Learning English Through Technology

INTRODUCTION

by Tania Abad & Vivian Morales

The intent of this WebQuest is to help students in the use and appreciation of different technological tools to learn English as a Foreign Language. They will need to apply some given background information and will have to write their first paragraph using Web2 tools. The best way to learn anything is by doing it. We need to remember these wise words: "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." (Confucius).  Moreover, teachers and students will be expose to technology and resources that they may not have used before and can be an excellent way to improve their learning process in a collaborative way. Finally, this WebQuest will help to teachers and students do the writing process in a different and interactive  way.   

TEACHER INTRODUCTION

Technology is a group of knowledge applied to create tools, collect materials, and improve skills or a previous activity. It deals with the creation and use of technical means for and their interrelation with life, society, and different knowledge areas.  During the last years technology has been rapidly expanding in all fields, therefore changing our lives completely.

Something to reflect on:

If we are ready to use new tools in our life or working space, could you think about an answer to the following questions?:

IS IT POSSIBLE TO USE A SMART PHONE FOR LEARNING?               a. YES   b. NO DO YOU USE A GOOGLE ACCOUNT FOR RECEIVING FEEDBACK ABOUT YOUR LEARNING?               a.YES   b.NO WHY IS TECHNOLOGY ESSENTIAL FOR LEARNING A LANGUAGE IN AN EASIER WAY?          a. Because it’s demanding for me at work.          b. It’s not easy to learn at my age.          c. I don’t agree with learning through                              technology.

Go to the following website,  watch and listen to the videos by clicking on the links below:     

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWeZQi1IIwc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z2sfSy_6lA.

TASK

       Your task is to:

1. Preview several Web 2.0 applications/youtube/wiki/blogs.
2. Answer to the questions presented in the next tab: “Process”.
3. Get together with your classmates to create a brainstorming or a mind map.
4. Read about how to organize your ideas in an outline.
5. Share your ideas with your colleagues or classmates.
6. Present your paragraph and share your experiences.

PROCESS

First, to start with your creative writing, you need to answer to the following questions. This will help you to brainstorm your ideas and then to organize them in an outline as in the following example:

Now it is time to start: Read, think and answer to the questions by clicking in this wiki link: https://tanvi-englishtasks.wikispaces.com/BRAINSTORMING+AND+OUTLINE

The code to enter to the wiki page is: 9JJFJN7 and it expires on October 4th,2014

1. List five things you can currently do if you learn English with technology:

2. ____________________________________________.

3. ____________________________________________.

4. ____________________________________________.

5. ____________________________________________.

6. ____________________________________________.  

Answer to the following questions:

1. What is 21st century learning as it would pertain to ELL’s?

2. Why is technology essential for ELLs?

3. How technology be used in ELL programs?

Time to Brainstorm

• Take a minute, think about your answers and share your ideas with your classmates brainstorming them in the following WIKI PAGE:

                 https://tanvi-englishtasks.wikispaces.com/BRAINSTORMING+AND+OUTLINE

• Use any mind map or by listing your ideas try to find out the following:                   

“Is technology a good tool for Learning English?”

• Check out the following examples, and feel free to look for any other mind map with which you feel comfortable.

• In the same wiki page:

https://tanvi-englishtasks.wikispaces.com/BRAINSTORMING+AND+OUTLINE

organize an outline in which your classmates will participate by adding ideas to write about Learning English through technology. Go to the link below to check out how to write an outline for a paragraph. http://www.une.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/12313/WE_Paragraphs_Academic-writing.pdf

• After finishing your outline, write your own paragraph on the following blog: http://tanvienglishtasks.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/learning-english-through-technology/
• Take your time to read your classmates paragraphs and give your opinion. This will enrich your knowledge and motivate your classmates.

This is how your work will be evaluated:

The next chart presents a rubric where “1” is  the lowest score and”5” is the highest. Considering that all communication strategies are being used ( production , reception, interaction and negotiation) in this evaluation, “1” means the student has not reached the goal of the task and “5” means that student has completely reached the objective. 

SCORE: FROM 1 - 5

To sum up what it was done during this WebQuest, we can say that it has been challenging to teach and help adult students to produce one of the four important skills in language, in this case writing by using different Web 2.0 tools.

At the beginning most of the students thought it was going to be difficult to work in the WebQuest, youtube, wiki, and the blog,  but as you can see in the evaluation chart, most of them worked and interact with some other students to finally produce a  paragraph and to give their opinions in the requested blog. 

In this way it has been shown that anyone can learn when using technology in an interactive, fun, and creative way. Finally, it is worth to repeat these wise words "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." (Confucius).