Joseph

__Using Technology In Helping ESL Students__ = = =

The purpose of this page is to give examples of how to implement technology in the classroom in order to benefit ESL students. Technology is used by everybody today. The way that we gather valuable information is on the internet and the way that we communicate without seeing each other is by telephone. These are necessities that I feel like every child needs to learn how to use because it is essential to their education. Below are some activites and tools that can help teach ESL students in and out of the classroom.

**___** **1. Interactive Reading**

In classrooms today reading instruction is undergoing a huge amount of transformations because new technologies have come about. Hancock (2008) says that technologies offer a new vision and dimension of reader response. The reason he states this is because teachers are trying to merge new literacies and traditions style literature in the classroom. One computer can take the place of having to purchase an endless amount of book in order to further a child's education. Interactive reading is something that many children can enjoy because it is a visual and verbal way of learning. I found a website [] that is targeted more toward younger ESL learners. It focuses on learning the alphabet and repetition. I like the fact that the website is focused on phonics which is the way that a lot of children are taught in my hometown. The above picture is a good example of an interactive reader called "Cozmo's Day Off." It allows the children to click on certain object and learn what the objects are. Cozmo even speaks throughout the reading and helps with puzzles and memorization games. I think this is a great example to encourage kids to be more excited about learning in and out of the classroom. These sort of interactive readers would be more likely to intrigue younger students who are just beginning to grasp how to read and write effectively.


 * 2. Interactive Whiteboards **

Above is a picture of a Smart Board which is a type of interactive whiteboard that schools have been encouraged to use. Interactive Whiteboards are an unbelievable tool that is starting to be used by more schools around the world. Interactive whiteboards are used in schools as a replacement for the regular whiteboard, graphs and charts. Interactive whiteboards allow you to save material that was taught in a previous lesson in order to review or to help a student that has missed some class. This is also a great tool that is a huge benefit to visual learners. Children that are younger have a shorter attention span so they need to be actively involved in order to promote learning. By using an IWB you are able to focus on a certain aspect of the materials that you are teaching and physically show the students how to solve the problem. They can be used in order to show your students the world map, digital storytelling, teaching vocabulary, and teaching steps to a math problem. Jean Baker states that using a smart board accelerates learning and also gets children more involved and when she uses the smart board to form activities they are organized and easier to comprehend. Images can also be projected on the board which makes and overhead projector obsolete. The following link explains how whiteboards are easy to use and efficient. It also talks about how much students enjoy using them because it is more "hands on". []

3. Vocabulary.com



Vocabulary.com includes games such as crosswords, word scramblers, and picture-word matches. The games contain test preparation items that you can use in order to prepare your stunts for and upcoming test.This website can also be used outside of the classroom and used as a source to provide students with lessons to do in the classroom. Vocabulix is another special website that helps children learn the most commonly used words in languages like English, Spanish, and German. It even goes a little more in depth and shows you the conjugated form of verbs. With this website you will be able to give your students a website they can use in and out of the classroom. It is an easy way to ask students to study outside of the classroom. This would be a great time to use an overhead projector during class and show the students how to conjugated verbs and give them new vocabulary words. The website even offers grammar tips which will benefit the students. According to Michel de Montaigne, "The greater part of the worlds trouble are due to questions of grammar."  Grammar is a difficult subject to teach but this website has a strong base of grammar tips.
 * 4. Powerpoints **

 Teachers can use powerpoints in order to meet the needs of different age groups, learners with disabilities, and cultures. Powerpoints can be used to tell third graders how to identify a certain animal and the characteristics that the animal has. It can be used to tell Seniors how to write a paper in APA style. The ability to use sound and pictures in powerpoints is also a bonus because many students are visual learners. Also a child that is sick is able to view the powerpoint directly from his home in order to comprehend the material before he returns to class. The technology of powerpoint's templates are an exellent way to show children grammar rules, vocabulary, and other things that are not content based. Powerpoints catch the eyes of your students by using color, large font sizes, and even animations that are entertaining to the children. Students become more involved because they enjoy the big colorful words that are placed on the slideshow. They will be more likely to raise their hands and it is easier for everyone to participate because they can read the larger text. Because Powerpoint's templates are very easy to use, it offers a simple way to communicate with your students and everythin becomes more focused and comprehesible. When using a powerpoint template you can perform "fill in the blank" activites in class and instead of having the students write the answers down they will be able to talk openly in class about the answer they chose and why. This is a way to promote interactive learning as discussed earlier on this page. When the student to teacher interaction is high, you know that your class is having a good time and learning the materials. There however a few downfalls to using  PowerPoint   which is that not using full sentences and misspelling words becomes a habit because there is not enough room to type all of your information. So be careful what you type because children will be able to see what you type and try not to make them have those bad habits (Craig, 2006).

5. Blogger

Blogs provide a perfect platform for extensive writing in and out of the classroom. It gives students a personal space where they can write on a wide range of interesting topic at a pace that is comfortable for them. Blogger is run by google and allows you to create a free blog and get others to join. You can also choose from a wide variety of different features and templates in order to add a little creativity to your page. By using blogs, you allow your students to make there own pages and make posts about how they feel about there English learning or a previous experience that they had with speaking English. Some teachers believe that using blogs and getting other school in different countries to become involved is how blogging should be used in the classroom. Mrs. Mirtschen had some of her student participate in a cross cultural blogging activity in which they kept in touch with other students from different countries. A 6th grade English teacher decided to go the extra mile and give assignments through her blog and the students were required to read it. They were encouraged to talk about there lives and their experiences and awards were given to the students who were the best bloggers and the most consistent. Here are other ways you can use blogs:  Rebecca is a teacher that decided to use blogs in her classroom. She states that in order to help your students to learn how to use blogs it is always good to use instructional videos. By doing this her students would post recommendations for books and it also limits the amount of paper used in the classroom. Another thing that Rebecca did was to set times when her students could get on the blog. Her students could only type in their blog whenever the teacher was on so she could monitor it (Mullen, 2008).
 * Start a discussion in which your students will have to respond to a question and state there opinion on the subject matter.
 * Assign one person to write notes for the class per day. When class is over ask them to post the notes and it will start a discussion about what we learned today. Also it saves others from taking notes.
 * Post a homework question in which student will type a paragraph about what they learned or it could be a question to be prepared for on an important test.

Sources

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Baker, J. (2007). Smart Board in the Music Classroom. //Music Educators Journal//, //93//(5), 18-19.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> Craig, R., & Amernic, J. (2006). PowerPoint Presentation Technology and the Dynamics of Teaching. //Innovative Higher Education//, //31// (3), 147-160. doi:10.1007/s10755-006-9017-5 <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Dalton, B., & Grisham, D. L. (2011). eVoc Strategies: 10 Ways to Use Technology to Build Vocabulary. //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Reading Teacher //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">, //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">64 //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">(5), 306-317. doi:10.1598/RT.64.5.1 <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">// Interactive reading on the ipad with cozmo's day off //. (2011, January 19). Retrieved from [] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // Interactive whiteboards in the classroom //. (2010, October 27). Retrieved from [] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> Kuroneko, M. (2008, June 08). //How to start a classroom blog, edublog, or school website//. Retrieved from [] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Larson, L. C. (2010). Digital Readers: The Next Chapter in E-Book Reading and Response. //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Reading Teacher //, //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">64 //(1), 15-22. doi:10.1598/RT.64.1.2 <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">// Learn languages free and online with vocabulix //. (n.d.). Retrieved from [] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> Montaigne, Michel de. Grammar quote. Retrieved from [] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> Morgan, M. (2008). More productive use of technology in the esl/efl classroom. //The Internet TESL Journal//, //14//(7), Retrieved from []

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Mullen, R., & Wedwick, L. (2008). Avoiding the Digital Abyss: Getting Started in the Classroom with YouTube, Digital Stories, and Blogs. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;"> //Clearing House. 82.// (2), 66-69. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Preston, C., & Mowbray, L. (2008). Use of SMART Boards for teaching, learning and assessment in kindergarten science. //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Teaching Science: The Journal Of The Australian Science Teachers Association //, //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">54 //(2), 50-53.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> //Smart boards: Why are they so easy to use?// (video) Youtube. Retrieved from [] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Sun, Y. (2010). Extensive writing in foreign-language classrooms: a blogging approach. //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Innovations In Education & Teaching International //, //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">47 //(3), 327-339. doi:10.1080/14703297.2010.498184 <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Walsh, K. (2009, May 24). //Blogging )in and out) of the classroom//. Retrieved from [] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Yu, C., & Smith, M. L. (2008). POWERPOINT: IS IT AN ANSWER TO INTERACTIVE CLASSROOMS?. //International Journal Of Instructional Media//, //35//(3), 271-282.