Lesson 1: Communications, Part One
This week, we're going to harness the power of the Internet to improve levels of communication between our students and ourselves, learning how to find and assess Internet Tools for communication.
Teacher-Student Communication via The Internet
"An average class in the USA, has about 25-30 students. A teacher might have 5 or 6 different 45 minute classes a day. This leaves less than 2 minutes per student per day. In Hong Kong where I teach the English language at a secondary school, the school has 1200 students and 53 teachers. I see 132 uniformed students on a regular basis in three classes of 44 students each. It is very difficult to find the time to speak with every student, and on the other side, not every student wished to speak to their language teacher in person." (see source 1)
Every student is constantly involved in the process of learning language and its expression. There isn't a single classroom in which a student isn't asked to understand the written word - language is simply far too integral a part of our life to leave it out. Language itself takes many forms. In a traditional language class- from English to foreign language- students learn oral and written expressions of language, in addition to their reading. With the doors the Internet has opened in our lives, language and communication in general has taken on new dimensions through email, instant messaging, chat rooms and message boards or forums. All of these play a part in 90% of your students' every day lives, and can open up new opportunitites for teacher-student communication.
This week, we're going to harness the power of the Internet to improve levels of communication between our students and ourselves, learning how to find and assess Internet Tools for communication.
Preparation and Materials Needed:
In all lessons in this course, if you have problems downloading a file that I have linked to, try this method: Right-Click the link and choose "Copy Shortcut". Then, Right-Click in your browser's address bar and choose "Paste". Hit the enter key on your keyboard. This should bring up a dialogue that asks where you want to save the file to.
***Note: all books and reading assignments are optional and are provided as additional information for the student.
- A computer with Internet Connection and Printer
- Microsoft Word™
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- WinZip
