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The successful computer class
The ever-increasing availability of quality teaching materials and websites well suited for language learning has
raised the profile of the Internet in our classroom as a valuable study resource. Therefore we’ve decided to dedicate
this term’s Secondary section to the wonders of the World Wide Web. However, a fruitful class in the computer
room also requires careful planning and good management. In this issue, Secondary teacher and Internet fan
Joan Rubies Duro talks to us about how to get the most out of your computer time.
How often do you use the computer
room?
The first two terms are quite intense so I
usually only manage to take each class there
once or twice a month, but after Easter we
go there once a week.
What’s the layout like in your
computer room?
We have two computer rooms. In the smaller
room the computers are arranged in a U shape,
which makes monitoring easier; if you are in the
middle it's easy to see if they are working and
staying on task. In the larger one they are in rows
of 6, so you have to alternate between patrolling
the rows and staying at the back (which is a good
vantage point for checking nobody’s doing
anything they shouldn’t!).
How do you organize the students in
the computer room?
One student per computer would be ideal but it
S is not always possible. I reserve the classroom
E in advance, so if I go with the whole group I
make sure we have access to the larger room
C with 25 computers. That way most of the students
O can have their own computer. When we split
classes we normally use the smaller one with
N just 10 computers, which means that students
D often have to share.
A What kind of activities work best?
R I like working with web-based activities.
There are thousands on the Net so your
Y students can try a different one every day.
How much do you need to prepare
in advance?
You do need to do some preparatory work at
home, selecting the sites with the exercises
you want to work on and saving the links on
a CD, or better still a pen drive, in order to
upload them to your students' computers.
Have you ever tried uploading your
students’ work?
Yes! The more familiar I became with the
Net, the more I started to think I could use it
to improve my students’ writing skills. For
example, with my 3rd ESO students we did
a writing project about our village, Arenys
de Munt. We surfed some similar websites
about different towns and cities to analyze
the kind of language and content we would
need, then wrote our own. The success of the
project prompted me to try the same with my
2nd ESO classes. You can find links to all our
students’ work on my own blog:
http://enjoy-learningenglish.blogspot.com/
How easy is it to upload material?
Well, I have to admit that I did a course on
how to create websites to help them with this,
but it’s not really necessary. There’s a web-
builder called www.galeon.com which is very
user-friendly and requires no previous
knowledge.
M a c m i l l a n E
C M Y CM
Do you have a master computer?
We have a master computer which is
networked to all of the other computers. This
is handy for uploading exercises to the shared
files when we’re working off-line. In some
schools, the master computer is connected to
a large screen or to an electronic blackboard
which would certainly be useful, but we
manage perfectly well without that.
What are the most common problems?
As the Internet connection can’t always be
relied upon to work, I keep my back-up
activities on CD close by just in case! This
is the most common problem so it’s one you
can easily pre-empt. But the best technique
is to pray to ‘Santa Tecla’ before starting any
computer activity! Just joking. Nowadays
computers are more reliable than eight years
ago when I began these sessions, and if the
Internet connection works, there are no
problems.
How do you set tasks?
I upload the links to their computers in the
order I want them to work and ask them to
go through them in that order. I prefer
exercises with a built-in self-check facility,
because students are more autonomous and
can advance at their own pace. I always tell
them not to go on to the next set of exercises
unless they have achieved 90% of the right
answers, and they must show me their scores.
After the first day, they become so used to
following this routine that they know what
to do, and once they have the screen in front
of them they start working.
How do you monitor everyone?
I walk round answering any questions, and
at the same time I check what are they doing.
It's easy, and means that I’m on hand to check
their results when they finish each set of
exercises.
What other materials to you allow
them to bring in?
They don't need anything else other than my
instructions, ie where to go and what to do.
If they can't guess the meaning of new words
I allow them to use an online dictionary.
Do you limit their website access or
stop them surfing / chatting?
If they’re kept busy there isn’t time for them
to surf or chat and with careful monitoring
it’s easy to spot. Also, nearly all of them have
Internet connection at home and can regularly
use Messenger or visit the sites they like, so
it takes away the novelty of doing this during
class time.
What do you do with fast-finishers?
Some years ago there were not so many
suitable websites around but now there are
thousands, and as I upload enough links to
work for two or more hours, they always
have work to do. So they can work non- stop
and at their own pace.
n g l i s h L a n g
MY CY CMY K
What’s the main difference you find
between managing computer room and
classroom activities?
Once they have their links to the websites
uploaded in their computers, it's easier to do
a lesson in the computer room than in the
classroom because everybody works, even
those students who hardly ever follow your
lessons in a conventional classroom. They find
it so much more motivating.
What are the main rewards from
doing computer room activities?
Apart from the motivation factor it's great to
see how most of them can progress at their
own pace. Surprisingly some of them finish
their exercises of their own free will
connecting from their homes. What could be
more rewarding for a teacher?
Here are Joan’s top ten web
recommendations:
If you type ‘learn English’ into Google© you’ll
get something like 350 million hits! Naturally
I haven’t visited them all, nor do I imagine
anyone is ever likely to, but here are my ten
favourites, in no particular order:
1. http://www.google.es
This might not sound very informative, but just
type in the kind of exercise you want to practise,
eg present perfect exercises and you'll find
thousands of them.
2. http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/ (British Council)
• http://www.britishcouncil.org/languageassist
ant-arc-essuk.htm ('Essential UK')
• http://www.britishcouncil.org/languageas
sistant-arc-games.htm (games)
• http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/pla
ns/superhero/superhero.shtml
(listening/reading comprehension)
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/index.shtml
(listenings)
• http://englishlistening.com/
(listenings in American English)
• http://www.fonetiks.org/
4. http://yahooesp.englishtown.com/home/portal.asp
(daily lesson)
5. http://es.launch.yahoo.com/v/ (video clips)
• http://www.lyrics.com/
6. http://webquest.org/ (all about webquests,
from the University of San Diego)
• http://www.xtec.es/ies-joan-
coromines/angles/biwq/index.htm
7. http://members.aol.com/eslkathy/esl.htm#new
(exercises)
•http://www.isabelperez.com
•http://usuarios.lycos.es/englishweb
•http://eslus.com/esl/resource.htm#general
8. http://www.eslcafe.com/ (quizzes, chats...)
9. http://www.apac.es/teachresource_links.html
(Probably one of the best - lots of suggestions
for resources on the Internet)
10. (Write your own website here!)
Joan Rubies Duro teaches at IES Domènec
Perramon in Arenys de Munt.
He is also a teacher trainer, specializing in
information technology.
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P6Y7.fh11 3/5/07 14:15 P gina 2
Project work using the Internet
The advantages of using the Internet in the language classroom are already well
documented: Net-based lessons are motivational, a source of authentic language
and retain a certain ‘cutting edge’ feel. In this article, Chris Boucher, Jim Chillman
and Tim Lawrence show us three examples of ongoing, teacher-friendly Internet
projects that can be integrated into a class syllabus or run alongside it.
1) A class website
Levels: All
Ages: All
www.piczo.com offers enormous teaching
possibilities; it was designed to enable
users to create their very own website and
is arguably the most user-friendly example
of its kind. Using Piczo the class can create
a multimedia website, with images, text
and sound, in minutes. The teacher can
choose a web address, for instance,
www.k4kids.piczo.com which is then
accessible from any computer.
This page can be used for a variety of
tasks:
• For structured, student-generated
practice activities, such as finding
pictures and writing related comparative
and superlative sentences.
•As a multimedia space to display class
interests, for example their favourite
football team.
• To exhibit the results of web-based
research, country reports, favourite stars,
etc.
•To display class work, such as written
exercises.
•Learners can invite other classes to visit
their website and leave a message.
M a c m i l l a n E n g
C M Y CM
2) BBC News forums
Levels: Intermediate and above
Ages: Teenagers
The BBC’s Have Your Say can be found at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_
point/default.stm and it allows the public to
express their opinions on a wide range of
issues. Both UK and international versions
are available and the topics change regularly
so the activity can be revisited throughout the
year, providing exposure to authentic themes
and language. Again, this can provide a rich
source of activities for the language learner:
• Looking at the front page, the class find
topics of interest to them and predict the
likely content and views for and against.
• The views of the general public (posts) can
be compared with learners’ predictions,
and interesting posts can be ‘recommended’.
• Next, the class post their own views and
hopefully the public nature of the forum will
motivate the learners to produce interesting
and accurate language. These posts may in
turn be recommended by BBC readers.
• The activity can be further exploited by
means of writing tasks, debates, or through
starting a class forum (see MSN groups
below).
l i s h L a n g
MY CY CMY K
3) MSN groups
Levels: All
Ages: Teenagers
An MSN group can be set up at
http://groups.msn.com and ‘logins’ (user S
profiles) made for individuals or groups of
learners. With MSN groups, learners can post
E
comments on message boards and chat in real C
time. This offers a task-orientated approach
to using the Internet in class, for instance: O
•Web races in which learners must find •
N
Web races in which learners must find D
certain information as specified by the
teacher and post the answers before the A
other groups. R
• Quizzes where learners write their own Y
questions and answer those of other groups
on the forum.
• Class forums, similar to the BBC news
forum, where other groups or classes can
write posts, read and comment on each
other’s opinions.
It also provides a good vehicle for grammar
activities; for example, in a reported speech
class the learners can respond to each other’s
posts, shifting the comments into reported
speech.
Thus in the English classroom we can make
use of the Internet for far more than simply
seeking information. The interactive nature
of many of the kinds of sites which are well
familiar to teenagers provides teachers with
a resource that at one time they could only
dream about. The ultimate aim of language
learning has always been real communication;
what the Internet can provide is an authentic
means, during class time, to engage and interact
with the real world outside.
Chris Boucher, Jim Chillman
and Tim Lawrence
all teach English at the Cambridge
School, Granollers.
u a g e T e a c h i n g