Part 2:
Teaching With ICT

a. Structuring Lessons

In the case study we are dealing with, the teacher has a fairly regular pattern to her sessions. She tends to start with a teacher led introduction to the session outlining the area of coverage in the session. In an hour-long session, she might restrict herself to eliciting some of the vocabulary relevant to the topic using flashcards and asking her pupils to do some pair work to help memorising the vocabulary. She could for instance use flashcards from the Internet and consolidate the learning with some puzzle games from the puzzlemaker site:
www.puzzlemaker.com

Again, you might not work in exactly this way, but you probably do have a pattern that you favour as a teacher. Characterise this pattern to yourself now, and consider how the use of ICT as a resource might fit into it.

Over something like a ten week period, spending two or three hours a week on the topic, the teacher in the case study has wanted to introduce the ICT based work at about the third week, spending the first two on ensuring, using other means, that all pupils were reasonably familiar with the topic. Moreover, she wants to spend the first two hours in each week dealing with the topic using other methods thus keeping the use of ICT to assess her pupils. First let's recall the main learning objectives the teacher has for her pupils in this area:

  • Recognise the vocabulary related to the topic.
  • Understand and use verbs with personal pronouns.
  • Provide information about everyday activities to others.
  • Elicit similar information from others.

Case Study Lesson Structure

Week 3 - Use the Internet to consolidate pupils understanding and knowledge of vocabulary.

  • Class introduction and targeted questions - "warm up".
  • Exercise on puzzlemaker www.puzzlemaker.com on names of leisure activities.
  • Feedback and answer to whole group.

Week 4 - Use of the Internet to consolidate pupil's knowledge of "leisure activities" vocabulary and grammatical structures.

  • Class introduction.
  • Challenge Quiz from the BBC languages site with pupils working in pairs.
  • Feedback and answer to whole group. Small group are "scored" and rewarded, all pupils receive correct answers.

Week 5 - Leisure Activities.

  • Class introduction.
  • Pair Work BBC GCSE Bitesize web site: Personal and Social Life - Under Reading Activities/finding a pen friend - reading text pairs complete multiple choice answers.
  • Group work BBC Deutsch Plus site - Audio clip with gap fill and vocabulary building exercise.
  • Group correction of exercises.
  • Feedback.

Week 6 - Grammar: Conjugation of verbs Haben/Sein including personal pronouns.

  • Class introduction · German grammar - use textbook and elicit difficult vocabulary first.
  • Group work www.quia.com/custom/1618main.html students practise by playing a series of games.
  • Feedback - complete exercises in textbook.

Week 7 - E-mailing a German school.

  • Class introduction.
  • Students to work either in pair or on their own to prepare message on school life and routine.
  • Messages briefly checked by teacher.
  • Whole class conclusion and summary.

b. Managing Learning in the Classroom