Do you know what Blended learning is?

Computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones among others up-to-date gadgets become more and more present in our lives. In the light of this, nobody can deny the great presence of these ubiquitous devices in the classroom today. Thus, it makes sense that current teachers try to think and explore how to integrate new technologies effectively without leaving aside their traditional way of teaching. In this way, several teachers intend to change their teaching methodologies according to what fit the most their expectations, students’ learning styles and interests. All of this might lead to a huge redefinition, modification and reformation of teaching strategies by taking into account the predominant existence of technology that continues to transform today’s classrooms. For this, we propose to consider blended learning since it is a new method of teaching that combines the benefits of traditional instruction with online learning.

Blended learning consists of making a mixture of methods, approaches and beliefs that underpin the development of the course as it is portrayed in the picture on the left. Taking into account the course of blended learning in English Language Teaching (henceforth ELT), it is important to highlight that it considers essential a face-to-face course, as well as an online one to complete one another (Tomlinson and Whittaker, 2013). 

This new teaching methodology has many advantages, but we want to mention the most remarkable ones. By using blended learning, teachers are able to make much better use of the face-to-face time available for the course, focusing on more active and meaningful activities. This means that students have to read and study independently and will arrive at the face-to-face part with a good level of knowledge or information. Another significant benefit we want to mention is that blending learning cuts costs and time in the sense that there is no need to print out thousands of papers or buy books. It allows people to find all the materials uploaded on one platform, available to download. Hence, the teacher would only send a link to share the material needed to work in a lesson. What is more, blended learning promotes students’ autonomy and independence in the production of students’ work. Through this method, students are able to set not only their own learning goals, but also to be responsible for their own learning. This is because blended learning uses online apps and programs, and students can learn at their own pace. Therefore, having resources online, students can access the material whenever they want and practise with their own timing. In this way, students can work without a lot of pressure and with a lower level of anxiety. For instance, slower learning students can repeat and review exercises as many times as they need, while faster ones can move ahead at a quicker pace and will not have to wait too much time for the rest as it happens in a face-to-face course. Moreover, blended learning helps to make up those face-to-face lessons missing because of national holidays, strikes or, as it usually occurs, some unforeseen events (Tomlinson and Whittaker, 2013). 

If you want to know more about the blended learning method, we recommend you to watch the following video. 

 

Now, the question is “How can we apply blended learning in English lessons?”. For this, we take into account our own learning experiences and propose to consider some platforms that might well be useful to improve the development of the lessons. Firstly, we suggest using Edmodo which is an educational network that gives teachers helpful tools in order to facilitate their connection and communication with their students. By using this social media blending, teachers can share content, texts, videos, homework and assignments with their students online. Besides students can download the Edmodo application to their mobile phones or use it via the website. Secondly, we highly recommend Moodle which is an online educational platform that enables teachers as well as students to interact by using discussion forums and private messages. Students have the opportunity to upload completed assignments by attaching files and see the feedback given by the teacher. Teachers can send students’ marks individually and more privately. Therefore, both recommended platforms provide students with the option to share knowledge and interact with their classmates and the teacher well beyond the hours spent in the classroom. What is more, these platforms allow students to read other works, thoughts enriching their own ideas or understanding of a subject matter.   

In view of what was mentioned above, we strongly believe that blended learning contributes significantly to traditional teaching. We must be really aware of the benefits of this awesome mixture. Blended learning takes advantage of what the online lessons and the face-to-face ones have to offer and puts them together producing a profitable learning experience. So, come on! You know, it is a real mistake to miss an opportunity like this...

References

Tomlinson, B and Whittaker, C. (2013). Blended Learning in English Language Teaching: Course Design and Implementation. British Council.

Let’s integrate technology in the lessons, you can do it!

If we think about novel teachers and older ones who have been working for many years, it is highly noticeable the existential gap between them in terms of implementing technology in their lessons. We can observe that teachers who have recently graduated consider technology as an essential tool for teaching while most of them who have had long service in teaching reject the idea of incorporating technology to enhance their lessons. Hence, this wide difference between novice and experienced teachers is an issue that concerns us all.

  

As we all know, students of this century are constantly keeping in touch with the Internet world and thus, they always have a modern device at hand and rely a lot on it. Therefore, we, as future teachers, consider it essential to think about our students' interests and preferences. In view of this, we propose what Dr. Ruben Puentedura (2006) developed as SAMR (henceforth Substitution-Augmentation-Modification-Redefinition) a model of technology integration in the educational processes. This method assists teachers in a more effective way by integrating technology into teaching and learning, and moves through successive levels that lead to higher order thinking. This sequence is illustrated in the image of the stair above. In this way, this modern framework allows teachers to enhance and transform their traditional way of teaching (Morgan, 2015). For instance, teachers might well substitute a sheet of paper for using a word processor as a typewriter. So, students will have the opportunity to write using a spellchecker, cut and paste whatever they want. Moreover, the learning process might become more effective and engaging as images can be added, a text might be hyperlinked and the text itself can be changed quickly. Furthermore, technology transforms learning activities. For example, teachers might ask students to create a blog in which they will share their work with a worldwide audience. That way, the blog is intended for students to be more responsible for the work they present, so they will tend to spend more time editing and refining their written work. Thus, both student learning and literacy might well improve. Teachers might suggest sharing students' works using Google Drive, which is a free cloud-based storage service that enables users to store and access files online. By doing this, students might share their works with others apart from their teacher and receive feedback from various people. In addition to this, the use of Google Docs allows students to exchange information and collaborate on a shared assignment. In this sense, this facilitates learning opportunities that would be impossible without such technology. Therefore, SAMR helps teachers to improve their English lessons by incorporating technology in a considerable way, that is to say, making a modification that leads to a real transformation.

Taking into account our teaching experiences, we can affirm that incorporating technology in the lessons not only catches the students' attention, but also enables them to learn significantly (if it is well integrated). In our lessons, we decided to implement an interesting application called “Kahoot” which is a perfect tool to create discussions, quizzes or surveys on specific topics either for assessment or for feedback. This game-based pedagogy is easy to use and made our lesson definitely more engaging. Thus, we designed our own task by using this app that students had to download to their mobile phones. In this particular case, we want to highlight that we could notice how much the students enjoyed the task at the same time they were learning. It is really important for us since one of our main aims is to provide meaningful activities that might well involve students in the lessons. Besides our group of students were always reluctant to participate and too boisterous, and this application allowed us to encourage a lot of students’ participation.

If you want to know more about “Kahoot”, have a look at the following video.

All in all, we strongly believe that especially experienced teachers must be aware of the great impact that integrating technology has on the lessons due to the fact that we live in a technological era and work with students who love and are very interested in the technological world. Consequently, we recommend integrating technology having in mind SAMR in order for teachers to make remarkable improvements and transformations in their lessons. Besides, we think that teachers must think critically about their students and consider students’ interests and realities when planning the lessons. So, why not integrating technology into the lessons? Let’s go, it is easy and we are sure you will love it as much as your students will… You can do it!

REFERENCES

Morgan, D. (2015). “Integrating Technology: Introduction to SAMR Model”. Retrieved from https://uen.instructure.com/courses/400245/pages/integrating-technology-introduction-to-samr-model?module_item_id=3528660

How much technology and websites influence us?

Nowadays, thanks to the existence of the internet and the development of several websites, the process of research into different web pages increases significantly. People can find anything and everything whenever they want on the Internet and will get all the information by surfing dozens of websites related to that search. However, there is a tendency to believe in everything that appears on a website. In fact, most people do not care about the security of a site and tend to rely too heavily on the information it provides. Although it does not seem to be a serious issue, actually, it becomes a real concern, especially for those teachers who really take advantage of websites to create their own materials and to access all types of sites that provide different materials and resources useful for their lessons such as books, newspapers, blogs from all over the world. Thus, a good web assessment is essential for us. Furthermore, we consider that integrating technology properly during a lesson is a crucial factor to improve teaching as well as learning.

 First of all, we want to highlight that before using the information that is found on the Internet, it is really important to judge the website according to different criteria (University of Leicester, n.d). Hence, teachers have to analyse the website in terms of its reliability. To do this, they should take into account a certain set of criteria (University of Leicester, n.d) that enables them to know and make sure that such a website provides trustworthy information. In this way, teachers should evaluate the site having in mind if it has titles and a founder or organization well recognized, seems professional in layout, has spelling or grammar mistakes and has been recently updated. Also, a further examination might be required to decide whether or not the website is useful, such as if it has contact information, has been positively reviewed by others and has links that have worked, among others. This will enable teachers to discern and discriminate a fake or a not quite trustworthy website from a reliable one. Here, we share an interesting website evaluation checklist containing all the criteria for a website to be considered appropriate and reliable. 

Taking into account our teaching experience, we can propose to use ESL-kids.com (Ramsay, 2006) since after having done a web assessment, we can affirm that this site is not only reliable, but also it is useful. We recommend using this site as it offers a great variety of materials (see the picture of the website on the right)  such as flashcards, worksheets, games, songs etc. Giving the opportunity for teachers to design and create their own materials. As an instance of this profitableness, we can mention our own experience using materials, in our case flashcards, taken from this extraordinary site. We chose and decided to work with a set of animal flashcards and they enabled us not only to contextualize properly the topic to teach but also to work in a more dynamic way. What is more, we can affirm that these flashcards were captivating and engaging since they immediately attracted pupils’ attention. In addition to this, they added a wide variety and interest to the lesson. 

We cannot avoid the benefits of living in a technological era. Therefore, teachers should consider technology as a teaching tool and integrate it into what they teach and in their manner of teaching to create an effective learning environment. In this case, we want to emphasise what Mishra and Kohler (2006) established as Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (henceforth TPACK) a model which is designed around the idea that content and pedagogy must be the basis for any technology that you plan to use in your classroom to enhance learning. In view of this, teachers should select, first of all, the content which is the learning outcomes. The second step is to consider how learners are going to learn the content, finally, teachers should bear in mind the integration of technology by thinking critically about what type of technology will support and aid the students in their learning. 

For further and detailed explanation of the TPACK model, we strongly recommend you to watch the following video:

To conclude, all of us are really aware of the wide range of materials and resources available on the Internet. But, all teachers must realise that a web assessment is really needed in order to create their own teaching materials using authentic and trustful sources. Last but not least, we strongly believe that an appropriate technology integration considering TPACK is crucial for teachers to enhance their lessons creating a comfortable learning atmosphere.

References

Mishra, P and Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for integrating technology in teachers’ knowledge.

Ramsay, N. 2006."ESL-kids.com" Retrieved from https://esl-kids.com/worksheets/worksheets.html

University of Leicester (n.d)."Evaluating websites" Retrieved from https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/study/eval-web

Writing is fun!

For many years young people at school have been writing on a sheet of paper in order to do activities or homework. We can say that it is part of a ‘traditional teaching’ in which students did every task using just a pen/ pencil and a notebook. Nowadays, we can notice that if these kinds of activities are implemented in a lesson, young people tend to be off-task or they do them just because they need to have a certain mark so as to be promoted. However, we cannot deny that Writing is an essential and helpful skill that students must develop. But, we must also admit that we are living in a technological era which offers new alternatives that might be fascinating and advantageous for the current students. Therefore, a ‘new way of writing’ must be considered taking into account not only the power of writing, but also the benefits of the innovations available in the digital world so as to have other options for working in order to make our lessons more motivated.

            If we ask young people about what they think about Writing, we might well listen to phrases like ‘oh, such a boring thing’, ‘why should we write? I can’t see the point of writing’, ‘It is a waste of time’ among others similar to these ones which reflect the negative perspective that young people have on what Writing is actually. However, we believe that no one should limit oneself to such a point of view and go beyond and look for the positive aspect of Writing. For this, we propose to think about Writing in a reflective way so then, the person who writes might find it meaningful and engaging. Now, if we think about young people at school, it is advisable to work with ‘learning journals’ as Jennifer Moon (2010) affirms ‘[it] is usually a vehicle for reflection’. Hence, the students will have the opportunity to think critically in order to write a personal journal. The students will have the possibility of using their voices by making a reflection that represents an orientation to the way they live their lives (Moon, 2010), that is to say, students can express their experiences, thoughts and feelings in a comfortable way. By using learning journals, students might have new tools for seeing better (Fulwiler, 1986, as cited in Moon, 2010) improving their learning day-to-day.

            In this modern century, we must consider what Dudeney et.al.(2013) define as digital literacies so as to be able to make use of the technologies at our disposal effectively as it is demonstrated in the image on the left. It is crucial for us since the current learners are constantly keeping in touch with technology and implementing it properly in our lessons might well benefit the teaching and learning process. Thus, students’ digital skills need to be developed and in order to do so, we can incorporate activities like a creation of a blog in which students will have the opportunity not only to share with others what they have written, but also to participate in wide social groupings. Teaching digital literacy work in our English lesson appeals to today's youth and might encourage the students’ participation significantly. And, what is even more important is that it makes the lessons more relevant. Hence, students might well be engaged in their writing task and find the purpose of it. What is more, the development of digital skills might help adult learners get ahead in the workplace, or prepare younger learners for better future job opportunities (Dudeney et.al. 2013).

In view of all the aspects mentioned above, we think that it is really necessary to modify that students’ ‘misconception’ about what Writing is. We, as future teachers, must raise awareness of the benefits of writing by showing them interesting tasks in which students can see the purpose of writing. Consequently, we strongly believe that if we integrate a learning journal together with digital literacies into our lessons, we will ensure a change in the students’ minds. So, come on people, we are in the 21st century, let’s start and show students that writing is fun!     

  

REFERENCES

Dudeney, G, Hockly, N and Pegrum, M (2013): Digital Literacies. Harlow: Pearson. 

Moon, J. (2010). Assessment- Learning Journals and Logs. UCD: Dublin.

Teachers in the age of technology

Technology has evolved over time and it is highly perceived in our everyday life. In fact, nowadays almost everybody has a modern gadget at hand and relies significantly on it.  There are several aspects of our life that have changed bearing in mind this huge technological development. Actually, this evolution has a great impact on our traditions, culture, and what is our main concern today, our education system.

In the 21st century, the considerable changes lead to new expectations about the role of the teachers. Thus, now, the teachers are not expected to be that source of information who know everything and are “the leader” of education in terms that they take over every emerging situation in the classroom (Ujlakyne szucs, 2009). Despite the fact that there are new roles expected from teachers, several of them keep on relying on a traditional way of teaching considering it essential for students to learn effectively. Therefore, this is a reality that concerns us since, from our points of view, teachers must be flexible, creative and able to recognise the context in which they work and the students’ needs, by paying attention to their preferences, interests and suggestions. Personally, we believe that now, good teachers are the ones that learn from their teaching experience and reflect critically on their lessons in order to find new alternatives and innovate their ways of teaching. For this, teachers should keep in touch with the development of technology as it is part of students’ lives. In this way, modern teaching involves the teachers in different roles, taking into account mainly their students’ needs. Teachers have to bear in mind that a particular group of students has different interests, opinions, levels of the English language as well as learning styles. Furthermore, teachers must pay attention to the context in which they are working, the learners’ first languages and cultures, and their experiences (Ujlakyne szucs, 2009). It is essential for us that teachers are able to bring what is outside the classroom inside (Moon, 2012). Hence, the teachers must contextualize their lessons according to the interaction with their learners, taking into account their particularities when planning lessons. Then, the teachers must select the appropriate methodology, topic, and material resources to work with in order to give the students the opportunity to learn in a better way. The activities and tasks implemented must be in contexts and significant for this particular group of students, and intended to stimulate and motivate them so as to encourage students' participation.

Marc Prensky (2001) states that digital immigrants- those persons who were not born into the digital world- think learning can’t (shouldn’t) be fun. Considering this quotation, we can affirm that it is reflected in the voices of some teachers who do not feel comfortable dealing with the digital world and prefer to keep using the traditional teaching methodology in which technology is not regarded as an essential tool for teaching and learning. On the contrary, we strongly believe that these types of teachers, who are known as “digital immigrants”, should be aware that learning can be fun by implementing different and interactive activities in context and using different material resources.

As regards the wide range of innovations, alternatives, resources, materials and possibilities available for teaching in this century, we consider that it must be taken into account when designing our own material. Teacher-produced materials have really important advantages since they provide an appropriate contextualization for the developing needs of a particular group of students (Howard and Major, 2004). What is more, when teachers are designing their own materials, they must make sure that a task should be neither too easy nor too difficult. This is because if it is easy students might not find any challenge in such a task and, if it is too hard to do, they might feel frustrated and see the task as impossible to do. Therefore, there should be a balance between what is considered easy and difficult, so teachers should select and adapt the task in order to ensure appropriate challenge and level of success.  

All in all, we believe that we, as future teachers, must take advantage of this technological era so as to discover new alternatives, sources, materials and ways of teaching that allow us to make our lessons more accessible as well as fun for our students. By doing this, learners will have the opportunity to learn in a meaningful way.

REFERENCES

Howard, J. and Major, J. (2004). Guidelines for designing effective English language teaching materials.

Moon, P. (2012). Language and literacy as social practice. British Council.  Retrieved from http://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/continuing-professional-development/teacher-educator-framework/knowing-subject/language-and-literacy-social-practice

Prensky, M (2001). Digital natives, Digital immigrants. University Press, Vol. 9.

Ujlakyne szucs, E (2009). The role of teachers in the 21st century. Retrieved from

https://www.sens-public.org/article667.html?lang=fr