Reading and writing skills and technology

Hi

It is amazing to note how time flies. I arrived last Sunday from the north, conducted workshops for the teachers in the capital, then left for the south, about 500km this time, to return this afternoon. In addition to all this, I still taught my 20 hours of class.

The best of all was the very relevant topic we had this week. Valuable resources were shared by the lecturers and by the various course participants. Several good examples of lesson plans were also posted in the class discussion. Nadina presented an interesting interactive lesson plan on tree appreciation.

I enjoyed reading the article by Jarek Krajika,'using the Internet in ESL writing Instruction'.His article, “Using the Internet in ESL Writing Instruction”, presents a good summary of various work done on using web pages, e-mail connection and creating class websites, to enhance the teaching of writing. Some of the summaries Krajka highlighted were that of; Wilkinson (1996), prompted teachers to include e-mail in their classes by supplying them with useful, how-to steps. Tan et al. (1999) presented how lessons can include a combination of off-line and on-line instruction. Nagel (1999) dealt with more advanced issues like how to be most effective and get optimal use with e-mail as an instructional tool and he also presented some possible solutions for problem cases. Fox (1998) explains how the Internet can be used to boost students’ learning English and integrating the on-line component with the broad curriculum.

In addition the article list some advantages of on-line lessons such as; lessons provides recency to the classroom, linking current issues with English learning, variety of choice, presenting the unique opportunity to find a topic of personal interest, cooperative learning, in report back sessions class is exposed to a variety of current issues. The students’ cultural awareness is developed. They use authentic material and additionally motivated since they are using the computer to complete the task. The great thing about using topics which are discussed now, is that it can be linked to what is in the newspapers. This leads to an extension of lass activities.

Furthermore the article presents some options as to how to incorporate the on-line component into the curriculum. The students’ level of English should be not be lower than intermediate level and they should be computer literate.

The teacher is not kicked out of the on-line class but is part of the process. The teacher should be very well prepared for the lesson, knowing exactly what will happen at the click of the next button. Furthermore the teacher should have some technical know how in the absence of a lab technician. In addition, the teacher must have a plan B, in case of a breakdown. I've experienced very tight moments in the lab without the technician. I comprehend why teachers/lecturers must have technical know how to deal with minor problems. At times a cord is accidentally removed other times the students use the wrong log in codes.

According to Krajka the success of the on-line lesson further depends on the resources at hand. The teacher must have access to a computer lab, with Internet connection and students should either have their own computers or work in pairs on one computer.

Krajka stressed the fact that the success of an on-line component depends on the level, secondary school, 4-6 hours of mostly grammar instruction per week with one hour dedicated to on-line learning.

The article further presents great practical examples to teach, the formal and informal letter, a biography, various descriptions, an argument, notices and advertisements, a description or review, a newspaper report and the personal opinion essay.

He concludes that the Net is a tool that must be incorporated in face-2-face lessons.

I found the article very useful and easy to read.

Regards
Juliet

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Krajka-WritingUsingNet.html