equivalenttest scoresin
recognisedexaminationsor testslike TOEFL or TOEIC.
o Learnerscan takesimple progresstestson CD-ROM. Thesetestswill be basedon
the work that the learnershavebeen doing in their coursebooks.Testsare often
includedin the learner'scoursebookCD-ROM, or'Test Master'CD-ROMs are
made availablefor teachersas editableWord files. Teacherscan then useready-
madetests,or makenew testsfor their learners,basedon coursebookmaterial.

t18
 Technology-based
courseware

Somepublishersare starting to produce programs, or banks of online materials

(often linked to courses),that enableteachersto createtheir own digital testsat
the touch of a button.
o Learnerscan take internationally recognisedexaminations on a computer, for
examplethe Internet-basedTOEFL Testfrom ETS.

Advantogesond disadvontogesof computer-based

testing
For the large international examination boards there are obviously several important
advantagesin being able to offer examinations online. By offering increased flexibility
in location (learners can take an exam in many more centresgeographicallyonline) and
in timing (an exam can be offered more frequently online), their market is considerably
expandedand convenienceto the customer improved. With computer-basedtesting, the
mechanicsof marking and feedbackcan be automatedto a much greaterextent,and results
provided to candidatesmore quickly than with a paper-basedexam. Marking of certain
items is elso much more reliableby computer than by hand, although examining speaking
and writing skills still requireshuman intervention. The long-term costsof developingand
running online examsare also considerablylower than those for face-to-faceexamining.
The main disadvantageof computer-basedtesting in our field continues to be that of
ensuring reliability in the marking of extendedpiecesof writing and in assessingspeaking.
In this sense,nothing has changedfrom paper-basedtesting, as examinersare still needed
hnd inter-rater reliability is difficult to guarantee.One other disadvantageis that initial
investment costsin computer-basedtesting tend to be high, assoftwareespeciallydesigned
for specificcomputer-basedtestsis developedand an item bank of 'questions'andresources
is built up.
A further important issueis that of authentication with distancetesting: how doesthe
examiner know that the person taking the test online is indeed who they claim to be?With
the advent of optical and fingerprint recognition technology, we may start to see more
official examinationsand testsdeliveredonline, with studentstaking them from home, but
at the time of writing this is still an areain development.Security is an ongoing issuefor
anyoneinvolved in setting examinations.
For the languageteacher,the main experienceof computer-basedtesting is likely to
be that of using computer-basedprogresstestsor in preparing learnersto take one of the
internationally recognisedexams online - and again, there are severalCD-ROMs on the
market that provide learnerswith exam practice that mimics the real thing (seepage 120).

Electronlcportfollos
Related to the area of online and computer-basedassessment,are electronic portfolios,
also called ePortfolios or digital portfolios. A traditional paper-basedportfolio is a
collection of a learner'swork, and an ePortfolio simply meansthat this work is presented
in electronic format, and can thus include various electronic media such as video, audio,
blogs or websites,aswell as documents.An ePortfolio can showcasea range of the owner's
skills, and display achievementsnot just from formal learning situations, but also from
extra-curricular activities or work experience.The portfolio may also include reflections
on the learning experienceitself.

n9
Chapter9

A O0(

E oc
C O rbn$
D Oa-g

From the Longman PET (CambridgePreliminary English Test)PracticeTestCD-ROM

A portfolio is consideredto be a richer way of assessingstudents,as it provides a muctr

cleareridea of learner achievementsand products than test scoresor grades.ePortfoliosare
becominglyincreasinglycommon in education,especiallyin secondaryschoolsand further
education institutions, reflecting the growing importance of, and accessto, technology in
our lives,aswell asthe rise of the electronicjob market. A learner applylng for a job with a
company can send an ePortfolio of work to a prospectiveemployei."Jity quickly, and
so display a range of skills not reflectedin a test score. ""a
'
Portfolio Uriilai"g is generally an ongoing process,and may include materials from
coursesalreadytakenby learners,aswell ascurrent projectsand works in progress.Opposite
(top) is a diagram of areasthat might be included in an ePortfolio. This is a comprehensive
overview of what could be included in an ePortfolio. Learners and teacherscan choose
from all of theseelementsand include what seemsmost relevantto the learner'sneedsand
interests,and to the aims of the portfolio. The content of an ePortfolio belonging to an
adult learner of businessEnglish working for a multinational company will obviously be
considerablydifferent from that of a secondaryschool learner whose ePortfolio is part of
their overall English classannual assessment. Opposite (bottom) you can seean example
of the opening page of an Italian student'sePortfolio. Susanahas put links to her work in
the right- and left-hand columns of the ePortfolio main page.
There are severalopen source (free) softwarepackageswhich learnerscan useto create
an ePortfolio. One of these is Elgg (http://elgg.orgl), a platform that allows documents

t20
 Technology-based
courseware

Your identity: contact info, inlefesB, valu€s. feputrtion

Your netvrDrk:contrc{s,collrborriors,teamt, teachers,meriors,collergu€4,orgflriz;tiong,.uthors,

ff ien&, tarniV

lrlltatYouCanDo l,u|dYou Ulhrt to Do

Your pisl: Youf currenl: Your future:

Your quuent: goab,pursui E ,
writing,multimediE. collaboratbns, couts es. Leal ni ng
skilb, abililies. areas of multimedia, proiecG, careerplarc, desired
projeck,exp*riences.
experibe, knowledg€,
credentiib,job thinking. pursuits, careel credentiib,lilesvles, skill
tooB path. reading d€velopment
expelrences

Toots fo,
co llec'ting,ref lecli ng,
connec:tin0and
publishing

Oroup-forming, Selectcomgonenblo
Aggregsting. storing,
Thinking,revierving. communities of prrciice, .ssembleprtsrnt.tion
organizing.liltering
rememb€ring, ioutnalling/ shJred goils, inleresE for eschpoteniiel
intormation.a.iifdsls end
blogging.private/gublic ,od values. conneEling to sudience,ditferedtmedia
contacb
ioformation tyP€s

Areasthat couldbeincludedin an ePortfolio

My name is SusanaDonatelli and I'm in my third

r@
work on business- year at Cook BusinessSchool in Auckland, New Zealand.I
@@
Link to electronic
relatedprcjects media I have
and webquests will be graduatingnext yearwith an MBA. I'm from ItalS created:my blog,
done in the Ia* PowerPoint
year but I hope to stay here in New Zealand and work in the presentations,
audio and video
@ businesssector.With my four languages(Italian, French, presentations,a
working wiki.
Links to examples Spanishand English)I hope I will be ableto contribute to
of my written
work letters,
job
the growing relations in businessbetween New Zealand @
essays, Links to other
applications, and the EuropeanUnion.
sampleCVs, in the lastyear,
prorectproposals I started this ePortfolio aspart ofmy secondyear ESL including my
and costings. contribudons
course,and since then I think I've come a long way! The to a European
Union Socrates
(Leonardo)prcject
different sectionsof my ePortfolio show my interests and called'E biz'
(E-Business).
skills, and showcasesome of the work I havedone over the
Dasttwo vears.Readmore >>

An exampleof a student'sePortfolio
I2l
Chapter9

and other files to be uploaded, aswell as having a blog and wiki integrated and providing
featuresfor podcasling. Like most software that can be used for creating ePortfolios,Elgg
allows content to be kept private, so that only designatedusers, such as a prospective
employer or a teacher,can accessthe ePortfolio, and only with the owner's permission.

Interactivewhiteboards
An interactive whiteboard (IWB) is made'interactive'by being linked to a computer which
usesspecialIWB software.The three essentialcomponents neededto use an IWB are the
whiteboard itself, a computer which has IWB software installed and a data projector (or
'beamer') which projects the image from the computer screenonto the whiteboard. What
makes the interactive whiteboard different from a normal whiteboard is that the teacher
usesa specialpen (or their finger with some makes of board) to manipulate content on
the whiteboard itself, rather then using the mouse to manipulate imageson the computer
screen,which the teachercan alsodo. The latestIWBs can alsobe usedwith a wirelesstablet
PC (a smaller,hand-held computer) instead of a larger desktop or laptop computer. This
has the added advantagethat it can be passedaround so that learnerscan manipulate the
IWB from the tablet PC.
The interactive whiteboard itself comesin different sizes,measureddiagonally across.
The most common sizeis 190 cms (75 inches) across,and teacherstend to agreethat the
bigger the board the more effectiveit is, as imagesare more clearly displayedon a larger
board. A whiteboard can be mobile (that is, moved from room to room) or fixed, but a
mobile board needsto be set up again each time it is moved, which can take time. There
are also backlit interactive whiteboards which do away with the need for a projector, but
theseare the most expensivekind of board. They are particularly useful in rooms with low
ceilings.
The main advantage of an IWB used with a computer and data projector over a''
computer and data projector usedon their own is that you can write on the IWB with your
pen or finger and interact with what is on the screenfrom the front of the classrather than
having to look down to your computer and using the mouse to control the screen.

lWBsin education
The British Council has been influential in bringing IWBs to languageclassroomi outside
the UK, introducing them into SoutheastAsia in 2003, and expanding their use of IWBs
since then. In the UK itself, huge government investment from the early 1990shas seen
IWBs appearingin primary and secondaryschools,and further education,on a large scale.
Both are examplesof a top-down implementation of technology,with large organisations
(in this case,the British Council and the British government) providing the impetus for the
introduction of new tools in the classroom.
Excellentclassroomworkis being done using IWBs atprimary, secondaryanduniversity
level,aswell as in the languageclassroom.JustGoogle'IWB projects in schools',and you'll
see a range of current and recent IWB projects in all sorts of school subjects.However,
at the time of writing IWBs are being used mainly in large organisationslike the British
Council, or arepart of government-lededucation initiatives,especiallywithin the European
Union. This is down to the high costsassociatedwith IWBs. The hardwareoutlined aboveis
expensive,and usually well beyond the budgetsof individual languageschoolsor education

122
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courseware

ministries in lesswealthy countries. Although the costsof the hardware involved in using
lWBs are expectedto decreaseover time, they are likely to remain beyond the reachof most
EFL teachersworldwide for some time to come.

UsinglWBswith learners
If you are lucky enough to have accessto an IWB, you will know that the 'wow' effect
is extremely high. In other words, IWBs look and sound impressive.Imagine a full-size
colour screenin your classroom,with video, CD audio, pictures, interactive exerciseslike
those found on a CD-ROM, accessto the Internet, and more, all instantly accessibleat
the touch of your IWB pen. You can also use an IWB pen to write over the imageson the
screen,highlighting things in different colours, using a variety of fonts and srylesto write
in, or you can use the pen to hide and reveal imageson the screen.Items can be moved
around the screenusing the pen, and previous lessonsand content can easilybe kept and
retrieved,aseverything is savedon the computer.This meansthat a huge bank of resources
is alwaysivailable at the touch of a pen.
The experiencesand opinions of teacherswho have used IWBs in the classroomtend
to be positive. Teacherspoint to increasedteacher and learner motivation through the
introduction of a new (and impressive-looking)multimedia tool into the classroom- the
'wow'factor we mentioned earlier. Teachersalso appreciatehaving so many multimedia
tools availablein one 'place' on the IWB. For example,at the touch of pen a teacher can
pi^y u section of an auiio CD, bring up a transcripi of the audio, highlight or underline
part of it, make it disappearagain while the audio is replayed,bring back the highlighted
transcript, then move straight to a drag-and-drop activity basedon the sametranscript.
IWBs are particularly effective for the'heads up' presentation stagesin a lesson,as
the teacher can have learners all looking at and concentrating on the screenat the same

A teacheractivatesan IWB withhis finger

r23
Chapter9

time. The teacher-canalso use content on the IWB to take the focus off themselves.This
can be particularly useful for the modelling of language,for example the pronunciation
of words or phrases.As IWBs can be connected to the Internet, excellentEFl-related or
authentic content from a wide variety of sourcescan be accessedin seconds,and beamed
up for the classto see.Another common use of IWBs is in conjunction with PowerPoint
for presentations.
Researchcarried out into the impact of IWBs suggeststhat they can directly affect
learners'motivation and attention levels,but that there is no direct correlation between
heavy use of IWBs and increasedtest scores.This suggeststhat although learners may
'enjoy'IWBs as tools, there is no direct evidenceto show that it actually improves their
English. As with any new tool, it is as well to keep in mind some of the disadvantages
associatedwith IWBs, namely their high cost and the fact that teachertraining in how to
use IWBs effectivelyis often ignored. fu with any new tool, an IWB is only as good as the
use that is made of it. There is a danger that IWB classescan becometoo teachercentred,
with learners becoming a passiveaudience.However, as IWB manufacturers often point
out, learnerscan also come up and usethe IWB themselves,to move items around on the
IWB and indeed direct a part of the lesson.

IWBmaterialsond training
Initially there were very few materials availablefor IWBs in the field of TEFL. Mainstream
primary and secondaryeducation sawthe developmentof IWB materials to teachscience,
maths, biology, geography,and so on, but the development of IWB software for the field
of languageteachingwas slower to get off the ground. The early adoptersof IWBs in ELI
found it extremelytime-consuming to produce their own IWB materials on the computer
for use with classes,and publishers have responded to this by developing IWB software
packages.
IWB teachersstill canand do producetheirown materialsthough,andthesearetypical$
electronic materialsusing tools such asthose explored in Chapter 10,or any other material
that can be displayedon a computer. Let's imagine a teacherwho wants to use imagesof
animals in danger of extinction for a lesson,and finds that the IWB software availablein
their school does not have any of theseimages.They simply go to an imagessite, such as
Google images,or Flickr and download relevant images to the computer for dipplay on
the tWB. Similarly, a teachermay decideto use a specificactivity which they havemade in
Hot Potatoes(seeChapter 10) on the [WB, for remedial work on a certain grammar point
with the class.SomeEFL publishers now produce IWB softwareto be used in conjunction
with coursebooks.Theseare usually interactiveversionsof the coursebookitself,which can
be displayedand manipulated on the IWB, rather than additional activities such as those
traditionally found on coursebookrelated CD-ROMs.
Tiaining for teachersin the useof a complex tool such asan IWB is important to ensure
effectiveuptake. There is no point in a school spending considerablesums of money on
an IWB if the teachersare unsure of how to use it or frightened of the technology.Large
institutions which havetaken IWBs on board on a large scale,likethe British Council, will
usually provide in-house training for their teachers,and severalof the IWB manufacturers,
such as Prometheanin the UK, provide training and certification for fWB use,both face-
to-face and online, aswell as IWB softwarefor mainstream school subjects.IWB suppliers
provide online help and manualsfor using IWBs, aswell asshort hands-on demonstrations
of how IWBs can work in the classroom,either live or on video.

124
 courseware
Technology-based

have:
Concluslons I h thlschapterwe
r discussed
thecontent
foundonCD-ROMs.
r considered howDVDs canbeusedin class.
r lookedat waysof uslngCD-ROMs bothduringclasstime,andasa self-accesstool.
r lookedat howto evaluate CD-ROMs.
r considered computer-based testingfordiagnostictesting,progress
testingand
officiallyrecognisedexams.
r examined theadvantages anddlsadvantages of computer-basedtesting.
r considered (electron
ePortfolios ic portfolios).
r lookedat interactivewhitriboards 0WBs)- whattheyare,howto usethemwith
learners andwhatmaterials andtrainingareavailable forthem.

r25
 Producing
electronic
materials
r What are elestronicmaterlals? r What ls an authorlng tool?
r Creatlngelectronicmaterlals r Uslngauthorlng tools to
online producematerials

Whatareelectronicmaterlals?
When we refer to electronic materialscreation and usein the context of this chapter,we are
talking about informational resources,exercisesand activities that you createyourself and
which your studentsuseon a computer asweb pageor CD-ROM content, or evenin printed
form. The production of these materials may include working with external web pages,
using web pagedesignskills,the useof small programs installed on your own computer or
more complex CD-ROM production software.The choice of tool will be determined not
only by the kinds of materials you want to produce, but also by the time availableto you
and the resourcesat your disposal.It is beyond the scopeof this book to go into the more
complex sidesof materials production, so here we will mostly be concentrating on simple
web-basedmaterialsor materialspreparedusing web resources.
Here we build on the word piocissing activities we coveredin Chapter 2 and the use'
of websitesin Chapter 3, and look at printable resourcesas well as on-screeninteraction
and activities sharedover a computer network. To get a good idea of the kinds of materials
we're consideringin this section,take a look at the teachingresourcefrom the Activities for
ESL Studentswebsite (http://a4esl.org/) on the opposite page.
There are many reasonswhy you might want to create and use your own electronic
materials in class.Firstly,you will be ableto provide extra practice for weakerlearners,and
consolidation and review exercisesfor groups. Secondlp as you build up a collection of
your own resourceswith your own learners'needsin mind, you will start to generatea large
bank of materialswhich can be used in classor for self-studyat any point in the future. In
classthesekinds of materials can provide a changeof pace and can be highly motivating.
Learnersoften enjoy the chance of competing against the comput-erwith thesekinds of
discreteanswerexercisetypes.If time is spent on feedback,you can checkwhich language
areaslearnershave had problems with and provide further practice materials if necessary.
A large school (or network of teachers)might even work electronic materials into a
more collaborative project, building up a wide range of digital resourceswhich are then
sharedbetweengroup members over a server. Thesemay be adaptationsof existing print
materials in some cases,or completely new exercises.With the ready availability of web
storage,thesecan be uploaded to a central repository, perhaps a wiki-based solution (see
Chapter 7), or a more robust storageplatform such as a Virtual Learning Environment

126
 Producing
electronicmaterials

A Thea4ESLhomepagefeatures
a wide varietyof exercises
in manydifferentcategories
(left-handcolumn)and in
manydifferentlanguage
combinations (right-hand
column).

B A sampleintermediate
multiple-choice grammar
exercisefrom the site. The
learneris givena gapped
sentenceand hasthree
choiceswith whichto fill it.
Feedback is givenaftereach
question,and a scoreis kept.

Anlnals C A sampleintermediate
vocabularycrosswordon
animals,with cluesdownthe
t.-Iu@|Iry
a.dEddb right-handside of the quiz
grid itself.Learnerstype one
letterin eachgap in the grid.

eJd.fi.,dEffi
@@

127
Chapter10

(seeChapter 11) or a Content ManagementSystem(seeChapter 12). In many casesthe

wiki approachmight be the ideal option, asit allowsall contributors to work towards a final
resourcebasedon the'rough copies'providedby the contributors,which can be addedto
and refined until the group is happy with the end result. Thesecan then be downloaded by
individuals, and customisedto suit their particular teaching needs.

Creatlngelectronicmaterialsonline
One of the easiestways of getting started in this areais to use some of the simple exercise
generatorswhich can be found online. Theseproduce a variety of exercises,from printable
resourcesto be taken into classto exerciseswhich can be turned into web pagesand made
availableon the Internet, both for your learners and for other teachersifyou decideyou
want to sharethem. One of the most popular is the DiscoverySchool Puzzlemaker(http:ll
puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/). This features a variety of different exercisetypes,
including traditional onessuchasword searches.

FIIYDTHEFRUIT

WDCYDNAYDOAXYSR
I KL M RNHVF IP R IA E
ET ANARGEM OPL EPY

ORANGEEOJ TLP GTE

HCAUCM IBGL ET OCE
RBWKEHDT WNBDDL J
UXYIL REAM AAPL UM
OPNT PSYHT URM NL T
IF OEPARGREDT F YT
F IM F ANOQVYF ASUC
T GEOEUNKPAHGQOJ
GEL KNNBEKF DL OK E
RBZ BIOAT JRPVT YV
CIKYPCQHAZ BM KF O
UF SOHPSOKIVNL OC

In this caseyou haveto print out the pageand photocopy it for your class.You could export
the content to Word which would allow you to add imagesof fruit to the task.
Puzzle makers are ideal tools for reviewing vocabulary, and take the hard work out
of preparing many different quick quizzes.In addition, you can give your students the
opportunity to prepare quizzes themselves using these tools. Another useful tool is
Smile (http://smile.clear.msu.edu). This tool allowsyou to createa free accountin which
to manage your own online bank of exerciseswith student tracking and a good variety
of exercisetypes.Here you can choosefrom multiple choice,true/false,drag and drop,

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 Producing
electronicmaterials

sentencemix, paragraph mix, cloze and multiple select.Activities are created online and
can be done by learners entirely online, although some, such as cloze texts, are suitable
for printing out and doing offline. This is an ideal site for exam preparation classes.One
of the major advantagesof a site like this is that it allows you to build up a manageable
collection of exercises,making it easierto addressthe individual problems of particular
learners,but also to make consistentuse of web-basedexercisesthroughout the duration
of a course.This will help to give your learnersan idea of why they are being introduced to
thesematerials,and also give them a good overview of what they are covering online. The
subject of learner tracking and Learner ManagementSystemsis dealt with in greaterdetail
in Chaptert l.

Whatis an authoringtool?
An authoring tool is an installableprogram that allowsyou to creatematerialsin electronic
format wt"richcan then be distributed on a CD-ROM, DVD, USB pen drive, floppy disc or
via a web page to your learners.Authoring programs are used to make CD-ROM-based
referencetools like Microsoft Encarta (seeChapter 8), but also more simple resourceslike
information leaflets,brochures,handouts and interactive exercises.
Most teacherswill perhaps not have a need for the more expensiveand professional
solutions, although any centre involved in blended learning solutions (see Chapter 11)
which use custom-developedmaterials might be well-advised to look at digital content
developmentasaviablewayof making interactiveand multimedia-basedmaterialsavailable
to its learners.As with a lot of high-end technology,it should be borne in mind that the
learning curve for a lot of thesepackagesis steep,and that proficient production will havea
significant drain on both financial and staffing resourcesduring the developmentalphase.
Authoring tools usually feature a simple design interface, with drag-and-drop
elementsallowing you to add pictures, soundsand video material to the screen,along with
navigational options such as forward and back arrows, and content menus. Some of the
more professionalauthoring tools have complex programming languagesallowing you to
control what happensin greaterdetail, but thesewill require a degreeof expert knowledge
which most teacherswill probably not have the time or inclination to acquire.Therefore
you would be well-advised to ensure that any software you choose is going to be useful
to you. This can be done by downloading and installing trial versionsbefore making any
purchasingdecisions.
If you would like to explore the commercial side of multimedia creation,you may like
to look at Mediator (http://www.matchware.com/en/products/mediator/edu/why.htm),
Macromedia Director (http://www.adobe.com/products/director/) or Neobook (http://
www.neosoftware.com/nbw.html).Here we will be considering free or reasonably-priced
resourcesfor content creation, allowing you to experiment without spending any or very
much money.

Usingauthoringtoolsto producematerials
Perhaps the most famous authoring tool in our field is Hot Potatoes.This is a small
Windows or Mac program that createsa variety of exercisesand can be freely downloaded
for educational purposes (http://hotpot.uvic.cal). This program will install on your own
Chapter10

computer and allow you to createweb-basedexercisesof the following tfpes:

. multiple choice
o short answer
r jumbled sentence
o crossword
o matching/ordering
o gap-fill
It alsoallowsyou to include audio files in MP3 format and will evenallow you to storeyour
exerciseson a central serverso that they can be accessedfrom anywherewith an Internet
connection. To get started, install the program and find it in your program folder. When
you first start it up you will be presentedwith the following screen.

From here you can chooseone of the tools. Let's take a look at creating a simple exercise.
Click on fQuiz to get started (seepage 131 top). Here you can put_the title of the exercise,
and start by adding question 1.There are four answersto my first question,eachwith their
own feedback,and answer B is marked as the correct one (seepage 131 bottom). Now
click the up arrow next to Ql on the screenand add a secondquestion, with answersand
feedback.Don't forget to mark the correct answer.Continue doing this until you have
made your quiz.
Now it's time to actually createthe quiz as a web page.First make sure you saveyour
quiz so that you can return io it later to make edits if you needto (File - Savei.Now we will
turn this into an interactive web page.Click on'File - CreateWeb page' and then choose
the'Webpagefor v6 browsers'option. Give the filename and then saveit. You should now
be able to look at it in a web browser.
130
 Producingelectronicmaterials

No. that's in France.

CorecdWitha population
d...-

Nc'tiafs in Spain(ad if: nothe

csltdridtetlL

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notthaton€.

- hsfs in Seain.hn ffs notthe

andifsthe @tal, $& a poprdaEon

of-.-

131
Chapterro

That's how the_barebones of all the quizzesgeneratedby Hot Potatoeswork. If you

want to delve deeper into things like formatting the output, changing colours, and so on,
then you should look in the Options menu when you are creating a quiz, or investigatethe
'Help' file that comeswith the program. There are also plenty of tutorial exampleson the
Hot Potatoeswebsite (http://hotpot.uvic.caltutorials6.htm).
Once you have createda set of exercises,you can packagethem all together using'The
Masher'.This is a utility accessedfrom the start page of the Hot Potatoesprogr:rm which
will guide you through linking a set of individual items into a small learning package,with
full navigation between the various elements.You can then distribute these on discs, or
memory sticks or CD-ROMs, or put them on a websiteif you or your school has one.

lnteractivestories
Another areato explore in electronic materials,and a move awayfrom straightforward test
and practiceexercises, is the creation ofinteractive storieswhere learnersreadscenariosand
then make choicesto decidewhat they will do at certain key points. Theseare excellentfor
readingcomprehensionpracticeor assmall-group discussionsthat encouragecollaborative
and critical thinking skills. They encouragelearnersto develop a wide range of skills from
listening to debating, agreeingand disagreeingand making points and supporting them.
Sincetheseare basicallytext-driven activities,you should be able to produce them for any
level. You can see some examples of typical interactive stories (or reading mazes) here
(http://www.halfbakedsoftware.com/quandary/version_2/examples/ ).
Thc EYllbndladyAstlon Hue

Castarvay

t32
 Producingelectronicmaterials

In the exampleson the opposite page,the reader is presentedwith a scenario and a

set of choiceson each screen.Each time a choice is made the story unfolds further. The
Evil Landlady Action Maze is basedaround the scenarioof an ESL student at a Canadian
university who is having problems with her landlady, while the Castiiway Maze involves
learnersin a strugglefor survival on a desertisland.This desertisland scenarioin particular
is a familiar languagepractice tool, presentedin a slightly different way.
The examples below were made with a piece of software called Quandary. A
demonstration version of the software is available (http://www.halfbakedsoftware.com/
quandary.php), and provides enough information for you to get an idea of whether the
softwareis useful to you or not. Download the demo version from the Half BakedSoftware
site above. Note that the full program costs $50 at the time of writing. Here's how it
works:

You need to give your readingmaze a title (ExerciseTitle) and then give the opening screen
a title (Decision Point title). Now start by describing the opening scenario of your maze
(Decision Point contents).The idea now is to add two (or more) choicesfrom this opening
screenand further screenswhere the story will develop.Click on'+ New Link'. Select'Create
a new decision point'and give it a relevant title. Do this for the choicesyou want to offer
your learners.In our example on the next page (top), they can decide to go shopping or
wait until tomorrow.
Notice that the'Go shopping' option is now automatically linked to Decision Point 2
and'Wait till tomorrow' is linked to Decision Point 3. Use the forward arrow next to the
Decision Point number to advanceto Decision Point 2 and add the text for that option. Do

133
Chapterro

the samewith Decision Point 3. Now you will have an opening screenwith two options,
eachlinked to another screen(seebelow). When you have finished your small miLze,save
it (File - SaveFile) and then convert it to a web-basedactiviry for your learners.You can

r34
 P r o d u c i ne
gl e c t r o n im
c aterials

do this by clicking'File',then'Export to XHTMLI When it has finished,you will be ableto

preview it in your browser.
Thesearejust a coupleof optionsfor creatingonline materials.Indeedthe areaof online
materialscoverssucha wide variety of formats and storageoptions that we are reallyonly
ableto scratchthe surfacehere.Exploring someof the sitesand programswe havecovered
herewill help to giveyou an ideaof the kinds of things that can be producedwith very little
technicalknowledge(designed,as the majority are,by teachersrather than technicians),
but you will probablywant to searchfurther to get an ideaof the biggerpicture.Make sure
that you brush up on your searchskills from Chapter3 beforeventuring on to seewhat's
out there.To getyou started,hereare a few more examples:

CI a r i ty S oftw a r e (hftp: //www. clarityenglish.com/ )

Clarity has a long history in producing English languagerelated products, and their
authoring tools are both reasonablypriced and easyto use.Have a look at their Author
Plus Pro and TenseBusterprograms,which can be usedfor a variety of different exercise
types,including audio, graphicsand video content,and allow for the creationof listening
comprehensionexercises, interactivedictationsand presentations.
It alsohasa sophisticated
learnertracking option, allowing you to seeyour learners'progress through the materials.

- Softwarefor Teaching
CreativeTechnology
(http://www.cict.co.uk/software/textoys/index.htm
)
FeaturesQuandaryand other usefultools including a marking program for incorporating
into Word (Chapter 2), a clozeprogram called WebRhubarband a text reconstruction
program calledWebSequitor, wherelearnersreconstructwritten textsfrom smallerchunks.
Theseare all good programs,producedby the lead developerof the Hot Potatoessuitewe
looked at above.

QUIA (http:iiwww.quia.com/subscription/)
serviceallowing for the creationof varioustypesof activities,
This is a subscription-based
surveysand web pages,aswell asextensivelearnertrackingoptions.The siteoffersa variety
of ready-madetemplatesfor materialscreationand the ability to set up a study spacefor
your learners,aswell asaccessto over two million activitiesalreadyin the library.

Conclusions I ln thischapterwehave:
r consideredvarioustypesof interactive exercises.
r lookedat websites whichallowfor thecreation of interactive
exercises.
r examined reasons for usinginteractiveexercises
with learners.
r learnthowto produce a varietyof exercise
types.
r produced an interactivereadingmaze.

O N T HE C D -R O M Yo U c AN H E AR Tw O TE A C H E R S TA LK TN G
ABOUT HOW THEY CREATE THEIR OWN MATERTALS AND WATCH
A TUTORIAL ON USING HOT POTATOES-
 e-learning:
onlineteaching
andtraining
r What is e-learnlng? r Howto get started with onllne
r Teachlngand learnlngonllne learning
r Goursedeslgnfor online r Teachertralnlng and onllne
learnlng:eramples learnlng
r Coursedesign for onllne r Dlscusslonllsts andonllne
learnlng: conslderatlons gloups

Whatls e-learning?
Sofarwe havelookedmainlyattheuseoftechnologytoenhancecourseswheretheclassroom
and face-to-facecontactsare the main element.Here we look specificallyat online teaching
and learning, that is teachingand learning done mainly at a distance,usually via a personal
computer and the Internet. We havealreadylooked at some of the tools that can be used as
part of an online course,for exampleonline referencetools in Chapter 8.
e-learning refers to learning that takes place using technology, such as the Internet;
CD-ROMs and portable deviceslike mobile phones or MP3 players. There are several
terms associatedwith e-learning,which are often used interchangeablyand which can be
rather confusing. Let's take a quick look at some of the main terms here:
o Distance learning
The term distancelearningoriginally applied to traditional paper-baseddistance
coursesdeliveredby mail. Nowadaysdistancelearning includes learning via
technology such asthe Internet, CD-ROMs and mobile technologies(seeChapter
12), hencethe newer term e-learning.Distanceor e-learningareoften used as
umbrella namesfor the terms below.
. Open learning
This is one aspectof distancelearning and simply rqfersto how much
independencethe learner has.The more open a distancecourseis, the more
autonomy the learner has in deciding what coursecontent to cover,how to do so
and when.
r Online learning
This is learning which takesplacevia the Internet. As such,online learning is a
facet of e-learning.

t36
 Onlineteachingand training

o Blended learning
This is a mixture of online and face-to-facecoursedelivery.For example,learners
might meet once a week with a teacherface-to-facefor an hour, and do a further
two hours'work weekly online. In some situations the digital element is done
offline with a CD-ROM.

andtearningonline
Teaching
How does online learning actually work in practice?The following scenariosare examples
of learning situations which make use of the computer, but they are not necessarilyall
examplesof online learning.
o Learnersin a self-studycentre,or at home, usea CD-ROM which provides them
with extra practice of what they have done in class.
o During class,learnersare taken to a computer room, and do exerciseson a
languagewebsiteon the Internet, in pairs.
o Learnersuse an ICT tool, such asblogs,wikis, chat or podcasts,for project work,
either inside or outside the classroom.
o Learnersemail their homework or classassignmentto the teacher,who marks it
. and emails it back to learners.
r The teacherusesa blog to provide learnerswith online links for reading and
listening, homework assignments,and summariesof classworkfor learnerswho
miss class.
r The classroomis equipped with an interactivewhiteboard, which is regularly
used in class.
r Learnersmeet face-to-faceonly once a month, and do classworkusing email,
chat, phone and sharedactivities on the Internet.
We would argue that only the last scenarioaboveis an exampleof online learning. In fact,
in this case,as the learnersdo meet face-to-face,we are talking about blended learning, a
mixture of online and face-to-facecoursedelivery.
Key to the conceptof online learning is that a very significant part of the coursedelivery
and courseworktakesplacevirtually, using the Internet. At one end of the scalewe have a
100 percent online course,where learners never meet face-to-face,and all course content
and courseworktakesplaceonline, and at the other end of the scale,a blended option where
most coursework takes place face-to-face,but there is a regular and carefully integrated
online component to the course.
Online learning is often delivered via a learning 'platform' or Virtual Learning
Environment (VLE). Also known as a Learner Managernent System (LMS), or a virtual
classroom,a VLE is a web-basedplatform on which course content can be stored. It is
accessedby learners on the Internet, and they can not only see course content, such as
documents,audio and video lectures,but also do activities such as quizzes,questionnaires
and tests,or usecommunication tools like discussionforums or text and audio chat.Newer
VLEs even integrate blogs and wikis. Increasinglypopular in the VLE world is Moodle, an
open sourceVLE which is free.Other well-known VLEs areWebCT,which recentlymerged
with Blackboard,and First Class,although neither of theseis free.

r5/
Chap t e r 1 1

The advantageof a VLE for coursedeliveryis that everythingis in one place,and most
VLEs provide tracking facilities, so that the online tutor can seewho hasloggedin when,
and seewhat activities learnershave done, or what documents and forums they have
accessed.VLEs also usuallyprovide fairly sophisticatedtools for assessment and grading,
with recordskept for eachlearner.Thus a teachercan evaluatea learner'swritten work
or assignments in the VLE, as well astheir contributionsto forums,and thesegradesare
automaticallyrecorded.Resultsfor automaticallygradedactivities(like quizzesor tests)will
alsobe fed into the learners'grade book'with the learnerableto consulttheir gradesand
checkprogressat any point. With this combination of automaticallygradedactivitiesand
tutor assessment, VLEsprovide a much richer tool for learnerevaluationthan, for example,
a CD-ROM, where learnerassessment will normally be basedon automaticgradingonly.

Coursedesignfor online learning:examples

What might an online courselook like?Let'slook at someexamples.

Courser: A roo percentonline languageleaming cource

Thiscourseis likelyto be instigatedby an institutionin responseto a
perceiveddemandin the market,or perhapsas part of a government-
sponsoredinitiative.Thecourseis not unlikea coursebook online,with
ten unitscoveringthe four skitls(reading,listening,writingand speaking),
grammarand vocabulary. Learners work theirway througha seriesof
materialsand activitiesontine,whichinctudereadingand listeningtexts,and
writing,grammarand vocabulary activities.Manyof the activitiesare self-
marking,with feedbackgivenautomatically by the computer,but activities
suchas writingtextsare sent to a tutor via email.Speakingis dealtwith
via a phoneor Skypetutorialeveryunit (seeChapter6), and learnersalso
needto sendregularvoicemailto their tutor.Thecoursecan be takenby an
individuatlearner,who worksthroughthe coursemateriats at their own pace,
or by small groupsof learners,who all start at the sametime, and haveset
deadlinesfor work. Forexample,learnersneedto completeone unit per
month,and certainactivitieswithinthat unit by specifieddatesin the month.
In the caseof a smal[group,additionalfacilitieslike onlineforumsand a E
text/audiochat roomare providedfor groupmembersto discussissuesand
materials,and to meetin regularly,with and withouta tutor.

{ourse z: A blended languagelearning course

A languagelearningcoursedeliveredZ5 percentonlineand z5 percentface-
to-face.Thiscourseis similarto Courser in that it is tikelyto be instigated
by an institutionin responseto a perceived demandin the marketor as part
of a government-sponsored initiative,but learnersmeetoncea monthface-
to-hce in a groupwith a teacher.Simitarmaterialsto thosefound in Course
r coveringthe four skills,grammarand vocabulary are deliveredboth online
and face-to-face,but speakingactivitiesare carriedout mainlyface-to-face.
Phonecontactand Skypemay provideextraspeakingpracticefor learnerson
this course.

138
 Onl i ne teachi ng and trai ni ng

Course3: A face-to-facelanguagelearning so$Ee wlth additional online

materials
A typicallanguagelearningcourse,whichusesonlinetools to supportand
extendfuce-to-face lessons.Stricttyspeakingthis is not an onlinecourse,
but it is the way most teachersget involvedin ontinelearningand become
moreconfidentwith usingonlinetools with their learnersat a distance.The
teacherusesthe followingonlinetools:
. a tutor blog to provideextra readingand tisteningpractice,to set
homeworkand to providesummaries of classwork.
r Learners emailthe teacherall classassignments, whichare returnedvia
email.
r The teacheroffersregularchat sessionvia Skypefor the learners,outside
classtime, for exampleeverysecondweekendat a specifictime,for an
hour.
r Theteacherdoesproiectwork with the classinvolvingICTtools like blogs,
wikis or podcasts,and encourages learnersto work on theseprojects
outsideclasstime, in virtualgroups.

Typically,a teacherwith a personalinterestin integratingtechnologyinto their classes will

start off with a Course3 approach,but the reality is that many teachersare increasingly
finding themselvesin the position of being askedor told to use a Course I or Course2
approachas part of an institution-wide online learning initiative. In this situation, it is
essentialfor the teacherto havea cleargraspof the fundamentalsof online coursedesignas
well asan overviewof the kinds of tools and softwareavailable,including their limitations,
many of which we haveexploredin previouschapters.

A tutor blogsummarisinga recentclassand providinglinksfor extraout-of-class

work.

t39
Chapteru

Coursedesignfor onlinelearnings
conslderations
In designingonline learning courses,there are certain questionswhich the coursedesigner
or individual teacher needsto consider carefrrlly if the coursesare to be of good quality.
If you are thinking of trying out elementsof online learning with your own learners,or
are involved in larger scaleonline learning projects, the list of questions below will help
you to bear in mind some of the key considerations.For a courseor study programme to
demonstrategood practice in online learning, the following questionsneed to be answered
satisfactorilyat the designstage.

Deliverymode
. Is the coursepurely online, or doesit include blended learning?If blended,
exactlywhat percentageof the coursetakesplace face-to-face,and how often do
learnersmeet?
o What elementsof the coursecontent are deliveredonline, and what elementsare
deliveredface-to-face?
o How exactly are the online components of the coursedelivered?By email and
chat?In a VLE?Via an ad hoc collection of online tools like Skype,email and
Yahoo! Groups?
o Can a CD-ROM provide a useful meansof delivering digital content for elements
that are difficult to download, for examplevideo content?
o Is the method of delivery suited to the content?In other words, if an online
coursepromisesto teachand practisepronunciation, but the delivery mode is via
email, it is unlikely to work!
o What elementsof the coursewill take place synchronously,that is, in real time,
and what elementsasynchronously,that is, not in real time? What synchronous
and asynchronoustools will be used?
o Does the coursecontent and deliverv mode reflect the learners'needs?

Taskdesignond moteriols
e What materialswill be used for the coursecontent?Will they be tailor-made
content and activities,or will existing resourceson the Internet be used?
o What issuesof copyright need to be taken into account,if you are using existing
activities,graphics and websitesavailableon the Internet?
r Is content attractively presentedand varied, for examplewith graphicsand
animation? Is there a range of media used- audio, video, text - and a range of
tools - forums, text/audio chat, email, voice mail?
. Are different task types provided?For example,are all the grammar exercises
drag-and-drop or are various activity types available?

140
 Ontineteachingand training

o Do task t)?es appealto a variety of learner styles?

. Are there plenty of opportunities for interaction betweenlearners,and between
learnersand tutors, built into the tasksand overall coursedesign?

Leorners
r Are the learnerscomputer literate, or will they need training to usethe online
tools?If training is needed,how will this be provided?
o To what extent are the learnerspreparedfor and suitable for e-learning?How will
their courseexpectationsbe dealt with?
r Will the coursebe individual self-study,or will learnerswork through the course
material at the sametime, in small groups?What is the maximum sizefor a
group?
o If the courseis 100percent online and group-based,how and when will group
formation and socialisingactivitiesbe integrated?How will learnersbe made to
feelpart of an online learninggroup?
o How much tutor support, and accessto tutors, will learnersbe given?

Teacher/Tutors
o Are the tutors experiencedin e-learning,aswell as computer literate, or will
they need training to deliver the course?If training is needed,how will this be
provided?
o To what extent will tutors be involved in coursedesign,or will they simply deliver
the course?
o What is the ratio of learnersto tutors, and how many hours a week are tutors
expectedto work on the online component of a course?
o How much support are tutors given,and bywhom?

ond evaluation
Assessment
o How will the success- or otherwise - of the courseitself be evaluated?
o Will the coursebe evaluatedas it is running (known as'formative assessment')or
only at the end ('summativeassessment')?
o How will learners'courseworkbe assessed
and graded?
o How will tutors'performance be evaluated?
As we seeabove,many of the issuesinvolved in online instructional designarenot dissimilar
to the considerations for putting together a face-to-facecourse, where we also need to
ensure that course content meets our learners' needs,catersto a range of learning styles
and has evaluation proceduresin place.One of the keysto effectiveonline coursedelivery,
though, is that the tools chosenfor the tasksmatch the aims of the activity and course.

141
Chapter11

Howto get st4rtedwith onlinelearning

If you are new to online learning, but would like to experiment with it, as with anything
new it's a good idea to start small. The examplesusing simple online tools in the Course 3
scenarioaboveare a good way to start. If you are teachingadults, it is useful to first discuss
with your learnersthemselveswhether theywould like to havean online component added
to their face-to-facecourse.Many adults spend a lot of time in front of a computer at their
workplace, and may not seethe point of spendingextra time out of classdoing more work
in front of one. Others value the social elements of their languageclasses,and may not
enjoy communication with their peerswhich is not face-to-face.Only if you can convince
your learners (and yourself) of the added value that online learning can bring to their
languagelearning,should you try it out. Your learners'needs,likes and learninggoalsneed
to be taken into account to avoid the gratuitous application of online learning for its own
sake,which will only alienatelearners.
In the caseof secondaryschool learners,many of them will already be familiar with
Internet tools like blogs,wikis and chat, and will probably embracethe use of technology
in the classroommore readily than adults. As with using any new tool with learners,it is
useful to find out what level of expertiseand experienceyounger learnersalreadyhavewith
any tools you may want to introduce into your teaching.
If you are involved in a scenariomore like Course I or Course 2 above,our first piece
of advice is that, if you can,you should do a courseonline yourself, as a learner.This does
not necessarilyneed to be a languagecourse,but could be in an areathat you are interested
in (cooking, photography or linguistics, for example) or a teacher development course
online. Research,aswell asanecdotalevidence,suggeststhat effectiveonline tutors usually
have previous experienceas online learners.Certainly being an online learner oneself is
the fastestand most effectiveway of getting insights into the online learning and teaching
process,aswell as familiarity with the tools and softwareavailable.
If you areinvolved in a scenariosuchasCourse f ( 100percentonline), specialattention
needsto be paid to the development of group dynamics online and to online socialisation
processes.
Probablyoneof the most importantthings for teachersand institutionswho getinvolved
in online learning is to realisethat online learning is not a cheap and easyalternative to
face-to-facelearning. Quite the opposite, in fact. The more effective an online course is,
the more time it has been given, at the design and developmentstagesand also during the
tutoring stage.|ust ask anyone with any online tutoring experiencewhether they think
face-to-faceteaching or online tutoring is more time-consuming! In the online context,
individual learnersoften haveunlimited accessto their tutors by email, and this may result
in learners having unrealistic expectationsof their tutors in terms of responsetime and
availability. It's always a good idea to clearly establishfrom the outset how long a tutor
will taketo respondto learners'onlinework or emails.A24- to 48-hour turnaround time
is often stipulated. If synchronousaccessto tutors is included in a course,for examplevia
Skype,the tutor can specifr'office hours'when they are availablefor audio (or text) chat.
Finally, here is a summary of tips to keep in mind if you are consideringworking with
online learning. The tips below refer mainly to 100 percent online courses,but severalof
them will be relevant to blended coursesaswell.
. Thkean online course.Experiencingonline learning yourself will make you much
more awareof - and empatheticto - difficulties your own online learnersmay

r42
 O n l i n et e a c h i n ga n d t r a i n i n g

encounter,aswell as issuesof online group dynamics,the importance of contact

with the tutor, and so on.
Ensurethat all designand delivery issuesare resolvedat the planning stage.See
the checklist above.Be preparedto spend a lot of time on coursepreparation and
on tutoring.
Find out about your learners'expectationsabout the online course,and dealwith
any unrealistic expectations,early on.
Createinteractive tasksat the beginning of your online courseto introduce the
learnersto the technicalitiesof the online environment if you are using a VLE.
Createan online community by providing opportunities for learnersto interact
with eachother and to get to know eachother socially from the very beginning of
the course.
Createspaces,communication channelsand norms for dealing with issuesand
conflict. This can be done both publicly and privately, and should be available
throughout the course.
Establishnorms, protocols or guidelinesfor group interaction and behaviour.
Thesecan be negotiatedby participants or provided by you. Provide clear
guidelinesasto tutor roles,contact times and turnaround time for responding to
work and emails.
Allow for group closureby, for example,celebratingachievements,disseminating
and providing for
products,providing feedback,designing'closing'activities
post-course contact and development.

trainingandonlinelearning
Teacher
So far we havebeen looking at online coursesfor learners.Let's now turn our attention to
online coursesand professionaldevelopment groups for teachers.With increasingaccess
to the Internet, teachers,too, can find opportunities for professionaldevelopment which
do not involve expensivecoursesor travel. Any searchin Google using combinations of
words like'teachingEnglishi'TEFL,'Certificate','online'and'training'willbring up links to
a wealth of online courses,certificates,diplomas and degreesfor teachers.Online training
courseson offer include:
o short methodology coursesfor teachers,for exampleTeachingYoung Learners,
TeachingListening or Using Drama in the Classroom.
. pre-servicecertificate courses.
. in-service diploma courses,for examplethe Tiinity Diploma or Cambridge ESOL
DELTA.
o MAs and university diplomas.
Someof thesecoursesare offered by establishedand reputabletraining bodies or academic
institutions.Othersarenot. Someareexamplesof good practicein online learning.Others
are not. How doesthe teacherwho wishesto pursue professionaldevelopmentat a distance,
whether via a formal accreditedacademiccourse,or a shorter teacherdevelopmentcourse,
Chap t e r 1 1

distinguish betweenwhat are and what are not valid training courses?The obvious answer
is that for more formal and academic coursesensure that the course is accreditedby a
recognisedbody, while for more informal courses,make sure the course providers are
known and respectedin the field. Also, make sure that the course'spurported aims are in
fact compatible with online delivery.For example,any pre-serviceteachingcoursewhich is
deliveredfully online is likely to lack credibility, as observedface-to-faceteaching practice
is a usual requirement of thesecourses.
Quite apart from the issueof accreditationand validation, online training coursesalso
need to demonstrate current best practice in the field of online learning. Our checklist of
issueson course design above can help you decide whether an online training course is
actually any good in terms of content and delivery.To choosean online course,you should
have clear answersto most of the issuesraised in the course design section, either via the
courseweb page,or in email correspondencewith the courseproviders.
For the teacherwho does not wish to embark on a course,but would like to keep up-
to-date with issuesin the field, or developtheir skills more informally, there are number of
options online.You could join or set up an online discussiongroup, subscribeto blogs or
podcasts,or read online journals or magazines.In the next sectionwe will look specificallyat
online discussionlists and groups, and how thesemight help with teacherdevelopment.

tlsts andonlinegroups
Dlscussion
Youwill haveprobablycomeacrosstermslike'mailing list]'discussiongroup','Yahoogroup'
or others to describegroups of people connectedby a common professionalinterest like
teaching or teachertraining who are in contact with each other via email. As is often the
casewith theseterms, they tend to be usedinterchangeably,although there are in fact some
differences,which we should clarifr.
A mailing list is the simplest form of email communication, and is informative."
Typically a mailing list disseminatesinformation, for example on forthcoming online
coursesor conferences,or new materials or articles,to those who sign up and join the list.
One exampleis the British Council's ELIECS lists, which keep members around the world
informed of events,activities, coursesand grants (http://www.britishcouncil.org/eltecs-
join.htm). A mailing list is best comparedto a snail mail, or normal mail, newsletter,which
members receiveregularly,and which keepsthem up-to-date.
A discussion list is similar to a mailing list but will allow for and encouragediscussion
of topics and issues.A lot of these are run using mailing list software called Listserv or
Majordomo, and are based in universities around the world. Two very popular ones are
TESL-I (http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/-tesl-l/)and NETEACH-L (http://hunter.listserv.
cuny.edu/archives/neteach-l.html). Messagesfrom a discussionlist are sent to membersby
email. They are not viewed on the Internet, although there is usually a searchablearchiveof
past messages availableon a server.
A discussion group is similar to a discussionlist, and usesnot only email but typically
also offers a location online where documents,files and photos can be stored,and perhaps
other facilities for members,such astext chat, a calendarand accessto a member database.
On the oppositepageis a screenshotof a well-known discussiongroup site,Yahoo!Groups.
On the left-hand side of the screenyou can seethe various facilities that this particular
discussion group offers. Members who join this group can have the messagesposted by

144
 O n l i n et e a c h i n ga n d t r a i n i n g

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other group memberssentto them either asindividual emailsor in one daily digestemail,
or memberscan decideto receiveno email,and to onlyview messages byvisiting theYahoo!
group site itself.
IATEFL (The InternationalAssociationof Teachersof Englishas a ForeignLanguage)
has severaldiscussiongroups which useYahoo!Groups,basedaround individual Special
Interest Groups (SIGs), such as teachertrainers, teaching young learners,testing and
assessment, learningtechnologies,and so on (http://www.iatefl.org).
Mailing and discussionlistsand groupsaresimply waysin which groupsof peoplewith
common interestsuseemail to communicate.As we haveseenabove,the main differences
between different types of lists and groups is between how much discussion/interaction
takes place, and what tools are availableto members. There is, however,another sort of
group in which not only is there a lot of discussionand interactionbetweenmembersbut
also sharedresponsibilities,tasksand activities.Thesegroups are known as communities
of practice,or CoPsfor short.When a CoP is an online group,it is calleda'distributed'CoP.
Two exemplary CoPs in the teaching profession are the Webheadsgroup and the Dogme
group, both of which useYahoo!Groups to communicate,and both of which we highly
recommendjoining.
. Webheads (http://www.webheads.info/)
Theseare a group of ESL/EFLteachersand trainersfrom around the world,
who discusshow to usetechnology with their classes.Members try out various
technologiesand tools with their own classes,make contact with other Webhead
by using ICT tools like chat,blogsand wikis, and then discusshow these
classes
impact on their own classroompractice.

145
Chapter11

. Dogme (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dogme/)
Theseare a group of teachers,trainers and materialswriters interestedin
exploring how to teachwithout using materialslike coursebooks,and using the
learnersthemselvesas resourcesto generatecontent and dialogue.Like Webheads,
Dogme members often try things out in class,then discussthem afterwardswith
the group.
Both of thesegroups display the characteristicsof CoPsoutlined below.
. Belonging to the CoP is voluntary.
o Goalsfor the group are negotiatedby the members.For example,a CoP of
secondaryschool teachersmight as a group decide to examine,discussand work
with the issueof discipline in their classesfor a month.
o Someroles in a CoP are assigned(for example,PersonX alwaysuploads files for
the group); other roles are emergent(for example,PersonY is an expert on topic
1,and PersonZ is an experton topic 2,and dependingon which topic is under
discussion,Y or Zwill play a leadingrole).
o The CoP will produceartefacts,or'resources',likeguidelinesor PowerPoint
presentations,which will be archivedfor the group to access.
o The issuesdiscussedby the group will be put into practice by group members.
For example,if the group discussesan issuelike discipline in class,memberswill
then try out specificdiscipline strategieswith their own classes.
. The CoP will engagein overt reflection about what they are doing - what works
well and what doesn't,and why and how practice can be improved.
. Usually a CoP will haveseveralcore memberswho contribute regularly to
discussions,and many more boundary members,who may follow discussions
but not take part. Theseboundary members may well take what they learn in one
CoP to another CoP.
Most teachersinvolved in online development will belong to several mailing lists and
discussiongroups, and eachlist or group will usually display its own characteristics.Some
online teachers' groups, like the Webheadsand Dogme groups described above, have
a constant stream of messages,which can add up to hundreds of messagesper month.
Others, like the ELIECS lists, will have a couple of messagesa da5 usually consisting of
information about forthcoming eventsand projectsrelatedto the EFL/ESLprofession.Still
others, like some of the IATEFL SIG groups, may lie dormant for months, then are very
busy for a period of weeksasa planned discussionon a certain topic is held. None of these
different types of lists or groups is inherently'better' than any other. It's simply a matter of
each teacherjoining those groups they feel will be of most benefit to them. We belong to
over 30 discussionlists and groups betweenus!
One way of dealing with the inevitably large amounts of email generatedby belonging
to severalonline discussionlists or groups is to haveyour subscription to the group set to
receiving only one daily digest email per day,or to no mail, so that you regularly visit the
site itself to read messages.
As we have seen,the Internet brings a wealth of opportunities to the teacher and
teachertrainer for continuous professionaldevelopment,as well as for contact with other

t46
 O n l i n et e a c h i n ga n d t r a i n i n g

teachersaround the world with similar concernsand interests.One way of keepingup with
developmentsin our field is to belong to at leastsome of the groups we mentioned in this
chapter.

Conclusions I ,rnthis hove:

chapterwe
r definedsomeof the termsconnected with e-learning.
r lookedat examptes of onlinecoursesfor learnersof English.
r considered whatneedsto betakenintoaccount whendesigning an onlinecourse.
r lookedat howto get startedwith offeringonlinecoursesto learners.
r discussed onlineteachertrainingcourses.
r discussed otherprofessional development for teachersonline,suchas
opportunities
betonging groupsandontine(distributed)
to mailinglists,discussion communitiesof
practicer
 Preparing
for the
future
r Thestateof theart r Thefuture of onllne
: Howtokeepup-to-date learnlng
r Webz.o r Vlrtual learnlng
r m-learnlng

Thestateof the art

In the ten yearsthat we have been training teachersto use technology in ELI, the pace of
changehasbeen slow.However,there are signsnow that the paceis beginning to accelerate
with the advent of more user-friendly tools and software, and greater opportunities for
more formalised training. Indeed, it is rare these days for any teacher not to have made
some small investment in the use of technology in their work, from the teacherwho uses
a word processorto put together worksheetsto the more active userswho are members of
online communities of practice groups.
One of the main entry points into technology for a lot of teachershas been their own
experienceof it in the form of distancetraining, with more and more busy professionals
finding themselvesonly having the time and resourcesto developprofessionallyby taking
advantageof online coursesin teachereducation - from short skills-basedcoursesto the
longer in-service training like the distance learning version of the DELTA. Courses like
thesehave obliged many teachersto engagemore with technology,which has resulted in a
changeof attitude. Ratherthan learning technologyskills in isolation, they haveseenat first
hand how technology can enhancetraining, and these experienceshave permeatdd their
own professionalpractice.
In general secondary and primary education, one of the more remarkable success
stories has been the uptake of interactive whiteboards (IWBs). The UK stateprimary and
secondarysector,for example,has an averageof 7.5 IWBs per school to date,and the UK is
the biggestmarket for [WBs in the world, with salesin2004 being eighty times higher than
in Germany.Elsewhere,the Enciclomedia project in Mexico aims to provide over 13,000
elementaryschoolswith IWBs and Internet connectivity in the long term. Yet government
funded projects on this scaleare still remarkably rare, in part at leastbecauseof the high
installation costs.
The successof this technology is largely due to the fact that it uses a very familiar
metaphor - the board - and consigns the computer to a secondaryor almost invisible
role in the classroom.This is a role envisagedby StephenBax in his article'CALL - Past,
Presentand Future',where he suggeststhat technology needsto become'invisible',to both

148
 Preparingfor the future

the teacherand the learner,in order to be fully integratedinto the learning process.It needs
to becomeas natural a part of the classroomas more traditional, longer-established'tools'
like the coursebookor dictionary. His article is availableonline (http://www.iateflcompsig.
org.uk/media/callpastpresentandfuture.pdf).It is logical to assume, therefore, that if
producersmanageto manufacturecheaperunits, and the ELI publishing industryproduces
interesting and stimulating software, the IWB stands a real chance of being the first
modern technologicalteachingtool to bridge the gap betweenthe'technophiles'andthe
'technophobes'.Although, aspointed out in Chapter 9, if training is poor, the introduction
of this technologywill not be a success.
But what else might we expect in the future? Any predictions made in a book like
this one will undoubtedly be subject to revision over the next few years,but we hope that
our suggestionsand areasfor further study will prove useful to you. One thing that is
certain is that while the teaching profession may not be changing as quickly as we might
have expected,technology is still moving on at an astounding place,and the software and
hardware we use are gradually converging into deviceswhich are more user-friendly and
which integrate a myriad of servicesin one place.
Lastly,the pace of changewill vary for different groups of teachers.Some groups will
move very quickly to adopt new technologiesand new habits while others will remain
largely unaffectedby technological changes.There will be no one big movement or trend,
but rather a range of trends, some fast moving, others slow.

Howto keepup-to-date
In Chapter 11we coveredvarious waysof interacting with other colleaguesinterestedin the
useof different technologiesin the classroom,and looked at websitesand online groups for
continual developmentin this area.But accessingthesedifferent websitesand joining these
online groups doesraisethe issueof how to managea potential delugeof information and
ideas.Imagine that you regularlyread five blogs relatedto teaching,and another three blogs
related to using ICT in the languageclassroom,as well as trvo online journals which are
published monthly. Calculatethe amount of time you would spend every day going to all
thesesitesto checkon the latestpostings.This is where RSS,or ReallySimplySyndication,
can make a huge differenceto our everydaylives by helping us cope quickly and efficiently
with the large amounts of new information produced daily.
RSSrefers to a way of reading content from blogs and websites.How does this work?
You install an RSSreaderlike Sharp Readeron your computer, or usean online readerlike
Bloglines,and everytime you open the reader,it automatically goesalong to all of the blogs
and websitesyou are subscribedto, checksfor new postings and articles, and downloads
the headlinesof these into your RSSreadet in a list format. You can then skim through
these headlines to get an idea of recent postings or articles. To actually read any of the
new content, you simply click on the headline, and you are taken to the story itself. RSS
allowsbusy people to skim alarge number of websiteson a daily basis,quickly pinpointing
interesting articles.It is, basically,a time-saver.
Chapte 12
r

Webz.o
The way we work with technologyis undergoinga swift period of change,and the emphasis
now is very much on the emergenceof what hasbecomeknown asWeb 2.0,which perceives
the transition of the World Wide Web from a disparate collection of websitesto a fully-
fledgedcomputing platform, which deliversservicesand applications(softwareprograms)
to end users,whereverthey may be. This is resultingin a vast collection of websitesand
serviceswhich are more social in nature, inviting people to sharewhat they find, what
they do and what they learn in a wide variety of contexts.You may read, for example,
about social bookmarking, where people keep their bookmarks or favouriteson a website
insteadof on their own computer.Thesebookmarksaretaggedand described,and anyone
also using the site can benefit from your collectionof useful addresses
- asyou can from
theirs.
A good exampleof a socialbookmarking site is Del.Icio.Us(www.del.icio.us).In the
screenshotbelow you will see a collection of teaching-relatedbookmarks shared by a
colleague,Valentina Dodge.This bookmarkingcan saveother teacherstime by giving them
the benefit of another user'sexperienceand research.However,it must also be borne in
mind that more accessto this kind of information does not necessarilymake life easier,
havingasit doesthe potentialto overwhelmthe userwith information and sourcesof good
material.One of the more important skills to be developedin the future will be that of
sifting largequantitiesof information into useablechunks,and we will all needto develop
fasterinformation processingand evaluationskills if we are to makethe most of this new
platform, which is where softwaretools like RSSprove so useful.

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We havelooked at other socialsiteslike wikis and blogsin the courseof this book, and the
list is growing. You can now find community-driven sitesin many areas,from placeswhere

150
 Preparing
for the future

people sharetheir music tastesand discovermusiciansrecommendedby other users,to

collaborativeonline calendarsand enormouscollectionsof imagesand videosall uploaded,
describedand made availableby the usersthemselves.
It hasalwaysbeensaidthat content is king, but what is interestingabout this changeis
that the content is now not necessarilythe domain of the bigger commercialcompanies,
who are in a position to chargefor what they supply,but is increasinglysuppliedby users
for users.You only have to look at the number of public-producedvideos and images
making their way on to websitesand newsprogrammesto seehow the model is changing.
MySpace,a social networking site primarily used by younger Netizens has recently
been linked to the successof pop artistsThe Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen, while other
social sharing sites have been the launch pad for musicianssuch as Sandi Thorn, who
attractedover 100,000listenersto her concertsbroadcastover the Internet.It is this long-
hailed democratisationof content,and user-drivensites,which is marking the changein
the way that the Internet deliverscontent.

Thesesiteswould seemto havea part to play in languageteaching.When the consumer

also becomesthe producer,sharedknowledgeand resourceswill take on a greatervalue,
allowing teachersto pick and choosewhat they want to use in eachclassand promoting
greaterpersonalisationof the teachingand learning processes.In effect,the use of social
websitesshould encouragea more eclecticapproachto teaching,and it is to be hoped that
the teachingexperiencewill be further enhancedby the teacher'sability to provide tailored
practiceand personalisedlearning opportunities for each individual, without the effiort
this may haveinvolvedin the pre-digitalage.

r5l
Chapter12

Not only will this shared approach enhancelanguageteaching, but it will also have
an impact on continuous professional development, with teachers creating their own
personalisedpages,drawing together blog feeds,video materials, essaysand articles from
a variety of sourcesinto an ever-changingpersonal development site of their own. A site
like this will constantly evolve and update to suit the teacher'sdevelopmental needs at
any given point, and as such will be vastly different from more formal learning situations,
and be basedon'just-in-time'solutions to particular training needswhich involve a wider
collection of people, all working towards sharedgoals.In effect,Web 2.0 may well become
the biggest training institution in the world. You can find out more about Web 2.0 by
looking it up in Wikipedia. If you want to investigatethe kind of things which can be done
in Web 2.0,you could start by looking at'All Things Web 2.0' (http://www.sacredcowdung.
com/archivesl2006| 03| all_things_web.html).

Thefutureof onlinelearning
One of the real growth areasover the next few yearswill be in the areaof distributed learning
and training. This is particularly relevantin contextswhere the costsof a few computersand
a good Internet connection arefar lower than the more traditional approachof transporting
participants and tutors to a location for face-to-facetraining. In the training area,some
organisations,such as the Cultura Inglesa schools in Brazil, have already been using this
systemfor someyearsto reach its teachersthroughout the country, and with considerable
success.Other organisationssuch as the British Council and International House also use
online training solutions for teacher training via a virtual learning environment (VLE).
What we expect to seehappening is more online training, but combining VLEs with the
socialtools mentioned in the Web 2.0 section aboveand other virtual reality environments
which add the feeling of actually'being there'to what can otherwise be perceivedto be a
lonely experiencefor the trainee.
We would also expect to seea changein the way people learn languages,and the way
they continue with their professionaldevelopmentor lifelong learning as time constraints
put more strain on their everydaylives.This can alreadybe seenon a small scalein many
languagecentresaround the world, with students no longer attending timetabled classes
for a certain number of hours per week,but preferring to undertake a lot of the repetitive
work in self-access mode, and meeting colleaguesand a tutor for tutorial-based sessionson
an ad hoc basis.Theseso-calledhybrid coursesare not only a reaction to the market and to
the frantic paceof life of many people,but they also exist to cater for a changing clientele,
a more'wired'community - the Net generation.
Online learning will probably also mutate into a hybrid form of how it is currently
delivered. At the moment organisations tend to use a VLE to deliver online learning,
but these servicescan often be sterile in terms of providing the kind of communication
opportunities we usually consider vital to the languagelearning process.It is highly likely
that the more static material which can be offered in a VLE will be complementedby some
of the social siteswe mentioned above,and better synchronoustools such as peer-to-peer
voice chat via Skypeor similar software.This integration of serviceswill allow for a more
rounded user experience,and significantly improve the uptake in the area of language
learning and teachingonline.
It will also probably be the casethat thesewill be combined with software that more
actively encouragesthe developmentof communities of practice (see Chapter 11) to

t52
 Preparingfor the future

further enhancethe social constructivist nature of the learning taking place there. These
may be tools assimple aswikis and blogs,but may alsobe something along the lines of Elgg
Learning Landscape(http://www.tesl-ej.org/ej34lm1.html) which is A Web publishing
application combining the elements of weblogging, e-portfolios and social networking
designedto promote learning through sharing of knowledge,conversationand reflection
in a social/academicsetting'.

Findingout more
A good place to get started would be to investigateVLEs (Virtual Learning Environments)
which we have focused on already,and Content Management Systems (CMSs). A CMS
is a web-basedapplication that allows for the creation and managementof information
- you might like to think of it as a more structured kind of wiki. Essentiallyit is an online
repository which can be stocked with web pages,documents, downloads of multimedia
files and other resources.It can be managed by a group of people, making it a useful
collaborative.environment in terms of pure information sharing. Basically it makes the
publishing of web pageseasierand more structured. A good exampleof a CMS is Etomite
(www.etomite.org). With excellentdocumentation and community support, it is a user-
friendly entry point into the world of information management.Again, this can be freely
downloaded,installed on a computer at home and experimentedwith. Etomite is relatively
easyto install, and very easyto manageand use.A good useof such a systemwould be for a
staff<ommunication and training area,allowing usersto add content, or for a staffreading
group or working party investigatinga facet of teaching.
You may well find that once you are used to using something like Etomite you will
want to step up to a VLE, which allows not only for detailed information management,
but which also enables structured online training and development, learner tracking,
assessmentand a host of other tools that will give you the opportunity to investigatethe
world of online teaching. One place to start would be to try out the free thirty-day trial
offered by Blackboard (www.blackboard.com),asthis will give you some idea of what you
can achievewith a VLE and whether it is going to be a viable tool in your professionallife.
Should you find that a VLE is suited to the direction you wish to go in, however,you will
either need to make a significant investment in Blackboard, or look to an open-source
solution like Moodle.
Moodle is a free VLE, developedby a worldwide community. It is currently used by
more than 56 percent of higher education establishmentsin the United Kingdom and has
been adoptedby the Open University in the United Kingdom, the largestdistanceeducation
provider in the world. It is an ongoing creation,and will only continue to improve now that
the Open University has given financial resourcesto improve its collection of services.You
can try out Moodle on your home computerwith a download (www.moodle.org),or look
for a web hosting company who will install and run it for you on one of their servers.More
information on suchcompaniesis availableonline (http://moodle.com/partners/list/).
A VLE allows you to createonline coursesand to enrol students in them. Inside the
coursesthemselvesyou can combine various resources(pagesof information and links to
websitesor files) with more interactive elements,like quizzes,questionnaires,structured
lessons,forums and chat rooms, to make up the course content. We use Moodle for our
online training courses,and it really is a flexible distanceeducation package.Remember,
however,that distancetraining and teachingis not the'cheap'alternative that many people

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consider it to be. Indeed, development and tutoring costs for online coursescan often
surpassthosefor more traditional ones,so you would be wise to stop and considerwhy you
might want to developsuch courses,where your market lies and what skills you will needto
acquire to implement them before going too far down the developmentpath.

Yirtual learning
'Virtual reality'is a term which has been around for so long with so few tangible results.
And you may be led to thinking that it was a fanciful idea of the late twentieth century
that never really caught on. Yet things have developedconsiderablyin the past few years,
and products are now starting to appearwhich make use of this 'other world' for training
and education.You may seevirtual reality environments referred to as MOOs (Multi-User
Dimension Object Oriented) or simply as MUDs (Multi-User Dimension/Dungeon/
Dialogue). MOOs sprang up out of online gaming, hence the dungeon referencein the
name. Basically,this meansthat they are networked environments which allow interaction
between severalpeople, and also interaction with virtual objects.You may also seethem
referred to as MUVEs (Multi-User Virtual Environments). For many years these were
purely text-basedplacesin which people text chatted and described objects and actions,
but recent developmentsin computing and video speeds,as well as faster accessto the
Internet, haveallowed for richer, graphically-basedenvironments.

Findingout more
The most popular of the virtual reality worlds is currently SecondLife. Setup by the former
chief technicalofficer of RealNetworks (the peoplewho makeRealPlayer),it is describedon
their websiteas'a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents'.Sinceopening
to the public in 2003,it has grown explosivelyand today is inhabited by over three million
people from around the globe. From the moment you enter the World you'll discovera
vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiencesand opportunity.
Once you've explored a bit, perhapsyou'll find a perfect parcel of land to build your house
or business.You'll also be surrounded by the creations of your fellow residents.Because
residentsretain the rights to their digital creations,they can buy, sell and trade with other
residents'(http://secondlife.com/whatis/).To use SecondLife you will need to download
the program from the SecondLife websiteand registerfor a usernameand password.At the
time of writing this is free.You will alsoneedto upgradeyour Quicktime Playerto the latest
version (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/). Once you havedone this,log in and start to
explore. It is a strangevirtual world peopled by the samecurious mix as existsin real life,
so don't be surprised if you seepeople fighting, flirting and doing all the other things you
might expectto seeoutside in the street.
For educationalpurposes,SecondLife provides an ideal and safeenvironment in which
to work. Objects which react as they do in real life can be created,and in our researchwe
came acrossplenty of training scenariosincluding |apaneseclasses,disasterrelief training,
first aid training and a heart murmur treatment simulation, among many others. While
writing this chapter,we sat in on a variety of classesand coursesin SecondLife, and were
constantlyamazedby the degreeof imagination usedin combining real-life classeswith'in-
world'(i.e. insideSecondLife) sessions, including one coursein Rhetoricand Composition
being run by Sarah Robbins at Ball State University, Indiana, which meets once a week

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 Preparingfor the future

at the actual university, and once a week in Second Life. These innovative uses of new
technologiesgive pausefor thought, but also encourageus to look beyond our day-to-day
practice to examine how we might incorporate them into what we do, where appropriate
and desirable- a caveatwe would encouragereadersto keep uppermost in their minds
when dealing with technology at any level. In SecondLife there are also opportunities for
more cornplex eventssuch asseminarsand conferences,asvarious combinations of media
types are possible, from PowerPoint presentations,through audio and video streaming
media, to various interaction types like quizzes,feedbackforms and questionnaires.

A virtual seminarroom in SecondLife

At the time of writing it is expectedthat SecondLife will soon havea version of the Firefox
browser built into it. This will enablepeople in a room or public place to browse websites
together,making it perfectly possibleto build working terminals which would allow access
to, for example,Moodle coursesfrom within the world itself. There is also the suggestion
that an audio client along the lines of Skypewill alsobe incorporated. One project - Sloodle
(www.sloodle.com)- is alsolooking at enabling Moodle to communicate with SecondLife,
and vice versa.It is this kind of innovation which may impact hugely on online training
in the future, with the pedagogicalrigour of a platform like Moodle linked closely to a
social environment like SecondLife providing a more lifelike and familiar learning space
for many.
A world like this, with all its media possibilities,web browsing and audio has plenty
of potential in all sorts of areas,and it will be the casethat we will seemore opportunities
for languageteaching and training inside theseworlds as communications and graphics
possibilities improve in coming years.Already a company called Languagelab is planning
to open a languageschool inside SecondLife, and more are sure to follow. For more on
education in SecondLife, try the SimTeachwebsite(www.simteach.com)or download and
install Second Life and searchfor some of the groups that are exploring this emerging

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phenomenon,for example,RealLife Educatorsin SecondLife,The LearningSocietyand

the Educator'sCoffeeHouse.You'llfind plentyof helpfulpeoplein thesegroupswho will
be ableto getyou started.

m-learning
m-learning is mobile learning and this includes the use of mobile phones, MP3 players,
PersonalDigital Assistants(PDAs) such as Palm hand-held computers and devicesusing
Windows Mobile Computing platforms such as the iPAQ. While this may seem to be a
bit of a fad, recent researchhas suggestedthat m-learning works well in environments
where accessto thesekind of technologiesis more normal and acceptedor where lifestyles
demand more flexible solutions to training and learning. A good examplewould be fapan,
where it is not uncommon to seecommuters on long train journeys usehand-held devices
containing downloaded content to practisefor the TOEIC test.

Findingout more
AgnesKukulska-Hulme, a lecturer in educationaltechnology at the Open University,is one
of the principal practitioners in this field, using mobile technologiesto deliver lecture notes
and other key information via a myriad of portable technologiesincluding smartphones
and tablet PCs. With fohn Traxler she coedited the groundbreaking Mobile Learning A
Handbookfor Educatorsand Trainers.This book features(among other articles) a study on
a project aimed at teaching Italian via SMS (Short MessageService),written by Mike Levy.
This is just one example of how teachersand technology are repositioning themselvesto
capitaliseon the new literacy skills of the younger generation.You may also want to take
a look at Kukulska-Hulme's casestudies (http://iet.open.ac.uk/pp/a.m.kukulska-hulme/
agnes.html).
There is a department of m-learning researchat Birmingham University (UK) (http:#
www.mlearning.bham.ac.uk/).Here you can find out about their experimentswith tablet
PCs.Mobile CALL Projects,basedin Nagoya,|apan, has an excellentwebsite (http://www.
studypatch.net/mobile/), where you can learn more about their projects with language
learning and mobile platforms. For a short taster, here's what they say about a recent
project:'We emailed English vocabulary lessonsat timed intervals to the mobile phones of
44 fapaneseuniversity students,hoping to promote regular study.Compared with students
urged to regularly study identical materials on paper or web, students receiving mobile
email learnedmore. 7lo/oof the subjectspreferredreceivingtheselessonson mobile phones
rather than PCs.93o/ofelt this a valuableteachingmethod.'
One of the first ElT-related m-learning themed conferenceswas held by IALT CALL
( |apaneseAssociationof LanguageTeachers)in 2006,and you canfind out more information
about that online (http://jaltcall.org/news/). In short, m-learning appearsto be here to stay,
and it is - especiallywhenwe considerhow adept most peoplearewith mobile phonesthese
days- a logical stepforward in delivering'content'to'users'- or teaching,asit is sometimes
called outside the world of technology! If all this seemsa bit beyond your capabilities,try
these two simple SMS-basedactivities with your learners and seehow much interest is
generated- it may just be the way in that you are looking for. The first activity doesnot use
'text speak'while the secondis basedentirely around this phenomenon.

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 Preparingfor the future

Beginners m-learning activity

In this activity each member of the group needsto have a mobile phone. Each member
writes down a list of classfirst names in alphabeticalorder. They then ask each other for
their mobile phone numbers, noting down each one on their list. Once they have all the
information, they senda simple SMStext questionto the personon the list under their name
with the last person on the list sending to the first. Each learner then reads the question
they have receivedand replies to the sender.As a homework extension,each learner can
send a different question to the person abovethem on the list.
This is a short example of introducing mobile technologiesinto the classroom,but it
servesthe purpose of showing learners what can be achievedwith technology, and may
also help them to improve their level of comfort with using mobile phones in the target
language.It also opens up the possibility for more teacher-ledm-learning activities like
'Word of the day',where you sendthem a vocabulary item to learn on a daily basis.
Advanced texting activityt' 2bI -2b=?"
If you re looRing at the title of this activity and wondering what it means,here'sa clue: it's
a quotation from a Shakespeare play.While our backswere turned, a new kind of English
emerged,texting (or txtng), which is now a main form of communication for millions of
people around the globe.In this activity we look at how to exploit this phenomenon in the
classroomand, no, you don't haveto know how it all works, and it won't cost you a penny.
Ihis all started with a composition handed in by a British schoolgirl after the summer
break - a composition which she had written entirely as a text message.Her teacherwas
outraged (and bemused) and it wasn't long before the story appearedon the Internet. And
this got us thinking about how we can help our learners to play with English using the
technology that they are alreadyfamiliar with.
The activity
Start offwith a generalwarmer about mobile phonesand texting,perhapsa questionnaire
to be done individually and then discussedin pairs or small groups. This should be a
popular topic with learnersof all ages,so should generatea fair bit of discussion.Once
this stagehas been done, introduce the story of the British schoolgirl and then hand out
the composition. Note that this is a fairly diffrcult text, with quite a few cultural references
and other lesstangible language,so you may want to edit it down into something more
manageablefor your learners.
My smmrholswr CWOT. 84, we usd zgoz NYzC my bro, his GF& thr 3 :- kds
Bt my Pswr so t:-/ BCo gltt tht they dcdd z stay in SCO& spnd zwks up N.
Up N, WUCIWUG -- o. I ws wv brd in MON.o bt baas& nnnnn. MR8, my Ps
wr :-) -- they sd ICBW& tht theywr ha-p4 the pc&qt...lDTs!! | wntd z go hm
ASAP,zC my M8s again.zday,I cam bk z skool.I feelv O:) BCI hv dn all my
hm wrk. Nowits BAU...
Draw the following grid on the board and get learners to copy it and fill it in with
whateverthey can understand from the composition:

* 2bl-2b=? 'To be, or not to be?That is the question.' (Shakespeare's

Hamlet)

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Chapter12

lUod In your TextIn yuui

bnguage lenguago
Before

They should be able to understand a fair bit and this is a greatopportunity to allow your
learnersto teachyou a little bit about their world (and their language)in the feedback
phasewhen the table is filled in collaboratively.
Follow-ups
There are plenty of possible follow-ups. You may want to try a rewrite activity in which
learnersproduce a short text in 'texting language'and then rewrite it tproperly'.Or try
havingyour learnersengagein'texting' conversations using Post-It noteson the classwall.
Lastly,you could sendyour studentsa daily phraseor word to learn in'texting'language.
Composition key
My summerholidayswerea completewasteof time. Before,we usedto go to
NewYorkto see my brother,his girlfriendand theirthreescreaming kids face-
to-face.I love NewYork,it's a greatplace.But my parentswereso worried
becauseof the terrorismattackon September n that they decidedwe would
stay in Scotlandand spendtwo weeksup north.Up north,what you see is
what you get - nothing.I was extremelyboredin the middleof nowhere.
Nothingbut sheepand mountains. At any rate,my parentswerehappy.They
saidthat it couldbe worse,and that theywerehappywith the peaceand quiet.
I don'tthinkso! | wantedto go homeas soonas possible, to seemy mates
again.TodayI camebackto school.I feelverysaintlybecauseI havedoneall
my homework.Nowit's businessas usual...
Whateveryou experimentwith, be it online,virtual or mobile,you must ensurethat equal
accessis availableto all of your students,and that your teachingand your students'learning
is enhancedby the chosenapproach.It is far too easyto be impressedby the technology,
to the point of forgettingthat perhapsa more traditional approachmight work better.We
offer theseinsights only as pointers as to where education may be going and to areasyou
may considerexploringin your own teaching.

Conclusions I tn thischopterwehave:
I lookedat the conceptof Webz.o.
r considered wherethe lnternetis headingin thefuture.
r exploredthefutureof onlinelearning.
r considered of virtuallearning.
the apptication
r examined m-learningandseentwo basicactivities it intoyourteaching.
to introduce

ON THE CD-ROM you cAN HEAR Two TEACHERS TALKTNG

6\
=J ABOUT HOW THEY SEE THE FUTUFIE, WATCH A TUTORIAL ON
USING RSS AND HAVE A LOOK AT SECOND LIFE.

158
The activities in this section all relate to topics discussedin the chapter to which the exercises
refer.
Most activities have page referencesto point you towards the relevant part of the chapter.
However, some activities require you to read through the whole chapter, so have no specific
references.
Some questions asked here expect definite answers,while others ask only for your ideas and
opinions.
Tlrtors can decide when it is appropriate to use the tasks in this section. Readerson their own
can work on the tasls at any stage in their reading of the book
An answer key is provided after the Task File (on pages 175-182) for those tasks where it is
possible to provide specific or suggestedanswers.The symbol / beside an exercise indicates
that answers are given for that exercise.
The matedal in the Task File can be photocopied for use in limited circumstances.Pleasesee
the note on page2 for photocopying restrictions.

159
 Chapterr: Technology
in the classroom
or technogeek?Or somewherein betweenl
A Technophobe -..1
(Pages8-n) C
How do you feel about technology?Do this'Attitudes to technology'questionnaireand then
read the commentary in the answer key.
1 = disagreetotally 2 = disagree3 = no strongopinion 4 - agree 5 = agreestrongly

Attitudesto technology t 2 3 4 5
r I enjoyusingtechnology.
z I avoidusingtechnologywhen I can.
3 I thinkusingtechnology
in classtakesup too muchtime.
4 I knowthat technologycan help me to learnmanynew things.
5 Technologyintimidatesand threatensme.
shouldknow how to usetechnologyin class.
6 Teachers
7 I woutdbe a betterteacherif I knewhow to usetechnology
properly.
I I'm veryconfidentwhen it comesto workingwith technologyin
class.
9 | want to learnmoreabout usingtechnologyin class.
ro I believethat the Internetcan reallyimprovemy teaching
oractice.
the curriculum
r Changing to integratetechnologyis impossible.
rz Technology
breaksdowntoo oftento be of verymuchuse.

usetechnotogy?d
B Whyshoutdteachers
On a pieceof paper or below,make a list of good reasonsfor using technology in your
professionallife and in your classroomteachingpractice.Think about presentation,
methodology,approaches,task variety, motivation and specificICT tools.

'...^ o * af'lya chhe fea ch tAg turaferth /s

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 Chapterer Wordprocessorsin the classroom
A Usingword processors €
List six good reasonsfor using word processorsin the classroom.
7

3
4
5
6....
Now notedown threepotentialproblemslearnersmayhave.
7 ....
8 ....
9 ....

skiltsquestionnaire€
B Wordprocessing
Assessyour own word processing skills. What do you know?

I can .. Yes l{o

... open,save,retrieveand print documents.
... selecttext usingthe keyboard.
,.. selecttext usingthe mouse.
... cut,copyandpast€.
... drag and drop.
... searchand replace.
... useTrackChanges.
...useforms.

Which of theseskills do you think your learnerswould need?Redesignthe questionnaireso

that you can use it as a diagnostic test with your classes.

skitts- learnertraining €
C Wordprocessing
In which order would you cover these skills with your learners?
. Searchand replace
. Opening,saving,retrievingand printing documents
. TrackChanges
. Undo and redo changesmade
. Draggingand dropping
. Cutting, copyingand pasting
. Selectingtext (mouseand keyboard)

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A Findingusefu[websites- searchtechniques(pages29-30 €
I You want your learners to plan a weekend trip in London. Which of the following phrases
would yield the best results in a keyword search engine such as Google?
a things to do in London.
b plan a weekendin London.
c weekendtrip in London.
2 A subject guide such as Yahoo! has some of the following categories:
a Arts e Government i Reference
b Business f Health j Regional
c Education g News & Media k Science
d Entertainment h Recreation & Sports
In which categorywould you searchfor the following information?
I a phonenumberin NewYork tr
2 the latestPulitzerprizewinner for music tr
3 basicfirst aid procedures for choking tr
4 intellectualcopyrightlaw tr
5 spaceexplorationon Mars tr
6 a moviereviewof Lordof the Rings tr
7 the capitalof Andorra tr
8 onlineDutch language courses tr
9 a BBCRadio4 programme tr
l0 theheadoftheWorldTiadeOrganisation tr
ll cookingtips for asparagus tr
3 A real languagesearchenginesuchasAsk usesreal questions.Which of the searchesin
Activrty 2 abovecan be turned into real questions,and what arethe questions?

websites(pages34-3)
B Evaluating €
Look at the Guinness World Records website (http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/) and
evaluate it according to the following criteria:
o a€curscy(content and linguistic accurary)
o curr€tgr'
o content
. functionality

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 TaskFile

lessonsusingthe Internet(pages$-1il
C Ptanning d
Look at the newsmap website and the lesson plan. Match the stages- warmer, web, what next
- to the descriptions.
The newsis an upper-intermediateto advancedlessonconcentratingon current news.The class
usesthe newsmapwebsite(http://www.marumushi.com/apps/newsmap/newsmap.cfm).

Stage Descfiption
Learnerscometogetheras a classto producea newsprogramme for
the day.Thiscan also be videoedor audiorecordedif the necessary
equipment is available.
Whatare the mainnewsstoriesof the day?Getlearnersinto four
groupsto brainstormstoriesin eachof the fotlowingcategories(oneper
group):world,national,sports,entertainment.Havethem mind-mapthe
storiesin their categoryon the boardand exptainwhat is happeningin
their category.
ln smatlgroups,learnerschooseone of the storiesfroma newsmap
categoryand researchit further.Theymakenotesas they find out more
detaits.

D Web teachingdos and donts €

You are giving a new teacher advice about using the Internet in their classes.Which of the
following piecesof advice would you give, and which would you not? Why?

1 thatwill probablybe newfor yourlearners.

Usewebsites
2 planning
Lesson fromplanning
for usinga websiteis verydifferent usinga
coursebook.
3 It'sbestto usewebsitesthat havelots of movementand flashinglightsand
sound,to keeplearnersinterested.
4 Itt a good ideato havea backupplan in caseof problemswith the technology.
5 Don'tlet your learnersknowthat you'renot confidentwith the technology.
They
mightlose respectfor you.
6 To use a web pageyou don't haveto havea live Internetconnection.Youcan
downloadand savea websiteto your computerbeforethe class,or you can
print a websiteout.
7 Learners shoutdwork aloneon the computer,not in pairsor groups.
I Keepthe learnersin front of the computersfor the whoteclassif possible,
evenfor work whichdoesnot needthem lookingat the screen.Movingthem is
disruptive.

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 Chapter4?lnternet-basedproiectwork
A Internet-basedprojectwork (pages 44-n) €
Choose one of the following project work ideas.Use your search skills to find three suitable
websites for learners to researchyour chosen topic.

a A projectfor younglearnersaged12-13on AncientEgypt.

Levelof English:elementary(upperprimary).
Outcome:learnersneedto producea posterin small groupsshowingtwo or three aspectso[
daily life in Ancient Egypt.
b A project for adult learnersofgeneral Englishon extremesports.
Levelof English:low intermediate.
Outcome:in pairsor smallgroups'learnersneedto presentan exampleof one extremesport
to the class,eitheron a posteror usingPowerPoint.
c A project for adult learnersof businessEnglishon Benetton'sadvertisingcampaignsand the
creationof a brand image.
Levelof English:advanced.
Outcome:learnersneedto designand presenta new billboard advertisementfor Benetton,
justi4zinghow it fits in rvith Benettor.r's
brand image.

B Structureof webquests(pages54-57) €
A good webquestusually contains four stages:Introduction - Thsk- Process- Evaluation.Look
at the samplewebquestand match the stagesto the correct sentence.

Off to Oz- A trip to Australia

Stage Description
are giventhe job of findingout aboutAustraliaaheadof
Learners
planninga trip there.
Learnersreflecton what they havedone and how they contributedto
the overallprocess.
Learnersinvestigatevariousweb-based resourceson Austratia,
making
a quizfor theircolleagues,
preparing an interview
on theirexperidnces
andmakinga travelbrochure basedon theirfindings.
Learnersdiscuss the ideaof visitingan English-speakingcountry- the
similarities possible
anddifferences, likesanddislikes,thingsthey
wouldmiss,thingstheywouldtakewiththem.

A full version of this webquest can be found online (http://www.xtec.es/crle/02lwebquests/

english/3index2.html).

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 TaskFile

C Usingwebquestswith your learners(pages54-5) d

Look at the descriptions of the following webquests from an online repository. For each
webquest, consider:
. What level of learnerswould this be suitable for (beginner,low/high intermediate,
advanced)?
. What agewould this be most suitable for (young learners,adolescents,adultsX
. What languagecontextwould this be most suitablefor (generalEnglish,businessEnglish,
teachertraining, Englishfor peacekeeping purposes,etc)?

a Carnival crime
In this webquest,studentsare police officers working for Interpol, and investigatea crime
committed during the Carnival in Rio, Brazil. Studentsexamine Interpol's most wanted
criminalslist, communicatewith other'police',and find a suspectfor the crime, presenting
their findings to a police commission.

b The TESOL methodologywebquest

This webquestexploresin a fun way the history, methods, approachesand applications of
EnglishLanguageTeaching.You'll meet many of the'big names',encountersomeexotic
methods and techniques,and learn a lot about your own teaching in the process.

i rn"Toplo
This webquestis basedon current pop music.The studentscomparethe current'Top 10' in
their own country, in the UK and in the US.

d Computer games
In this webqueststudents find out about computer gamesand the people who play them.
They will be askedhow they feel about computer games,and will use the web to read what
other people think.

e Christmas
This webquestis a project for a student-produced magazineon the theme of Christmas.
Studentsresearcha rangeof Christmas-related topics,suchasChristmasthrough history
and Christmastraditions,and they produce contributions for a classmagazine.

f A trip to an English-speaking city

London, Toronto, New York, Sydney,Cape Town and many more - all large,vibrant,
multicultural cities,rich in history and with many beautiful and interestingplacesto visit.
The purposeof this webquestis to plan a visit to one of the cities,whereyou will stayfor one
month studying English at a languageschool and, aboveall, having fun!

Which of these webquestswould you use with your learners?Try them out!

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 Chapter5: Howto useemail
on youruseof email(pages6z-7o)
A Questionnaire
How ready are you as a teacher to use email with your learners?Try this questionnaire.

Emailquestionnaire
- Howmuchdo you knowaboutthe following?
A lot A bit t{othing
r The benefitsof usingemaiIwith ]earners.
a Settingup an emailaccountin Yahoo!or Hotmail.
3 Emailviruses.
4 Settingspamfilterson emai[.
5 Findingout aboutyourlearners'email
skills.
6 Sendingand open!ngemaitattachments.
7 The 'text-speak'
conventionsusedin email.
I Usingemailwith your tearnersout of class.
9 Ctassroom-based emaitprofectssuchas data
collectionprojectsor keypalprojects.
ro The issuesinvotvedin settingup a keypa[project.

B Email:genreand appropriacy(pages6z-6) €
Look at the following emailwritten to solicit information from the website'Save
the Whale'.
Circlethe elementsthat areinappropriate,and note down why they areinappropriate.Then
rewritethe emailin a moreappropriatestyle.
Hi! | LIKEYO URSITE'Savethe Whate'.
im preparing for a presentation
at my schooIaboutwhy whatesare in dangerof
extinctionO
i want u to sendme somestuffaboutthis,like brochures,
postersetc!!!!!i needit by
tonite!!!!!!
CU!

C Usingemail:issues(pages6z-7o) €
Below is a seriesof issuesthat might arisewhen using email with learners.Suggesta solution
for each.
a Yourlearnersdon't haveemailaccounts.
b Your learnersdon't know how to sendor open email attachments.
c Yourlearnersuseabbreviations suchas CU ('seeyou') or the lowercaseI in all their emails.
d You lvould like to provideyour learnerswith a weeklyemailedsummary of classwork
covered,but haveno time to do so.
e Your learnersare reluctantto do the extra work that belongingto a classemail discussionlist
involves,and do not contributemuch.
f In a keypalproject,your learnersdon't know what to write to their partner in another
country.
g Your learnersare upsetby emailsreceivedfrom the partner country,asthey lind them'rude'
or'aggressive'.
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 (hapter 6: Howto usechat
teaching(pagesn-8+)
A Usingchatin language €
Do you agreeor disagreewith the following statements?Why?
a With text chat,we needto teachlearnersto use'text speak',e.g.LSerfor'later'.
b Voicechat is easierto usethan text chat.
c The teacherrequiresa lot of technicalknowledgeto usetext or voicechat with learners.
d It's a good idea to teachlearnerssomechat conventions,e.g.how to taketurns.
e Using chat is bestbetweenclasses who alreadymeet regularlyface-to-face.

B Chatactivitieswith learners(pageslq-\+) C
Look at the following chat activities. Which activities would work better with text chat, which
would work better with voice chat, and which could work well with either text or voice chat?
Text Voice tlther
t A groupof learners, whousuallymeetface-to-face, usechat
outsideclassto discuss a summary of projectwork,which
theywill needto present to the class.
2 A groupof learners in ltalyinterviewa groupof learners
in
*. Indiato find out about the most importantreligious
festival
of theyearin thetwo countries.
3 A groupof $panishlearners(learningEnglishin Spain)chat
in Canada(whoare learning
with a groupof English-speakers
Spanish),to practisethe pronunciation
of certainSpanishand
Englishwords.
chatin pairsabouttheir
schoolclasses
4 Twosecondary
musicandgroups.
favourite
in the sameclasschat in pairsto practisetext
5 Learners
suchas btw (by the way).
speak'conventions,
6 Theteacheris availablevia chaton Wednesday eveningsfrom
/*8 p.m. (outsideteachinghours)to answer any questions
abouthomeworkor assignments, or to chatto learnersabout
anythingthey like.

c Typesof chat (pages7F7) €

I Match the qpe of chat with the correct definition.
a free topic chat I a chatin which one participantgivesinformationon a topic
b task-orientedchat 2 a chatwhich requireslearnersto producean outcome or'product'
c informative chat 3 a chat which providesopportunitiesto practisea specificfunction
d practicechat 4 a chat which has no pre-set theme to discuss,or one clear moderator

Look again at the chat activities suggestedin Activity B above.For each,decidewhether it is

an exampleof a free topic chat, a task-orientedchat, an informative chat or a practice chat.

D u d e n e y&Ho ckly Ho wto T e a ch En g lish with Technol ogyO P earsonE ducati onLi mi tec2l .-
PHOTOCOPIABTE
 ChapterZ! Blogs,wikis andpodcasts
btogs,wikis and podcasts(pages86-102) €
A Terminology:
Match the terminology to the definition.
r sociatsoftware a The tackof enthusiasmone feelsfor onel blog, aftera time.
z btogroll b A well-knowncollaborative
enryclopediaon the lnternet.
3 edubtog c An audioor video file whichcan be downloadedto a personalcomputer
or to a mobiledevicesuchas an MP3player.
4 btogfade d ICTtools whichencourageusersto collaborateand communicate online.
they allow multipleauthorship,and contentis generatedby the
Typicatty
users.
5 Blogger.com webspaceconsistingof severallinkedweb pages,that
e A cotlaborative
can be editedby severalpeopte.
6 vtog f A blog usedin education.
7 wiki g A videoblog.
8 Wikipedia h A user-friendly
site whereone can easilycreateand recorda podcast.
9 pbwiki i A oodcastin the formof a video.
ro podcast i The softwareneededto downloada podcast.
u podcatching
software k Courselecturesdeliveredin podcastformat- increasingly
popularin
tertiarveducation.
12 Vodcast l A list of linksto otherblogs.
13 coursecasting m A well-knownsite whereone can easilyset up a blog.
r4 podOmatic n A user-friendly
site whereone can easityset up a wiki.

B Btogs(pages8t-go) €
What kind of blog would be most suitablefor the following activities:a tutor blog (T), a student
blog (S)or a classblog (C)?

I a blog rvitl.rpersonalinformation, suchashobbiesand interests,family or home. tr

2 a blog rvith links to further exploretopicscoveredin a speakingclass. !
3 a blog settingextrahomeworkactivitiesfor leafners. n
4 a blog olclassprojectwork (postersproduced,textswritten,photographs). n
5 a blog describinglearners'summer holidays. !
6 a blog describir.rg differentfestivaldaysin the learners'country/countries. !

C Wikis(pasesn-98) d
I What is the essentialdifference between a blog and a wiki?
2 Which of the activities described in Activity B above could also work well in a wiki?

D Podcasts(pages98-toz) €
What are the advantagesand disadvantagesof listening to/creating podcasts?
Advantages Disadvantages
listento podcasts
Learners
Leamerccrcate podcasts

168 Dudeney
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EnglishwithTechnology
O Pearson
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 Chapter8: Onlinereferentetools
- prosandcons
andcorpuses
A Concordancers
(pagesro5-rro) €
Which of these do you think are good reasonsfor using concordancers and corpuses,and which
are potential disadvantages?

I They give accessto a wide rangeof authenticEnglishfrom nativespeakers.

2 They show a variety of 'Englisheslchallengingthe 'standard'Englishconcept.
3 The data they return is culturally and contextuallylimited.
4 They encourageinductiveapproachesto grammar teaching/learning.
5 They caterto analyticallearners.
6 They suggestthat nativespeakerlanguagemodelsare better.
7 They clearlydemonstratedifferencesbetweenwritten and spokenEnglish.

B The right toot (pages103-112) €

Which of these online tools would you recommend for the caseslisted below?

thesaurus translator dictionary encyclopedia concordancer

I A businessEnglishstudentwho hasto skim-reada lot of documentsin English,but who does

not quite havethe levelto do this comfortably.
2 A group oflearners preparingfor an examwho do not havea sufficientrangeofvocabulary
for the written paperand alwaysusethe samefew phrasesrepeatedly.
3 A lower-intermediatelearnerwho hastrouble rememberingthe pronunciation of certain
words.
4 A proficiency-levellearnerwho struggleswith collocationsand small vocabularypoints.
5 A group ofyounger learnerswho are quite proficient in English,but lack any real experience
in the world and are held backby this in many of the creativeactivitiesyou plan.

& HocklyHowto Teoch

Dudeney O Pearson
EnglishwithTechnology Education
Limitec2oc-
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 Chapter9: Technology-based
courseware
A CD-ROMs(pagesn3-n4) €
What skills and activity typesareusuallyincludedon self-studyCD-ROMs?Fill in the text
belowwith thesewordsand phrases.
authentic reordersentenceslistening Freewriting writing speaking multiplechoice
Self-study CD-ROMs usuallyincludeactivities to practise a[[ fourskilts:
the receptive skitls- readingand (r) - and the productive skills
- speakingand (z) . Gradedor (3) ..................
textscan be provided
for both listening and readingactivities, and comprehension tasks,suchas
matching or (4) ..................
, supplied.The writing skitt is less easyto provide
practice for on a CD-ROM, and activitytypesareoftenmechanical, requiring
learners to (S)..................
or words,or to fil[ in blanksin a paragraph.
(6) ..................
activitiesneedto be correctedby a teacher,so are often not
includedon a CD-ROM. The(Z) skittis probabty the mostdifficultto
dealwith effectively on a CD-ROM, and activities involving voice-recognition
softwareare oftenflawed.

B Technology-based
courseware:
advantages
and
disadvantages (pages 773-779i 722-t24) €
Match one advantageand one disadvantageto each piece ofcourseware.
. Reliabilityin marking is high.
. Costsarehigh for the averageteacher/school.
. Encourages autonomouslearning.
. Speakingand writing are difficult to assess
reliably.
. Materialsin this medium look very impressive.
. Voicerecognitionsoftwarecan be unreliable.

Courseware Advanhge Disadvantago

€D-Roilts
Computer-based testing
lnteractivewhiteboards

t70 Dudeney& HocklyHowto TeachEnglishwith Technology

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 Chapterro: Producingetectronicmaterials
A Which Potato?(pages729-:ry,2) €
Can you match the Hot Potato tool to a description?

a JCloze r Thistool makesjumbledword activities.

b JMatch a Makeinteractivewordpuzzles with clues.
c lQuiz 3 Combine setsof exercises
intowebsites.
d lCross 4 Createto connectwordswith pictures,etc.
e lMix 5 Usethis oneto makegap-fillexercises.
f TheMasher 6 Createshortanswertestsandgames.

Note that the namesof all the Hot Potatotools start with'l'.

B In a Quandary(pages132-135) €
Put these steps for making a simple two-choice reading maze into the correct order. The first
one is done for you.

a Changeto view DecisionPoint 2, and write the content.

.b Add a title to DecisionPoint 1.
c Createa new maze.( 1)
d Saveyour maze.
e Createa link to a new DecisionPoint (DecisionPoint 2).
f Give your reading maze a title.
g Changeto view DecisionPoint 3, and write the content.
h Export your reading mazeto XHTML (makeit into a web page).
i Describethe basicsituation in DecisionPoint l, giving two options to choosefrom.
i Createa link to a new DecisionPoint (DecisionPoint 3).

Dudeney& HocklyHowto TeachEnglishwith Technology

O PearsonEducationLimited2ooz
PHOTOCOPIABLE
 Chapterus e-learning:onlineteachingandtraining
A Ontinelearning (pagesg6-t4o) €
Which of the following scenarios involve genuine'online learning'?

I Learnersusean interactiveCD-ROM at home to do extra languagework.

2 Learnersusea voicechat program like Skypeoncea month to chatwith a classin another
country.
3 Learnersdo 25 percentof classworkface-to-face,and 75 percentin the VLE (Virtual Learning
Environment)Moodle.
4 A teacherdoesa one-month courseon designingwebquestsentirelyonline, with a group o1
other teachersfrom around the world.
5 A teachertakestheir classoncea weekto the computer lab,wherelearnersusethe Internet to
researchproject work.
6 Learnersare involvedin an email exchangeproject with learnersin anothercountry.

B Ontinecourses(pages88-143) €
What are some of the advantagesand disadvantagesof taking a 100 percent online language
course from the learner's perspective?
Advantages Disadvantages

172 Dudeney
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 TaskFile

of practice(pages145-146) d
C Communities
Look at the posting below from a teacher who belongs to a distributed CoP.Which of the
elements of a CoP can you identify in her posting? Match the underlined phrases in her posting
with the CoP characteristics.

you Inow, Lletr€Ol[rgEelllhe_gl9lpas I d leard aboul the grear

you'realldoingwithus ng ICTtoolswithvourstudents.I followed
dlscussionlelLpllDinry]f on settingup blogsw th our students
the great news is that we've done itl My intermediate c ass now

the local festivalswe have here in ltaly.

would be fantastic if some of you could get your students to come

and post some comments on our blog .l realisenow I should

- the studentswouldhavebeenevenmoremotivatedif thev

weregoingto visitthe blog
thatstudentsfromothercountries
read their workl Never mind, live and learn

Dudeney& HocklyHowto TeachEnglishwith Technology@ Pearson Limited2oo7

Education t73
PHOTOCOPIABTE
 Chaptettzi Preparingfor the future
A Web z.o (pages: ,o-t5z) d
Visit these 2.0 websites and find out what they offer.

a www.flickr.com sharedwisdom
b www.pandora.com imagerepository
c www.30boxes.com project management
d www.youtube.com largefile transfers
e www.yousendit.com online calendar
f wwwblinkbits.com mediabank
g www.43things.com newsportal
h www.zohoplanner.com shareddesktops
i www.gabbr.com life goalscollection
j www.centraldesktop.com music management

B Futuretrends €
Look at the different scenariosbelow and decide which tool would be best for the job:
mobile phones a Virtual LearningEnvironment a Content ManagementSystem
MP3 players SecondLife
a a busy director of studieswho wantsto set up new channelsof communicationwith her
teachers,to keepthem up-to-dateand to allow them to make suggestions.
who works in a high-techschoolwith good
b a teacherwith little interestin traditional classes
technologicalfacilitiesand programmersexperiencedin multimedia and gamesdesign.
c a teacherwho is running a hybrid course(someself-studyand sometutorials) who notices
that his studentshavevery little time to attendthe tutorialsand are missingout on useful
information and explanationsfrom thesesessions.
d a teacherworking with businessEnglishstudentswho havevery little time to study due to
work pressures, but needconstanthelp with expressingthemselvesin certainsituations.
e a trainer working with groupsof traineeteachersdistributedover a wide geographicalarea.

C Keepingup with futuretrends

What have you learnt about future trends and tools in teaching with technology?Which of
these things would you like to incorporate into your teaching and professional development?
TooWrend I knowwhatftis is I'd llke to explore this more
RSSfeeds
Socialbookmarking
Useof a VLE{e.g.Moodte)or CMS(e.g.
Etomite)
Useof a MUVE(e.C.SecondLife)
m-[earning(e.g.developa podcastfor
learners)
Usea mobilephonetextingactivityin class
foin an onlineteacherdevelopmentgroup

t74
Chapterr
A
If you'vechosenmostly 4s and 5s in questions1,4,6,7,8, 9 and 10,then you havea very positive
attitude to technology and are keen to learn more. If you havechosenmostly 4s and 5s in
questions2,3,5,11 andl2,then perhapsyou don't yet feelconfidentenoughto usetechnologyto
its full potential.
A large part of the negativeattitudes we havelooked at in this first chapter are the result of a
lack of confidence,a lack of facilities or a lack of training, resulting in an inability to seethe benefit
of using technologiesin the classroom.
This book aims to help you build your confidenceand increaseyour experiencein using
technology and to help you to seewaysin which your teaching practice can be enhancedby it, even
if you are teachingin a'resource-poor'environment.
B
Here is a suggestedlist of good reasonsto use ICT with learners.
I Teacherscan produce more attractive teaching materials.
2 It usesmedia which learnersuse in their daily life.
3 As an internationallanguage,Englishis increasinglybeing usedin computer-mediated
contexts,and using ICT with learnersin classgivesthem practice for real-life ICT contexts.
4 Accessto up-to-date materialsvia the Internet.
5- A changefrom using paper and pen, books and the board.
6 Adds variety to a lesson.
7 Keepsthe teacherlearning new skills.
8 May teach the learnersnew skills.
9 New ICT skills learnt in the classroom(e.g.Internet searchskills) can be transferred to real
life.
l0 Makes the teacherlook more professional.
l l Makesthe schoollook more professionaland up-to-date.
12 Learnerscan accessauthentic websites,as well as websitesfor EFL/ESLlearners.
13 SomeICT tools (e.g.blogs,chat,email) can enablelearnersto make contactwith learnersin
other countries.
14 SomeICT tools (e.g.online referencetools,CD-ROMs) can encouragelearnersto work
alone, and can provide personalisedfeedbackand assessment.
15 ICT tools can be usedboth in and outsidethe classroom.
16 The Internet can give teachersaccessto online teacherdevelopment groups and online
training courses.
17 Using a range of ICT tools can give learnersexposureto and practice in all of the four main
languageskills - speaking,listening, writing and reading.

Chapterz
A
Suggestedanswer:
I easyediting and correcting without rewriting.
2 encourageslearnersto take pride in their work.
3 activatesnoticing skills.
4 encourageslearnersto playwith the language.

175
TaskFile Key

5 teachesbasic ICT skills.

6 facilitatespeer and teachercorrection.
7 lack of basic computer skills.
8 lack of document handling skills.
9 over-relianceon grammar or spell-checker.
B
Suggestedanswer:
The last skill (using forms) is probably not neededby learnersfor classesinvolving the use of word
processors.All the other skills will be useful for the activities in this chapter and in word processing
classesin general.
c
Suggestedanswer:
The most logicalthing would be to start with the document managementskillssuchas opening,
saving,retrievingand printing documentsas thesearebasicskillson which the otherswill build.
Then move on to selectingtext,draggingand dropping it and cutting, copyingand pasting.Then
examinehow to undo and redo actions.In the next stageyou can introducesearchand replace
featuresand TiackChanges.

Chapter3
A
I a givesgood resultsfor offrcial and generalsights connectedto London attractions, sightseeing,
etc.
b doesn't provide very good resultsapart from one preparedby schoolchildren which would be
easierto use at lower levels.
c leadsto a lot of travel companies.
On balance,a is probably the best searchoption.
2 li 2a 3f 4b 5 k 6 d 7 j 8 c 9 9 1 0 e l l h
3
Suggested answers:
2 Who won the Pulitzerprize for music in [year]?
3 What should I do if someonechokes?What are the first aid proceduresfor choking?
6 What do the reviewssayabout Lord of the Rings?
7 What is the capital of Andorra?
8 Where/How can I learn Dutch online?
l0 Who is the headof the World Tiade Organisation?
ll How can I cook asparagus?
Note that numbers 1,4, 5 and 9 aretoo broad to formulate into specificquestions.
B
Accuracy:
All of the information is verified by the Guinnessteam. The About us' section suggestsa personal
involvement in production by well-qualified people.Among other languages,the site can be
browsed in British English,American English and Australian English, making it ideal for many
different contexts.Linguistically accurate,with very little use of slang- short chunks suggestit
might be very exploitable.
Currency:
Up-to-date with all the latestworld records,the site seemsto be updated every day (seethe last

176
 TaskFiteKey

updatedinformation on the openingpage).Thisis alsosuggested by the scrollingticker with the

latestrecords.
Content:
An excellentmix of short texts for eachrecord is complementedby different sections(natural
world, modern society,etc) and an interesting repository of video materials,gamesand a dedicated
kids section.
Functionality:
The site works perfectly overall, though a couple of the gamespagesgive script errors. It's also
worth noting that additional software is necessaryto play the gamesand to watch the videos.
Thesewill also need a faster connection for full enioyment.
c
what next - warmer - web
D
Commentary:
I New websitesmay well be more motivating for your learners,but it's worth bearing in mind
that they may havetheir own favourite websiteswhich you may be able to exploit in class,too.
2 This isn't usually the case.When we work with coursebookswe are working with someoneelse's
material, and this is also true of using web pages.The main differencewill be that websitesare
generallynot preparedwith the languagelearner in mind.
3 Visually attractive websitescan be more interesting for learners,but you must also bear in
mihd that they are more likely to experiencetechnical problems or be slow to load on slower
connections.
4 As with all lessonideas,a backup plan is vital. It's perhapsslightly more necessarywhen
working with technology as there is a potentially higher chanceof something going wrong at
the last minute.
5 A classfull of learnerscan really help take the pressureoff the teacherwith regard to technology.
Ensure that your learnersknow what you are doing with regard to exploiting technology on a
pedagogicallevel,but don't be afraid to use their experience.This also givesthe learnersa stake
in the successfuloutcome of a technology-led class.
6 Both of theseoptions are open to you. For smallerwebsitesand the useof one-off pagesthis
can be an idealoption. Don't forget,however,that using the Internet'live'givesthe whole lesson
more immediacy and relevance.
7 It will obviously depend on the tasks,but having learnersin pairs when using computers
will encouragecooperation and hopefully lead to more languageproduction throughout the
Process.
8 lt's usually a good idea to havelearnersin front of the computers only when they are needed,
and to move them awayto a more'communicative'and'cooperative'workenvironmentat
other times. Moving learnerscan be positive for the classdynamic if handled properly.

Chapter
4
A
Websiteschosenhere should include the following featuresfor eachproject:
Project a: Lots of visuals (drawings) illustrating daily life in Ancient Egypt, with very little text.
Learnersshould be able to deduceelementsof daily life from the pictures, not necessarilyfrom
reading the accompanyingtexts.A good example is (http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/egypt/
index.htm).

r77
TaskFiteKey

Project b: Websiteschosenhere might include one site with various extreme sports, plus several
sitesfor specificsports.Again, visuals on the siteschosenare important. An example might be
( http://www.extreme.com/).
Project c: Obviously a site with a repository of past Benetton advertisingpostersis important,
but the teachermight also want to provide a site which looks at successfulbillboard advertising.
Example sitesare (http://wwwmuseedelapub.org/pubgb/virt/mp/benetton/pub_benetton.html)
for Benettonpostersand (http://www.communitystorage.com/outdoor/tips.htm) for a site on
advertising.
Note: Some of the Benetton postershavebeen heavily criticised for their polemical and shocking
content. You may want to checkyour chosensitesbeforehand to ensurethey are suitable for your
learners.
B
Stages:Thsk- Evaluation- Process- Introduction
c
Suggestedanswers:
a Carnival crimq Suitablefor intermediate and higher-level adults; generalEnglish and English
for peacekeeping purposes.
b The TESOL methodologywebquest Suitablefor higher-level adult traineeson teachertraining
courses.
c The Top l0: Suitablefor lower-leveladolescents; generalEnglish.
d Computer games: Suitablefor intermediate older adolescentsand adults; generalEnglish.
e Christmas: Suitablefor younger learners,intermediate levels;generalEnglish.
f A trip to an English-speaking city: Suitablefor adolescentand adult learnersof general
English,of low intermediatelevelor higher.

Chapter5
B
Commentary:
The email usesthe following'text speak'forms,which are inappropriatefor a semi-formalemail
askingfor information:
. use of lower caseI insteadof .L
. misspellings - im, tonite.
. abbreviations- u, CU,
. overuseof punctuation ( IJl)and inappropriateuseof an emoticon (O).
One sentenceis written in upper case(I LIKE yOUR SITE),which is alwaysinappropriate for
email,as it comesacrossas'shouting'.
The email should begin by addressingthe reader.Hi (or Hello) is acceptablein a more'formal'
email if balancedwith something more formal at the end Ilke Regardsor similar, and the writer's
name.
It needsto include more generalinformation such aswho the writer is, what the school is and
what the project is about.
c
Commentary:
Possibleways of solving the issuesare as follows - note that theseare just suggestions,and you may
have thought of other, equally effectivewaysof dealing with the problems.
a Help your learnersto set up email accountswith a free web-basedemail servicesuch asYahoo!
or Hotmail.
178
 TaskFile Key

Provide your learnerswith some basic hands-on technical training in email use.This may or
may not include covering areassuch as virus protection or spam,depending on how much skill
they alreadyhave.
Make your learnersawareof issuesof appropriacy and netiquette in email use.You could use
TaskB aboveto do this.
Encouragedifferent learnersto do this everyweek,and award credit for it, or make it part of a
portfolio assessment.
Be prepared to drop an idea if learnersare not convinced of its value. If out-of-class email
activities do not work, try an in-classemail project such as a short information gathering
activity, and be sure to discussthe benefits of such an activity with learners.
Provide a clear task with detailed guidelines on what learnerscould write. This could take the
form of a seriesof bullet points or questions.For lower-level learners,you could evenprovide a
model email for learnersto basetheir own emails on.
Discussissueof intercultural communication with your learners,and how their own first
languagenorms in writing compare with English.What are the differencesand similarities?
How might this affect the partner country's writing of emails?It's a good idea to raisethis
issuein intercultural projects early on, so that learnersare prepared for - and more tolerant of
- differencesin style and register.

Chapter6
A
Commentary:
a It may be useful to teach your learnerscertain common abbreviationsused in text chat like CU
for 'seeyou' or btw for'by the way',but you need to consider whether your learnersreally need
to use text chat as native speakersdo, or whether they will be using chat to contact other non-
native speakers.Even if they do use chat to contact native speakers,do they need to sound like
native speakers?In our opinion, using standard English in text chat is preferable,but this is also
an issueworth discussingwith your learnersto seewhat they think.
b In terms of technical requirements,text chat may be easierto use than voice chat, as text chat
requireslessbandwidth, no sound card, microphone, speakersor headset.On the other hand,
text chat can be slow and weakertFpists are put at a disadvantage.Also, in the single computer
classroom,larger groups can take part simultaneouslyin voice chat more easilythan in text
chat, so which one is'easier'to usewith learnersdependsvery much on your teaching context.
c Chat software is generallyvery easyto install and use.Although more complex chat software
like Elluminate might require some initial training, lesscomplex programs, like instant
messaging,are very user-friendly and require no technical knowledge to install and use.Indeed,
many of our learnersare alreadyusing tools like instant messagingin their personal lives.
d The need for either text or voice chat conventionswill depend on the sizeof the group in the
chat. Usually if a chat is held betweenonly two participants conventionsare unnecessary,but
for larger groups conventionsare a good idea,especiallyfor text chat.
e Conducting initial chat practice sessionswith a classwho alreadyknow eachother is a good
idea,but our feelingis that chat should then be usedin a'real'situation,with learnersusing
chat to contact learnerswho are not in the sameplace.For the use of chat to be meaningful
for learners,and not just a gimmick in class,we would suggestthat chat is used outside class
between classmembers or between two classeswho are in geographicallyseparateplaces.

t;9
TaskFileKey

B
I Either 2Either 3Voice 4Voice 5Text 6Either
c
I a4b2 c l d3
) 1 task-oriented 2 informativeor collaborative(dependingon how the chat is run, and whether
learnersthen needto do somethingwith the information they learn) 3 practice 4 informative
or collaborative(dependingon how the chat is run, and whether learnersthen needto do
somethingwith the information they learn) 5 practice 6 free topic

Chapter7
A
ld 21 3f 4a 5m 6 9 7 e 8 b 9 n l 0 c l rj r2 i l 3k 14h
B
1 S 2T 3T 4C 5C o rS 6 C
c
I A blog is essentiallyan online journal or diary,usuallywritten by one person,which is addedto
regularly.Most blogsallow visitorsto add comments,which are then visibleto the blog owner,
and alsoto subsequentvisitorswho can in turn comment further.A wiki, on the other hand, is
like a public website,or public web page,startedby one person,but which subsequentvisitors
can add to, deleteor changeasthey wish. Insteadof being a staticweb pageor websitelike a
blog, a wiki is more dynamic,and can havemultiple authors.A wiki is like having a publicly
accessible word processeddocument availableonline,which anyonecan edit.
2 A c t iv it ies1. 5. 6.
D
Advantages Dlsadvantages
Leamer listen to . low-levelEFVESL podcasts learnercneedafli P3
podcasts availablefor low-tevel .
playeror similar,,
learners.
. highlevelscanbe exposed
to authenticpodcasts.
. podcastsgoodfor self-
study(learners canlisten
to themwhereandwhen
theywant).
. teacherintroduces a
n€wmedium intothe
claSsroom.
' podcastcontentcanbe
stimulatingandup-to-date.

r80
 Task Fi l e K ey

crcatepodcasts | . learners
Learners usea newICT teacherneedsa
tool,andcreatetheirown microphone connected to
content(motivating). the computerto recordthe
learnerscanin theory podcast.
reacha world-wide learnersmay feel overly
audience. pressuredto'get it right'.
learnerswill takeextra
carein preparationand
presentation knowingthat
thereis a wideraudience.
podcasts canlookand
soundveryprofessional.

8
Chapter
A
G oodr eas on s1 ,2 ,4 ,7
Potentialdisadvantages: 3,5 (ifconsideredasexclusive,and not cateringfor other learnerstyles),6
B
I translator 2 thesaurus 3 dictionary 4 concordancer5 encyclopedia

Chapter
9
A
I listening 2 writing 3 authentic 4 multiple choice 5 reordersentences6 Freewriting
7 speaking
B
Courcewarc Advmtage Disadvanhge
CD.ROMS Encouragesautonomous Voicerecognition
software
learning. canbe unreliable.
testing
Computer-based in markingis
Reliability Speakingand writing are
high. difficuttto assessreliabty.
whiteboards
lnteractive in this medium
Materials Costsare high for the
tookveryimpressive. averageteacher/schoo[.

Chapterro
A
a5b4c 6d2el f3
B
I c create a new maze.
2 f Giveyour readingmazea title.
3 b Add a title to DecisionPoint l.
4 i Describethe basicsituation in DecisionPoint l, giving two options to choosefrom.
5 e Createa link to a new DecisionPoint (DecisionPoint2).
6 j Createa link to a new DecisionPoint (DecisionPoint3).
7 a Changeto view DecisionPoint 2, and write the content.
8 g Changeto view DecisionPoint 3, and write the content.
TaskFiteKey

9 d Saveyour maze.
l0h Export your readingmazeto XHTML (makeit into a web page).

Chapterm
A
Commentary:
3, 4. Although all of the aboveare examplesof 'e-learning',as they include the useof electronic
media, only 3 and 4 are online learning, as they involve a major part of coursedelivery and course
work taking placevirtually over the Internet.
B
idvantagps Illstdva4pc
. Studyat ownpace,in owntime. . Mayfeelisolated.
. Travelcostsreducedandtimesaved. . Unrealistic
expectations.
. Haveaccess to coursestheymight . Someskillsaremoredifficultto practise
otherwisebe unableto attend. online(e.g.speaking).
. Forasynchronous communication,have . A highdegreeof self-motivation
is
timeto prepareresponses,so accuracy usuallyneeded.
maybe better. . Technical
issuesandaccessmaycause
. Contentcanbe keptveryup-to-date. problems.
. TheInternetcanprovidea wealthof . Drop-outratestendto be stightlyhigher
additional
materiaVresources. onlinethanface-to-fuce.
. Tutorfeedback canbe highly
individualised.

c
I recentlyjoined the group - voluntary membership
using ICT tools with your students- a negotiatedgoal
led by Danny G - a coremember
a classblog at www.classblog.blogspot.com - an artefact
I realisenow I should haveaskedyou all if you could come and post to our blog before we started
- reflectionon practice

Chapterrz
A
a imagerepository b music managementc shareddesktops d media bank e largefile transfers
f sharedwisdom g life goalscollection h online calendar i newsportal j project management
B
a a Content Management System b SecondLife c MP3 players d mobile phones
e a Virtual LearningEnvironment

t82
Explanation
This glossarycontains entries for all the
technology terms cited in bold in How to Teach
Englishwith Technology.Inthe following entry
the main heading (Ask.com) is in bold. Because sharesexperienceand knowledge.
'searchengine'is written in smerl ceurals, this
meansthat there is an entry for that in the
glossarytoo. The symbol + meansthat you
should (also) look at that entry.
Ask com - a well-known searchengine,which
allows real languagesearches.-+ sEARcH
ENGINE
asynchronous (adj.)- not happening in real
time. Asynchronous communication is not
immediate, such as communication by email.
+ SYNCHRONOUS
Audacity - audio blogging software.
Audioblog - audio blogging software.
authoring tool - a program that allows the user
to produce multimedia content in the form of
.web pages.
avatar - a 3-dimensional cartoon-like
representationof oneself,used in virtual worlds Well-known corpusesare the British National
such as SecondLife.
beamer + DATAPRoIEcToR
blended learning - learning which involves
a combination of e-learning and face-to-face
learning.
blog - an abbreviation of the term 'weblog'.
A blog is a regularly updated journal or
newsletterin the form of a web page,usually
kept by one individual, and intended for public way,so that it can be easilyaccessed.
consumption.
blogroll - a list of links to blogs.
browse - to visit web pageson the Internet.
CALL (Computer Assisted Language
Learning) - an approach to languageteaching
and learning which usescomputer technology.
CD-ROM - a circular disk which looks like a
music CD, but can store a range of data such as accessto technology and those without.
text,videos,audio filesor images.
chat - real-time communication over the
Internet.
chatware - software for voice and/or text
chat. Chat programs you may come acrossare:
Qnext, .NET MessengerService,Jabber,QQ,
iChat and ICQ. -'r rNSrANrMESsAGTNG
classblog - a blog in which a group of students
participate.
commenting privileges - the right of accessto
invited members of a blog.
community of practice (CoP)- a group that
computer room - a classroomwith a number
of computers which can be connectedto each
other and/or the Internet.
concordancer - a computer program that
counts and lists the occurrencesof a given term,
showing examplesof its use from a corpus
(or body) of text. -+ coRpusand WonoSnrrrH
Toors
Content Management System (CMS) - a
web-based software systemallowing for the
managementof large quantities of content
(documents,multimedia, etc) and the
collaborative creation of documents.
corpus (s.); corpuses,corpora (pl.) - a corpus
is an amount of collectedtexts.held in a
computer, which can be accessedand analysed
by meansof a concordancer.Corpusescan
be basedon spoken text, or on written text.
Corpus, and the COBUILD Bank of English
corpus.+ coNcoRDANcnn. and WonoSr"rrrn
Toors
coursecasting- a situation where a teacher
deliverscoursecontent to studentsas
downloads.
database- a collection of information stored
on a computer or a CD-ROM in a systematic
data projector - also known as an LCD (Liquid
Crystal Display) projector, or a'beamer', a
data projector is connectedto a computer,
and projects what is seenon the computer
onto a large screen.Often used for PowerPoint
presentations.
digital divide - the gap betweenthose with
digitd immigrant - an individual who has
come Iate to the world of technology.
digital native - an individual who is
comfortable and confident with new
technology.
discussion group - an electronic list in which
Iist members correspondby email to discuss
issuesof interestto the group.A discussion
183
Glossary
group will typically not only receiveand send
emails,but will also have accessto a group
websitewhere they can saveand sharefiles,
usechat,and readother members'profiles.
+ M A IL IN G L IS T
discussion list - a mailing list that enablesand
encouragesdiscussion.
DVD - an abbreviation for'Digital Versatile
Disc'.A circular disc which looks like a
CD-ROM, but can storemore data.
edublog - a blog with an educationalpurpose.
e-learning - an abbreviation for'electronic
learning',and refersto learning which involves
the use of electronic media, such as the
Internet,CD-ROMs, DVDs, or mobile devices
such as MP3 playersand PDAs (Personal
Digital Assistants).e-learningcan be face-to-
faceor distance.
email - an abbreviation of the term 'electronic
mail'. Written messages which are transmitted
from one user to another via the Internet. The
messagesmay include attachedfiles. There
are severalfree email servicesavailableon the
Internet, such as Hotmail and Google Mail (or
'Gmail').
emoticons - symbols used in written electronic
communication (suchas emails,instant
messagingand texting) to denoteemotions.
For examplepleasurecan be denoted by a
smiley faceusing thesesymbols : - )..Note
that emoticonsneedto be'read' (lookedat)
sideways.
ePortfolio - a digital collection of an individual
student'swork and achievements.
floppy disk - a thin, flexible plastic disk which
storescomputer data.As floppy disks have
limited storagecapacity(typically around
1.4MB),they arebeing increasinglyreplaced
by CDs, DVDs and USB pen drives,which can
usuallystoremuch largeramounts.
Freevlog - video blogging software.
Google - a well-known searchengine,which
allows keyword searches.+ sEARcHENGTNE
Google Mail - a free email service,provided by
Google.Also known as'Gmail'.+ EMArL
Hotmail - a free email service,provided by
Microsoft.+ EMArL
ICT (Information and Communications
Technology) - technology used for processing,
1 84
storing and retrieving information, as well as
for communication.
instant messaging- a form of electronic
communication via text chat. in which users
are online simultaneously,and communication
takesplace in real time. Many instant messaging
programs also include voice chat, and one-to-
one video-conferencingvia web cameras.Well-
known instant messagingprograms are:Yahoo!
Messenger,MSN Messenger,Google Talk,
Skype,and AOL Instant Messenger.
interactivewhiteboard (IWB) - an
electronically enhancedwhiteboard, used in
face-to-faceteaching,which allows content
from a computer screento be projected
onto the whiteboard. Imagesand text can be
manipulatedby using a specialelectronicpen.
Internet - a global network of computers,
which allow usersto accesswebsites,
communicate and exchangeinformation. Also
known as'the web'or'the net'.+ wEB
Internet caf6- a placewhere one can go to
accessthe Internet.
Internet surfer - an individual who spendsa
lot of time looking for and at content on the
Internet.
IT (Information Technology) - the study or
use of technology for processing,storing and
retrieving information.
keypal - the electronic equivalent of a pen pal.
Keypalsare friends who communicate using
electronic media - they exchangeemails instead
oftraditional paper-basedletters.+ pENpAL
keyword - a significant (or'key') word or
phrase,that can be usedin a searchengineto
find information about a specifictopic.
kinaesthetic learners - learnerswho learn best
through activities involving movement, or by
'doing'things.
LCD projector + DArAPRotEcroR
Learner Management System (tMS) - a
learning platform within which studentscan
work together on line.
mailing list - an electronic list in which list
members exchangeinformation by email.
+ D ISC U SSION GROUP
memory stick USB PEN DRrvE
-
meta search - a search which uses multiple
search engines, and combines the results into a

single page.A well-known meta searchengine
is Meta Search(http://www.metasearch.com).
Microsoft Excel - a popular spreadsheet
program produced by Microsoft in which data
can be insertedand manipulated.It is part of
Microsoft Offrce.
Microsoft NetMeeting - video-conferencing
softwaredevelopedby Microsoft and included
in many Microsoft Windows packages.
MNoows MEErrNc Spacn
- handwriting and/or voicerecognitionfeatures.
Microsoft Office - a popular suite of programs
produced by Microsoft which includesWord,
Excel,Office and PowerPoint.
Microsoft PowerPoint - a popular presentation
packageproduced by Microsoft in which digital
slidescan be producedand manipulatedon the
computer, then projected onto a screenusing a
data projector. It is part of Microsoft Office.
MicrosoftWord - a popular word processing
program produced by Microsoft in which texts
can be produced and manipulated. It is part of
Microsoft Ofifice.
' mixed technological ability - a situation where
a group of studentshavevarying levelsof
computerskills.
m-learning - learning which involvesthe use of
mobile electronicmedia,suchas MP3 players,
PDAs (PersonalDigital Assistants)or mobile
phones.
MP3 player - a small portable deviceused for
listeningto audio files in a compressedformat
called MP3. You can download audio MP3 files
from the Internet onto your computer, or from
a CD, and then transfer thesefiles to an MP3
player to listen to later.
MUVE - Multi-User Virtual Environment.
netiquette - the'rules'or guidelinesthat
govern polite behaviour and interaction online.
Netizen - an individual who usesthe Internet
in a social way.
offline - not connectedto the Internet. One
can write an email offline, for example,then go
online (connectto the Internet) to sendit.
online - connectedto the Internet.
OpenOffice - an open sourceoffice suite,
similar to Microsoft Office.
open source - softwarewhich is usually freely
availableon the Internet, and to which anyone
with the necessary programming skillscan
contribute.Well-known open sourcesoftware
Gtossary
includes the operating systemLinux, and the
VLE Moodle.
pbwiki - software for the creation of wikis.
PDA (Personal DigitalAssistant) - also
known as palmtops, handheld computers
or pocketcomputers,PDAsarehandheld
devicesthat combine computing, telephone/
fax, and networking features.A typical PDA
can function as a mobile phone, fax sender,
and personal diary. Many PDAs incorporate
peer-to-peer (P2P) - a technology that allows
for informal networks of computers to share
resources.In P2P nefivorking, downloads are
split into much smaller chunks of data and
sent via the network of connectedcomputers,
enabling quicker file transfers.
pen pal - pen pals are friends who
communicateusing traditional paper-based
letters.+ KEYPAL
podcast - a method of publishing usually
audio fileson the Internet.A usercan subscribe
to thesefiles (often at no cost), and download
them to his/her computerand to a portable
listening device such as an MP3 player.
PodClip - a video podcast.
podOmatic - podcastcreation software.
portal - a websitethat provides accessto a
number of resourcesand services,including
links to other websites,a facility to search
for other sites,news,e-mail,phone and map
information, and sometimesa community
forum.
role-play (v.)- to take on a character,to play
a part. In languagelearningthis is usedto
practice languagein contexts similar to real life.
role-play (n.)- the activity of taking on a
character.
RSS(ReallySimple Syndication) - software
which organisesonline sourcesof information
for the individual.
screenshot- a printed or captured image taken
from a computer program.
searchengine - a tool or program which helps
usersfind information on the Internet. Two
well-known searchenginesareYahoo! and
Google.
SecondLife - a new Internet environment
which has a virtual reality.
185
Glossary
self-accesscentre (SAC) - a classroomwhich
can be usedby learnersto study alone.A SAC
often has computers,and accessto the Internet,
aswell as CD-ROMs, books, magazines,etc.
self-study - a mode of learning in which
learnerswork alone,often without the aid of a
teacher.either at home or in a self-accesscentre.
seryer - a computer systemthat operatesa
network.
Skype - a softwareprogram which usespeer-
to-peer data transfer techniquesto facilitate
free audio and video conversationsover the
Internet. This is often referred to asVoIP (Voice
over Internet Protocol) technology.
social bookmarking - allowing other people to
view an individual's bookmarks.
social software - software that createslinks
betweenindividuals.
spam - unsolicited information sent by
email, spam often tries to sell you something.
Computer usersoften install anti-spam
software,or use a spam filter with their email
program to try to avoid receivingtoo much
sPam.
storage capacity- the amount of space
availablefor content in digital form.
student blog - a blog which an individual
studentsetsup and maintains.
subject guide - the way in which a search
engine divides its content into subject areas.
synchronous (adj.) - happening in real time.
Synchronouscommunication is immediate,
such as communication by instant messenger,
or by telephone.+ ASYNcHRoNous
technogeek- an individual who is enthusiastic
about new technology.
technophobe - an individual who is not
comfortable and confident with new
technology.
TELL (Technology Enhanced Language
Learning) - derived from the term CALL,
this is an approach to languageteaching and
learningwhich usesa rangeoftechnology and
electronic media.
texting - a form of communication whereby
text messagesare sent betweenusersvia mobile
phones.
text wrapping - a way of formatting text in
a document so that the text flows around an
insertedgraphic.
186
tracking facility - the ability to monitor
student performance.
tutor blog - a blog led by a teacher.
url - an abbreviation of the term'uniform
resourcelocator', meaning websiteaddress.An
exampleishttp://www.wikipedia.org.-wEBsrrE
USB pen drive - also known as a'memory
stick',this is a small devicewhich can store large
amounts of data. Useful for carrying files and
information from one computer to another.
video conferencing - a meeting between
people who are not physicallypresent,via
computers connectedto the Internet, using
technologiessuch asvideo camerasand audio
tools, simultaneously.
Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs)
- a software systemdesignedto help
teachersmanageonline educational courses.
VLEs generallyinclude coursecontent,
communication tools, grading tools, student
tracking, grouping facilities and control over
who accesses the course.VLEs are also known
as'platforms', Managed Learning Environments
(MLEs), and Learner Management Systems
(LMSs).
virus - a program or piece of code that is often
carried by email. Once a virus inserts itself into
your computer, it can causeseriousdamage,
although some viruses are harmless.Computer
usersoften install anti-virus software to protect
themselvesagainstcomputer viruses.
Vodcast - a video podcast.
voice recognition software - softwareused
for pronunciation practice which analyses
performance.
vlog - short for video blog.
web - a global network of computers,which
allow usersto access websites,communicate
and exchangeinformation. --+INtnnNnt
web browser - softwarethat allows a computer
user to seeand interact with content on a
website.
webcam - an abbreviation of 'web camera'.
A small camerawhich is connectedto a
computer, and can record video or take photos.
Instant messagingprograms usually allow
usersto seeeachother with webcams,and to
simultaneouslycommunicate via voice and text
chat.

webquest - a project which requireslearners
to use Internet resourcesand websitesto find
information. A webquesthas four main stages:
Introduction, Thsk,Processand Evaluation.
website - a collection of files on the Internet,
which can be accessedby a user via a single'url'
or websiteaddress.
rriki - a seriesof collaborative web pagesto
which anyonecan contribute. Changesto the
wiki web pagesare automatically saved,and
can be retrieved and restored.Many wikis are
passwordprotected - in this case,only users
with the passwordcan make changesto the
wiki content.
Wikipedia - an online encyclopedia.
Windows Meeting Space- video-conferencing
softwaredevelopedby Microsoft, and included
Glossary
in the Microsoft Windows Vista package.At
the time of print, it is set to replaceMicrosoft
NetMeeting. Mrcnosopr NnrMnnrrNc
-
word processing program - a program which
allows you to write, edit and designyour text
on screen.
WordSmith Tools - a concordancerproduced
by Oxford University Press.+ conpus and
CONCORDANCER
Yahoo! - a well-known searchengine,which
allows subject searches.+ sEARcHENcINE
Yahoo! Groups - free software availablefor
discussiongroups. FeaturesofYahoo! Groups
include chat, file storagefacilities, a list of group
members and profiles, a poll faciliry a calendar,
a photo album and user statistics(such as the
number of postings in a month).
r87
Note: References
in italic areto the ThskFile gettingstarted 78-9
and Key. groupsize 76,79,81,84
informative (academic)chats 73
Ask.com 32 internationallinks 79,82,84
assessment and evaluation languageimprovement 74-5
blogs 90 lessonplan 8l-2
computer-based testing ll7-19 lessonstructure 79.81
onlinelearning 141 moderators 76,84
audio chat seevoicechat netiquette 75
authoring tools 129-35 practicechats 73
Clarity Software 135 presence71
CreativeTechnology 135 private chat 72
Hot Potatoes 129-32,171,181 programsharing 73
Quandary 132-5,171,181-2 public chat 72
QUIA 13s reasonsfor use 74-8,84
recordingthe chat 84
Blackboard 153 software72,734,78, 82,84
blendedlearning 76, 137,138,142-3 summaryof issues 84
blogs 86,87-93, 168,180 tasks 84
assessment90 technicalskills 7G-7
audio blogs 93 text chat 72, 167,180
blogrolls 87 text chatpracticesessions78-9,80
classblogs 87,88,90 text ys.voicechat 7+-5,77-8
commentingprivileges 90,92 turn-taking 75-6
correction 90 typesof chat 7I-3, 167,180
edublogs 87 voicechat 72,76,167,180
freesites 92 webcams73,76
gettingstarted 91-3 worksheets83
internationallinks 87,90 Clarity Software 135
reasonsfor use 90 classsize 12
studentblogs 87,89,90 classroomlayout13-14,42
tutorblogs 87,89,90,139 CMSs(ContentManagement Systems)153
video blogs 93 COBUILD 105-6
broadband 73,77 collaborativewriting 24-5, 65,95-7
businessEnglishsimulation 50-2 communitiesof practice(CoPs) 145-4,173,
182
CALL (ComputerAssistedLanguage computer-based testing 170,181
Learning) 7 adaptivetests ll8
CD-ROMs 113-14,170,181 advantages and disadvantages119
classroomuse 115 diagnostictests 117-18
evaluating II5-I7 internationalexams 119,120
chat 7l-85, 167,179 progresstests 118-19
audiochat(seevoice chat) security 119
benefits 77 concordancers105-10,169,181
classroommanagement 82 programs 107
collaborative,task-oriented chats 72-3 usein class 108-10
conferencecalls 72,73,76 conferencecalls 72,73, 76
contingencyplans84 ContentManagementSystems(CMSs) 153
Englishconventions75-6 CoPsseecommunitiesof practice
freetopic chats 72 copyright 6,33

188
 lndex

corpuses(corpora) 106,107-10,169,181 keypalprojects 67-70

usein class 108,I 10 netiquette 63
correctionof written work out of class 64-5
blogs 90 technicalskills 63-4
wordprocessors20 encyclopedias44-5,94,111-12
coursecasting99 Englishcaster98
CreativeTechnology 135 ePortfoliosseeelectronicportfolios
creativewriting 2l-2 Etomite 153

Del.Icio.Us 150 Google 29-31

dictation 23-4 grammaractivities 23
dictionaries21.103-4
digitaldivide 8 Hot Potatoes129-32,171,181
digitalimmigrants 9
digitalnatives 8 ICT (Informationand Communications
digitalportfoliosseeelectronicportfolios Technology)7
discussion groups 144-5 classroom implementation I l-13
discussion lists 144-6 reasonsfor use 10,160,175
distancelearning 136 skillsand equipment 13-14
Dogme 146 instantmessaging72,73,78
DVDs I 14-15 interactivewhiteboards(IWB) 170,181
classroomuse 1234
e-assessment seecomputer-based testing components 122
edublogs 87 ineducation 122-3,148-9
e-learning 136-7 materials I24
seealsoonlinelearning training 124
electronicdictionaries 103-4 internationallinks 12,62,79,84,87,90
electronicmaterials ll,126-35 seealsokeypalprojects
authoring tools 129-35 Internet seeplanning lessonsusingthe
Clarity Software i35 Internet;projectwork, Internet-based;
creatingonline 128-9 websites
CreativeTechnology 135
interactivestories 132-5,171,181-2 keypalprojects 67-70
for IWB 124
onlinelearning 140-l LearnerManagementSystems (LMSs)see
QUIA 135 Virtual LearningEnvironments(VLEs)
reasonsfor use 126,128 lessonplans
web-based exercises129-32,171,181 chat 8l-2
electronicportfolios 25,ll9,120-2 websites35-9, 163,177
freesoftware 120,122 listeningactivities 22-3
ElggLearningLandscape 153 lower-levelclasses
emalI 62-70 Internet-basedprojectwork 45-7
basicskills 62-3, 166 IT skills ll-12
benefits 62 websiteactivities 39-41
during class 65
collaborativewriting 65 Macintoshcomputers 6
communicationskills 63,166,178 mailing lists 144-6
datacollectionprojects 65-7 Markin 20
emailaccounts 63 materials
issues 166,178-9 ready-made 12

189
lndex

usingword processors 15-20 learnerpodcasts 99-102

seealsoelectronicmaterials podcastdirectories 98
MeetingSpace 73 reasonsfor use 99
MicrosoftWord 15 software 98
m-learning i56-8 video podcasts 98
Moodle 1534 PodClips 98
MUDs (Multi-User Dimension/Dungeon/ podOmatic 100-2
Dialogue) 154 portfolios seeelectronicportfolios
MUVEs (Multi-User Virtual Environments) projectwork, Internet-based44--61,164,
154 177-8
MySpace 151 high-levelproject 48-50
low-level project 45-7
netiquette 63,75 preparation 45
NetMeeting 73 reasonsfor 44-5
noticing activities 22,24 simulations 5G-3
webquestcreation 57-61
online groups 1444 webquests 54-7, 164, 165,178
onlinelearning 136,13747, 172,182
assessment and evaluation l4l Quandary 132-5,171,181-2
chat 76 QUrA 13s
communitiesof practice 145-6,173,182
coursedesign 138-41 resources9-10, ll, 12,27
deliverymode 140 RSS(ReallySimpleSyndication) 149
discussionlists l4+-0
future 1524 SecondLife 154--6
gettingstarted 142-3 self-study13,99,115,116,117
learners l4l simulations,Internet-based
materials 140 business English 50-2
online groups 144-4 generalEnglish 53
taskdesign 140-1 Skype 72,73,74
teachertraining 143-4 socialbookmarking 150
teacher/tutors141 socialsoftware 150-1, 168,180
Virtual LearningEnvironments 137-8 seealsoblogs;podcasts;wikis
online referencetools 169, 181 softwareprograms 5
concordancers105-10,169,181 spell-checkers2l-2
corpuses106,107-10,169,181 stories,interactive 132-5,171, 181-2
dictionaries 103-4
encyclopedias44-5, 94, lll-I2 teachertraining 10,1l, 99, I24, 1434
thesauruses21,10+-5 technogeeks9
translatorsfor languageanalysis I I 0-l I technology
online testingseecomputer-basedtesting attitudesto 8-11, 160,175
open learning 136 classroomimplementation 11-13
operatingsystems 5 future trends 150-8, 174,182
TCT 7
peerreview 20,21,22,234 keepingup-to-date I49, 174
planning lessonsusing the Internet in languageteaching 7-8, 10,160,175
chat 81-2 skillsand equipment 13-14
websites35-9, 163,177 stateofthe art 148-9
podcasts86,98-102,168,180-1 Web2.0 150-2,174,182
freesites 100 technophobes 8

190
 l ndex

TELL (Technology EnhancedLanguage evaluatingwebsites34-5, 162,176-7

Learning) 7 lower-levelclasses39-41
testingseecomputer-based testing mediasearchsites 33
text chat 72 metasearchsites 33-4
lessonstructure 79,81 planninglessons35-9, 163,177
practicesessions78-9,80 reallanguagesearches32
samplelessonplan 81-2 searchengines 29-31
ys.voicechat 74-5.77-8 searchskills 29-34,162,176
textingactivities 157-8 subjectguides 3l-2
thesauruses21.104-5 Wikipedia 44-5,94,lll
TrackChanges19-20 wikis 86,93-8,168, 180
translatorsfor Ianguageanalysis I l0-l I collaborative writing 95-7
considerations98
video conferencing 72,73 freesites 98
virtual classroomsseeVirtualLearning gettingstarted 96-8
Environments word processors15-26
virtual learning 154-6 activitiesfor learners 20-5
Virtual LearningEnvironments(VLEs) collaborativewriting24-5
r37-8,t534 correctionof written work 20
virtual reality 154 creativewriting 2l-2
Vodcasts 98 dictation activity 23-4
voicechat 72,74=5,76,77-8, 167,180 forms 16-19
voicerecognitionsoftware 114 grammar activity 23
insertingimages 15-16
Web2.0 15V2,174,182 insertinglinks 15-16
webcams73,76 languagepractice 22-3
Webheads 145 listening activity 22-3
webquestcreation 57-61 Markin 20
creatingthe webquest 60-l noticingactiYity 22,24
designprocess 59 peerreview 20,21,22,234
designingfor success58,60 for presentingwork 25
exploringthe possibilities 58 reasonsfor use 15, 161,175-6
skills 57 skills 21,25-6, 161,176
webquests 165,178 spell-checkers2I-2
longer-term 54 teachers:creatingmaterials 15-20
short-term 54 textwrapping 16
structure 54-7, 164,178 TrackChangesl9-20
websites 27-43
classroomuse 27-B Yahoo! 3l
dosand don'ts 41-3, 16i, 177 Yahoo!Groups 144-5
ELT vs.authenticwebsites 28-9 young learners 12

l 9l
 instructions
CD-ROM
Starting and installingthe CD-ROM
If you are usingWindows
Insert CD in drive and it will start automatically.
You can choose:
I Run from CD
2 Install - you may need administrator privileges
If you are using Mac OS 9
Double-click on the file called HTTEWT-OS9 to run the program. To install, copy all
of the files to your hard disk.
If you are using Mac OS X
Double-click on the file called HTTEWT-MacOSX to run the program. To install,
copy all of the files to your hard disk.
If you are using the Linux operating system
Mount CD and then click on the file called HTTEWT-Linux. To install, copy all of the
files to your hard disk.
Whatl on the CD-ROM?
For eachof the twelve chaptersyou can hear real teachersfrom around the world
talking about their experienceof using new technology in their teaching.If you want
to, you can read the audioscriptswhile you listen to what they haveto say,and print
the audioscriptsout for later reference.
In addition to theserecordings,there are nine video tutorials you can watch:
Using TrackChanges (ChapterZ)
Webquestcreation (Chapter 4) [+ screenshotof Cl2 contents]
A keypal project (Chapter 5)
Settingup a Skypeaccount(Chapter6)
How to set up your own accountin Blogger(Chapter7)
Using Hot Potatoes(Chapter10)
foining Webheads(ChapterI 1)
Using RSS(ReallySimpleSyndication)(Chapter 12)
SecondLife (Chapter12).
You can alsogo on a tour of a Longman dictionary (Chapter8) and seea short video
of an interactivewhiteboardin action in a real classroom(Chapter9). Lastly,there is
an interactiveWebliography for eachchapter for further research.
Systemspecification(minimum)
Windows Macintosh Linux
98/NT/2000/ME/XP PowerPCprocessor300Mhz Redhat,Mandrake9.2,
Pentium 350Mhz O59.2.2 & OSX GNU/Linux, GNU Debian.
64 MB RAM 96MB RAM 64MB RAM
Note: When you come to view and usethe applications demonstratedin the nine
tutorials, you may find that there are minor differencesin the way the softwareworks.
This is becausethe programs are being continually updated.
For support pleasecontactElT-Support@pearson.com

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"TheHowfo...seriesis writtenby teachersandteachertrainers,
people who knowthe realityof the classroomandthe support
teachers needto getthe mostout of theirstudents.
Ouraimis
to buildteachers'
confldence,knowledge andclassroom abilities
- andinspirethemto try out newideas."
Harmer,
Jeremy SeriesEditor