Teaching English with Computers and Mobile Devices

The existence of computer cannot be separated from the process of teaching and learning. Even there is no particular regulation managing the use of computer in language learning, many teachers believe that the computer can help them to provide convenient and effective learning for their students. There are some consideration that teachers should consider before using computer in the class:

1.      Make sure the teacher has a back-up planning to anticipate the web cannot be opened or because of offline condition.

2.      Be ready that everything in the beginning will take longer than usual.

3.     The teacher does needs to inform the pupils that the use of computer is only for learning not for other purpose such as gaming.

4.      At the beginning, the teacher needs to monitor the students’ work.

5.      Make sure that the teacher takes into account the student who dislike the computer.

6.      Always try to lead the students to finish their tasks early.

7.      Make sure there is no student can take advantage from situation using computer for example cheating.

8.      If there is a contribution of the student to support learning process, appreciate their effort and make sure that the teacher still teaches based on the purpose of teaching (objective)

9.      Make a group of online community to share the useful links on the internet.

When technology supports the process of learning happening inside of the classroom, another movement in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) maximize the use of technology to support youngsters in that area. The increase of young unemployment in Egypt should be handled as soon as possible. British Council conducts a symposium that focuses on encouraging young people to utilize their mobile service so they can enhance their personalities and employment opportunities by improving English language skills.

The number of mobile service users in Egypt is increasing. Most of the users are young people. This chance is used by the British Council to develop a pilot SMS English campaign with Vodafone so there will be more job opportunities in Egypt. After 10 days, the number of young job seekers is increasing. The next product of the British Council is LearnEnglish Mobile. This suite has particular features such as game, audio materials and learning tools. These application focus on short, engaging and interactive content for mobile phones.

After seeing how movement of people in utilizing technology, the next point will focus on how the teacher sees the social review of using technology in language learning. The main target of teaching language to all kinds of age and proficiency that they are digital natives. Here the main edtech to be crossed then:

1.      Teachers’ efforts to get to know the dynamics of using handled devices in EFL environment as a tool to enhance the teaching and learning experience.

2.      Picking and choosing from a variety of trustworthy apps available for the different purposes of an EFL class.

3.      Shifting from refraining to negotiating the use of the students’ handled devices as a tool for their learning in the classroom.

4.      Seeing the mobile device as a possible ally for out of classroom study routine.

5.      Finding out how to use apps to enhance the accessibility of content for impaired students

6.      Considering students’ feedback on your app suggestions so that you can stick to what really works.

Many researches have been conducted to know whether the computer is useful for education or not. It is time to find out how the expert views the position of computer in education. The computers can be:

1.      Tutors. They can individualize instruction, provide learning material at a controlled pace, and record student progress.

2.      Tools. They aid in reading, allow students to produce and format texts easily, facilitate revision of texts, and check for spelling errors. They store in a compact and easily accessible form all sorts of information that learners need, from style sheets to encyclopedic data.

3.      Ways to explore language. They make regularities, the beauties, and the difficulties of language something that students can examine and interact with in new ways.

4.      Media. They make possible new modes of communication and “hypertexts”, or “hypermedia”, which allow the intermixing of tables, charts, graphs, pictures, sounds, video, and text.

5.      Environments for communication. They are a new social realm that permits new forms of meaningful communication and reconfigures the relationships among students and teachers.

  

References:
https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/17869/ctrstreadtechrepv01990i00522_opt.pdf?sequence=1
http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/teach.htm, http://ictenglish.com/?page_id=38, http://tesl-ej.org/ej12/r5.html
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/raquel-gonzaga/mobile-devices-byod-possibilities
http://www.britishcouncil.org/organisation/press/learning-teaching-english-mobile
http://stu.westga.edu/~bthibau1/MEDT%208484-%20Baylen/final%20report/13.pdf
http://www.wise-qatar.org/content/how-can-mobile-devices-enhance-learning-classrooms
http://catlintucker.com/2014/01/5-tips-for-managing-mobile-devices-in-the-classroom/