IIT – How and Why

The use of ICT and related technology in the classroom can help students understand new vocabulary better and help the teacher to save time for more fruitful learning activities. Technology not only can enhance students’ learning inside classroom, but also help them learn at home.

In this lesson, I planned to teach students conditional sentences type 2, which is about impossible or improbable situation. In order to activate students’ schema in an interesting way, I have chosen a song, If I had a million dollars, to present how to express imaginary situation. This is an interesting topic for students to discuss and explore. However, there are many difficult words in this song. Without the music video in youtube, students can hardly understand the words such as “chesterfield”, “ottoman”, “tree-fort”, etc. With the help of visual aids not only can arouse students’ interest to learn, but also enhance their understanding of the subject matter.

Apart from using the videos, I planned to show answers to students in the presentation software. The reason for this is to save time. In this lesson, I want to teach students grammar as well as give them opportunities to discuss and speak English. Therefore, I need technology to help me present the answers efficiently.

While students are sharing their ideas about having a million dollars, I do not have to use any technology because students themselves become the center of the activity. However, I also make use of technology after their discussions and presentations. In order to arouse their interests to learn at home, I introduce a website for them to learn English through online practices. Since learning time inside classroom is limited, the learning outcome can be more effective if their knowledge can be consolidated outside classroom.

Instead of asking students to do the online practice in a computer room, I would prefer them to do it at home by themselves. As a teacher, it is important to let students know that they are responsible for their own learning. Students should not only learn with the teacher’s help inside classroom, but also at home independently.

To sum up, teaching with technology can enhance learning effectively and efficiently. However, it is crucial that the teacher can motivate students to participate actively and take the responsibility to learn. A good teacher should make good use of technology but not shift the responsibility of teaching and learning to it.