Teach English in Zitongmiao Zhen - Bazhong Shi

Summative Task WHAT ACTIVITIES CAN BE USED WHEN TEACHING ONLINE Lucy BRYANT | ITTT TEFL | 29/07/19  Introduction In this summative task I will be looking at which activities to use when teaching online. As with any language class, students need to be involved as much as possible to keep their attention and interest. This can be particularly challenging when you are teaching online rather than face to face. With technological advancement and global mobility, online learning is becoming more and more popular. It negates the need for travel time and allows both learner and teachers to have language classes where and when is convenient for them. I will be looking at: 1. Opportunities and challenges for online language classes 2. Activities to use during a typical Engage, Study and Activate lesson plan. 3. Activities focusing on Receptive Skills 4. Activities focusing on Productive Skills 1. Opportunities and challenges for online classes More and more learners are learning online. As a teacher, being able to successfully teach online widens your student market, leading to business growth on a potentially global scale. There are quite a few tools available to students now to ensure you can interact well with the students. One popular example of this is Zoom which enables video use to see each other, multiple students to participate, surveys, interactive whiteboards and the ability to share documents and pages. Online learning can be very convenient for students who can study at a time and location which suits them, without the need for travel. Some students may also feel more relaxed and motivated learning in their own surroundings. It is more challenging to build rapport which is an important part of language learning and motivation. Teachers must spend time finding out about the students and ensure the classes are always interesting and varied. Online teachers cannot use simple techniques they would use in the classroom such as eye contact, gestures, flash cards, writing on a board and must use other tools instead such as photo sharing, interactive white boards and rely on their voice and using students first names. Students also need to get to know the teacher and potentially other students as they will naturally have less group belonging. Ice breakers and Elicitation techniques are good for this such as ‘getting to know each other’ games, visual pictures, interactive games. 2. Activities to use during a typical Engage, Study and Activate lesson plan. With online learning teacher often have to work harder to arouse interest and get students involved. It will of course depend on the size of the class, age, level and motivation but here are some suggestions of typical activities I find work well with online language classes. ENGAGE To ‘warm’ the students up and get them thinking and speaking in English straight away, I would always try and select a game/topic which links into the rest of the lesson. Such as : • Introducing themselves/each other • Games such as lists on an interactive whiteboard, accumulator (I went to the shops and I bought…), quick fire (clothes vocab) • Discuss photos • Fizz / buzz number game • Alphabet games • Mimes (via video) on a topic (i.e. daily routine…) • Follow on questions (i.e. favourite clothes to wear… in a particular season, where to, why etc) STUDY 1. Elicitation (on interactive white board) – such as group gap filling 2. Presentation of the language i.e. explain the present tense and use white board, video sharing etc 3. Drilling – use choral repetition to practice what you’ve learnt via the video call 4. Exercises – together using white board or individually / in pairs depending on how many students you have and how the online class is set up. ACTIVATE Now for the students to use the language. The teacher should focus on fluency rather than accuracy. With online classes, teacher need to do careful planning in advance and ensure they explain all activities carefully, going through examples together and checking understanding before they start. • Survey each other or the teacher via video • Debate a topic as a group via video • Role plays (i.e. in a restaurant) using video and white board • Discuss a holiday brochure via video 3. Activities focusing on Receptive Skills I find practicing listening skills through online classes works well using the audio and video as well as sharing sound bites and videos. The interactive whiteboard can be used for developing reading skills. Teachers can prepare and send reading exercises in advance for students to do at home. The activity must be explained in advance and the topic already covered. This is then a great way for them to practice the language individually and further develop reading skills. Then in the class, they can go through the answers together. 4. Activities focusing on Productive Skills The technology available (i.e. video, audio) lends itself well to developing speaking skills. Especially in the Activate stage with role plays and debates etc. To help with Pronunciation and Phonology, teachers can use the tools available online to do language drills and choral repetition. I often teach tongue twisters which they practice at home and have fun all trying it in the next class. The interactive whiteboard is also useful to help with writing skills and spelling. Teachers can prepare a gap filling exercise in advance to do as a group via the whiteboard and video. Students can practice their writing skills at home with activities explained in class and correct together the following class. Example of this are work searches, gap filling etc. Giving lots of feedback and encouragement. Conclusion When done well, online learning can be very successful. There are several activities well suited to online learning from icebreakers to role plays in the active phase. There are particular requirements of a teacher when teaching online such as use of the voice, getting to know the students, building rapport, giving feedback and encouragement. Teachers should create different activities for homework and online classes to encourage high participation and develop all skills whether Receptive or Productive.