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Unit 3.
Managing resources: equipment and teaching
All of us know quite well that digital technology has added another dimension to the traditional English language teaching methodology. Educators agree about the increasing importance of “information and communication technologies” (ICT) in education because technologies have the capacity to transform our teaching and our students’ learning. We know that different technologies can change the ways our students learn and mediate the learning differently. Thus, technologies engage students, enhance achievement and create new learning possibilities.
Sufficient evidence has been gathered to prove that multimedia supported English teaching provides a realistic picture of the target language and culture. As educators, we are faced with selecting and using appropriate technologies. Furthermore, we shall consider how these reliable techniques or methods can contribute to our pupils' learning. So that, when using technology teachers need to consider how best it can be used and how it can complement our classroom-based work so it becomes integrated into our overall plan of work.
Nevertheless we cannot forget that a lot of people have learned languages successfully for hundreds of years without resorting to any kind of technology. Beyond any doubt we can say that technology alone is not a panacea. We still need to use our imagination, however. The key point is that pupils come first: whether or not the students are learning how to use language or to understand and manipulate the structure of a text.
Although technology tools help us achieve language objectives that printed textbooks could only mimic and that these tools emphasize the skills of communication, the point is that there is no one best way to learn a foreign language nor a single optimal set of teaching materials. This is because learners will vary both in how they learn and what they need and want to learn. It follows therefore, that there is no single “magic bullet” that can be offered by ICTs to support language learning for all pupils and across all ages. Without any doubt, the only “magic bullet” is the teacher.
In this unit we look at how you, teachers, can use different resources to make lessons more interesting and effective. But, what we cannot forget is that we have at hand many other resources to help students learn English. One of the simplest resource to use in all classrooms is the familiar “blackboard” though not always we take much advantage of it.
3.1 The Board
It is almost impossible to find classrooms without a board of some kind, whether it is white, black or green. It is essential, then, to organize your use of it in order to obtain the maximum effect.
3.1.1 Four basic prerequisites:
- Start with a clean board or with a board that only has on it what you have just put on. Don't start your lesson with the remains of someone else's still up.
- Write legibly and neatly. Try to be consistent in the letters you use — this will make your writing easier to read and is helpful for beginners. Don't write in capitals. Learners need to know when capitals are necessary and when they are not.
1 See Gower, R. Phillips, D. Diane, Walters, S. (2010). Teaching Practice: a handbook for teachers in training. (pp_._ 65-68). London. Richmond Publishing.
- Use the right implement. This doesn't apply so much to chalk boards (although some chalk is better than others) as it does to white boards.
- Generally, try to keep the board as clear, as straightforward and as easy to read as possible. Clean it periodically to keep it neat and consider other ways of displaying more permanent information — a cork board or the walls of the classroom — in order to keep the board looking uncluttered.
3.1.2 What sort of things will be put on the board?
What you will want to put on your board will probably fall into one of the following categories:
Permanent or reference material
This may not go on the board at the beginning of the lesson but once it is up it will probably stay until the end. If you do not have a calendar in your class, in low-level classes you may wish to put up the day and the date at the beginning of the lesson. This is a good way of helping the students learn the days of the week and the dates. It also encourages good study habits. You can put up reminders of items that students need constantly or persistently get wrong: for example, What does ... mean? The expression can then be pointed to when needed until all the students are familiar with it.
Other things that might come into this category are the main language items of the lesson: new vocabulary items and model sentences. You would expect most, if not all, the words in this section to be copied into the students' notebooks at some stage in the lesson. By putting such words into this section you are signifying their importance.
Material for the development of the lesson
This will be the material that relates to the stage of the lesson you have reached at any one moment. It could be pictures you are using to illustrate a story, an expression the students are practising saying, an outline of a grammar role or even the score for a team, game you are playing. Some of it may be transferred to the permanent section of the board.
Impromptu work
This is the work you use to illustrate or exemplify the answer to an unpredicted question or to back up an alternative explanation when the planned one doesn't work. It may be a drawing or a written word. Space must always be left on the board for such work. You will usually want to erase work in this section as soon as the point has been understood and noted.
Notes and reminders
You may want to put daily class notices and announcements in this section. Also, questions you answer with Ask me later and things that you don't want to or can't answer on the spot are well worth noting in a comer. It shows that you are not just fobbing off the student and when you clean the board at the end of the lesson it will act as a reminder to you to prepare something for the next lesson.
It is essential that you plan the board and decide which part you are going to allocate to which use. Include a plan of the board in your lesson plan and refer to use of the board in specific stages of the lesson. The 'development' area is likely to be the largest so that will probably command the central part. The `permanent' area is the most predictable and should be easy to plan for. It might be helpful to separate the different parts of the board by drawing lines: it reduces confusion.
Here you have one possible development of a board through a lesson
STAGE 1: ACTIVITY:
words on the board for the students to copy them, rub the board clean and then tell them to close their books before returning to the oral practice.
3.1.4 How can you make the best use of the board?
- Use colour to make the board look attractive and its contents memorable. For example, one colour for phonemic symbols so the students don't get confused between the spelling and the pronunciation of words.
- Use your board as a temporary display area. You can attach pictures, diagrams, etc. with a product like “Blu-Tack”. If you want to save the time it takes to write during the lesson you can write key words or sentences on card and stick them to the board at the appropriate time. Another advantage of using cards is that they can be quickly moved around on the board.
- (^) Adjust the size of your writing to the size of the room and the size of the board.
- Don't put everything on the board — only the essential — and immediately rub off anything which is no longer needed.
- When writing up vocabulary include an indication of the part of speech, eg (v) after verbs, (adj.) after adjectives, etc. Include the article a or an before nouns. Mark the word stress.
- Try and build up board work bit by bit after each activity rather than put it up in one go.
- Involve the students in the writing process by eliciting what you are going to put up, the spelling of difficult words, and so on. This will keep up their level of attention and concentration.
- Make it clear to students when they need to copy something from the board and when it isn't necessary. If you want them to write something down, allow enough time to do the job properly: write it up neatly, give the students time to read it (perhaps aloud) and then copy it down. You may wish to go round and check they have copied it correctly, particularly at the lower levels.
- When you transfer work from the main part of the board to the permanent part you provide students with a useful summary of the main stages of the lesson.
- Always clean the board at the end of a lesson.
3.2 Importance of Technology in Young Learner’s Classroom.
When we talk about “technology” we must highlight that it is more than hardware. The term “new technologies” includes Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) for language teaching and learning in which the computer plays a central role, embracing a variety of different software applications, e.g.
Generic software : software designed for general use, such as word-processors (e.g. Word ) and presentation software (e.g. PowerPoint ).
CALL software: Programs specially designed for Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) from simple gap-filling and multiple-choice exercises to exercises incorporating interactive multimedia.
Communications software : This includes email software and Web browsers.
3.2.1 Benefits of technological resources for pupils
- Children find them fun, motivating and stimulating because media resources provide variety,
- Caters for children with different learning styles.
- Can be used to reward pupils for work they have done. For example, if pupils have worked hard on a story in class you can show them an animated version on video or they can use a CD-ROM version for pleasure.
- Combine sound and vision and provides a full context for language so children see language in use making it more accessible and memorable.
- Help to develop all skills and introduces or revises new words and phrases.
- Develop the child's curiosity and provides up-to-date information.
- Heightens children’s powers of observation and awareness of visual and audio clues as aids to meaning.
- Develop motor skills, keyboard skills, information and research skills as well as independent learning.
- Pupils can work together and develop collaborative skills and help each other complete a task.
- (^) Take the child outside the classroom into the real or fantasy world.
- Provide background cultural information. Children can see what it's really like in an English-speaking country.
- Digital resources such as those databases and video clips give access to a vast range of information and vocabulary on the internet, CD-Roms learning opportunities.
- Pupils can work at their own pace as digital resources can be slowed and replayed repeatedly according to individual need.
- Email correspondence with ‘e-pals’ can have a positive impact on grammar.
3.2.2 Benefits of technological resources for teachers
- A variety of resources can be utilised to meet specific different needs and demands.
Learning across and outside institutions
ICTs can offer real opportunities to use languages with native speakers; through personalised and mobile devices, and through home access to the internet, ICTs can offer learners the opportunity to practise languages outside the languages classroom. Another important point to take into account is the creation by teachers of compelling foreign language games to play at home. All of these materials can act as a stimulus to practise outside the school setting.
Meaningful practise of language in context
Studies have shown that students learn language better when the language they are exposed to is meaningful. ICTs offer opportunities for practising language in context with real native speakers in all four skills areas (reading, writing, listening and speaking). The students actively manipulate the language for a clear and logical goal.
Interactivity
The Internet offers exciting opportunities for meaningful interaction in the target language. This interaction can take place between the students and native speakers anywhere in the world. The interaction can be asynchronous (email) or synchronous in the form of audio chats or voice and video messaging. Worldwide project networks exist to promote cooperation between schools around the globe.
Effective practise and progress
The aspects of progressive language acquisition key to language learning can be practised through drill and test systems. These enable learners to practise languages in an environment free from embarrassment where they can work at their own pace.
Language engineering is beginning to provide useful applications
Portable devices now can support dictionaries, pronunciation (speaking dictionaries), context-specific phrase books and so on. These tools may increase confidence.
Promotes critical thinking skills and ‘constructivist’ learning
Unlike course books which transmit information in a predictable order, working with the Internet is constantly evolving. Students make choices and 'construct' knowledge every time they go online. Each search is unique.
Information and resource-sharing between MFL teachers
The internet can function as a powerful tool for language teachers; by enabling them to create and share their own resources and models of good practice, by creating databanks of games and tests that can be used by other teachers, and by offering lists of MFL resources in target languages that can be shared. Examples of this sort of activity in practice can be found particularly at the Sir Bernard Lovell School Online MFL & ICT resource centre, at Shirelands Languages College and at the CILT website.
Promotes differentiation
Multimedia options allow us to 'scaffold' information for learners. The ability to listen to a recording, watch a video, read a text, or 'drag and drop' sentences, to name but a few ideas, means that we can present material in ways that satisfy many student learning styles.
Less focus on the teacher
Working with the Internet can take the focus off you and shift communication from teacher-student to student-student. If you are a non-native speaker and a bit unsure of your own English-language skills, authentic listening and reading from the Internet can help model the language you want to teach.
Encourages creativity
Children can make truly professional looking multimedia presentations with little extra knowledge. This ability to create 'publishable' work increases a feeling of ownership by the students which in turn has a positive influence on the quality of language the students produce.
3.3.1. Specific activities at key stages
The following is a summary of the types of ICT-based activities we might expect to see across the Key Stages over the next few years:
Pre-Primary
At early years, the emphasis is likely to be on using ICTs to enable playful interactions with words and sounds in order to encourage enjoyment of 'playing' with other languages, and familiarity with the sounds of other languages. Songs, rhythm and patterns are likely to play a significant role at this stage.
Digital resources at this age are likely to encourage play, singing along with sounds, repetition of sounds, and basic association of words with familiar objects. The MFL teaching community is at the forefront of creating game-based learning for language acquisition.
Primary
ICTs can be used to introduce the important notions of context, culture and relevance of languages to a real world in which languages are spoken and used for leisure, work, arts and business. The internet can be used to explore other cultures through access to authentic written materials via the web. Similarly, DVDs will allow teachers access to entertainment resources (music videos, films, television, computer games) to enable learners to gain familiarity with use of language in a variety of different contexts. These DVD resources, particularly if we consider foreign language songs, have certain natural advantages; they are highly loaded with vocabulary and structures, repetition is inbuilt, language structures are embedded in meaningful phrases and the music is thought to be an aid to memory. CDs and DVDs offers a number of advantages - from in- built subtitling, to supplementary materials.
With careful planning, and due attention to child protection policies, it is also possible at this stage to begin to introduce e-mail communication and online chat between children. These early activities can encourage children to begin to want to develop language skills. See Luckwell Primary School, Bristol, for examples of this work. The EU has also funded the VIRLAN network enabling children to communicate via the internet through written language and through shared creation of drawings.
3.4. Some Special Words about Young Children and the Internet
When working with very young children we have certain special considerations to consider when integrating technology into our classrooms. Here are a few points to keep in mind:
- Frame the learning: Young students need a clear context for their Internet work. They need to see connections and understand not only 'how' to do something, but 'why'.
- (^) Keep the learning active: Young learners have short attention spans. Be sure that the lesson you design is active. Make sure that the students are 'doing something' and not merely looking at a screen. This can mean: moving objects with a mouse, interacting with other users, or creating content.
- Be clear about expectations: Students should be clear about what you want them to do. Set out a clear set of directions for the students to follow. Internet activities, while exploratory, need to be limited with this age group.
Now you need to think about how you are going to use the Internet in the classroom. The goal of technology is to support and improve learning. It is not an end in itself.
3.5.1. Select Websites
When selecting websites, consider the following questions.
- Is the language challenging?
- Is it supported by sounds or pictures?
- Are there any other contextual clues?
Some websites have either too difficult content or far too complex language for children to effectively exploit them. Here it is worth considering letting the children search mother tongue websites for information that they then report in the target language using phrases taught in class.
Define goals
In a communication activity, what are the outcomes of the interaction? When searching, what will the information be used for and how will the students work with it? Will they report information? Will it be used to draw comparisons with partners? Will the materials be used in a visual or audio presentation?
Decide on process
Once the goals of an Internet activity have been defined, attention can be turned to process. Do the students have the cognitive skills to perform the task you envision? Like with any other classroom activity, we need to be sure that the underlying task is conceptually appropriate for the age group. Have the children learned basic research skills? Can they classify objects or recognize patterns? Can they follow directions with a series of steps? Do they have knowledge of the world, countries, and customs?
Can they organize their ideas in a logical order? Do they understand basic measurement concepts? Perhaps some students have the cognitive skills while others have the language ability. By grouping students accordingly, you can work from each student's strengths.
Introduce the topic
Set the stage by talking about the topic they will be working on. Elicit prior knowledge and go over key vocabulary.
Isolate the task
Many websites are full of information which can be confusing for the students and has little relevance to the task at hand. Before letting the students work independently, guide them to the elements of the website you want them to use. Demonstration is the best way to do this. If you don't have a projector to display a website, take a screenshot and copy it for the students.
Manage your time well
Develop clear steps for each phase of an activity. Avoid letting students undertake random web searches. They can easily lose track of the goal of an activity and end up randomly surfing the web. Provide students with a list of pre-selected websites to work with. This will limit wasteful time surfing unrelated links and keep the students away from inappropriate content.
Equipment
Not every school is equipped with a large computer room where each child can work independently on their own computer. This need not be a problem. I would not recommend having each student work on individual computers anyway. If possible the children should work in small groups of 3-4. This way they can interact and help each other.
Even if you only have one computer, you can still conduct Internet project work. Split your classroom up into workstations. The children can move from station to station over the period of the class. You can either move among the groups monitoring their progress or be at a workstation of your own.
If you do have enough computers, this does not mean that all children must perform the same task. Perform a 'jigsaw activity' – ask each group to research a different aspect of the project. For example, in a travel project, one group can work on weather, another can check on airplane tickets, yet another can work on food. In this way you don't find yourself listening to the same answers over and over again.
3.6 A sample activity
Below is a sample activity for you to try. Don't feel that you have to follow the instructions word for word – they are suggestions. I hope that you will come up with variations all your own. If you do, why don't you email them to us at [email protected], and we'll put them on the Resource Books for Teachers website for others to read
(www.oup.com/elt/teacher/rbt).
Me in Space
Goal: to compare conditions on different planets
Suggested Language: comparatives, superlatives, much/many, question words, present simple, numbers
Level: elementary and up
Age: 8 and above
Time: 45 minutes
www.exploratorium.org: A highly interactive, colourful, and informative site from the Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco.
www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/: Lots of simple activities and games suitable for language learners.
www.dfilm.com: Here students can create their own animated movies. Easy to use and perfect to practise target language structures.
3.8 Audio and video for young learners
3.8.1 Audio.
The CD player is one of the language teacher's most useful tools. However, a computer with two loudspeakers can be more useful in class. To rewind a short sentence or a verse is easier than in a Cd-player.
Apart from the materials that accompany nearly all coursebooks, teachers have access to many published EFL materials and authentic audio material that can be brought into the classroom as for example: recordings made from the radio, and songs.
3.8.2 Using the CD player or the computer
Practice and preparation are essential. So before you prepare your lesson make sure you know how to use the machine you'll be using. Does the machine need a separate speaker? Is the sound quality good? What effect do volume and tone have on the sound quality — especially as heard from the back of the room?
Before starting the lesson:
- Check your lesson planning and give yourself plenty of time to find the excerpt you want.
- Listen to the whole of the excerpt you want to use to make sure that it is complete and clear throughout.
- If you want a conversation between/among some students, don't give your speakers a script, but give them an outline of the sorts of thing you want them to say. It sounds more natural or authentic.
Recording your students when reading or speaking is very helpful. They can listen to themselves and other students can help them to correct some errors.
Brewster et all (2012) offer some interesting materials4:
- WordBird's Wordland is a vocabulary development package which can be used to consolidate and extend vocabulary presented through coursebooks, topic work and stories. It is grouped into 20 topics representing over 400 words. There are games to develop reading, listening, observation and spelling, and songs including a karaoke version. The graphics are attractive and WordBird rewards each answer. http://english-zone.com/teach/wordland.html
4 Brewster J., Ellis, G. & Girad D. (2012) The Primary English Teacher’s Guide. (pp. 205-207). Essex: Penguin English.
- For “advanced young learners” there are also a number of dictionaries on CD-ROM such as Longman's Zak's Wordgames and Oxford Interactive Word Magic which are both links to young learner dictionaries but have the advantage of sound and animation. Elementary young learners can use “pictionaries” instead.
- (^) Some stories exist on CD-ROM for example Winnie the Witch and The Fish Who Could Wish. These CD-ROMs can be used to extend a story presented in the classroom with activities which can be used by groups of two or three children working together at a computer or by children working individually. The accompanying handbooks of instructions explain a range of different activities. Winnie teaches the vocabulary of the rooms of the house, colours, furniture, etc. The Fish Who Could Wish consolidates vocabulary related to under the sea, such as fish, sharks. Adjectives and nouns of shapes are used in an imaginative rhyming story.
In the Internet there are also many stories in mp3 for kids.
3.8.3 Videos
Videos have become a primary aid for teachers and they are generally very popular with students and can add variety and a welcome change of focus in a lesson. There are thousands of videos in the Internet. So that, before selecting a video consider how best it can be used and how it can complement your classroom-based work so it becomes integrated into your overall plan of work.
As Roger Gower states “videos have several advantages over audios” 5 :
- Students can see as well as hear what is being said the recording is much closer to 'real life'.
- Video is much easier to understand; the facial expressions, the gestures and the physical background all give additional information.
- The visual element is attractive and commands the attention better than audio alone.
- Videos are often intrinsically more interesting, as many people are more familiar with watching television and video than listening to audio material other than music and songs.
Producing your own videos
Teachers can make their own videos for viewing in class but it is a very time-consuming business. You need to become fully familiar with the equipment before you can use video-making equipment with students. It is often more appropriate to use video-making equipment in lessons which aim to develop the students' speaking skills. Nevertheless, video is an excellent method of providing feedback on student performance.
3.8.4 A video-based methodology
The familiar three stages: pre-, while- and post-viewing. Following this three-stage methodology allows you and the pupils to get the most out of a video sequence and transforms passive viewers into active viewers. A video sequence or extract can be as short as two minutes or longer. This will depend on your reason for using video. Each stage will include some or all of the following:
5 Gower, R. Phillips, D. Diane, Walters, S. (2010). Teaching Practice: a handbook for teachers in training. (p. 75). London: Richmond Publishing.
labelling, designing a poster or a badge, reading and colouring, playing a game and reviewing work done. At the end of pupils' hard work, allow them to view the video again for pleasure.
3.8.5 Video room management
As with any classroom aid a video will only fully contribute to the learning process if the teacher is in control of equipment and has fully planned and integrated video-based work into a lesson. Here are some tips to aid this process:
- Familiarize yourself with the video player and the remote control. Practise several times.
- Watch a sequence several times before showing it to your pupils so you know where you will want to pause, to ask questions, etc.
- Practise using the pause button, rewind, etc.
- Always check your equipment before you start your lesson. There is nothing worse than building up children's motivation ready for viewing, then when you start to play a sequence, you find you have forgotten to switch on or have not found the right place.
- Make sure all pupils can see and hear the video.
- Make sure pupils know what they have to do while viewing and why.
- Use the pause button to give pupils time to complete a task and always be prepared to give pupils second or third viewing if needed.
3.8.6 Video resources
There are a number of videos that have been made specifically for the ELT classroom which are accompanied by activity books and teacher's guides or accompany coursebooks. One of the most well-known is Muzzy in Gondoland produced by the BBC in the 1980s but still used widely. Although it is accompanied by other components including activity and workbooks, the coursebook Buzz was produced later to link into the video.
Chatterbox is accompanied by Wizadora , episodes about the antics of a witch.
More recent courses with accompanying videos are New Boomerang, Join In and New English Parade.
In addition to courses, a number of supplementary videos are available with songs and rhymes like Play it Again! or We're Kids in Britain that presents cultural aspects of life in Britain from a child's perspective. The accompanying activity book invites children to compare these with their own cultural experience.
Finally, Oxford University Press have made ELT video adaptations of the award-winning storybook Winnie the Witch and the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit animated films, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave all of which come with pupil's and teacher's books.
There are also a number of authentic sources of suitable videos but you must check copyright first.
- Animated stories: Spot series, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Funnybones, The Snowman, Rosie's Walk, etc.
- TV children's programmes
- Documentary: e.g. BBC World of Wildlife: although linguistically difficult, short sequences can be used with the necessary preparation and very specific while-viewing tasks to focus children’s attention
- Nursery rhymes: excellent cultural input to bridge the credibility gap as pupils see children singing and performing songs and rhymes
- Self-made videos: it is very motivating for children to watch a video of themselves acting out a story, singing songs, etc.
3.9 Interactive whiteboards
Interactive whiteboards it is one of the main resources in teaching English Language to very young learners. This resource enables whole-class teaching, interaction and discussion, and it is a very important d
motivation for both teachers and pupils.
We may say that interactive white boards (IWBs) are able to attract students’ attention only by combining the opportunities which are offered by computers with the simplicity of the whiteboard.
Interactive white boards, according to Jana Březinová7 motivate children because they:
- encourage active student participation in a learning activity
- let students become teachers and educate their peers with a help of a tool they really like and seem to know a lot about
- students are occupied with learning
- (^) allow watching a video and playing with it. It may be paused many times, re-played and concentrate on details. There is also time to have a classroom discussion, survey or analysis before discovering correct answers
- offer the possibility of recording a lesson and work with the recording afterwards
- are a great tool for visual learners because of the large screen
- are very easy to use either with a special pen or fingers
- allow students to come to the front of the class and demonstrating their knowledge to other students by completing a diagram, a sentence, a picture etc.
These are, of course, some positive aspects about IWB but we cannot think that classical methods are wrong. We must not forget them. The many materials and resources we have in the 21 st^ century allows us to acquire a language with the help of not only the old methods but also the new ones. Once again, it is important to take into account that new technologies may help teachers a lot, but they should not change the way we do things.
6 Goodwyn, A. and Branson, J. (2005). Teaching English: A Handbook for Primary and Secondary School Teachers Edited by (pp. 118-123) New York: RoutledgeFalmer. 7 Březinová, J. (2009). Interactive Whiteboard in Teaching English to Young Learners. (Master thesis, Masaryk University, Faculty of Education Department of English Language and Literature, Brno, Czech Republic)
- They are easy to use and to learn to use.
- They improve the social skills by having greater chances for cooperation and participation.
- The materials can be shared and re-used.
- (^) They facilitate students participation through the ability to interact with materials on the board.
3.9.3 Drawbacks of the interactive white board
- There is not always an IWB in all of our classes. They are too expensive.
- Teachers should also be trained and educate themselves to maximize the IWB potential.
- We can find some technological problems as: not having the IWB switched on or problems with pens, various technical problems or technical hic-ups.
- Many students like being in the centre of teachers' attention, they feel very comfortable with their performance and IWB offers them to prove it.
- Weaker students may be discouraged for various reasons. They may be shy; they do not know much about the topic or just do not want to be seen by the others.
- Preparation for a lesson is so time consuming.
- (^) some prepared materials may use only limited students’ interaction
3.9.4 Methodology and IWB
Motivation
Apart from what we have learnt in the previous paragraphs, with the help of IWB, we can achieve pupils’ motivation easily not just because of the equipment but the range of activities it offers. It is easier for teachers to work with pupils who are highly motivated rather than those who are bored and cannot wait for a lesson to end.
Enough visuals
All we know that learning becomes more effective if learners may use their senses. To see from different point of view, different angles, films, videos, to hear e.g. sounds of animals, musical instruments, to touch and move objects increase the effectiveness and help pupils experience subject matters.
Feedback
The way of discovering whether pupils know the subject matters and we can take a step further on. It is advised to use some kind of worksheets to receive the feedback and of course another way is testing which is certainly not a pleasant way.
Activity
IWB offers, as mentioned previously, a range of activities which will not definitely leave pupils passive. Almost everybody is interested in what is happening on the screen and they want to participate and become part of it.
Self-activity
This feature presents the idea of subsiding pupils and letting them work individually, reinforcing the acquired knowledge.
Elements of fun
Some activities prepared by teachers should contain at least some of these elements. Learning becomes more interesting and enjoyable.
Suitability
It is important to consider what age group we teach, their level of language, the environment and other aspects which may affect the learning process.
Finally, it may be essential to mention the basic principles for interactive teaching:
- Interaction is mostly a dialogue between a pupil and his/her teacher therefore the content of the lesson has to be based on that.
- The main questions of the lessons should be why, how and what for and should not be when, where and who.
- To find the right solution is possible to reach in many different ways; the teacher’s role is to show the right way.
- Own ideas, opinions are the ways to success if they meet with an appropriate feedback.
- IWB offers a team work. Let pupils create their own materials which when put together make one unit.
- Start discussions from simple to more difficult and from known to unknown facts.
3.9.5 Working with the IWB
If you have an interactive whiteboard in your classroom, there are three ways you can organise the space. Each one has implications for the sort of lesson you can teach and for the design of materials to run on the whiteboard:
Teacher stands at the front of the class and teaches the lesson actively using the whiteboard. Methodology
a) Materials for an interactive whiteboard do not have to indicate right or wrong— they should be left open.
The material doesn’t have to be right or wrong in the usual, restricted, black-or-white, binary way of computers. Nor does the computer need to indicate whether something’s correct—you are there to cover that aspect of the lesson and can withhold the answer or allow erroneous lines of thinking to progress, perhaps to allow pupils to develop their own logical approaches.
b) Ideally, deliberate gaps should be introduced into the lesson, creating space for teacher and pupils.
The materials do not need to be complete—indeed, if the picture is heavily filled in there will not be as many opportunities for class discussion. Always look for opportunities for gaps or puzzles.
