Preparing for the future

In the last chapter of the book, writen by Dudeney & Hockly, I am going to comment briefly about some aspects related to the future of technology.

In first place, technology devices are changing constantly and this fact causes great impact in people´s lifes, so the technology causes a considerable impact in education and this issue can origin new tendencies. Moroever, Dudeney & Hockly ( 2007, pg. 149) say "Lastly the pace of change will vary for different groups of teachers. Some groups will move very quickly to adopt new technologies while others will remain largely unaffected by technological changes. there will be no one big movement or trend, but rather a range of trends, some fast moving, others slow."

In second place, how can teachers keep updated and try to catch up the pace of new technologies? I believe that getting accurate, precis,e and current information from the mass media and technologies stores can help. Furthermore, in the textbook there is a useful tool called Really Simply Syndication (RSS) which is a time-saver because it reads content from blogs and websites. The RSS can be installed in the computer and it checks new postings and articles from the blogs and websites, then it downloads the headlines of these tools into the RSS reader, in a list format.

In third place, the market is growing in two main areas like distributed learning and training.

I agree with the authors that the teachers are going to have more e learning training for using the electronic tools. For example, at UNED in the Extention Department some English teachers are trained by using e learning and the videoconference room. They also have a blended course which let them improve their English profiency.

"The Web 2.0 is the transition between the World Wide Web to complete software programs. One of these collection of websites and services is social bookmarking where people keep their bookmarks or favorite information on a website instead of on their own computer. " (Dudeney & hockly, 2007, pg. 150) Precaution while analyzing the contents of the links and selecting the ones that show accuracy are two recommendations for obtaining quality websites information.

The new trend is that for language courses, students are going to use e learning and have more frequently blended courses with some complementary tools like the online groups, key pals, peer to peer voice via Skype or audio chats which give them the opportunity to interact more actively, have better synchronous, and practice the four skills at the same time.

I have been using two types of e learning programs MOODLE and WEBCT in my English program and these are good platforms. MOODLE is even easier than WebCT and it hardly had internet connectivity problems. For me, the blended courses are very interesting because you can interact with some technology tools in spite of the communication is not always synchronous. It is a good idea to incorporate more technology materials with these platforms and motivate students to have training, use technology and interact with it without any fear.

Finally, teachers have to be open mind toward incorporating technology devices in their teaching process, learn how to use technology sources and tools, being critics about the materials given, and choose the ones which are the best in quality, accuracy, content, fit the learner´s aims, needs and interests as well as with the learning purposes. These elements have to be consider in order to join technology with the teaching-learning process and obtain successful results.

E learning

E learning is a kind of learning that occurs using technology. There are some terms related to e-learning: distance learning, open learning, online learning (takes place via Internet), and blended learning (is a mixture between on- line and face to face course delivery).

Online learning is performed through a platform called Virtual Learning Environment VLE.

The students access to VLE by Internet. In addition, there are some benefits about VLE : everything is in one place, most VLEs provide tracking facilities and provide a much richer tool for learner evaluation. Some examples are Moodle and Webct.

I used in the last term of 2009, the moodle platform for advanced grammar course and then, I used in the same period WEBCT for Applied Linguistics and Literature Critics. For me, the simplest program which presented no inconveniences was Moodle. On the other hand, WEBCT had some technical problems and the lack of enough training for the teachers is a serious problem. In order to avoid this, tutors should have the experience of taking an online course and receive appropiate training, then make sure that the platform is carefully design, delivery issues are solved at the planning stage.

The subjects for the carreer in English teaching, use the blended learning because the students have face to face course lessons with on line activities. In this case, students also need orientation about using the software appropiately and get the feedback from the tutor after accomplishing the tasks given. If the activities are interestings and interactive, students are going to be more motivated and participate actively during their learning process.

There are discussion lists and online groups that can help teachers to share ideas, comments, advices, and strategies to improve English learning-teaching process. For example, there are mailing lists, discussion lists, discussion groups, and communities of practice or CoPs.

One type of discussion groups is The International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language IATEFL, which has several discussion groups and uses Yahoo! Groups. The link is http://www.iatefl.org

For communities of practice there are two kinds of groups. One is Webheads (http://www.webheads.info) This is a group of ESL/EFL teachers around the world who discuss how to use technology in their classes. The other group is Dogme (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dogme/)

There are some benefits for teachers who voluntarily susbscribe in one of these Cops groups. they can have support through their education tasks, have access to useful data like websites, guidelines, new strategies, put inpractice the new ideas and then analyse what are they doing.

Finally, I agree on the recomendation given in the textbook to belong to at least some of the groups mentioned in this chapter, if teachers want to learn new ways, get updated, and test the strategies given.

Technology based courseware

In this chapter, it is mentioned other technological tools like CR-ROMs, DVDs, Computer based testing, Electronic portafolios and Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) with their features, advantages and dowsizings, as well as tips to use them in English teaching lessons.

CD-ROMs have replaced the floppy disks. They have storage which lead them to have multimedia files to use texts, images, audio, and videos. These materials are very useful in English teaching for listening to audio (music and songs), grammar practice activities, and reading materials for learners.

DVDs have more variety of storage of data than CDs. You can see video materials like movies, sketches, and adds through a beamer and a computer or by using a DVD player.

The advantage of using CDs and DVDs is that they can be use offline.

These two materials give variety to the lessons and students can take advantages of them by listening to a short dialogue, listening and watching a movie, paying attention to the script, learn more vocabulary, idioms, and trying to understand the social context of the characters.

After watching the video, the teacher can promote groups discussions about the plot, learn new vocabulary, and give comments about the movie. In order to have success, teachers should consider the learners´needs, interests, language level, and the purposes of the English program. Short sessions for using audio and video are recommended (no more than 30 minutes) during the lessons.

Computer based testing is useful to make a diagnostic at the beginning of a course and to evaluate the student´s progress while he or she is taking an online course.

The advantages of computer based testing are: flexible in location, results are obtained more quickly, the long-term costs are considerably lower than those for face-to-face examing.

The downsizings are: the initial investment costs tend to be high and ensuring reliability in the marking of extended pieces of writing and in assessing speaking.

For example: in e learning programs like Discovery or Global English, there are two Computer based tests, one is applied at the beginning of the course for diagnosis and another test is done at the end of the course for measuring the student´s progress.

The TOIC is a test which is a computer based test. The purpose is to measure the student´s performance in the four basic language skills (reading, listening, writing, and speaking).

I used the Discoveries and the Global English tests and I did a practice similar to the TOIC test at the end of the Global English course, which was very interesting, and it had some hard parts, specially in reading comprehension where you had to scan quickly the reading in order to get the information needed and then understand some listenings tracks.

The Electronic portafolio is another useful tool for teachers to know better their students and this resource gives a wider perspective about the students´ learning progress beyond the grades obtained through tests and reports. This tool can give the opportunity to show students creativity, motivation, skills, and initiative. If teachers want to obtain success by using e portafolios, then they have to consider students´needs, interests, and the objectives for designing a portafolio.

Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) are very innovative but expensive.

Teachers can use Power point presentations and Word documents with IWBs.

These resources are useful to have presentations. Teachers can use an electronic pen to point over IWB, write on the images on the screen, highlight words, use fonts and styles.

According to evidence these resources can directly affect learners´motivation and attention levels, so teachers should try that the lesson not be teacher centered and avoid the students remain passive.

In Costa Rica, I think there are no schools neither highschools with interactive whiteboards.

We have to wait more time to get this technology.

Teachers should use the resources they have and use the technology devices the school can give them as well for planning interactive, innovative, and interesting lessons.

On line references tools

In chapter 8, there is an explanation about online references tools like: dictionarie, thesauruses, concordancers, corpuses, translators and encyclopedias.

The monolingual dictionaries are recommended for higher-level learners, but also there are other options of monolingual dictionaries available for students with lower language profiency levels. In fact, there are some characteristicts of these dictionaries presented in CD-ROMs:
1. Searchability
2. Audio Recordings of the words.
3. Games and exercises.
4. Information of typical errors.
5. the ability to bookmark and personalyse.
6. thesaurus functionality.
7. corpus informed information on frequency.

Some examples of language reference material are: A Web of line Dictionaries (Beard, 1996, http://www.facstaff.bucknelledu/rbeard/diction.html), WWWebster Dictionary (2000, http://www.m-w.com/netdict.htm), Collins Student´s Dictionary Online (http://springbank.linguistics.ruhruni-bochum.de/ccsd),
Newbury House Online Dictionary (http://nhd.heinle.com/)

Thesauruses are more specialized dictionaries which have synonyms and antonyms. These are appropiated for intermediate and advanced students. These resources can extend the students vocabulary. Webster dictionary has a thesaurus like a small book or you can visit the link http.//thesaurus.reference.com

"A concordancer is acomputer program that counts and lists the ocurrences of a given term, showing examples of its use from a corpus (or body) of text." (Dudeney & Hockly, 2007, pg. 183)
Some concordancing programs are Monoconc (http://www.monoconc.com/), Concordance (http://www.concordancesoftware.co.uk/), Paraconc (http://www.athel.com/), Wordsmith Tools (http://www.lexically.net/wordsmith/index.html)

"A Corpus is an amount of collected texts, held in a computer, which can be accessed and anlysed by means of a concordancer. Corpuses can be based on spoken text, or on written text." (Dudeney & Hockly, 2007, pg. 183) Examples of corpuses are: British national Corpus (http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/), COBUILD (http://www.collins.co.uk/books.asp?group=155),
International Corpus of English (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/english-usage/projects/ice-gb/index.htm), American National Corpus (http://americannationalcorpus.org/), and
Bank of English (http://www.collins.co.uk/Corpus/CorpusSearch.aspx)

These tools are valuable for teachers in order to prepare quizzes, exams and other written practices. This is recommended for higher-level students.
Personally, I will use them to evaluate vocabulary and grammar content for second cycle or for high school students.

Translators are not well develpoed and they have inconveniences. They do not translate long sentences or complete paragraphs, only they translate few words and the quality is not good.
I do not recommend to support completely in this tool for writing purposes.

Encyclopedias are other materials that are also presented in CD-ROMs. They are very useful and updated frequently. One specialized English dictionary is Webopedia On Line Computer Dictionary for internet Terms and Technical Support (http://webopedia.com). These resources are appropiate for extra activities like biographies, web projects, history, etc.

Teachers should keep in mind their learning goals, then planned the activities according to these goals and select the most appropiate internet tools in order to accomplish the objectives proposed.

Taken from: Gavin Dudeney & Nicky Hockly. "How to teach English with technology". Pearson Education Limited. Malaysia, 2007
Warsschauer M., Shetzer H. &meloni, C. "Internet for Englsih teaching". TESOL, Office of English Language Programs. Virginia, USA, 2002.

The Use of Technology in the classroom

Today, I am going to explain the importance of technology in the classroom, some problems that teachers have to face in EFL teaching, attitudes to technonolgy, and strategies that teachers can apply in order to overcome fears, limitations and problems of implementing technology in the classrooms.

Technology has become one of the most important tools in different activities, like in administrative jobs, finances, scientific researchs, business, and in education. Technology in education provides many benefits to the teachers and learners as well. For example, according to the textbook (Dudeney& Hockly, 2007,pg. 7-8) Internet access is becoming increasingly available and mobile, young learners are growing and getting exposed to different technology devices, internet allows to contact and communicate with people of different geographical and disperse regions, these tools can give learners the opportunity to practice English in all the four main skills (speaking, listening, writing, and reading) and technology presents new tasks and materials.

In an article written by Carlos A. Mayora (2006, pg.15) called "Integrating Multimedia Technology in a High School EFL Program", he mentions some factors that contribute to the lack of success with EFL in high schools in Venezuela and in many other countries like:

1. Insufficient time for instruction.

2. Overcrowded classrooms.

3. Mixed-ability classes.

4. Low salaries for teachers.

5. Use of untrained English teachers.

In the article "Integrating multimedia technology", Mayora (2006, pg. 15-16) refers to some advantages of using multimedia in the classroom like:

1. Allows students to work individually at a computer station, at their own pace, amd according to their own needs.

2. Helps teachers to deal more effectively with a large group of students.

3. Makes the introduction and presentation of content more dynamic and attractive for students.

4. Increases student motivation due to the interactive nature of activities.

5. Promotes a task-based approach to learning.

6. Allows students to experience real-life and communicatively meaningful language situations and contexts.

7. Introduces a variety of print, audio, and visual materials that match different student learning styles and preferences.

In the textbook (Dudeney & Hockley, 2007, pg.8-9) , there are four important concepts related to the attitudes of technology. A technophobe is someone who is afraid of new technology. On the other hand, a digital native is someone who grows up using technology and feels comfortable and confident with it.

A digital immigrant is a person who has come late to the world of technology.

A technogeek is a technology enthusiast and the opposite is the technophobe.

Mayora explains that "it is important to change teachers´attitudes toward technology. This is the biggest step in the direction of TELL. He says teachers can begin little by little, such as transitioning from audiocassettes to CDs and then moving gradually toward videocasettes and DVDs. Talk to school administrators and headmasters and generate interest in investing in a small multimedia area with two or three computers." (Mayora, 2006, pg.19-20)

Besides, Mayora emphasizes "whatever you use it for in the classroom, it is not going to do the job for you. You will still have a great responsability as a conscientious materials developer and adviser to develop the multimedia activities and to train students in their proper use." (Mayora, 2006, pg. 20)

Finally, Mayora concludes that "...technology use in language instruction must be based on sound pedagogical and theoretical principles, and that both teachers and technology are part of an interrelated system." (Mayora, 2006, pg.20)

Taken from:

Mayora, C.A. "Integrating Multimedia Technology in a High School EFL Program", 2006

English teaching Forum, Volume 44, Number 3, pages 14-20

Dudeney, G. & Hockly, N. "How to teach English with technology" Pearson Education limited, Malaysia, 2007.

Producing electronic materials

These electronic materials are very useful tools.
Teachers can use them for different purposes such as: reinforcing grammar, writting,
vocabulary and also reading skills.
The teachers and their students can create their own material or there are other practices that
can be found in the web.

The social software types and usages

There are different types of social software. The book focuses on blogs, wikis, and podcasts.

For me , it is the first time that I use a blog. The experience has been very interesting. Besides, you need to be disciplined, organized, and very precise when writing your ideas.

I think the link for creating the blog www.blogger.com is very easy to use and very useful.

Also there are other links related to create a personal blog like www.hi5.com, facebook or www.tagged.com

I consider an advantage to choose which people you want to invite for participating in sharing ideas and comments through the blogs. Another advantage is that the information cannot be changed unless you allow the others to do it. This is a way to practise English and comment on one particular topic. Students can show creativity, too.

The wikis are public web pages and are more dynamic than the blogs, but there is no chronological order and the pages can be change freely by many people. One of the most known wikis page is the wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org). This tool is very useful, but you need to be critic about the contents and the resources used in those webpages. In fact, there are teachers who do not recommend the wikipedia as one of the main search tools for research projects, because the ideas can have lack of scientific support.

In this course, it was my first time using a podcast. This is another useful tool. Teachers can record their voices for different purposes: to emphasize listening and pronunciation skills by telling a story, reading about science topics, phonetics, music, etc. Students can use this tool to make comments on a particular topic, do a survey or an interview too. Besides, teachers can use a laptop with speakers, or a USD with MP3 format and a tape recorder with MP3 format as technology devices. They do not need to repeat the same thing several times, instead with the audio software is much easier for students to pay attention to the tape and listen it again.

This is an interactive and very creative tool.

Finally, these softwares are available and teachers need some training, but it is not complicated.

Some links for podcasts software are www.podomatic.com , www.bbc.co.uk , www.free-audio-editor.com

Free sites for wikis are: www.pbwiki.com, http://www.mediawiki.org/ , http://wikihost.org

Some free blogs are: http://www.blogger.com http://wordpress.org, http://www.bahraichblogs.com/ http://www.getablog.net/portal3.php

http://www.ezblogworld.com/