High Tech Teaching
7 Technologies You Should Be Using in Class
To say we live in a world of technology is
an understatement.
Technology surrounds us from the moment
our IPhones' alarms wake us up until we fall asleep reading our kindles. So why
is it that we don’t use technology to its full advantage in the classroom?
Yes, we may have a computer in the corner or free Wi-Fi for our students, but
the world of technology has so much more to offer teachers and students if we
just take the time to learn about it bring it into our classrooms. The good
news is if you are reading this you are taking a step along the right path.
Here you can learn about eight different technologies that will take your
classroom from great to stellar. So what are we waiting for? Here’s what you
need to know to create your own high tech classroom.
7 Technologies You
Should Be Using in Class
1
Smart
Phones
If you are
teaching a class of internationals, odds are your students all have smart phones at their disposals. Use them. Smart
phones are great resources for ESL teachers. You probably don’t have a computer
in your room for every one of your students, but with smart phones you don’t
need to. Your students can surf the net, do research, set up and use email, and
use applications that will help them as they learn the English language. Don’t
stop there, however. Use those smart phones to record students’ speaking and
presentation skills, and then have students review their videos and grade
themselves.
2
Power
Point
Power Point
presentations are often a given in classrooms today, but are you using them to
their full potential?
Some teachers think a simple cut and paste with their lecture notes makes an
adequate presentation. While that will help your ESL students, in particular
with unfamiliar
vocabulary
and English spelling, you can do so much more in a presentation. You can embed
videos and songs in them. You can show pictures and diagrams. I don’t have time
to talk about it all here, but do yourself and your students a favor and learn
about all the options power point has to offer for lively and useful visuals in
class.
3
YouTube
Oh, how I love
YouTube!
I can find a video on just about any subject I am teaching my students. These
videos are great for teaching new vocabulary, exposing my students to different
accents and types of spoken English, and for giving them a model for
presentations they will give to their classmates. But you can also find
language lessons, instructional videos, and move clips on YouTube. We are past
the age of cueing up a VHS tape to the clip we want to show in class. Instead,
find the snippet you are looking for on YouTube and play it for your class that
way. (Or email them a link so they can watch it on their smart phones.)
4
Digital
Books
Do you remember
your younger years, dragging backpacks full of books around from one class to another? No more. With the
digital publishing age, you can have a thousand books at your disposal at any
time, right in your pocket! You may still use text books in your class, but
even so digital books can be a huge asset to your classroom. Did you know that
many libraries now lend e-books? And that those books can be imported to your
Kindle device or app for the length of the loan? When students read books in
kindle, they can easily get a definition (in English) of unfamiliar words as
well as hear that word spoken. And there are plenty of other ways to get
digital books for free through aps or websites, a great resource for teachers
on a budget. So don’t let yourself be chained to the page. Consider using an
e-book the next time you give your students a reading assignment.
5
Dropbox/Google
Docs/Edomo
File sharing sites
such as Dropbox, Google Docs, and Edomo are great for keeping up communication with your students. You can share
worksheets, homework assignments, reading passages, and completed homework with
your students with the click of a button. Not to mention they are free – a word
that is music to most teachers’ ears. And if you are teaching young students, you
don’t have to have your own website to communicate with their parents (although
that is great if you can swing it). Put your communications in your file
sharing favorite and let parents cut and paste into an online translator, and
your relationships with your students’ parents will move to a whole new level.
6
Virtual
Field Trips
Not many schools
can give ESL teachers the resources to take their students out of the classroom
on a regular basis.
But with virtual field trips, you can bring the world into your classroom.
Free, online field trips include the National Zoo in Washington D.C., the
Statue of Liberty, the White House, and the Louvre. In the age of technology,
the world is simple a click away. Click it right into your classroom and give
your students an experience they will never forget.
7
Google
Earth
I know you’ve
assigned your students to talk about their dream vacation location, write about
their hometown, or do activities using maps in class. Bring those
assignments to a whole new level with Google Earth. With it, your students can
(virtually) be in the places they are talking and writing about. They can visit
each other’s homes, explore the world, and have a realistic experience of a
location they might otherwise only dream of.
Technology has so much to offer teachers
and students.
It’s up to us to seek out the high tech
resources that will best benefit each of our classrooms. I hope after reading
this you have some ideas on how to bring technology into your classroom in new
and exciting ways. Remember, the world is only a click away.
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