1. Applying ICT Nick Cherkas nick.cherkas@britishcouncil.org 2011

2. Session Aim To introduce you to tools and activities which you can use and adapt to integrate ICT into your classroom and syllabus.

3. Learning Outcomes By the end of this session you will have: Seen and practised using three online teaching tools Seen demonstrations of, and practised using, lesson and activity ideas in different areas of ICT (e.g. Web 2.0, Office applications) * see next slide Examined the advantages and disadvantages of using ICT in the classroom and developed key points to remember for their personal situation.

4. Areas of ICT Office applications Web 2.0 Online writing – solo and collaborative Social networking Listening and Speaking

5. Your experience of learning technologies 1) When did you first use a computer? 2) When did computers become part of your life? 3) When did you first use computers in the classroom (as a teacher or as a student)? 4) What learning technologies do you have access to in your school? 5) Have you used learning technologies in your teaching? What did you use? How did you use it? 6) Are there any learning technologies you have access to but you don’t use? Why not?

6. Why should you use ICT? Interactive – it can give feedback and evaluation and, unlike a teacher, never tires of giving feedback repeatedly Multimedia – it provides a combination of media (text, graphics, sound, and video) in one place IT skills acquired – students learn IT skills Student paced – students can work through the material at their own speed Variety = Fun! – novel and entertaining, and can add variety to courses Presentation quality – work on the computer is often neat Authentic – content of CD-ROMs and the Internet is often written by native speakers Real communication – lots of ‘community’ functions on the Internet such as forums, email etc. Storage – you can save work for future access and sharing Motivating – for all the above reasons

7. And what are the challenges? Technical issues – if technical support is not easily available, teachers may need more training, or be confident enough to ask their learners if they know how to solve the problem IT skills required – for software and the Internet Mixed ability and degrees of comfort with technology – both learners and teachers Student objections – students may have had bad learning experiences in the past, they may use computers excessively in other subjects Can seduce teachers – “I’ll get a coffee while they get on with it”, “I haven’t had time to plan a lesson – I’ll take them into the computer room” etc. Need to be careful about technology leading pedagogy, and using technology as an easy option Integration problems – teachers don’t use the equipment and software available Classroom management – teachers may have to change their classroom management techniques Accuracy of language and appropriacy of content on the Internet may not always be suitable Distraction – many Internet sites have a lot of distracting advertisements, and it’s easy for learners to get lost

8. Office applications 1. Where have all the verbs gone? 2. Weed read

9. Microsoft Word in the classroom Is … Easy to edit and adapt Easy to keep Professional looking Conducive to negotiation and communication Multilevel friendly But  … Needs to be managed to ensure that one student does not control everything Can be unsuitable for longer or more complex text, unless you edit the text carefully

10. PowerPoint in the classroom … Includes variety and multimedia Looks good – motivating and rewarding for students Prepared in advance – can be edited & saved  …  Can lead to lack of interaction  Danger of DEATH BY POWERPOINT 

11. Web 1.0 / 2.0? The Internet is mainly for reading only. The content on the Internet is controlled by the users. Web content is available through a variety of media. Content on the Web is mostly text based. It is easy for users to publish content. Web content can be delivered to the user when it is published. It is possible to leave comments on other people’s content. Web users can work collaboratively regardless of time and distance. You need to register and sign into websites. There are few content creators on the Web. Users’ profiles are available for other users to see. Content can be shared easily between websites. It is not possible to tag content, i.e. give content keywords which makes the content easier to be found when using search terms. Based on Cormode, G. & Krishnamurthy, B. "Key differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0" First Monday [Online], Volume 13 Number 6 (25 April 2008). Online at http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2125/1972, last accessed November 2008 The interactive web, AKA Web 2.0. Which of these statements apply to Web 2.0 and which to Web 1.0 (the internet before it was interactive)?

12. Collaborative writing - Wikis TrueFalse Wikis are usually written by one person.♣ Wikis are always web based.♣ The readers of the site can edit the content, making changes to what has previously been written by other readers. ♣ You can usually see a ‘history’ of changes made to the content and/or revert back to earlier versions. ♣ You need to know how to write HTML/code websites to use a wiki.♣ Wikis can be on any subject.♣ It is not possible to protect a wiki from editing by people who are not invited. ♣ Wikis cost lots of money to set up.♣ Wikis are always neat and carefully built.♣

13. Using Wikis Wikis are usually written by one person. Wikis are always web based. The readers of the site can edit the content, making changes to what has previously been written by other readers. You can usually see a ‘history’ of changes made to the content and/or revert back to earlier versions. You need to know how to write HTML/code websites to use a wiki. Wikis can be on any subject. It is not possible to protect a wiki from editing by people who are not invited. Wikis cost lots of money to set up. Wikis are always neat and carefully built. Wikis are collaborative working areas. They can be written by one person but are generally not. Similar activities could be done using a word processor and track changes but this solution would not offer some of the main benefits of using a wiki such as publishing. It is possible in many wikis to set the level of permissions so only approved people can make changes. This is one of the main features of most wikis. Most wikis provide a text editor that can be used just like a word processor. Some wikis, such as Wikipedia, require a special mark-up language to create links and formatting but this is not as complex as HTML or other computer languages. Imagination is the only boundary. Some wikis charge for this level of permission but mostly this function is freely available. Most wiki tools usually have a number of plans available with some advanced features (such as branding, back-ups, hierarchical permissions) that require a fee. However, basic plans are free. Everything in this session can be done for free. Wiki content is created by users so would not be of ‘professional’ quality at times.

14. Social networking Over to you! Your students use facebook all the time to communicate – but how can you use facebook as a tool in class?

15. Listening and speaking Short clips Bandwidth and connection speed Authenticity Preparation time Suitability of content Variety of topic Being up-to-date Reliability Quality Can lead to autonomous development Student centred Engaging Here are a list of pros and cons of using online video clips. Decide whether each one is a pro or a con. Some could be both. Be prepared to justify and explain your choice. Add any more to the list that you can think of.

16. Listening and speaking Short clips = Pro Watching video, especially authentic video can be very demanding for students, so short clips are less demanding on student attention span and can be exploited more easily for repeated viewing. Bandwidth and connection speed = Con You need a reliable fast connection to view video online, especially if you have a number of students all watching simultaneously from different computers Authenticity = Pro + Con Authentic video and authentic language can be very motivating for students, but it can also be very difficult for them to understand. Preparation time = Con Using video clips from the Internet often means that you have to find appropriate clips and prepare the materials yourself. This can be very time consuming. Suitability of content = Pro + Con The wide range of materials available online means that you can find something to link into almost any topic, but it also means that there is a lot of very inappropriate materials available that you wouldn’t want your students to see. Also many sites contain advertising which further raises questions about suitability. It’s also important to think about the suitability of the video with regards to the syllabus. It’s been known for teachers to use videos in order to kill time without any specific learning objectives. Variety - Pro There is now a huge amount of video content on the Web so you can find pretty much anything you want.

17. Listening and speaking Being up-to-date = Pro You can find materials that are very up-to-date and relate to what is currently happening in your students’ lives. Reliability = Con Websites, internet connections and the URLs can be very unreliable. Video clips that you find online in one place on one day can be gone by the next. – You can use Jing to combat this Quality = Con The visual and audio quality of many online clips can be very poor. Autonomous development = Pro Helping your students to exploit online video and understand how to stop / start / pause the video player as they do tasks can help them to become more autonomous learners. Student centred = Pro + Con The abundance of video content means students can focus on topics that interest them. Giving students the opportunity to work on the tasks on their own computer means that they can control the pace of the lesson and work at their own speed. This also means that some students may finish much faster than others. Engaging = Pro Because video content is controllable, can be on any topic and contains audio and visual elements, learning through videos can be a very engaging process.

18. Action Plan Think about what we have covered in today’s session How will you use any new ideas which have come out of this workshop?

19. Three more tools for teaching http://vocaroo.com/ Record and send voice emails http://mailvu.com/ Record and send video emails http://www.techsmith.com/jing/ Record a video, with sound, of the content of your computer screen.

20. Thank you for taking part… …and good luck with using your ideas! nickcherkas@britishcouncil.org Facebook: Nick Cherkas