Technology in Teaching

 First of all, you need to choose a video conferencing tool that is free to use and easy to understand.      There are multiple video conferencing tools that we can make use of... Discord, Zoom, Skype, and Microsoft Teams are one of the most popular ones among such tools.  Discord can be distracting since it is widely used among people playing video games which would be detrimental to creating an environment for education. Skype is not used as much even though it is still widely known, the reason is that they have not updated the platform until they lost nearly all of their users. Microsoft Teams can be confusing at times, however, it can be linked to a school's system for easier access and automated calendars to an extent. Another downside is that there can be conflicts between the platform and the school's system. Zoom is the platform that is the most practical based on my observation, it gives more control to the host/presenter. It is the most friendly one for teaching, in m

Creating online content has never been easier, you have the option to use platforms, templates, online tools, and applications that you can use to create and publish your content. It is accessible and simple to use, the only limit is your imagination. The sky is the limit!        Things to consider; Copyright, which explains itself. Availability and  Accessibility Age, Level, Grade, Background Objectives Authenticity Interactivity Time Resources     Websites and Applications that provide templates; Quizziz Make It Lumi Educaplay EdPuzzle ThingLink     For example,  here is a small activity we made using the tools provided through Lumi.

      We might not always be able to find the "perfect" material for our students, what we should do in that case is to work with what's in our hands. We can add, delete, modify, simplify, and reorder the content.      So, how can we do these?      You can add anything extra you deem useful for your students, you can remove inappropriate parts, modify the target skill of the material (from reading to listening or vocabulary to listening for example.), simplify the content if it is too hard, or reorder if you believe the order is confusing for the students. There are more examples to be given but this should get the point across.     You can also divide the changes into categories for the target skill; Reading Listening Vocabulary Grammar     For example, here is how I and my group members changed our example work from the previous week.

 Language learning materials are evolving along with technology to become interactive, personalized, and multi-media-rich forms. You can provide opportunities for using, adapting, and developing materials in an online environment! Factors we should consider before choosing a material;     Is it appropriate for the learners?     Is it available? Can I use technology in this classroom?     How easy it is to use? Would it be too complicated for my class? Factors to focus on;     Purpose     Authenticity     Appropriateness     Interactivity     Feedback Online Sources for Digital Content;     5 Minute English     EFL magazine     English Grammar     Playfactile     LiveWorksheets     Classtools For example, here is the content I've created along with my group members using 5-minute English.       

          Technology has been playing a crucial role in our day-to-day lives, however, it has barely gotten into education, at least not on a large scale. It has the potential to make a teacher's job trivially easy and we do not make use of such a tool.          You can use it for communication through instant messaging apps like WhatsApp, telegram, or share files related to work/class through google drive. These platforms allow you to reach masses of your choice and it allows you to do so with proper order and control, without chaos.         You can also use it for collaboration!  You can use technology to find or share teaching material with fellow teachers through Facebook Groups, Telegram Groups, Youtube Channels, and other platforms.           In fact, there is already a huge amount of content shared by English teachers around the world!