TEACHING LARGE CLASSES WITH WEB TECHNOLOGIES

Transcription

1 Mūsdieu izglītības problēmas TEACHING LARGE CLASSES WITH WEB TECHNOLOGIES Kumar M. Agarwal Riga Busiess School Riga Techical Uiversity Skolas St. 11, Riga, Latvia This article explores teachers beefits of usig CALL (Computer-assisted Laguage Learig) which icludes teachig the Eglish Laguage i large classes. This paper reports o the perceived differeces betwee the classical way of teachig the laguage ad the moder oe i.e. usig the iformatio techologies. Research shows that by usig computers, studets become better problem solvers ad better commuicators. Over a etwork, usig ad sharig files, studets have the chace to collaborate ad work together with other classmates, peers, ad teachers. Learig is the trasformed from a traditioal passive-listeig exercise to a experiece of discovery, exploratio, ad excitemet. Studets ca begi to realize their full potetial whe they are empowered to cotribute ad collaborate as a team to accomplish their readig ad writig tasks more effectively. Util quite recetly, computer-assisted laguage learig (CALL) was a topic of relevace mostly to those with a special iterest i that area. Recetly, though, computers have become so widespread i schools ad homes ad their uses have expaded so dramatically that the majority of laguage teachers must ow begi to thik about the implicatios of computers for laguage learig. This article provides brief overview of how computers ca be used for laguage teachig (Goyal, 2002). It focuses ot o a techical descriptio of hardware ad software, but rather o the pedagogical questios that teachers have cosidered i usig computers i the classroom. Keywords: Laguage learig approaches, iformatio techologies, large classes 1. Itroductio Large classes are a reality i may coutries ad they pose particular challeges. This article suggests ways to help disciplie, to use group work ad to cope with limited resources. Keepig studets iterested ad egaged i the curret topic or activity is a daily challege for teachers i the classroom. Oe of the advatages of the Iteret is that it provides ew possibilities for assistig teachers to successfully meet this challege. Computers have bee used for laguage teachig ever sice the 1960's (Malhotra, 2004). 2. Challeges of teachig a large class There are a lot of challeges faced by a teacher istructig large classes: It's difficult to keep good disciplie goig i a large class. You have to provide for more childre of differet ages ad differet abilities, who wat to lear differet thigs at differet speeds ad i differet ways. You do t have eough time for each idividual oe. You ca't easily give each child the idividual attetio they eed. You may ot have eough books or teachig ad learig aids. It s difficult to get studets uderstad ad iterested. Less attetio so less progress Util quite recetly, computer-assisted laguage learig (CALL) was a topic of relevace mostly to those with a special iterest i that area (Brow, 1999). Recetly, though, computers have become so widespread i schools ad homes ad their uses have expaded so dramatically that the majority of laguage teachers must ow begi to thik about the implicatios of computers for laguage learig. The best way to meet the above-metioed eeds is to use Computer-assisted Laguage Learig because there are a lot of advatages of it. 3. Advatages of CALL (Computer-assisted Laguage Learig) Motivatio Authetic materials for study Greater iteractio Differet sources of iformatio Global uderstadig Idividualizatio Repeated exposure to the same material Repeated drills ad immediate o-judgmetal feedback 40

2 Starpaugstskolu ziātiski praktiskās u mācību metodiskās kofereces raksti Material o a idividualized basis Flexible to a variety of studet resposes Powerful self-access facility A ew role to teachig materials There are a lot of advatages of CALL but it is ot applied everywhere successfully because there are several barriers that do ot let it be applied i the educatioal programmes. The barriers ihibitig the practice of Computer-assisted Laguage Learig ca be classified i the followig commo categories: Fiacial barriers Availability of computer hardware ad software at the istitutios Lack of techical ad theoretical kowledge of teachig staff ad studets Acceptace of the techology Lack of kowledge of its beefits Lack of iterests Lack of time ad awareess 4. Computer-assisted Laguage Learig i a large class It is quite obvious that a large class ca be divided ito several groups based o studets kowledge. I order to orgaize differet groups based o studets kowledge of the Eglish Laguage it is ecessary to defie their level. For this reaso I have created a web-site I this site there is a test which defie studets kowledge of the Eglish laguage. There are 63 questios i the test ad as soo as studets complete the test they get to kow about their levels. Begiers Elemetary Pre-Itermediate Itermediate High-Itermediate Advaced I a large class studets pairs ad groups ca help each other ad lear from each other. They do't get bored listeig to teacher talk. 5. Group orgaizatio to suit the studets' abilities Approaches of Laguage Learig ad Teachig: There are 3 well-kow approaches to teach ad lear laguages: 1. Classical approach (Teacher + Studets) 2. Moder approach (Computer + Studets) 3. Ultramoder approach (Teacher + computer + Studet) The research carried out at Iformatio Systems Maagemet Istitute has proved that the best way of learig ay laguage is approach 3 as havig bee explaied the topic by a teacher ad a computer i class, studets leared better ad faster ad they scored better marks i the tests. Group divisio withi approach 3: A teacher divides class ito several groups depedig o the score that shows their level of the Eglish laguage kowledge. There ca be more tha oe group of studets with the same level. The test cosists of 63 questios. A teacher divides class ito several groups takig ito cosideratio that i oe group there caot be more tha 5 studets. Kowledge level Begier Elemetary Pre- Itermediate Itermediate High- Itermediate Advaced Proficiecy Fig.1. Kowledge-based group divisio 41

3 Mūsdieu izglītības problēmas As soo as a teacher defies studets kowledge level, a class ca be divided ito differet groups depedig o there kowledge level takig ito cosideratio that a group ca have ot more tha 4 studets. class Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group Subgroup 1 subgroup 2 subgroup k Fig.2. Divisio of a large class ito various groups As a result of the above-metioed test, we ca defie mathematical expectatio of variables which gives average expected aswers of a test i= 1 i i ( )... M x = X P + X P + + X P = X P. As P1 + P2 + L+ P = 1, the + + L + X ipi P1 + P2 + L + P P i= 1 i XP XP XP i= 1 ( ) = = M x I the above-metioed case we have average weighed-up arithmetic value of X. I this case it is very simple to defie the mode i.e. the most probable value of a variable. I order to form groups of 6 types with a maximum umber of studets i each oe is 4, testig is doe. Number of groups ca be defied with the followig formula: ( )( )( ) C =, 4! where umber of studets i each group 4 C all possible combiatio to form a group. Number of studets left (M) after group formatio ( )( )( ) M = C =. 4! From remaied studets umber of groups with 3 studets ( )( m ) 3 m m 1 2 Cm 3! =. From remaied studets umber of groups with 2 studets C ( ) 2 m m 1 m =, 2! where 3 2 C + C 3. m m Teachers of large classes ca orgaize the groups based o studets kowledge. Three types of groups ca be orgaized: same-ability groups, mixed-ability groups, usig group leaders.. 42

4 Starpaugstskolu ziātiski praktiskās u mācību metodiskās kofereces raksti Same-ability groups: The studets with the same levels ca be grouped so that they will feel free workig with others ad teachers will ot have to explai the thigs to each idividual oe. Such kids of groups are really very good ot oly for teachers but also for studets as the teacher ca leave the groups of faster learers to get o with the work o their ow. S/he ca give extra help to idividual learers i the slower groups. The teacher ca just come aroud give some istructio or tasks to do if the group is strog ad give more time to the group cosists of studets with lower level of the kowledge. Mixed-ability groups: Such kid of groups ca be orgaized to let more able studets help the others. The more able learers i the group ca help the others to master the work so that the teacher eed ot teach some parts. As the studets work o their ow the teacher gets free for other groups. Usig group leaders: I same-ability groups ad mixed-ability groups some more able studets ca be appoited a leader of the group so that they ca help others to uderstad the thigs better ad faster. Some teachers appoit faster, more able learers as group leaders or moitors who ca help slower learers. As soo as a large class is divided ito several small groups, a teacher ca explai some themes to them ad let studets work i their ow groups. A teacher ca explai the theme with the help of computers. For istace, a teacher explais some grammar part to their studets ad asks them to take some olie tests from my site. Research shows that studets work with great pleasure o the computers ad they are welldisciplied. A teacher has to just walk aroud from oe group to aother ad liste to studets talk ad make some commets. A screeshot of my web page which is used for laguage teachig purpose Coclusio Nowadays large classes are the biggest problem faced by educatioal istitutio specially while teachig laguages. Laguage istructors caot work effectively ad efficietly i large classes. I order to work with good results laguage istructors ought to use moder techologies which ca help them orgaize large class ad their job as well. Moder iformatio techology icludig iteret resources provides ot oly studets but also istructors with great possibilities for iovative outside classroom challeges i the teachig ad learig of laguages. The old-fashioed classroom-based approach of istructio where istructors do everythig should ot be used ay more as istructors caot provide studets with versatile kowledge because of lack of authetic materials ad time but at the same time use of iteret resources ca solve all these problems. The research carried out at two higher educatioal istitutes has proved that large classes are ot a problem ay more if laguage teachig ad learig take place with the use of computers ad classes are divided ito differet groups depedig o studets kowledge of laguages. 43

5 Mūsdieu izglītības problēmas Refereces 1. Goyal L., Eglish Laguage Teachig, Idia, 2002 Brow Susa, ig i readig classroom, Malhotra G, Moder Techologies ad ELT, Idia, Surider M, IT ad Teachig, Idia, Richardso James, Teachig Methodology, Agarwal S, CALL- Advatages & Disadvatages, Idia, Kumars M. Agarwals. VALODAS APGUVE LIELĀS AUDITORIJĀS, IZMANTOJOT TĪKLU TEHNOLOĢIJAS Šis raksts ir veltīgs CALL (valodas apguve ar datora palīdzību) programmas lietojuma priekšrocībām, kura ir paredzēta agļu valodas apgūšaai lielās auditorijās. Šajā darbā tiek aplūkotas atšķirības starp valodas mācīšaas klasiskajām u moderajām metodēm, t.i. izmatojot iformāciju teholoģijas. Pētījumi rāda, ka studeti strādājot ar datoru labāk risia uzdevumus u vieglāk mācās. Lietojot tīmekli, izmatojot e-pastu, studeti iegūst iespēju sadarboties, strādāt kopā ar klases biedriem, pasiedzējiem, skolotājiem. Šādā veidā mācības tiek pārveidotas o tradicioālās pasīvās vigriājumu oklausīšaās par aizraujošu piedzīvojumu, kura laikā tiek atklātas u izpētītas jauas lietas u jēdziei. Studeti var sākt apziāties savas poteciālās iespējas, ja viņiem ir siegta iespēja ieguldīt savu darba daļu lielā kopīgā darbā; strādājot komadā, lai izpildītu lasīšaas u rakstīšaas vigriājumus. Līdz pat eseam laikam valodas apmācība ar datoru (CALL) pārsvarā veica tie cilvēki, kuri iteresējās tieši par šo ziību jomu. Taču pēdējā laikā dators ir kļuvis tik izplatīts ga skolā, ga mājās u datora fukcijas ir tik ļoti paplašiājušās, ka svešvalodu pasiedzējiem ir labs iemesls aizdomāties par to, cik ļoti dators ir svarīgs apgūstot valodas. Šajā rakstā tiek siegts īss apskats par to, kā datoru var izmatot apgūstot valodu(goyal, 2002). Raksts av veltīts datoru tehisko specifikāciju u programmodrošiājuma aprakstam, bet ga pedagoģiskiem jautājumiem, kurus pasiedzējiem ir jārisia tad, kad dators tiek izmatots auditorijā mācot valodu. Atslēgas vārdi: valodas mācīšaas veidi, iformācijas teholoģijas, lielas auditorijas Kumar, M. Agarwal. TEACHING LARGE CLASSES WITH WEB TECHNOLOGIES This article explores teachers beefits of usig CALL (Computer-assisted Laguage Learig) which icludes teachig the Eglish Laguage i large classes. This paper reports o the perceived differeces betwee the classical way of teachig the laguage ad the moder oe i.e. usig the iformatio techologies. Research shows that by usig computers, studets become better problem solvers ad better commuicators. Over a etwork, usig ad sharig files, studets have the chace to collaborate ad work together with other classmates, peers, ad teachers. Learig is the trasformed from a traditioal passivelisteig exercise to a experiece of discovery, exploratio, ad excitemet. Studets ca begi to realize their full potetial whe they are empowered to cotribute ad collaborate as a team to accomplish their readig ad writig tasks more effectively. Util quite recetly, computer-assisted laguage learig (CALL) was a topic of relevace mostly to those with a special iterest i that area. Recetly, though, computers have become so widespread i schools ad homes ad their uses have expaded so dramatically that the majority of laguage teachers must ow begi to thik about the implicatios of computers for laguage learig. This article provides brief overview of how computers ca be used for laguage teachig (Goyal, 2002). It focuses ot o a techical descriptio of hardware ad software, but rather o the pedagogical questios that teachers have cosidered i usig computers i the classroom. Keywords: Laguage learig approaches, iformatio techologies, large classes 44