At this point, you might be asking yourself: What are the advantages of using blended learning?

Why
should I consider using it?

Blended learning offers the best of both worlds because it keeps socialisation in the classroom. This is
where students learn to get along with others, and in many cases make friends for life. At the same
time, blended learning provides technology-enhanced online materials which are accessible from any
computer connected to the Internet or even through smart phones or other electronic devices, at any
moment. By technology-enhanced materials we mean videos, text, images, audio, interactive exercises
and quizzes, simulations and 3D games, etc. 

Students learn in different ways. Some students learn best by listening, others by looking at things (texts
and images, for example), while others learn best by doing. Blended learning gives teachers the
opportunity to cater to students’ individual learning styles by offering texts, podcasts, videos, graphics
and interactive activities to cover specific content. Teachers can also assign individual students different
tasks which they can complete at their own pace.

Using blended learning, students have the opportunity to communicate with speakers of the target
language in other countries or cities. For example, students can practise their listening and speaking
skills live through voice chats, voice forums or virtual rooms. They can also practise their reading and
writing skills in text chats, forums and blogs.

The opportunity to listen to podcasts and videos recorded by speakers of English is another advantage
of blended learning. Teachers can invite guest speakers from any part of the world to talk to their
students, and more advanced students can present online for live audiences, which will make these
projects more motivating for the students. 

These interactions enrich their learning because they are being exposed to authentic language, the
language spoken by speakers of English, as opposed to the language samples especially created for
classroom use.

Blended learning provides students with two fundamental competencies for their lives: computer
literacy and autonomy. 

Tasks that have become invaluable in today’s world include being able to navigate the web:

 to find information

 to look for a job

 to create and post a résumé, and

 to look for web applications that make our work easier.

Through blended learning, our students will be developing these skills at the same time as learning
English.

Autonomy is also essential for organising our time and being able to accomplish our goals in life.
Blended learning encourages learners to be autonomous. In short, we will be teaching our students to
be multi-literate citizens.

Now that you know what blended learning is, the types of blends and its benefits, it is time to think
about your own situation. The first thing you need to do, before implementing a blended course, is
a needs analysis. That is, you should ask some questions to yourself, your students and your institution
in order to find out what kind(s) of blended learning you can adopt.

These are the questions for your needs analysis:

For the school

 Does the school have computers available for your students?

 If so, how frequently can you use them?

 Are they connected to the Internet?

 If so, are you allowed to download programs such as Flash, Java, and Skype onto the computers
(or can you have other people download them for you)?

 Does the school have a learning management system (LMS)?

 If so, can you use it?

If you don't know the answers to these questions, talk to the person who can provide them. 

For your students

 Do they have computers at home?

 Are they connected to the Internet?

 If they don't have computers, can they go to a nearby internet café?

 Do they have mobile phones or smart phones connected to the Internet?

 How often do they use web applications (MSM, social networks, etc.) to communicate with
friends?

 Do they like to use these applications?

 Have they used them for class work?

Using the questions above, create a questionnaire to be completed by your students, and change the
questions to make them personal – use ‘you’.

For you

 Do you have a computer at home?

 Do you have an Internet connection?

 Do you have a mobile phone or smart phone with internet connection?

 How good are your computer skills?

 Do you enjoy using computers?

 Do you use web tools to communicate with friends, colleagues, relatives?

 Have you used web tools in your classes?

Answer these questions about yourself and, if appropriate, about anyone else who might work with you
on a blended learning course.

A short history

Before the emergence of learning management systems, complete online courses were difficult to
deliver. There was not one place that integrated all the elements needed in a course: syllabi, resources,
activities, assessments or spaces for students to interact with the teacher and among themselves.

That all changed in 1995 when the University of Illinois developed the Mallard web-based course
management system. Then in 1998, the Blackboard LMS was launched, followed by Moodle in 2002.
These last two LMSs are widely used and still very popular today. It’s worth remembering that LMSs are
not new technologies – they have been around for nearly 20 years. Today there are a vast number of
LMSs to choose from, including the one that you are using now.

What is an LMS?

An LMS is software created to administer and deliver resources and activities, and then track and report
results, in online courses or the online part of blended courses. LMSs are web-based which facilitates
access by trainers and students.

Learning management systems are available in two categories: open source (often free), such as
Moodle, and paid-for, such as Blackboard.

Common features of LMSs

 In spite of the fact that each LMS is different, there are a number of features which are shared by most.

 They are web-based and accessible over different machines and operating systems.

 Content can be delivered in multiple data forms such as text, audio, video, graphics, interactive
exercises, web pages, etc.

 LMSs allow synchronous and asynchronous communication between teacher and students, and
among students through chat, forums and emails.

 Quizzes and questionnaires can be created to assess students within the platform.

 Teachers can keep track of the grades from quizzes and other activities.

 Both teachers and students need to register to the platform and then log in each time they want
to have access to it.

 LMSs usually have calendars to plan special events, like quizzes, deadlines for assignments and
presentations.

 There is usually a distribution list that teachers use to communicate with the whole course.

 The advantages of using an LMS

 LMSs, like any other software or application, have their advantages and disadvantages – for both teachers and
students. We’ll start by taking a look at the advantages.

For students
 Ease of access
 Students have access to the LMS at any time, from any computer or smartphone connected to the Internet. This,
of course, is equally beneficial to teachers.
 Variety of resources
 LMSs have a variety of communication and task completion tools that can be used to meet students’ different
learning styles. If used correctly, these can really motivate students.
 Centralisation
 All resources, activities, evaluation instruments and interaction tools are within the platform. Most of the tools and
materials that your students need are in one place.
 Instant results
 An LMS can provide instant feedback to students. They can get their grades for interactive exercises or tests as
soon as the task is finished.
 Teacher feedback
 Students can receive feedback from the teachers outside the classroom. The feedback often reaches the student a
lot more quickly than in face-to-face teaching scenarios.
 Interaction
  Students can communicate with their classmates and teacher through forums, chat and email.  
 Access to authentic internet materials
 Because an LMS is hosted on the Internet, students can be directed to interesting authentic web resources for
research projects. They can do online research tasks that are designed to meet their needs and interests.
  
 For teachers
 Automated marking
 The quiz applications save teachers time since the quizzes are graded automatically.
 Content creation tools
 Most LMSs provide interactive templates that allow teachers to create their own content. This means that they can
supplement their courses and personalise them to their students’ particular needs.
 Collaboration
 Teachers can work with other colleagues in course design, and they can share lesson plans and teaching
materials.
 Reusability
 Once a course has been created it can be recycled, and editing is easy if content needs to be updated or
modified.  
 Interaction
 Teachers can interact with students through different tools: forums, email, distribution lists, chat, and sometimes
virtual rooms. This is as beneficial to students as to teachers.
 Easy use of authentic internet resources
 Because an LMS is typically hosted on the internet, it is very easy to embed links to YouTube and other sites into
lesson or study materials.
  
 For administrators
 Centralised learning environment
 LMSs provide advanced administration tools that allow teaching centres to plan their resources, schedule courses,
monitor progress and disseminate information amongst both staff and students.
  
 For parents
 Following their children’s progress
 Most educators think an LMS is useful for older students. However, it can also help younger students in the
elementary grades to organise their work. At the same time, it can keep parents informed about what is going on in
the classroom.
The disadvantages of using an LMS

Naturally, there are also disadvantages to using an LMS, and most of these are listed below.

 LMSs require a learning curve – teachers, administrators and students have to learn how to use
it. In the early stages this will require a lot of work, particularly for the teaching staff.
  The navigation and the look and feel are usually predetermined – teachers and schools have
limited control over the design of an LMS. This can sometimes be frustrating.

 Institutions that use third-party applications have little or no control if they are poorly
maintained, shut down for repairs, or cease to exist.

 Because many people use the Internet primarily as an entertainment environment, students
who are easily distracted might be tempted to ignore their work and start surfing the Internet.

 The range of interactive templates is often very limited, and the exercises can become quite
monotonous. This places pressure on teachers to create more exciting internet-based projects,
which can be time-consuming.

 Although discussion boards and communication tools can facilitate a lot of communication
outside class, they will be ignored by students unless really engaging activities are created.

 Some teachers don’t like the idea of providing feedback outside class hours. Having constant
access to school resources can lead to a feeling of pressure – that the teacher has to be ready to
give feedback at all times.

 Not all teachers have access to LMSs, and many schools do not have the resources to maintain
one.

5.2 Self-study activities – concept and background

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What are self-study activities?

Interaction is a crucial element in any blended or online course, but it is even more important when
language learning is the aim of a course. Remember, interaction can be between the student and:

 the content

 other students

 the teacher.

Self study activities are those tasks where the learner is responsible for his or her own learning. In self-
study activities, the learner interacts with the content by completing an exercise and, in most cases,
receives immediate feedback. The learners are challenged to test or practise their knowledge and skills.
This kind of activity has become the key feature of blended and online courses, because learners need to
be engaged through interactivity. They also need the freedom to learn at their own pace or speed.

What can self-study activities do?

Self-study activities can be used to:

 introduce new information

 review information already presented

 practise skills that have been described or explained

 encourage the learners to self-assess themselves and to reflect on their learning experience.

The usual order of self-study activities is:

1 Presentation of information

2 Questions about the information presented for students to answer

3 Immediate feedback with the correct answers.

However, there can be variations to this format. For example, you can start with questions without pre-
teaching the information, in order to activate the students’ previous knowledge. The answers to the
questions (and hence the information) are then provided after the exercise is completed. In this way,
students are not only activating their previous knowledge, but also learning what they did not know.
Also, the feedback can be composed of not only one right answer but all the possible answers.

In some formats, if the learners do not get all the answers correct, they can be directed to an
information source to find out for themselves what the correct answers are.

Some self-study activities are created to practise ideas or skills that have already been presented at an
earlier stage. In this case, they will not include input on the content, only the exercises and the
feedback.

Self-study activities can be ready-made or tailor-made.

Background to self-study activities

Technology has made it possible to create web-based interactive activities for students to learn at their
own pace. However, before the arrival of the internet, self-study activities were used in print. There is
essentially nothing new about self-study tasks – it is an old concept. Programmed Instruction, first
theorised by B. F. Skinner, is a method that was used in the 1960s and 70s. This method presents written
information in ordered sequence for the students to respond to after each sequence, and then, the
answers are given on another page of the programmed textbook. The feedback received is usually the
correct answers.

The questions asked after each chunk of information may include filling in a blank, selecting from a
series of answers, remembering the answer to a question, deciding if a statement is true or false, or
solving a problem. This has generally remained the same in web-based self-study activities. However,
due to the different kinds of content that can be added to online and blended courses, the information
given and the feedback provided can be presented in a wider variety of formats, as seen in Unit 4.

When personal computers first became popular in education, the concept of ‘Programmed Instruction'
was used to create self-study packages in the form of floppy disks, initially, and then CDs and DVDs.
These packages were and are still used in computer labs or by individual students.

Nowadays, most blended and online courses use web-based self-study activities. These are usually
combined with other kinds of asynchronous and synchronous interactive activities as will be seen in the
following units of this course.

Introduction
Evaluation has been part of the language learning and teaching process for centuries. Its purpose has
been the collection of data to make decisions about students' learning, and to check their knowledge
about a particular aspect of language at a specific time.

Quiz, test, exam are the words usually associated with traditional evaluation. In this type of evaluation,
the teacher has the power in the classroom by deciding when, what and how language is evaluated.
However, the results from these traditional types of evaluation have failed to paint a true picture of
student performance. Traditional exams tend to evaluate a product at a certain point, but they cannot
show the learning process that leads to the product.

Alternative assessment, also known as authentic assessment, on the other hand, involves collecting
data that show how the student deals with processes and completes tasks within a specific time frame. 

This allows teachers to have a general view of the student's academic performance over a period of
time. Alternative assessment helps us to see language as a whole, not fragmented into different skills
areas, but as a communicative tool used for interaction.

This method of assessment also takes into consideration both the process and the product of student
learning. So it does not exclude traditional types of evaluation, but rather adds other methods of data
collection (e.g. observation and self and peer evaluation).
The following alternative assessment activities can be used in class to evaluate students:

 projects

 oral presentations

 role plays

 essays

 group activities

 note taking.

The key concepts of authentic assessment are that it must:

 be integrated into the classroom activities

 be learner-centred

 guide the learner toward improvement

 consider both the process and the outcome

 encourage reflective and conscious learning.

Face-to-face versus computer-based assessment

The Internet has made available to teachers a wide range of resources that can be used for alternative
assessment. There are many types of authentic materials that can help teachers to provide varied input
for their learners which cannot be offered easily in a face-to-face classroom. These include:

 videos

 podcasts

 3D simulations

 blogs

 social media

 interactive maps

 interactive exercises.

Using these materials, teachers can design meaningful tasks for their learners which can be assessed
using alternative assessment methods.
Even traditional quizzes or exams may take on a new perspective when created by the teacher and then
completed by the students in digital form. Let's consider how we can exploit some of these
opportunities.

 Videos, podcasts, images and other resources can be added to the quiz or exam.

 Students get immediate feedback after they have answered a question or finished the exam.

 Some quiz generators allow teachers to create a large number of questions, for example 50, and
then set the exam for ten questions. In this way, each student will have a different set of
questions.

 Teachers can set time limits for the students to take the exam.

 Different kinds of traditional items can be created: 

 multiple choice

 gapfilling

 true/false

 drag and drop

 matching

 short answers

 open-ended questions.

These types of interactive exercises can also be used for practice. Students can complete them as many
times as they need and from any place (remember the self-study activities). Fun activities can also be
incorporated for practice: jigsaw puzzles, crosswords, hangman, bingo, jumbled words or sentences,
among others.

These interactive exercises can be designed to evaluate students’ listening comprehension of static
content in the form of recordings, videos and readings.

Other computer-mediated communication tools, such as blogs, wikis, chat, forums, virtual worlds, web
conferencing, etc., can be integrated into class activities. We can then evaluate our students’ work on
these following specific criteria.

We can say, then, that technology can play two roles in the assessment process.

It is an integrated tool that helps us assess what happens during or as a result of a computer-assisted
1    language learning task.

2 It can be used to prepare or perform the assessment, for example a web-based interactive exam.
Technology, with its wide range of synchronous and asynchronous means of communication, and
alternative evaluation methods, can be used to provide language input and language practice. In
addition, it can assess student performance during the whole process, with an added value: increased
motivation.

The general principles of assessment remain the same regardless of what tool students are using to
learn (a printed text or a web-based article, for example).

To summarise, face-to-face classroom evaluation has generally been restricted to a particular time,
usually the end of a block of learning. Adding alternative assessment and technology can convert
evaluation into an ongoing motivating process where student performance can be followed from the
beginning to the end of a course.

Kinds of assessments

There are different kinds of assessments which are each related to the purpose for which they are used.
They can all be integrated into an alternative assessment plan.

1    Continuous assessment 

2    Summative assessment 

3    Formative assessment 

4    Self-assessment 

5    Peer assessment 

6    Group assessment

7    Course evaluation

8.4 Assessment data collection instruments

What are data collection instruments?

We have been looking at some different methods of alternative assessment. As this involves ongoing
evaluation, you may be wondering how you are going to keep track of these assessments.

Assessment relies on various data collection instruments to elicit and record information.

 Rubrics

 Checklists

 Anecdotal records

 Know-Want-to-Learn Charts

 E-portfolios

 Graphic organisers. 

Let's see what these instruments are and how they are used.

Rubrics

A rubric is an explicit set of criteria used for assessing a particular type of work. Rubrics give samples
against which performance is judged. They are used for tasks that involve written or oral production.

General rubrics can be created to cover several tasks. However, it is important to check that they do
assess the specific objectives of the task.

Students can check their performance at any time against the standards and expected outcomes
established in the rubric. This feedback allows students to correct their weak areas and plan strategies
to improve them.

There are two types of rubrics, analytic and holistic.

An analytic rubric describes levels of performance for each criterion, so the teacher can assess student
performance on specific aspects of the work. 

A holistic rubric, on the other hand, assesses performance across several criteria. It does not list
separate levels of performance for each criterion but responds to language performance as a whole.

There are web-based rubric creators which help teachers to design rubrics tailored to their specific
needs. Here are two very useful examples:

Rubistar

Teach-nology
Take some time to look at these examples of analytic and holistic rubrics.

Example of an analytic rubric to evaluate performance in a chat session.

Example of a holistic rubric to evaluate performance in a chat session

Checklists

Checklists are used to determine whether students have met established criteria on a task. They are
very easy to use and create.
There are three types of checklists:

 Laundry list. A list of items to indicate the presence or absence of the item. A ‘to do’ list is a
good example.

 Sequential list: A list of items placed in sequential order to indicate steps one after the other.
For example the steps in an experiment or a project.

 Merit list. A list of complete and concise items based on criteria with an assigned numeric value.

Here is an example of a checklist for an oral presentation.

Checkllist for Chat session participation and performance

Anecdotal records

An anecdotal record is a written report of a learner’s progress based on observation which can be face-
to-face or through a video. It details exactly what is observed and the words or conversations that are
heard. The report needs to be very specific and objective. These accounts of precisely what is occurring
can then be analysed and compared against previous or later accounts. They are particularly helpful in
areas of social, emotional and behavioural skills.

Teachers can write anecdotal records while observing learners' behaviour when they are doing group
work, for example. 

Know-Want-to-Learn (KWL) charts  

KWL charts are usually presented as a four-column table. The first column contains the topics to be
studied. The second column ‘K’ is where students note what they already know about the topic. In the
third column ‘W’ they write questions about what they want to learn. After some input, perhaps a
written text or video, they fill in the final ‘L’ column with facts that they have learned.

So KWL charts are inventories that allow the teacher to assess the depth of students’ previous
knowledge of a topic. They also help to make learners aware of the cognitive and metacognitive
strategies (the knowledge and experiences we have about our own thinking processes) that they can use
to enhance learning.

KWL charts allow teachers to adapt their lessons based on the information contained in the second
column which will show what students already know and the third (what students would like to learn
about the topic).

Here is an example of a KWL chart for teachers on the topic of vocabulary and grammar.

KWL chart

E-portfolios

E-portfolios, or web-folios, are collections of complete works organised in a systematic way to show
student accomplishment of educational goals. They also contain students’ reflections of their work.
Wikis are great tools for creating e-portfolios.

Portfolios provide an excellent means to follow the process and the development of language skills. So,
portfolios are frequently included with other types of authentic assessments because they focus on a
meaningful collection of student performance and meaningful reflection and evaluation (self, peer and
teacher) of that work.

Graphic organisers
Graphics organisers (mind maps, Venn Diagrams, conceptual maps, tree diagrams, tables, charts, figures,
timelines) help teachers see how students:

 understand the relationship between concepts, ideas and words contained in a reading, video,
podcast, etc.

 classify ideas

 recognise main ideas from supporting ideas

 structure writing projects

 work on problem solving, decision making, studying, planning research and brainstorming.

Graphic organisers can be used for pre-, while and post (reading, writing, listening and speaking)
activities.

There are many free web-based graphic organiser creators to be used by students and/or teachers.

8.6 From theory to practice

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Creating a rubric or checklist for a web-based activity

Finding a web-based activity

You are going to create a rubric or a checklist for a web-based activity. It can either be based on one of
the activities you have created during this course or on another web-based activity or lesson.

If you want to look for an activity on the web, you can search on these sites:

EFL/ESL Lessons and Lesson Plans

Learn English Online

About.com English as 2nd Language

Creating a rubric or checklist

Now that you have chosen your web-based lesson plan or activity, decide if you are going to use a rubric
or a checklist to evaluate the activity.

You can create a web-based rubric on either of these sites:

Rubistar

Technology

Or some printable checklists can be created here:

makeusof

Project Based Learning

Putting the assessment onto your wiki

Once you have created your rubric or checklist follow these instructions:

1    Go to your wiki.

2 Create a new page and call it ‘Assessment’.

3 On the page, post the link of the lesson you selected, or copy the activity you have created.

If your data collection instrument is on the web, post the link. If you printed it, then scan it and
4 upload the image to your wiki. Save the page.

Once you have created a data collection instrument and posted it on your wiki with the activity, please
do the following task.

 Link to this Item

Reflect and share: Creating a rubric or checklist

Write a description of your activity and data collection instrument. Include the following:

1    the name of your activity and a brief description

2    the reason for your choice of data collection instrument

3    an explanation of how you would use this instrument

4    how easy or difficult it was for you to create this instrument
A short history of old media (Part 1)
In the beginning

The two media types that are missing from the timeline in Task 1 are the oldest media in the world:
speech and memory, natural abilities that the majority of people are born with.

We have to start any history of media with these abilities because all major media inventions are
extensions of speech and memory: the communication of information and its storage.

Learning to write

Our first real media technology breakthrough took place five thousand years ago when humans began to
settle in agricultural societies. Speech and memory couldn’t record all the information these new
communities needed so a new medium started: writing.

Technological advantages

At this point it is worth reflecting on what advantages writing has over speech and memory. The most
useful attributes that writing has are:

 Persistence: written information can be kept, revisited and checked.

 Volume: a written text can hold more new information than the human brain can remember,
and copies can be shared amongst a greater number of people.

 Range: a written text can travel further than a person can throw his or her voice, so information
can be sent over long distances.
A short history of old media (Part 2)

The print era

For nearly 4,500 years, writing was a skill limited to a few people. During this period it was an expensive
medium because writing materials were not cheap, and manuscripts were copied by hand. As a result,
writing was reserved for the production of legal and religious texts and almost never used for
entertainment purposes.

This all changed with Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in 1440 and the spread of mass literacy
in industrial societies in the 19th century. The efficiency of the new print technologies meant that the
volume attribute of books increased, while literacy campaigns removed the accessibility barrier for
books in developing industrial countries.

Technological advantages

Printing meant it was possible to mass-produce books quickly and cheaply so more information could
reach a greater number of people.

Technological advances in text production, however, did not change the inherent nature of writing. It
was still a specialised skill that people needed to be taught to decode or read. Therefore, print
technologies would have had very little impact without literacy campaigns, as books without readers are
useless. Mass literacy meant that, for the first time in the history of writing technologies, ordinary
people could read for leisure and self-improvement.

When books became a low-cost and high-volume medium, the content changed enormously. The
19th century saw a great expansion in the range of things that were published, including cookery books,
furniture design manuals, travel books, medical journals, and newspapers of all kinds.

There was one more key change that started in the 19th century, and that was the widespread use of
images next to text. Images are a separate medium from writing and they have the attribute of fidelity,
which means that they are representative, not symbolic.

The wider use of images beside text was a practical use of multimedia, and 19th-century publishers
were quick to exploit the popularity of pictures.

A short history of old media (Part 3)

The rise of audiovisual technologies

The first half of the 20th century saw the introduction of audiovisual technologies: radio, television and
cinema. Compared with the slow adoption of writing technologies, which took nearly 5,000 years,
audiovisual technologies spread faster than any medium in history. For example, by 1930, 65% of all
North Americans were going to the cinema at least once a week.

Technological advances

The most obvious advantage of audiovisual media is that they give persistence to music and theatre,
which previously could only exist in memory. In addition, due to broadcasting technologies, they have a
much bigger range and – as we will discuss – volume. For example, we can listen to Martin Luther King,
years after his death, telling the world – not just an audience within physical range of his voice – that he
had a dream.

The cost of making a film or radio show is high but the show can be broadcast repeatedly at minimal
cost. Mass broadcasting maximises the media attributes of both volume and range to extraordinary
levels. Also, as radios and televisions became common household appliances in the developed world,
audiovisual media became accessible to millions of people.

Further, because cinema, television and radio are easier to understand than a book, audiovisual media
are far more popular than print media and they completely redefined the concept of entertainment in
the 20th century.

What is a WebQuest?
The term ‘WebQuest’ was first used in the 1990s. Obviously, task-based research activities existed
before that date, but it was then that educators realised that the internet would replace traditional
research methods.

Most WebQuests on the internet are designed for standard educational use, not for language learners.
For this reason, we need to adapt them to suit English-language classrooms. We will consider this
challenge throughout the unit, but we will start with the advantages of using the internet as a language-
learning resource and the opportunities that it offers to teachers and learners.

Why use WebQuests?

Authentic language

We mentioned the value of authentic language in Unit 3, but didn’t explain its importance. Most
coursebooks use graded language, which means it has been simplified or carefully controlled to enable a
clear focus on grammar and vocabulary, or specific skills development. This is necessary but, as any
language learner can tell you, when you use English in real situations, the language you meet is often
much more complicated.

The internet has billions of pages of authentic language. Designing tasks which encourage learners to
work with this real English greatly supports their language development.

Personalisation

No coursebook or syllabus meets all of the needs of your learners, all the time. The internet, however,
provides an almost limitless source of materials for teachers and learners to work with. Designing
WebQuests takes time, but the advantage is that you can personalise the learning goals to match the
interests and needs of your learners.

Autonomous learning

As with all task-based activities, WebQuests allow learners to explore and learn through using their
initiative. Most teachers would agree that this is a good thing. We all want our learners to continue
learning outside the classroom, and WebQuests support this goal.

Access and searchability

In the past, task-based research was difficult because not everyone had access to a good library and it
was hard for learners based outside English-speaking countries to find good English-language materials.
That has changed with the internet, where there is a huge amount of English-language materials that
anyone can look at. Search engines mean that people can spend more time using information than
searching for it.

The internet’s combined attributes of access and searchability mean that research tasks can now be part
of everyone’s learning path.

Digital literacy

In Unit 1 we also looked at the importance of external forces like literacy campaigns in the adoption of
media. Similarly, governments today put pressure on educators to prepare learners for the digital age.
WebQuests support the development of online research skills, i.e. searching for, evaluating, analysing
and organising information.

Rehearsal tasks

These are practical tasks that reflect real-life situations, i.e. things that learners are likely to do for
personal or professional reasons. WebQuests are most effective when they have an obvious practical
use. For example, learners planning to visit Britain will probably need to find out about train times and
the cost of tickets, so designing a task which requires them to collect this information is good
preparation for the real thing.

The best way to understand a WebQuest is to analyse one. But before we do that, we need to consider
the key components that are required to make a successful WebQuest. Remember that most
WebQuests on the internet are not designed for language learners, so the steps below have been
adapted to suit them.

Context

The first thing we need is a relevant and practical context, for example:

 a topic from your coursebook

 a subject which your learners are particularly interested in

 a real-life or rehearsal task.

A good context can be established in a single paragraph. If the context is too long, it will be a distraction
and the learners might spend more time making sense of the instructions than doing the task.
Therefore, the instructions for the task must be clear and there should not be too many of them.

A research task

The task should be clearly linked to the context and involve finding and organising information. Limiting
the amount of information required is a good way to manage the project and keep your learners
focused. You can do this by providing a table for the learners to complete with their information.

Information sources

Although you could ask your learners to do an open search on the internet, there is a risk that they
might get distracted or spend their time searching instead of thinking. For this reason, it is a good idea
to provide a few links to useful websites that you have checked. For lower-level learners, you may have
to provide a link directly to the web page that holds the information they need.

An output task

A frequent misunderstanding of task-based activities is that the only goal is the research. It isn’t. Finding
and understanding information from authentic sources are only the first step: the real pedagogical
challenge of a WebQuest is what the learners do with that information. Further, a reporting stage
should be built into a WebQuest so the learners have to share their conclusions with the class.

A good WebQuest output task:

 should include language support so that your learners have the structures and vocabulary they
need to discuss and report their research

 should include a problem to encourage thought and engagement; anything that makes learners
negotiate a solution is good methodology because it encourages real use of language

 can be done online if you have set up learner blogs or wikis, or have access to an online platform
for your class

 can be done through classroom presentations, which share feedback and develop
communication skills.

Remember that a short research stage doesn’t mean that the output stage has to be limited. If the task
is designed well, ten minutes of research can lead to negotiation, compromise and thoughtful
presentations.
You can view the full lesson plan of the WebQuest we just completed below.

You will see how the topic and key stages were adapted for this course. The group dynamic also changed
because, obviously, you were not able to work with a partner. In the class-output stage, groups have to
negotiate which pictures and plants to select and then feed back to the class.

The problem solving and negotiation could arise for one or more of the following reasons:

 The websites have expensive options which mean that learners have to choose carefully.

 Choosing between cheaper artificial and more expensive real plants can generate discussion.

 Picture choices are very subjective.

You may have noticed that the WebQuest followed a sequence that started in the classroom with context
setting, moved online for research, and then returned to the classroom for output and reporting. This pattern
supports teaching environments where access to computers is limited or learners have to use their home
computers.

Finally, if there is a projector in your classroom, the learners’ selections can be shown as part of the feedback
process.
Do an internet search to find two WebQuests that can be used with English-language learners, for
example:

worldenglish
TheConsultants-e
English365 InfoQuests
4.7 From theory to practice
  Copy this page

 View author and copyright

 Link to this Item

Project

Now it’s time for you to create your own WebQuest. Before you start, look back at the example and
review the stages we discussed earlier, keeping in mind the evaluation statements we thought about in
Task 7. Use these as guidelines.

The WebQuest should be short: good design is more important than length. You can choose any subject
that interests you or that you think might interest your learners. If you can’t think of a topic, here are
some ideas which you can use or adapt:

Suggestion 1

Research two or three airlines for a return flight from your country to London. If possible, you want a
cheap flight with no stops.

Suggestion 2

Research hotel options for a trip to a major city, for example, Sydney or Toronto. You want a high-
quality, low-price hotel in a central location.

The WebQuest should include:

 a warmer to present the context

 a clear, simple research task with a grid to limit the information collection
 a list of two to four websites where your learners can find the information they need

 an output task with language support and, ideally, a problem-solving element.

 Planning and production

 In the Unit 6 project, your learners wrote a dialogue between two fictitious characters
and you recorded them. In your report you noted how long was spent on writing and
planning the dialogue and how long was spent recording it.
 The most likely outcome is that as much time was spent on writing the dialogue as on
recording it – probably more time, in fact. This is true of most recording projects, whether
in a classroom or a Hollywood studio. This is a fact that is often missed by teachers –
that audiovisual projects (and technology projects in general) use all the traditional
learning strategies that teachers and learners already know: group work, writing,
checking and rewriting, grammar and vocabulary correction. 
 There are some important points to note here:
 1    A good technology project uses traditional educational skills to plan and
prepare.
 2    An audiovisual assignment will often require more writing than essays or
traditional written assignments.
 Audiovisual assignments provide rich opportunities to work on writing skills, even though
the project is a spoken or performance-based activity. Learners script and edit more than
they would in most essays or traditional written assignments. It also means that many
standard coursebook written assignments could easily be adapted to become
multimedia or audiovisual tasks.
 3    Media production encourages creative use of language.
 Because media production is a creative task, audiovisual assignments encourage
creative use of language. Learners employ their imaginations more freely, which can
lead to more ambitious attempts at communication. Teachers should always try to
encourage this.
 4    Audiovisual projects can be short and quick.
 The length of the task will depend on the time that is spent planning and preparing. The
actual production time is quite short, and quick written assignments can become quick
audiovisual assignments.
 5    Audiovisual tasks encourage multi-skill development.
 Importantly, because audiovisual assignments involve speaking or performing, learners
use more skills than they would if it was just a written task. In the past it was very difficult
(if not impossible) to set homework that involved speaking. Now, however, speaking can
be an integral part of a homework task.
 6    Audiovisual tasks encourage learners to self-analyse their speaking skills and
actively attempt to improve them.
 Due to time pressure in the classroom, learners very rarely speak again and again until
they get the sentence or target structure right. Because audiovisual projects encourage
recording, re-recording, and editing, it is likely that learners will repeat and repeat the
spoken tasks until they are happy with their performance.
 7    Learners will be motivated if they know their work will be shown to
classmates.
 One of the motivating factors in doing an audiovisual task is the idea that the work can
be shown or shared. It is therefore important that teachers take time in class to show the
media productions.
 8    Learners are much more likely to respond to and feed back on creatively
produced work.
  Finally, if work is presented creatively, it is much more likely to encourage other learners
to view, consider and learn from it. Peer feedback becomes a real possibility and
teachers can point to successful examples of communication or language use. Learning
can become a collaborative experience.

Audiovisual and traditional tasks compared

Recording is not part of a traditional task process, so it is a step that is unique to audiovisual projects.
The use of other stages in traditional task types will vary, but in general most follow a basic pattern of
planning, writing, checking and submitting for assessment. Conscientious learners may edit and redraft
their essays, but the majority probably don’t. The reviewing process is also likely to be either very short
or non-existent. Sharing can happen with traditional assignments, but typically only a few examples are
discussed in the class.

We can perhaps make a generalisation, therefore, about the stages of the two task types:

 Brainstorm: audiovisual and traditional tasks

 Edit/rewrite: audiovisual tasks more than traditional tasks

 Record: audiovisual tasks only

 Review: audiovisual tasks more than traditional tasks

 Script/write: audiovisual and traditional tasks

 Share: audiovisual tasks more than traditional tasks

 Take notes: audiovisual and traditional tasks

The importance of reflection and self-analysis

The comparison above suggests that audiovisual assignments provide a strong emphasis on activities
that follow the writing stage, i.e. recording, editing, reviewing and sharing. These stages all support
reflection and self-analysis on the part of the learners, as they review their work at different stages.

The benefits of each stage are discussed below.

Recording

 Learners have to think about how their script sounds because they have to read it out loud. In the
process of recording, they constantly re-engage with the script and will typically record repeatedly until
they are happy with it.
Editing

If the learners work collaboratively, they will have to think about how the different tracks work together.
This can lead to rewriting. Also, the process of adding a soundtrack becomes a reflective task, as learners
have to consider what sounds support their message.

Reviewing

It is quite normal for anyone involved in an audiovisual project to view their finished work many times,
in a way they never would with an essay. As a creative project, learners are likely to take pride in and
ownership of their work and will want their production efforts to be of a high quality.

Sharing

As stated above, if learners are proud of their work, they will want to share it with others. This provides
opportunities for feedback and allows the learners to consider their work through their audience.

Each one of these stages invites learners to think again, to look at their work in a different light. Busy
teaching and learning schedules often don’t provide time for the very important process of reflection.
However, audiovisual projects are an excellent way to encourage learners to think about how they learn
and what they are achieving; this reflection develops awareness of progress and learning strategies, so it
is as important for children as it is for adults.

Storage and assessment

This topic will be covered in detail in Unit 10 but it is useful to consider the advantages of storage and
assessment briefly in the context of video and audio.

Richer body of evidence

The assessment of language skills has historically been limited to paper-based test scores and essays.
Good assessment programmes include speaking interviews but the results are recorded on paper and
added to a record sheet. Unfortunately, scores never give a complete picture. For example, they might
focus on accuracy over fluency, ignore creativity and enthusiasm, or simply prove that a learner isn’t
good at exams.

The use of simple audio and video devices can provide an assessor with information that gives a fuller
picture of a learner’s language skills. These can range from fluency and pronunciation skills through to
the level of confidence a learner has when using English. The additional information that recordings
provide enable assessors to make better-informed judgements about a learner’s language skills.

Information sharing
Audio and video recordings are easy to show and share. This can be extremely useful when learners pass
from one class to the next at the end of an academic year. If a new teacher can view videos of their new
learners, they will have a deeper understanding of them.

Videos are also useful for showing and discussing learner performance with parents who may have very
little idea of their children's abilities in English.

Comparative assessment

As we discussed in Unit 1, new technologies increase the persistence attribute of media, which means
that speech and performance can be kept for future reference. As a result, teachers can assess the
speaking skills of their learners over time to measure progress.

Detailed assessment

While it is easy to assess an essay – by writing comments, highlighting errors and so on – it is almost
impossible to do this with speaking tasks. Recording learners allows detailed assessment of their
speaking skills and it provides the opportunity for the teacher and learner to review the recordings
together. Any advice the teacher gives can be referenced to specific points in the speaking task.

Task type 1: Reading aloud

 What learners do: record themselves reading out a script provided by the teacher. This could be
taken from a coursebook or newspaper.

 Learning goals: learners focus on pronunciation, produce longer chunks of English and learn
vocabulary in the text.

 Stages used: recording, editing.

 Stages not used: brainstorming, note taking, scripting, sharing (but see Comments).

 Tips to aid collaboration and creativity: encourage learners to read the text as a character (see
Task 3); break the script into parts with learners working in groups to complete the text.

 Comments: as a less creative exercise, the chance of sharing is low. However, if the learners
read in character, this task might be worth sharing with everyone and, if organised as a group
task, learners will share within their groups.

Task type 2: Standard coursebook task

  What learners do: produce a standard coursebook activity as an audiovisual assignment, for
example, talking about their routines or hobbies.

 Learning goals: learners focus on speaking and on the goals of the chosen task, for example,
talking about themselves or expressing opinions.

 Stages used: note taking, scripting, recording, editing.

 Stages not used: brainstorming, sharing (but see Comments).

 Tips to aid collaboration and creativity: encourage learners to review each other’s recordings to
find others who have similar opinions or experiences.

 Comments: as a less creative exercise, the chance of sharing with the whole class is low.
However, if a review stage is included, there will be some sharing. Please note that this exercise
works particularly well with digital stories, which we’ll look at in Units 8 and 9.

Task type 3: Rewriting

 What learners do: take a script from any source – for example, a ‘How to’ video, a traditional
story or a news report – and rewrite it. An alternative is to reduce a well-known play such
as Macbeth to five minutes. Having a lesson on the original text before starting the re-scripting
project is a good idea.

 Learning goals: learners analyse, deconstruct and reconstruct the script to produce a concise
version. Skills include paraphrasing, summarising, creative communication, reporting and/or
storytelling.

 Stages used: brainstorming, note taking, scripting, recording, editing, sharing.

 Stages not used: none.

 Tips to aid collaboration and creativity: this will work particularly well as a group project.

 Comments: the final learner productions should present a good reviewing opportunity so share
them with the whole class.

Task type 4: Creative writing

 What learners do: create their own scripts to use as the base of their audiovisual productions.

 Learning goals: learners design, sequence and present information. Skills include creative
communication, reporting and/or storytelling.
  Stages used: brainstorming, note taking, scripting, recording, editing, sharing.

 Stages not used: none.

 Tips to aid collaboration and creativity: this will work well either as a group project or an
individual assignment.

 Comments: as with Task type 3, this kind of project should produce imaginative work that is
ideal for sharing in class. The creative writing can be short – a paragraph of original script is
enough to drive this project. Finally, provide a prompt for the creativity, for example, pictures
like the ones used for the projects in Units 5 and 6.

Project

Choose one of the task types that we reviewed and design a short lesson plan around it.

Your lesson plan should include details of:

 what learners do

 learning goals

 stages used

 stages not used.

Please state whether the project requires audio or video, provide details in the What learners do section
and if you use a prompt or a coursebook task, please list it.

When you have designed your lesson, use it with your learners. Then complete the reflection task
below.

An internet search for digital stories will return many websites with examples of them and explanations
of how and why they are used, for example:

Bristol Stories

This website has more than 200 stories made by people living in Bristol. Each one shows the unique
perspective of the storyteller’s experience of living in the city. The topics are varied, for example,
history, architecture, personal anecdotes, school experiences and relationships.

Bristol Stories

Center for Digital Storytelling

This website documents the experiences, feelings and thoughts of people from all over the United
States. As with Bristol Stories, the storytellers are not technically trained media specialists, they are
normal people using digital media to express themselves and share their stories.

Center for Digital Storytelling

Building  a digital story

Now we have our storyboard but we still we need three more things before we can start making a digital
story: pictures, some software and a microphone with headphones. We’ll look at microphones briefly
and discuss pictures in detail, and then we’ll deal with the software on the next screen.

The microphone headset

A headset with a microphone is essential for recording and listening to the results. There’s no reason to
spend a lot of money on a microphone headset – the cheap ones work perfectly. 

The pictures

Digital pictures are everywhere, both in personal archives on your computer and on the internet. It has
never been easier to take or find great pictures.

Taking your own photos

You can use a mobile phone or a digital camera to take your own photos. Doing this adds a personal
dimension to digital stories and generates interesting discussions about what kind of picture best
represents a key event.

Researched images

A simple internet search done with, for example, Google or Yahoo, will present lots of images, and
discussing the search results provides new ways of teaching vocabulary. The returns you get for abstract
searches – for example, happiness – can stimulate reflection and feedback.

Alternatively, you could open an account with an online photo management website where you can
search for and store pictures, for example,Flickr.

Saving pictures from the internet

If you want to save a picture from the internet, place your cursor on the image, right click, choose Save
picture as from drop-down menu and save it to your computer.

Organising pictures

When you have found the pictures you want, save them to a unique folder. For every digital story you
plan, create a new folder named after it and place your storyboard and pictures in it. This will make life
easy for you when you build the story and it will allow you to edit the story at a later date without
having to spend time looking for files.

The software

There are numerous free software options available for creating digital stories, for example:

 Microsoft Photo Story 3 for Windows users

 iMovie for Mac users

 VoiceThread for any computer.

Photo Story 3, which we will be using, and iMovie are programmes that you install on your
computer. VoiceThread is online, so doesn’t need any software installation. It is a collaborative tool that
allows people to view and comment on your stories. However, there is a maximum limit of three stories
before you have to pay a subscription.

Whichever programme you use, the process of creating a digital story is the same: you upload pictures
and record an audio file for each one.

Project

Now that you have built your first digital story, it’s time to build some more. The very best way to
master software is to use it a number of times – if you use it just once, you’ll forget everything you’ve
learned.

The story you built was pre-selected and storyboarded for you. It’s now time for you to do your own
from start to finish. You will share this with other learners on the discussion forums, and also show it to
your students as an example of how to build digital stories – we will look at using digital stories with
students in the next unit. 
Choose one of the digital story topics and follow the instructions below.

1    If I hadn’t become a teacher, I would have been a …

2    Visit xxxx (insert the name of your country) for the experience of a lifetime

For option 1, make sure you introduce yourself, say who you are and what you do. You can choose any
job that you think you would have been good at, so use your imagination. The job could be ordinary (a
dog catcher) or glamorous (an international celebrity). Whatever you choose, say why you would have
been brilliant at it.

For option 2, you should try to write in the style of an advertising company. You are ‘selling’ your
country, so don’t be shy; tell everyone exactly why they should visit your country or home town.

Use the attachment below to create your storyboard, then use Photo Story 3 to build your digital
story.

When you have finished, copy your digital story and your storyboard to your journal and the
discussion forum

Complete the text with the words in the box.

Digital stories are  still images with recordings that are organised into a  narrative or story. They can vary
in length, but ideally shouldn’t be longer than  five minutes.

The process for creating digital stories starts with selecting a  topic and then brainstorming key  events.
After that, you create a  storyboard to organise and check the information. It is at this point that you
start to write the audio  script.

Once you have finished the storyboard, you have to get the  images and import them into
a  software programme. You then record over each image and finally export the story as a
WMV  playback file.

You don’t have to spend any money on software but you do need a cheap  headset with a microphone.

Digital stories as audiovisual media

We looked at audio and video projects earlier in the course and this third option of digital stories
extends what we can do with our learners even further. In the past, it was too difficult to produce
audiovisual projects but modern technologies mean it is easy to produce creative work. With so much
choice, we need to think about which type of media to use in our projects.

Comparing digital stories and audio projects

The first and most obvious point to make about digital stories is that they combine pictures and audio.
This is obviously different from an audio-only project so below we will look at the advantages and
teaching implications of using digital stories instead of only audio.

Visual support

Digital stories provide visual support for learners, which is useful at all levels, particularly lower-level
ones.

Added creativity

The visual part of digital stories means that less creative tasks can become more interesting. In Unit 7 we
looked at adapting a coursebook task such as describing daily routines. With audio only, the project
wouldn’t have been very interesting for other learners. However, with pictures, the project is like a film
which encourages class viewing and sharing.

Identity development support

Many typical language activities are designed to enable learners to talk about themselves. This supports
the development of an individual’s identity within a group. A digital story that includes pictures of the
learner’s life – for example, family, pets, etc. – can really tell the group a lot about an individual.
Although this is useful for all learners, lower-level ones benefit in particular from this visual support, as
they don’t have the vocabulary to talk about themselves in an interesting way.

Structural cohesion

Projects that only use audio can be confusing because there are no visual markers to aid understanding.
A digital narrative’s storyboard combines pictures and words so provides an easily understood structure.

Contrast and comparison

A digital story uses pictures and sound so it is possible to create contrasts and comparisons. The pictures
can contradict or challenge the commentary which creates opportunities for analysis and discussion.

An extra planning step

The process of selecting which pictures to use introduces an interesting, reflective stage to planning
which, as we know, more means more creativity, collaboration and thought.

Additional stages

The two stages that are needed for digital story projects are planning and finding images. Selecting or
deciding on what kind of images to use is a planning step while finding the images is a production task.
We need, therefore, to think about the educational challenges and advantages of these two stages.

Planning images

Discussing the list of images to be selected can happen in the classroom with no access to computers,
along with the other planning stages. This means that a lot of the language work can take place in a low-
tech, traditional classroom, with the production work organised as homework or in a computer lab.

Making the list of images can be combined with writing the script. This works well because learners are
discussing images as they draft the script, which helps to structure the storyboard.

Teachers can control the time and scope of a project by limiting the number of images that can be used.
Telling a short story in four pictures can be challenging and the limitation generates useful discussion
between learners, which is exactly what we want.

Finding images

Finding images involves an internet search, as we saw in Unit 8. Importantly, this task takes time, which
needs to be considered when organising a digital story project. Again, short stories are just as useful as
(and sometimes better than) longer stories.

If learners have access to computers in class time, they can discuss and select images as they do the
storyboard. Interestingly, there will often be a difference between the images learners want and the
ones they find. This results in re-scripting, which encourages further thought and discussion.

Digital stories: Planning and production

We will now look at how to design and use a digital story lesson and we’ll start with planning and
production.

Learning goals

We would like the learners to:

 script a story about a character from the past

  introduce the character

 talk about the character’s day in the first person

 use a range of tenses, for example, the past simple and present simple

 use vocabulary associated with the chosen period.

Project goals

We would like the learners to:

 present their work in class

 work in groups

 plan the project in half an hour

 produce it in a homework or computer lab session

 think about and reflect on the historical era selected.

Project type

The goals emphasise a quick project that supports group work, sharing, feedback and reflection. The
best project option to achieve the goals is a digital story.

The prompt

Go back to the Unit 5 project and find the picture of the 19th-century British person. We’ll use him or
her as a starting point.

The background

We’re going to imagine that the person in the picture was the manager of a workhouse in 19th-century
Britain. Do an internet search to find some basic facts and set your learners a homework task to do the
same.

In short, a workhouse was for people who were unable to look after themselves, for example through
old age, poverty or unemployment. The conditions were harsh, with bad accommodation and poor
food. 
 

The warmer

Put the learners into small groups to share their research. Ask each group to tell the class two
interesting facts and present any useful vocabulary that comes up.

With the whole class, brainstorm what life was like for both the manager and residents of a workhouse.
Show some more pictures if you think it will help.

In their groups, the learners are now going to talk about life in the workhouse as either the manager or a
resident.

The storyboard

Tell the class that they can use four to six pictures in their storyboards.

Planning images

There will be some immediate issues with image selection that your learners will have to negotiate:

 Illustrations, photos, or a combination of both?

 Are they going to present the character of the manager or a resident?

 What pictures will best communicate the conditions of a workhouse?

 What sort of image will they end with to make the story memorable and create an impact?

 What search queries will they use?

Writing the script

Ask your learners to use a range of structures in their scripts, for example, present and past simple. For
more advanced learners, you can ask them to include, for example, present perfect simple and
continuous.

Remind the learners of any new vocabulary and help them if they ask for any additional words.

Each picture should have between one and three sentences.

 
Finding the images

The next step is for the learners to find the pictures they need. Depending on your resources, this could
be done in class or as homework.  You can ask them to think about the following while looking for
pictures:

 What search queries did you use to find the pictures?

 Could you find what you wanted?

 Did you find any pictures that made you want to rewrite the storyboard?

 Which picture do you think is the most powerful?

Building the digital story

The learners now work in their groups to build their stories. Ideally, they’ll divide the tasks between
themselves or you can allocate them. 

We will look at presenting stories in the next section but, before that, there’s a task for you to do.

Digital stories: Logistical management and sharing

The lesson plan we worked through assumed that your learners know how to build a digital story, that
they have access to the technology to do so and that you can present the stories. However, this may not
be your situation, so we need to think about the challenges of management and sharing.

Logistical management

There are two challenges here: firstly, showing your learners how to build a digital story, and secondly,
how to manage the production part of the lesson plan.

Teaching learners to build digital stories

Before asking your learners to complete a digital story, you have to teach them how to build one. If you
have access to a computer lab, this should be quite easy, particularly if you have already built a few
stories yourself.

You will need the software installed on the computers, a headset with microphone for each learner and
perhaps an hour to work with them. You can start small, as we did in Unit 8, or you can motivate them
by working through the planning stage of a digital story with them. Although it is a simple process, allow
time for the first project and be prepared to answer lots of questions.

If you don’t have a computer lab but have access to a computer and projector in your classroom, you
can demonstrate how to build a story. You could use the lesson plan above, chose a storyboard from
one of the groups and then build the story with the class.

If you have no computer lab access and don’t have a computer and projector in your classroom, then
you will have to provide the learners with a download link from Unit 8, along with some printed
instructions and a simple task to get them started.

Managing production

Once your learners have done the planning, they can build their stories. If you have a computer lab, the
group work shouldn’t present problems. However, if the learners have to use their computers at home
there are two options:

 Divide the group into picture researchers and recorders. The researchers email the pictures to
the others who record and build the digital story.

 Limit the group work to the classroom planning stage and ask the learners to use the group
storyboard to build their own story.
The second option of learners building stories on their own can create useful discussion as they will be
interested to see what other group members have done.

Presenting and sharing digital stories

If you have a computer and a projector in your classroom, learners can bring their digital stories to class
on a memory stick. Watching each other’s stories is motivating and fun because projectors create a
cinema experience in the classroom.

If you don’t have a projector, learners can upload and view each  digital stories on video-sharing
websites, for example, YouTube or vimeo. 

Project option 1

Use the lesson that we reviewed in the Input section with your learners, i.e. present the lesson and
supervise the planning so that you can help your learners to build their digital stories.

If you do not have access to computers, focus on the planning section and ask your learners to produce
storyboards. Note any creative discussions and ask your learners if they would be interested in building
digital stories.

Project option 2

Go back to 7 .2 and review the four task types that we use with audiovisual projects (Reading aloud,
Standard coursebook tasks, Rewriting and Creative writing). Choose one and design a lesson plan for a
digital story project. Include:

 learning goals

 project goals

 reason for selecting a digital story project

 prompt

 background information

 warmer strategy
  the number of pictures used in your storyboard.

Use the lesson plan in class with your learners. If possible, ask your learners to build digital stories. If
they can’t, then focus on the planning stages.

COURSE 4

From the video on the previous screen, we saw that teacher talk can include:

 giving feedback

 confirming answers

 correcting

 asking questions

 responding to student talk

 disciplining

 joking

 giving personal information

 giving instructions

These types of talk are for classroom management, for giving information about language, for
maintaining good relationships with learners and for engaging the learner in the learning process.

1.4 Features of teacher talk

We have looked at what teacher talk is and some of the benefits and challenges of using teacher talk.
Now, we'll look at how we can change our use of language to make teacher talk more effective. 

Here are some features of the language of effective teacher talk:

 It is at a level that learners can understand with just a little effort.

 It may simplify some features of language (e.g. by using simpler lexis, simpler structures or
shorter sentences, by emphasising key words, by pausing between sense groups).

 It sounds natural.

 It makes a lot of use of interactional functions (e.g checking understanding, asking for
clarification, confirming understanding, inviting    opinions, inviting feedback).

 It creates opportunities for learners to hear something again by repeating or paraphrasing.

  It is supported by body language, mime, thinking time, demonstrations, eliciting, eye contact,
etc.

 It breaks speech up into short sections so learners can focus on one thing at a time and have
opportunities to ask questions.

 It makes use of examples when they are useful.

On the previous screen, there was a list of strategies the teacher in the video used to make her teacher talk clearer and more interesting.
Other strategies include:
 articulating
 emphasising
 paraphrasing
 checking comprehension
 personalising
 eliciting
 to articulate = to pronounce sounds clearly rather than mumble them
 to emphasise = to pronounce something with greater stress
 to paraphrase = to say something using different words
 to check comprehension = to check that learners have understood
 to personalise = to make what you say refer to a learner's life, experience or thoughts
 to elicit = to give learners prompts to encourage them to give the answer

We often think of vocabulary as just lots and lots of individual words. But, in fact, the vocabulary of a
language is more than individual words. It’s groups of words or chunks.

There are different kinds of chunks that frequently occur together:

 collocations

 compounds

 phrasal verbs / multi-word verbs

 fixed expressions

 semi-fixed expressions

 idioms

 Match the terms with their definitions.

 collocation
 two or more words which are often used together, e.g. deep sleep
 correct


 compound
  two or more words which together have one meaning. They are usually nouns or adjectives, e.g. football
 correct


 phrasal verb
 a verb + a particle (adverb or preposition) which together have one meaning, e.g. to help out
 correct


 fixed expression
 an expression made up of a group of words which, when they occur together, cannot be substituted by other words, e.g. at the
end of the day
 correct


 semi-fixed expression
 an expression made up of a group of words, one or more of which can be substituted by other words, e.g. how do you do?
 correct


 idiom
 a group of words with a single meaning that is different from the meaning of each of the single words put together. The meaning is
usually metaphorical, e.g. under the weather
 2.4 Features of vocabulary
We’re going to look now at what knowing vocabulary involves – the features we need to learn before we can say we fully know a word.
When a learner really knows a word, he or she knows several things about it. The learner knows its basic meaning and how to pronounce it,
both in terms of the individual sounds it contains and which syllables are stressed or unstressed. He or she also knows how it is written (i.e.
its spelling), which word(s) it collocates with, how it must operate grammatically within a sentence (what part of speech it is), whether the
word or chunk has negative or positive associations (its connotations), and, finally, in what situations it is appropriate to use the word or
chunk (register). The table below provides a summary of this information:
Feature Example
basic meaning we use them to cut things into smaller pieces (scissors)
/p/ vs. /b/, /t/ vs. /θ/
for example, pin/bin  tin/thin
individual sounds
word stress con'nect, 'lovely
spelling accommodation not acomodation
collocations heavy weather
part of speech noun/verb/adverb, etc.
connotations slim vs. skinny
register formal/informal
Complete the teacher’s comments with the features of vocabulary.

1    The second syllable is stronger and shorter than the others.  word stress 

2    Feeling uncomfortable or nervous.  basic meaning

 3    It’s an adjective.  part of speech

4    It’s a negative feeling.  connotation

5    It’s not particularly formal.  register

6    It’s a ‘b’ sound in the middle, not a ‘p’. Listen, embarrassed.  individual sounds

7    We could say deeply embarrassed or acutely embarrassed. We wouldn’t normally say absolutely

embarrassed.  collocation

8    You will need to make sure you include two ‘r’s when writing this.  Spelling

We have looked at what vocabulary is and some of the features it has which help us to know and use words correctly. We can look now at
how words relate to other words, for example through synonyms or word families.
Some such relationships between vocabulary items are:
synonyms words which have the same or a similar meaning
antonyms words which have opposite meanings
homophones words which have the same pronunciation but a different meaning or spelling, or both
lexical set a group of words which are all about the same subject or topic
words in a foreign language which can confuse language learners because they look or sound similar to words in their own
false friends language but mean something different
word family words which are all derived from the same base/root words through the addition of prefixes and suffixes
By looking at these relationships, we understand the meaning of vocabulary better and they can also give us, as teachers, ideas for how to
design vocabulary tasks for our learners.
Find a coursebook activity that you are going to use in a lesson soon. Think of the instructions you would give. Write them out, then practise
saying them out loud.
As you write them out, use the tips for giving good instructions to guide you, and remember the stages that most instructions include:
1    contextualising
2    familiarising learners with the materials
3    organising interaction
4    telling learners what procedure to follow
5    checking understanding
6    confirming understanding
7    eliciting/providing sample answers
8    giving learners an opportunity to express any doubts
There are 44 individual sounds or phonemes in standard British English. These can be divided into vowels and consonants. Vowels can be
divided into:

 monophthongs (single vowel sounds)

 diphthongs (where one vowel glides towards another vowel, forming one sound)
Each sound can be written in phonemic script. The sounds are arranged here in a phonemic chart.
 source: Underhill, A. (2005) Sound Foundations Pack, 2nd Edition, Oxford: Macmillan Education.
 

The single vowels or monophthongs are all in the top left-hand corner and the diphthongs (sounds formed by combining two vowels into a
single syllable) in the top right-hand corner. The consonants then follow in the fourth row down.
All the sounds are arranged in rows according to where in the mouth they are pronounced. Those on the left are pronounced at the front of
the mouth, then they move across each row to the back of the mouth, so, for example, /g/, /ʒ/ and /j/ are all pronounced at the back of the
mouth.
Of course, a teacher doesn’t need to know phonemic script to have or teach good pronunciation, but it is useful. 
Some advantages are:
 It helps you to read the phonemic script beside words in a dictionary.
 It helps you to focus on and distinguish sounds accurately.
 It helps you to think about what sounds your learners need help with.
Learners may also have difficulties with distinguishing between particular sounds in English, either when listening or speaking. This often
depends on what their first language is, and is due to differences between the sounds in their language and those in English. For example,
Arabic speakers often have problems distinguishing between /b/ and /v/, Chinese speakers between /l/ and /r/, Greek speakers between /p/
and /b/, and many learners of English have problems pronouncing /θ/.
You may have expected different answers from the ones given. This is because where the main stress or stresses go in a sentence depends
on the speaker’s meaning, and on what they are trying to say – and, of course, we can give different meanings to the same sentences.
You may not have thought the answer in sentence 1 was we, nor didn’t in 2. Words like these (auxiliaries, articles, pronouns and
prepositions) are called grammar words. Grammar words don’t usually take stress. 
The other words (nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs) are called content words because they tend to carry the meaning in a sentence. It is
usually one or more of these content words that takes the sentence’s main stress or stresses. Which content word we choose to stress
depends on the meaning we want to convey. Listen to sentence 6 said in three different ways just to get an idea of this.

  Six months is a long time to wait for an answer.

As with word stress, in sentence stress we use emphasis and weakening. We emphasise key words and reduce or weaken the unstressed
words, shortening or changing them to meet a rhythmic pattern.
Look at these sentences. Say them aloud to yourself. Notice how they are said at roughly the same rhythm and in roughly the same amount
of time even though they are not the same length.
You me
1       him   her
me
2 You and and him and her
me
3 You and then and then him and then her
    and then it's    me     and then it's    him     and then it's    
4 You her
source: Underhill, A. (2005) Sound Foundations, 2nd Edition, Oxford: Macmillan Education, p. 71.
 

The way English maintains this regular rhythm is by shortening vowels, losing letters (elision), combining sounds (assimilation) and
contractions. 
Elision is when a sound is left out at a word boundary when it is followed by another similar sound, e.g. nex(t) day, ma(de) by hand, los(t)
their way. These are often /t/ or /d/ sounds.
Assimilation is when a sound changes to become more like the sound that follows it, e.g. good boy  /gʊb bɔɪ/, did you /dɪ dju:/, what do you
do? /wɒ ʤu:du:/.
In this section we’re going to look at accuracy, appropriateness and range – features which help us diagnose the strengths and weaknesses
of our learners’ abilities to communicate in speaking or writing. We often find these features and the ones we’ve focused on above used in
coursebooks, exams, tests and in feedback to learners.
We’ll look first at accuracy. What does accuracy mean? What is accurate use of language? Look at these five examples of inaccuracies in
learner writing.
1    'Yesterday I go to the cinema.'
The present tense is used wrongly to talk about a past action.
2    'What means silent?'
The question is wrongly formed.
3    'I hurt the fingers on my foot in the match last week.'
The vocabulary is wrong, fingers is used instead of toes.
4    'Many peopl speak English in my country.'
There is a spelling mistake.
5    'Pizza is the most expensive than pasta.' 
The superlative is misused as a comparative form.
Sentences 2 and 3 show inaccurate meanings. 
Sentence 4 shows an inaccurate form. 
Sentences 1 and 5 show both inaccurate forms and meanings. 

We can see that for both lexis and grammar, accuracy refers to the correct use of forms, i.e. the parts that a word or sentence is composed
of (words, letters, affixes), and to meaning. We can see that accuracy refers to the correct or incorrect use of forms and usage in both lexis
and grammar.

1    It will rain – look at those dark clouds.  inaccurate grammatical use 

2    I usually go swiming every weekend.  inaccurate lexical form 

3    At home we don’t always cook in the chicken – we sometimes cook outside in the garden.  inaccurate lexical use 

4    He buyed a beautiful shirt in London.  inaccurate grammatical form 

5    I feel unconfident when I speak in front of lots of people.  inaccurate lexical form 

6    We pay very big taxes in my country.  inaccurate lexical use 

7    She’s more prettier than her sister.  inaccurate grammatical form

8    I want to buy the new shoes.  inaccurate grammatical use 

This task above shows us that range isn’t just a question of using a variety of language just for the sake of it. The variety must be appropriate
to the situation. For example, if the learner used several subordinate clauses it might make her writing seem too formal. This wouldn’t be
appropriate when writing to a friend. The text also shows us, once again, that accuracy isn’t the only thing to consider when we assess our
learners’ language. There is no inaccuracy in this text. From that point of view it is perfect, but it still isn’t right in other ways.
To summarise, across these three sections we have seen that we don’t always use the same criteria to assess writing and speaking, but
sometimes we do. The criteria we looked at were:
  Speaking Writing
Fluency √  
Interactive strategies √  
Pronunciation √  
Cohesion   √
Organisation   √
Accuracy √  √
Appropriateness √  √
Range of language √  √
In fact, we could say that all these features, with the exception of pronunciation, apply to both writing and speaking. Imagine, for example,
giving a talk or a presentation. Organisation would be very important and so would cohesion. Similarly, some written texts such as emails use
quite a few interactive strategies, such as exclamation marks, question marks and emoticons, to keep their readers engaged. Above, we
have just applied the features to some common kinds of communication. You need to decide which features are most appropriate for you to
use as a teacher. This will depend on what kind of spoken or written communication you are working on with your learners.
So far, we have separated out each of these features. In the classroom, we also sometimes separate the features out, looking for just one or
two things as we form our impression of our learners’ language use. But very often we use all these features, or at least we should if we want
to get a more precise picture of our learners’ strengths and weaknesses.
 He always writes as if he’s chatting with friends. It doesn’t work for letters of application or essays, for
example.

appropriateness

She uses too many conjunctions. It makes her writing sound unnatural.

cohesion

3 Generally her writing is very good, but when she writes without thinking she leaves off ‘plural s’
or gets her past tenses wrong.

accuracy

4 He just writes long stretches of language. It’s really hard to see where one idea ends and the
next begins.

organisation

5 She tries to make sure she doesn’t repeat the same words so she always tries to find synonyms.
The teacher initially asks 'What's that?'. This is to find out whether the learners know it is a shell. She then goes on to ask whether the
shell is full or empty – if the shell is inhabited or not. Then she asks learners to think of animals that could live in the shell or that have
1    shells.
The first question is the simplest as it gets learners focusing on and talking about the shell. The next question is also quite simple
although the teacher needs to ask different questions to help the learners (for example, 'Is there anything in there?') This then leads on to
a more difficult question which tests the learners' vocabulary skills and knowledge of animals that either live in shells or have shells. 
2
The initial questions check understanding and help learners focus on the important information. The last question tests knowledge and
vocabulary. However, there are more difficult questions the teacher could ask, where learners could express themselves further by giving
3 their point of view regarding the topic. More difficult questions like this will be discussed later in this course.
When completing the tasks in the introduction, you will have noticed that some questions are more challenging for learners.
What makes a question simple or more challenging?
Simple questions can just require a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, or ask us to recall a fact or simple bit of information. More challenging questions
require longer responses. We need to think harder, using our imaginations and more complex language.
We can see already that the questions we ask our learners prompt them to engage in simple or more complex thinking, use simpler or more
complex language and communicate more or less meaningfully.
We can categorise questions into four types:
 referential questions
 display questions
 LOTS questions
 HOTS questions
It is important to consider when, how often and why we use these types of question in our class. We’re now going to look at each type of
question
Let’s start by looking at display questions and referential questions. Look at the following definitions for these types of questions.
Display questions
Questions that a teacher asks to check if learners have learned a fact or a piece of language that they've been taught. The answer to the
question gives the learners an opportunity to show that they know the taught information. The teacher knows the answer to the question or can
very closely predict it, so the question and answer don't involve real communication, e.g. when the teacher asks a learner, 'Do you study
English?'.
Referential questions
Questions that a teacher asks when they want to find out unknown information, usually about the learners' lives or opinions. The teacher does
not know what the learner will answer and wants to find out, so real communication is involved, e.g. when the teacher asks a learner, 'Is it
cheaper to buy clothes here or in your country?'

1      Display questions are especially useful with beginners. 

2      Display questions have little or no communicative value.

3      Referential questions create more learner interest and involvement.

4      Both types of question allow you to check comprehension of what has been learned in previous lessons.

5      Display questions give learners controlled practice of the language.

6      Referential questions require the learner to give an opinion, explain or clarify.

7      Referential questions often focus on content rather than language.

8      Both types of question may require 'follow-up' or 'probe' questions.

9      Referential questions encourage learners to give more open-ended answers.

Display questions ...

 are questions which ask the learner   to show his or her knowledge.

 check the form or meaning of language and often involve   answering yes/no questions . 

  don't have much communicative value  so asking lots of them can be boring.

 are useful for   controlled practice of language  as the learner focuses on language without worrying about thinking or content.

Referential questions ...

 encourage the learner to  explore his or her knowledge.

   motivate and involve learners more  than display questions.  

 are useful for prompting discussion and   real communication of ideas.

 elicit ideas and  personal information.

 7.5 Introducing LOTS and HOTS questions
Now we’re going to look at LOTS (lower-order thinking skills) and HOTS (higher-order thinking skills) questions.
LOTS – Lower-Order Thinking Skills
Thinking skills which we use to take in, comprehend and remember information.
LOTS questions help learners to understand and remember things. In the language classroom, using LOTS questions will help learners
repeat new language, practise it in a controlled way, revise and remember it. By answering these questions, a learner shows their
understanding of the information which has been provided.
LOTS questions often begin with:

 Who ...
 What ...
 Where ...
 When ...
 Do you know ...
 Can you identify ..
HOTS questions offer different learning experiences from LOTS questions.
HOTS – Higher-Order Thinking Skills
Thinking skills which encourage learners to think more deeply. They aim to develop learners' reasoning skills and encourage learners to use
thinking skills such as analysing, summarising, evaluating and hypothesising. They involve open-ended thinking and open-ended talk.
HOTS questions motivate and involve learners more than LOTS questions, and help them develop more complex thinking skills. They can
make learning far more engaging and interesting for learners.
HOTS questions often begin like this:
 How do/would/could  you  explain/prove/compare/decide/imagine ...?
 Why do you think ...?
 What are your ideas/solutions/opinions ...?

  questions encourage learners to evaluate, e.g. Do you think it's a good idea to use bicycles for transport in a big
city?
  

  questions encourage learners to analyse, e.g. In what ways is a bicycle more useful than a car?


  questions encourage learners to remember,  e.g. Where can you see a means of transport?


  questions elicit examples, e.g. Can you name a means of transport?

  

  questions encourage learners to compare, e.g. Is a bicycle more useful than a car?
  

  encourage learners to explain, e.g. Why do you think bicycles aren't very popular in some places?
  

  questions encourage learners to imagine, e.g. How would you redesign bicycles to make them more popular?
  

  questions encourage learners to identify, e.g. Can you describe a bicycle for me?