Using Computers for Teaching and Learning English
1. The Use of the Internet for Teachers
Finding relevant websites
There are many websites that provide information and
material for teaching and learning English including TEFL, TESL and TESOL
websites. Even when the materials are not directly relevant, teachers can often
adapt them and get useful ideas for creating their own materials.
To find relevant websites, you can type keywords into the address bar of a browser program such as Internet Explorer, or you
can use a search engine website e.g.
Google (www.google.com) (generally
considered to be one of the best search engines).
When searching:
i. enclose phrases in quotation marks e.g. “EFL Learners”
ii. use more than one keyword to narrow down your search
(e.g. EFL and interactive)
iii. put a + sign in front of each additional keyword to
include it in the search e.g. EFL +resources. This finds websites that refer to
both EFL and resources.
iv. put a - sign in front of each additional keyword to
exclude it from the search e.g. EFL -resources. This finds websites that refer
to EFL but not to resources.
Using search engines such as Google, you can search
for a variety of types of files including webpages, images, Word documents,
Powerpoint presentations and ‘pdf files’ (i.e. documents that retain all their
formatting and can be viewed and printed using the free program called Adobe
Acrobat Reader).
Teachers can use the Internet in different ways
including:
c) Reviewing and purchasing books and
computer programs
d) Downloading computer programs
e) Getting lesson plans, worksheets and
presentations
f) Downloading clipart including
images, sounds, animations and videos for insertion into documents
Information and advice about both teaching and
computing can be obtained from a variety of websites on the Internet including
websites of language teaching organisations, such as:
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ICT
- Information and Communications Technology for Language Teachers |
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TEFL.NET - Teaching Tips
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Becta - British Educational
Communications and Technology Agency
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CILT – Centre for Information on
Language Teaching and Research
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TESOL – Teachers of English for
Speakers of Other Languages
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The Internet TESL Journal
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IATEFL – International Association of Teachers of English
as a Foreign Language
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OUP Language Teachers Club
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Bell
Schools' website – includes a list of resources for English teachers
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MacMillan
Resources
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JALTCALL
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ELT
News
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b) Communicating
with other language teachers (and students)
Teachers can communicate with others involved in
teaching by joining mailing lists and discussion groups on language teaching
organisations’ and language teaching websites such as:
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Dave’s ESL
Cafe
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TEFL Forum
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Longman Discussion
Teacher Forum
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Aardvark
English Forum Teaching Links
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Information and sample material for books and computer
programs can be found on publishers’ and language teaching organisations’
websites. You can read reviews, follow
web links, get ideas for using materials, run demonstrations and order
materials. There are often extra materials (including additional exercises,
lesson notes etc.) for language books. Examples can be found at these websites:
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Wida Software
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Educational Software
Products
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Eurotalk Interactive
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Intense Educational Ltd.
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Computer programs, for use in language teaching, can
be downloaded from software library and publishers’ websites. This includes
commercial programs, freeware programs (i.e. programs that can be downloaded
and used at no cost) and shareware programs (i.e. programs that can be freely
downloaded and tried out but should be paid for if they are used). Websites
that provide downloadable computer programs for language teaching include:
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Halfbaked Software –
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Camsoft – software publishers
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Sussex University Language
Institute
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Puzzlemaker – for
creating puzzle
exercises
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e) Getting
lesson plans, worksheets and presentations
Teachers can download lesson plans, worksheets and presentations
from the Internet from publishers’, language teaching organisations’ and
language teaching websites. Although you have to pay for some of these, there
are many that are free. Try these websites for ideas and materials:
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Isabel's ESL Site - English as a
Foreign/Second Language in Secondary Education (Materials and links for
Teaching and Learning)
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One Stop English
-Macmillan
Publishing
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ELT Web – Lesson Plans and
Exercises
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Bell English Online - Bell Language Schools
website
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The Internet TESL Journal
-Things
for ESL/EFL teachers
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BBCi
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TEFL.NET
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To Learn English
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About.com – What you need to know
about English as a 2nd Langauge
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Boogle’s World - ESL worksheets and lesson plans
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ESL Lesson Plans and
Resources
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EFL/ESL Lessons and Lesson Plans - from
The Internet TESL Journal
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Sites for Teachers
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Abc Teach
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The Internet TESL
Journal's TESL Handouts for Classroom Use
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English To Go
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EFL4U(purchase lesson plans)
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ESL
Worksheet Generator
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Create
a Graph
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Education
world
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All kinds of clipart, for use in your own documents
and presentations, can be downloaded from media library websites. You should
always check the information on each website to find out if the clipart is copyright
free and how it can be used. Some useful clipart for language teaching can be
found at these websites:
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UVic’s Language Teaching
Clipart gallery
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LangPix- Pictures for language
teaching
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Clipart Collection for
EFL/ESL Instruction
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Microsoft Design Gallery
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Hassle Free Clipart
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Awesome Clipart for Kids
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Disney Sites Clipart
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2. The use of the Internet and computer programs for students (CALL)
Students can use the Internet in different ways
including:
c) References
d) Online Exercises and Games
a)
Communicating with other students
(and teachers)
Care should be taken if encouraging young learners to
communicate with other Internet users. Young Learner mailing lists and forums
should be used and guidance on ‘safe use’ should be given to students. For
example:
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Linguistic Funland –
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Longman Teen Student
Discussion Forum
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Email Project Home Page. - for 'publishing' student writing
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ePALS.com - classroom exchange
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Teaching.com – IECC members site. Find a partner for your class.
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The Internet TESL Journal's
- ESL : Penpals and Communicating with Others
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Student List Project - Discussion lists for EFL/ESL students
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World’s Chat
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b)
Searching for information
– Research Projects
Searching the Internet can be done using search
engines designed for children:
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Yahooligans
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Ask Jeeves Kids
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Kids Click
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Ivy Search Engine for kids
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Metacrawler
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New Scientist
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NationJunior
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How Stuff Works
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To find websites with exercises that can be used
online, search for ‘Interactive’.
c)
References
Websites providing reference programs can be found at:
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Microsoft Encarta – multimedia encyclopaedia with many lesson plans and
online activities (registration required for access to a lot of the
materials) |
http://encarta.msn.com |
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Longman Web Dictionary |
www.longmanwebdict.com/ |
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An Online English Grammar |
www.edufind.com/english/grammar/toc.cfm |
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The Internet TESL Journal – Dictionaries and reference materials |
http://iteslj.org/links/ESL/Dictionaries_and_Reference_Materials/ |
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Little Explorers English Picture Dictionary |
www.enchantedlearning.com/Dictionary.html |
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Dictionary |
http://dictionary.reference.com/ |
d)
Online Exercises and Games
(activities that can be completed on the Internet)
There
are many different types of activities available including:
Singing
Songs
NIEHS Kids’ Page
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Musical English lesson
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Reading
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The Internet
TESL Journal – ESL textbooks
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Pintura –
Art Detective
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Learning
Resources
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Storytelling
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TheCase:weekly
mysteries
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CRAYON
create your own newspaper
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Listening
Randall's Basic self-study guide
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The Internet
TESL Journal -ESL listening
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Writing
Electronic Postcards
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The Online
Writing Lab
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Grammar
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ESL Blues -
Animated Grammar Tutorials
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Guide to Grammar and
Writing -
Interactive Quizzes
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Grammar
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Miscellaneous
Activities
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Bell English Online - Bell Language Schools
website
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www.bellenglish.com/resources/languagelearning.asp |
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The Internet TESL Journal –
Self-Study
Quizzes for ESL Students
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http://a4esl.org/q/h/ |
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Aardvarks’ English Forum – interactive English
exercises
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www.englishforum.com/00/interactive |
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BBC World Service – Learn English
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www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/ |
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Game Zone – language games
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English for Everyone
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Interesting Things for ESL
Students
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Crossword Puzzles
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Easy Vocabulary Quizzes with Pictures
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Non-Stop English
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www.nonstopenglish.com/ |
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Pearson-Longman Publishers
– teens
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www.longman-elt.com/teens/students/index.html |
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Learning Planet - wordsearch
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www.learningplanet.com/act/ws/e_ws.htm?e_zoo |
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Interactive Game
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www.duber.com/thegame/index.html |
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1-Language.com – online materials
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www.1-language.com/englishcourse/index.htm |
Designing
Web sites
Webmonkey
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Sample
Lessons
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1. The Weather Channel
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2. Just the Jobs
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3. Dietitian of
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4. Virtual Kitchen
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5. Superstitions
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6. The Internet Movie Database
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7. Mr. Showbiz
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8. Simultaneous Interpreters
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9. Concordance
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10. Knock, knock. Who’s there?
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11. Party Hats
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12. Jumbled Texts
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