Introduction
The field of ELT has been in the state of change for last so many years. At present it is unquestionably influenced by the innovations in technology. Technology in general and computers in specific has revolutionized the field of English Language Teaching. The use of computers is not limited to programming and planning in corporate sector. It has certainly become an essential feature of a modern classroom. The classroom no longer remains limited within the four walls but extends its horizons to the nook and corner of the world and makes the teaching-learning process more meaningful. Computers can bring the whole world into the classroom.
Technology Aided Language Learning
TALL(Technology Aided Language Learning) has been an indispensable feature of M.A.ELT programme offered at H.M.Patel Institute of English Training and Research for last four years. Here the students are trained and motivated to use technology for the purpose of language teaching. The students learn to prepare Technology Integrated Language Learning materials to teach poems, grammar, vocabulary and prose; take up projects related to the topics. They prepare a detailed Project Plans and implement them in peer teaching/teaching the juniors/ schools. They learn to teach through projects by conducting research on the characteristics of project based learning. They prepare assumed student samples including multimedia presentations, newsletter, brochures and websites and write reflective reports on their experience of implementing PBL (Project Based Learning). They prepare support materials like guidelines, templates, tests/quizzes and evaluation rubrics for the school students. They participate in inter/intra showcasing and the final exhibition organized by the institute. They get first hand experience of working on a project and learn to assign project work to school students and facilitate their learning through appropriate implementation plan, support materials and specific need based help.
Use of Technology in M.A. [ELT]
M.A [ELT] is a two years programme in which the students of final year conduct an English Enrichment Programme, where in they teach either the students of college or school. This assignment of conducting enrichment program is a practical feature of their syllabus. These students as a part of their methodology paper design and offer a six week English Enrichment Course to the college or school students on the campus. Thus the topics in their methodology paper like, Course Design, Materials Production, English Enrichment Course, Teaching Language and Literature are integrated with the ICT Programme. The students are divided into groups and each group select the topics they would like to work on and prepare a set of multimedia materials which focus on grammatical/communicative competence and language enrichment. They use the computer for not only preparing their materials but also for other purposes like announcing their programme, preparing the schedule, assigning duties and responsibilities, registering students and planning the budget, assessing the students and analyzing the effectiveness of the course, etc. The materials prepared by the students and teacher educators are available in the website www.eltcops.com and a link to this is also provided by the Intel website www.educationinindia.net and the institute website www.hmpenglish.com.
English Enrichment Course : 2006-07
With the commencement of first the term, the final year students were eager to conduct English Enrichment Course. This year they had decided to offer the programme to Standard XI students of T.V.Patel Higher Secondary School. This time the focus of the course was to enhance the skills of reading comprehension among the students with the use of functional English. For this purpose they were asked to make use of the new textbooks published for standard VIII, IX and X. The course was designed for a period of five weeks. The students were asked to work in groups of three for the TAL Project. Further each group of M. A. (ELT) Seniors was paired with a group of M. A. (ELT) Juniors. In addition, the students who joined the English Enrichment Course were divided into groups and they were paired with the senior and junior groups. All this resulted in a lot of interaction, differences of opinions, discussions of various kinds and decisions taken in a democratic manner.
Ø Stepwise Summary of the EEC Programme
Step 1: The students were asked to carry out the in-depth study of the textbooks of standard VIII, IX and X which are in use at present in schools of Gujarat, choose a lesson of their interest which can be related to project.
Step 2: Attend an orientation session and understand the nuances of Project Based Learning. Get introduced to teaching through projects.
Step 3: For the selected lesson work out a number of language tasks and communicative tasks and prepare a multimedia presentation to teach the lesson. At the end of the teacher presentation assign a project work to the school students.
Step 4: Within group brainstorm project ideas and think of innovative projects based on students’ real life scenario.
Step 5: Give optimum time to surf on internet and make use of the relevant material.
Step 6: Follow the Intel Unit Plan template and prepare a detailed unit plan.
Step 7: Sharing the work with peers, juniors and revise it as per the feed back obtained. Reflect on the experience of working on Technology Integrated Project and assess overall learning experience. Write a reflective report summarizing the whole experience along with suggestions and plans for future use.
Outcomes of the Programme
Teaching with the help of technology has many advantages as it attains several objectives at the same time. Students learn to work collaboratively; they discuss their problems, share their opinions and offer suggestions to each other to derive at particular action. Students learn to take decisions on their own and become self dependent. Simultaneously, students also develop high order thinking skills as they prepare and critically analyze the exercise and materials that they prepare. Again redrafting and modification of materials also strengthens their originality of ideas.
One of the great benefits of this sort of project work is that students learn to do things on their own. Here the learners are forced to raise questions and decide their track of assignment. Of course, they are all equipped through the resources like internet and library. But they are trained to find out means to meet the expected ends. Here M.A. [ELT] students themselves take responsibility for the whole programme and take decisions for a number of things. This is yet another important self-learning skill which they were not familiar with. Starting from decisions as to how to arrange the classroom furniture to what to teach at which level, which activities to start with and what cultural programmes to have on the last day of the English Enrichment Course, is all made by the students themselves. The teacher is available only to help as a last resort as an additional source rather than the main source.
Along with the computer skills the students also develop insight for teaching. Since the student-teachers observe each others’ performance as a classroom teacher they come to know the sort of strategies they need to form while and prior to the teaching. They also learn to provide constructive feedback and ways of improving on a particular weak point. They realize what sort of advance preparation is required prior to the teaching work and how to stimulate the urge of learning among the students. Certainly, technology play a crucial role as it stands for support all the time. Students get opportunities to benefit from collaborative learning by producing TALL materials in groups and at the same time stretch themselves and contribute individually by working on a specific project. Ultimately, they understand the potential of technology to bring the whole world into the classroom and extend the classroom walls to encompass the entire universe. They learn to guide their students to become better learners and efficient communicators.
The field of ELT has been in the state of change for last so many years. At present it is unquestionably influenced by the innovations in technology. Technology in general and computers in specific has revolutionized the field of English Language Teaching. The use of computers is not limited to programming and planning in corporate sector. It has certainly become an essential feature of a modern classroom. The classroom no longer remains limited within the four walls but extends its horizons to the nook and corner of the world and makes the teaching-learning process more meaningful. Computers can bring the whole world into the classroom.
Technology Aided Language Learning
TALL(Technology Aided Language Learning) has been an indispensable feature of M.A.ELT programme offered at H.M.Patel Institute of English Training and Research for last four years. Here the students are trained and motivated to use technology for the purpose of language teaching. The students learn to prepare Technology Integrated Language Learning materials to teach poems, grammar, vocabulary and prose; take up projects related to the topics. They prepare a detailed Project Plans and implement them in peer teaching/teaching the juniors/ schools. They learn to teach through projects by conducting research on the characteristics of project based learning. They prepare assumed student samples including multimedia presentations, newsletter, brochures and websites and write reflective reports on their experience of implementing PBL (Project Based Learning). They prepare support materials like guidelines, templates, tests/quizzes and evaluation rubrics for the school students. They participate in inter/intra showcasing and the final exhibition organized by the institute. They get first hand experience of working on a project and learn to assign project work to school students and facilitate their learning through appropriate implementation plan, support materials and specific need based help.
Use of Technology in M.A. [ELT]
M.A [ELT] is a two years programme in which the students of final year conduct an English Enrichment Programme, where in they teach either the students of college or school. This assignment of conducting enrichment program is a practical feature of their syllabus. These students as a part of their methodology paper design and offer a six week English Enrichment Course to the college or school students on the campus. Thus the topics in their methodology paper like, Course Design, Materials Production, English Enrichment Course, Teaching Language and Literature are integrated with the ICT Programme. The students are divided into groups and each group select the topics they would like to work on and prepare a set of multimedia materials which focus on grammatical/communicative competence and language enrichment. They use the computer for not only preparing their materials but also for other purposes like announcing their programme, preparing the schedule, assigning duties and responsibilities, registering students and planning the budget, assessing the students and analyzing the effectiveness of the course, etc. The materials prepared by the students and teacher educators are available in the website www.eltcops.com and a link to this is also provided by the Intel website www.educationinindia.net and the institute website www.hmpenglish.com.
English Enrichment Course : 2006-07
With the commencement of first the term, the final year students were eager to conduct English Enrichment Course. This year they had decided to offer the programme to Standard XI students of T.V.Patel Higher Secondary School. This time the focus of the course was to enhance the skills of reading comprehension among the students with the use of functional English. For this purpose they were asked to make use of the new textbooks published for standard VIII, IX and X. The course was designed for a period of five weeks. The students were asked to work in groups of three for the TAL Project. Further each group of M. A. (ELT) Seniors was paired with a group of M. A. (ELT) Juniors. In addition, the students who joined the English Enrichment Course were divided into groups and they were paired with the senior and junior groups. All this resulted in a lot of interaction, differences of opinions, discussions of various kinds and decisions taken in a democratic manner.
Ø Stepwise Summary of the EEC Programme
Step 1: The students were asked to carry out the in-depth study of the textbooks of standard VIII, IX and X which are in use at present in schools of Gujarat, choose a lesson of their interest which can be related to project.
Step 2: Attend an orientation session and understand the nuances of Project Based Learning. Get introduced to teaching through projects.
Step 3: For the selected lesson work out a number of language tasks and communicative tasks and prepare a multimedia presentation to teach the lesson. At the end of the teacher presentation assign a project work to the school students.
Step 4: Within group brainstorm project ideas and think of innovative projects based on students’ real life scenario.
Step 5: Give optimum time to surf on internet and make use of the relevant material.
Step 6: Follow the Intel Unit Plan template and prepare a detailed unit plan.
Step 7: Sharing the work with peers, juniors and revise it as per the feed back obtained. Reflect on the experience of working on Technology Integrated Project and assess overall learning experience. Write a reflective report summarizing the whole experience along with suggestions and plans for future use.
Outcomes of the Programme
Teaching with the help of technology has many advantages as it attains several objectives at the same time. Students learn to work collaboratively; they discuss their problems, share their opinions and offer suggestions to each other to derive at particular action. Students learn to take decisions on their own and become self dependent. Simultaneously, students also develop high order thinking skills as they prepare and critically analyze the exercise and materials that they prepare. Again redrafting and modification of materials also strengthens their originality of ideas.
One of the great benefits of this sort of project work is that students learn to do things on their own. Here the learners are forced to raise questions and decide their track of assignment. Of course, they are all equipped through the resources like internet and library. But they are trained to find out means to meet the expected ends. Here M.A. [ELT] students themselves take responsibility for the whole programme and take decisions for a number of things. This is yet another important self-learning skill which they were not familiar with. Starting from decisions as to how to arrange the classroom furniture to what to teach at which level, which activities to start with and what cultural programmes to have on the last day of the English Enrichment Course, is all made by the students themselves. The teacher is available only to help as a last resort as an additional source rather than the main source.
Along with the computer skills the students also develop insight for teaching. Since the student-teachers observe each others’ performance as a classroom teacher they come to know the sort of strategies they need to form while and prior to the teaching. They also learn to provide constructive feedback and ways of improving on a particular weak point. They realize what sort of advance preparation is required prior to the teaching work and how to stimulate the urge of learning among the students. Certainly, technology play a crucial role as it stands for support all the time. Students get opportunities to benefit from collaborative learning by producing TALL materials in groups and at the same time stretch themselves and contribute individually by working on a specific project. Ultimately, they understand the potential of technology to bring the whole world into the classroom and extend the classroom walls to encompass the entire universe. They learn to guide their students to become better learners and efficient communicators.
2 comments:
I found the article pretty interesting. good.
the articles which you put up on the blog have given us an important information about the elt as well as the business communication. we are greatful to you the you have provided us such a wonderful opportunity.
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