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Teach English in Shuangxi Zhen - Hanzhong Shi

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Shuangxi Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Hanzhong Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language.

When opting to use computer software for language learning, there will be different opinions. Oftentimes, more traditional teachers swear by the notion that using computers removes the heart of human interaction. Therefore, this can make the learners uncommunicative and building rapport is close to impossible. On the other hand, teachers who are more open to technological advancements believe that computers aid in making language teaching and learning more convenient to both teachers and students. Both sides actually have a fair point. The former can validate that simply dumping students on computers for countless of hours without any thought whatsoever could be pointless since students of different levels must be tailored with lessons that are appropriate and will address any area of difficulty in learning. The latter can argue that taking advantage of this readily available technology will basically provide assistance for the teacher in interacting with the students through multimedia applications and other positively provoking tools such as games, videos, sounds, images and texts that supplement the contents of the lesson. In an online ESL (English as a Second Language) workplace, some teachers have not yet developed the skill in utilizing the company’s computer software in their teaching. This is somewhat understandable since training required to maximize the full potential of these programs may be time-consuming or even costly. This is most especially true for older teachers who have not had the privilege in being taught the basics of computer technology at school unlike most young teachers who probably have had a decent amount of understanding of computer usage during their elementary, high school and/or college years. This begs the question, “How do we compromise both ideas to optimize learning?” The first thing to do is to change the mentality of teachers when it comes to using computers. Computers were not created to replace humans. Their fundamental function is to make work easier and faster. They should be seen as tools in paving the way for classrooms to fit in a digital age whilst not sacrificing the knowledge that teachers have acquired when using the proper overall approach in ESL teaching. There are various computer software nowadays that ESL companies use as their platform in going about their classes. These not only include the students (1v1 or group classes) in real time, but also have the teacher present as well. Chat boxes are built-in in these software to add variety to communication and to develop both receptive (listening and reading) and productive (writing and speaking) skills. Free trial (FT) lessons are offered to students where teachers conduct their lessons in an online platform. From a screen, the students and teachers have access to contents that include interactive activities. These contents and activities are chronologically tailored for engage, study and activate phases. The type of ESA lesson incorporated in the modules will depend upon the lesson content but they basically start with Engage and end with Activate phases. It is in the FT lessons where students can decide whether or not the school is worth investing in for their education before they actually pay for lessons. On the teachers’ side, FT lessons are for assessing the level of the student and to prepare lesson memos to know the strengths and weaknesses. The student’s information in terms of performance in the FT will be stored in the company’s database as basis for the teacher to review so that he/she will be prepared on how to handle the next regular lesson. Moreover, it is important to note that just as in a place-based classroom where the teacher is not encouraged to follow or use the course book all the time because it can be predictable, an online platform also allows the teacher to be more discrete in approaching the lesson. The teacher does not have to always follow the teacher’s guide because the way a student reacts to different parts of the lesson must be met with flexibility to ensure that the class is still interesting. Additionally, because the students can watch themselves on the screen of the computer, they have some sort of autonomy on how they go about their learning and it helps them to be more conscious in the learning process which would increase their focus. To prevent the students from being unruly, especially younger learners, some online classrooms also have an “authorize” button which gives the teacher the discretion to restrict or allow the student to gain access to a certain content or tool in the lesson. In conclusion, there is no need to be reluctant in advancing the educational platform through the use of computer technology. It is the thought given on how to best use it that ultimately determines if it is advantageous or disadvantageous.


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