Languages ICT

Introduction

Teachers of modern languages appreciate the value of ICT in their work. Never has it been easier to access authentic resources in the target language and never has it been easier to create reusable resources, whether electronic worksheets, animated presentations or exciting interactive materials. Word processors, presentation software, authoring software and interactive whiteboards are common in schools and teachers of languages use them often and to advantage.

New technologies have changed and continue to change the way languages are taught and learnt. Multimedia resources, sometimes related to television series or course books, are available from commercial providers, and contain activities relevant to specific language skills, and Key Stages. The ease of capturing and editing audio and video means that for teachers it is now relatively easy to create their own multimedia resources. More recent developments such as blogs, podcasts and wikis open up new possibilities to transform teaching and learning further.

Integrating ICT into your teaching enables you to bring all four language skills into the classroom directly and simply. Text, images, audio and video can be used on the interactive whiteboard, in applications and in resources you create for both whole-class teaching and independent work by pupils.

ICT, used regularly, becomes part of your teaching and enables you to:

• Focus the attention of pupils on patterns in language and apply them in context
• Teachers can use colour coding in support materials to guide pupils to recognition of specific features of language, such as adjectival agreement. There are websites with online interactive language activities based on grammatical features. Such sites may require a subscription.
• Teachers increasingly share online free interactive resources they have created using authoring software. Such activities can be used to focus on grammar patterns in the target language.
• Bring pupils into contact with the lives and culture of people in other countries
• The Internet offers not just images of other countries but often sites designed for young people in other countries.
• Wikis or blogs can be accessed in class and used for whole-class discussion or for focusing on language, perhaps drawing attention to mistakes made by pupils in their blogs or wikis and then focusing on correct versions, or alternative expression.
• Email and video conferencing give immediate access to peers in other countries.
• Meet the differing needs of pupils
• You can provide support materials for pupils to access on the network.
• It is also easy to modify documents so that pupils of differing abilities work at their own level in completing tasks. Simple editing and file management skills are all that is required.
• Multimedia resources, whether commercial or developed by teachers, allow pupils to work with visual or auditory stimuli and appeal to a wider range of learning styles than purely text-based materials.
• Meet the special needs of pupils
• Specific software and hardware is available for pupils with special needs. Talking word processors and touch screens are among the many aids available.
• Monitor progress more effectively
• While pupils are working at their computers, teachers are free to monitor their progress. You can work with individuals or use the screen at the front to bring the attention of the whole class to areas of common difficulty. Some computer suites have a console from which teachers can view and control the screens of individuals or the whole group. This allows the teacher to intervene with the whole class with minimum disruption.
• Pupils’ work can be stored on the network. Electronic copies of it can be saved by the teacher before it is returned with comments.
• Some software keeps useful records of progress.
• Develop cross-curricular work
• Using Internet resources, common applications and simple editing skills you can collaborate with other departments in producing resources for teaching topics of common interest. For example, a regional study of Normandy could be covered in French classes and also, even partly in French, in Geography lessons.
• Motivate pupils
• Research indicates that regular use of ICT increases motivation, especially if used regularly and in several subject areas. If you want to know more, look at What the Research Says at Becta.

Self review

Download the User profile self-review file for a checklist of the ways you use ICT in your teaching.

User profile