Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Having English Class in The Computer Classroom (9/20)

This Monday, Alice asked students from three classes went to the computer classroom in order to show them how to use online dictionary and get the reading list from the website "I Will". I could feel students' excitement to have English class in the computer classroom, just as I used to be in high school. However, that caused a big problem for maintaing the order in the classroom and attracting every student's attention. Though the situation became better and better after the first class, 捷, Alice adviced me to think if there is any better way to solve this problem.
If it's my turn to conduct the class in the computer classroom, I would certainly check if all facilities work because some functions could help me control the order in class. Also, I'd follow what Alice did in class, to ask students sit according to their numbers. In this way, I could tell who's not paying attention immdeiately. However, I would not ask them to turn on their computer right after entering the classroom. Instead, I would show them the instructions of handout step by step, after making sure that students understand everything printed in the handout, I'd leave 10-15 minutes for them to turn on the computer and try those steps themselves. They are allowed to ask questions whenever they have problems during their trying. And if they have no prblems, they are also allowed to surf on the internet since there is not much time left anyway. In addition, I'd assign homework related to the materials used during that class to test if they really get what they should know after that class!
I believe there must be better and more efficient way to deal with the situation, I'll keep think about it. But I still think it's important and indespensable to integrate computer technology with English teaching today, I'd try to do that in my trial teaching this year though it may cause the "disorder and chaos" during class~ :P

1 Comments:

Blogger Alice said...

Dear Hedy,

You did come up with something very constructive regarding how to conduct a computer-integrated English class. I espeically like the idea of having students focus on the instructions first lest they get distracted by the Internet (BBS, chatroom, mail box) once the computer is on.

I felt a bit discouraged by the broadcasting system of the computer lab on that day. I was told it was OK and we did check the system before we started the class. But you know, this is technology--helpful but not always reliable. What if just before the class, the computers break down, or the Internet access is cut off? That is disaster, honestly. Therefore, we should always have Plan B in mind when we design a lesson involving computers.

Thanks for the sharing. It's great to know and learn from you. :-)

Alice

September 28, 2004 at 3:27 AM  

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