Teaching with technology

According to research,

‘today students, regardless of demographics have shown an interest in digital opportunities to learn,and the range of Web 2.0 tools that make collaboration, innovation, and individual exploration possible is incredible’ (Lightle, 2011). According to the TPACK framework, it’s very important for teachers to understand how to use the available digital tools as a vehicle to the learning outcomes they expect from their students.

That’s why, in this opportunity, I will share with you a lesson plan and some information so that you can evaluate your choices when it comes to planning using technology. Hope you find it useful! 

Lesson Plan

Class: 3°B (Secondary school)

Duration of the class: 120 minutes

Communicative Goal: talking about things that will be in progress at a specified time in the future.

Grammar focus: future continuous 

Vocabulary focus: invention, lifetime, bank, coin, bill, currency, monetary system, mining, pioneer, earning, USB stick, dawn on, smash, erase, trace. 

Recycled vocabulary: shop, money, digital money, government, go up, be worth, throw away.      

ACTIVATION

At the beginning of the lesson, the students will solve a short activity in which the teacher will give them an envelope with some words. The learners will have to put the words in order and form a sentence in less than 1 minute. The first group to come to the front and pick the card with the picture which refers to the description, wins. Then, the teacher will ask students to read their sentences aloud, and while correction is being carried out, she will ask students to place the pictures on a timeline to represent the history of money.

COMPREHENSION AND CLARIFICATION

Once the topic is presented to the class, students will be asked to scan a QR code to download a text about bitcoins. The teacher will guide them through a prediction stage (based on the pictures, the format, the title of the text, etc) and then, they will read the text on their own. 

Once students check if their predictions were right, the teacher will proceed with the systematization of future continuous form from some examples taken from the text. 

APPLICATION

Activity #1: Students will be given a photocopy and they’ll have to complete the sentences with the future continuous form of the verbs in brackets. This is a very traditional activity, but it’s useful to check general understanding of the grammar focus. 

Activity #2: Students will be given a card with different topics. In groups, the students will have to write ten predictions for each topic. Instead of asking them to write the sentences on their folders, why not using those sentences to create a quizlet and share it with their classmates? In this way, you’ll provide your students with an opportunity to create their own gap-fill exercises and practising the grammar topic of this lesson by solving other groups’ quizlets. So, try to be careful with the instructions. Go step by step: first, ask your students to read the cards and write the predictions on a sheet of paper. Then, ask them to download Quizlet, explain to them how to create an account and explain how to use it. Once they know how to deal with this tool, they can start working on creating the quiz. You can also move to the computer room so they don’t need to download the app (and you avoid problems related to mobile data, internal storage, etc). Once they finish, find a way so that students can share their Quizlets (in my case, I would ask them to write a post on our course blog). It’s important that you monitor students while they are solving other groups’ Quizlet so they can ask questions in case they need help. 

ACTIVITY #3: Students will be given a board game and a dice. They will have to throw the dice and say what they will be doing at a specific time in the future.

ACTIVITY #4: Students will be asked to think about predictions for their friends and family about what they will be doing ten years from now. In groups, they will have to create a Padlet and share their thoughts. Once they finish, they will share the link with the whole class so other classmates read their work. A great activity to encourage your students to read and write at the same time! The comments with more likes will be read by the teacher to the whole class. My students are used to posting in Padlet walls, but if you have never used this tool, remember to explain to your students how to download the app (if they are going to work with their cell phones) or access the site, how to create an account and how to use it. 

REFLECTION

The teacher will ask students to read and tick the sentences that refer to things that will be in progress in the future.

There should always be a clear purpose behind our choices when we plan to include technology in our lessons. As you have already noticed, in the comprehension and clarification stage of the lesson plan, students are given a text in PDF format so that they read it on their phones. Following Puentedura’s framework, this is a clear example of substitution, one of the four different degrees of classroom technology integration in the SAMR model. In other words, by providing a digital version of the text instead of giving students a photocopy, there is no functional change in the task, but there will be some kind of enhancement since students will be asked to use a digital tool to read. 

In the case of activity #2, students will be asked to create an exercise using Quizlet. According to PLANIED framework, this kind of activity would: 

• foster the autonomous use of the ICTs, since our students would understand how this app works and use it on their own;
• promote play, exploration, and fantasy by allowing the construction of ludic activities mediated by a digital environment;  
• develop digital competences and creativity. 

Last but not least, this is a great activity to teach our students how to use technology as a learning tool. 

The use of Padlet in activity #3 clearly depicts a great example of one of the key points highlighted in NAPs: this activity encourages students to work cooperatively and collaboratively. By posting and sharing their thoughts on a virtual environment, students would be able to develop their ability to exchange ideas and dialogue with other classmates about a certain topic. 

If you want to learn how to use Quizlet or Padlet, click here and access my post with both tutorials.

References

Consejo Federal de Educación. (2012). Núcleos de Aprendizajes Prioritarios. Educación Primaria y Secundaria. Lenguas Extranjeras. Retrieved in July 2017 from http://www.me.gov.ar/consejo/resoluciones/res12/181-12_01.pdf

Mkoehler. (2012). TPACK Explained. Retrieved July 2, 2018, from http://www.tpack.org/

Ripani, F. (2016). Competencias de Educación Digital. Ministerio de Educación y Deportes. Retrieved in July 2017 from http://www.bnm.me.gov.ar/giga1/documentos/EL005452.pdf