Technology-enhanced learners´ activities for promoting teaching/learning

Ivana Šimonová, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

ivana.simonova@uhk.cz

Abstract

The paper deals with two projects focusing on students´activities within the ICT-enhanced foreign language instruction. First, the background and motivation for running the projects are introduced; second, the design of each project is described in detail; and finally, the project results are introduced, including samples of learners´activities. Students involved in the projects were enrolled in the same form of study (part-time study) at two different faculties (Faculty of Education, Faculty of Informatics and Management, both of University of Hradec Kralove), in two different study programmes (Teaching at primary school level; Applied Informatics and Information Management). What is common to their activities is they created two learning aids on CD-ROMs for teaching and/or learning English using the Internet and main sources of information. In Part 1 the CD-ROM “On-line e-English for primary school teachers“ is introduced. The content includes 30 chapters (one chapter per student) in which students designed the lesson scenarios. In the scenarios modern technologies are implemented to support the process of English teaching and learning. The scenarios follow the common template which is structured into several parts and introduces the topic, age (grade) of the targed group, aids necessary for the teacher and learners and the description of an ICT-enhanced activity. The main objective of the activity is to provide both pre-service and in-service primary (and pre-primary) school teachers a database of activites for foreign language (English, German) teaching. In Part 2 the CD-ROM “English Reader for IT and Management Students“ was presented. The reader contained more than 200 professional texts focusing on informatics and related problems and their recordings in mp3 format. Each student provided two texts of one-A4 page length and translated selected professional expressions which s/he considered difficult for other students using tools Insert, Comments. As students´level of IT English knowledge differed, the provided texts included all  levels and each student could choose the appropriate ones to gradually improve their knowledge. Both the texts and recordings worked as tools/means towards increasing the listening comprehension skill.

Keywords: ICT-enhanced instruction, teaching, learning, English, tertiary level, university

PDF