ICT SUPPORT IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

A PROJECT SUMMARY

Submitted by

R.Shanthi

TGT English

Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan

Ashoknagar , Chennai -83

(Recipient of Cash award of Rs.1000)

Table of Contents

The Reality. 3

The Challenge. 3

Importance of inclusion of ICTs. 3

How do we address this?. 3

Objectives that can be enhanced by ICTs. 3

Activities conducted at KV Ashok Nagar campus. 4

Activity I 4

Activity II: 4

Activity III 4

Activity IV.. 4

Activity V: 5

Supporting Tools. 5

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS. 6

INTRODUCTION: 6

RESULTS. 6

SUGGESTIONS. 7

CONCLUSION: 7

REFLECTIONS. 8

The Reality:

Over the past two decades the way we learn has dramatically changed . We have new sources of information to exchange and interact with information. In an increasingly competitive world, survival of the fittest is the rule of the game. Teaching & Learning are even more challenging and complex.

The Challenge:

Students do not have much exposure to English from different origins. Nations’ ethnic composition is becoming more diverse, and increasing globalization has meant having frequent contact with people of other nations and cultures. To race with this speed students do not have sufficient opportunities to interact with peers. Further there is a compulsive need for an overall development to face world challenges.

Importance of inclusion of ICTs:

It is estimated that total amount of information doubles every four to five years. Teachers have to become expert in helping learners to navigate through this sea of information. There is paradigm shift from teacher centred approach to a learner-centred approach. The use of multimedia resources enable the learner for self paced,self–directed and flexible learning. The role of teachers therefore is changing from transmitters of knowledge to mediators in learning.

How do we address this?

With the effective use of ICTs through the choice of technologies and the modalities of it’s use.

Objectives that can be enhanced by ICTs.

• Provide anytime & anywhere learning.

• Promote collaborative learning.

• Promote Constructivism .

• Equip learners with 21st century skills.

• Improving the quality of education.

• Make learning a life long process.

• Make learning fun.

• Make students expert learners.

Activities conducted at KV Ashok Nagar campus:

The activities that were chosen for this project are meant to enhance 3 out of four skills in language learning namely Listening, Writing and Speaking.

Activity I: Was arranged for Class 6^th to 10^th where every student was tasked with listening to a podcast from British Council and develop one on their own. The objective of this exercise was to enhance pronunciation and enable the students to understand people speaking the language of different origins especially the British and the Americans. Through the frequent use of this activity students will be able to score very good marks in CBSE ASL and future crack international exams like TOEFL And IELTS with ease.

Activity II: “Make A Movie”for Class 10th students, was well received activities amidst students. This was an exercise by a TEAM that created 4 movies ,titled Never Give Up, Insane, Abdul Kalams Dream India 2020 and Betrayal. The overall objective of this activity was meant to enhance creative thinking ability, collaborative skills and enhance confidence. The students not only performed multiple roles such as acting, screenplay , story, editing, dubbing but also justified the reason for choosing the storyline. This activity involved the use of – ICT tools like sony vegas pro, lightworks ,audacity

Activity III: Involved students to DEVELOP & DELIVER a presentation on the career that every student wished to opt for themselves. Despite being an exercise to improve communication and presentation and public speaking skills, this exercise was also meant to be a retrospective analysis of where a student wanted to see him or herself in future.

Activity IV: Encourage writing skills .There is an Explosive rise in the use of short forms of words which blemishes effective writing. In order to improve the writing skills activities integrating ICT tools were used to design pamphlets, create online newsletters, conducting survey and interpreting data using various tools like Google Doc, Excel ,Microsoft Power Point etc.

Activity V: Spellings and vocabulary is another area of challenge to teachers .Word cloud was used to transform a dull text to a sizzling text. One can tweak his clouds with different fonts, layouts, and colour schemes. This was a great learning tool to enable better retention and memory of often hard to use terms in the English language. Given that this was an activity aimed at an individual level, it was noticed that there was a remarkable difference in the way of learning and receptiveness amidst students there by fairing well in their English exams.

Supporting Tools:

“KNOWLEDGE is SHARING”. In this context a publicly accessible blog was created called “kvashoknagareaseenglishblogspot. Topics pertaining to syllabus are posted to encourage discussions , and strong brainstorming sessions amidst students community. Specific google groups have been created for announcements pertaining to school and also post other informative materials about course work materials such as answer key papers etc.

Today, the reach of social media is tremendous, facebook is used to routinely share posts and comments and interact with teachers around the world. Being an active group member of British Council & ELTAI, TED talks, webinars by British Council and Macmillan help me enhance my teaching methodologies.

Being a strong advocate of embedding ICT in teaching methodologies / learning, the lesson plans for the five classes have been digitised for the year 2015 and 2016.

Results and Conclusions:

Introduction:

The objective of the project was to develop the necessary ICT skills for overall development . The knowledge of English combined with ICT skills is very important in today’s world . The students of KVASHOKNAGAR were given an opportunity to integrate and develop their skills so that they have outstanding language skills throughout their life. This project empowers students with strong language skill along with a few ICT skills.

Results:

The results you achieve will be in direct proportion to effort you apply.

Denis Waitely

To bring about a change in one’s learning styles is a challenging task . This project has brought a transformation and a visible difference in students learning styles of the language. The activities for this project conducted for classes VI to X were created in line with the curriculum with utmost care and intense research . It had variety which is an essential ingredient to make the sessions interesting.

The project was a great success and an eye opener for many. Students were enthralled with the use technology for learning language in an interesting way. It took them away from the monotonous classroom environment and made them to explore possibilities of self learning and constructivism. It helped them identify their weaknesses and work to reduce them . The Assessments ( pre test and post test) are an authentic record to prove that it created a visible difference in them. This project made them realise the need to possess ICT skills and a strong Language skill to face the working world .The feedback given by the students conclude that this was an eye opener to them that language could be effectively learnt using Technology.

Suggestions :

Such projects can bring positive changes if implemented in a phased manner on a continuous basis. Another important factor is to build good ICT facilities in school and home.

Conclusion:

At the beginning of the project I was very apprehensive about possibility of the implementation but I began with lot of enthusiasm and had a sense of fulfilment upon completion .Several ICT tools explored by me were rightly transacted to students and put into use through various activities. In fact I was surprised with the way I executed the entire programme. It broadened my vision on the aspect that such projects have to become integral part of the school programme .

I believe in the words of Jill Koenig

“Results will show up when you do”

Reflections

‘Honest self reflection opens your mind to reprogramming ,

change and success’.

After attending the workshop on Virtual classroom by Dr.Rajagopalan, Dr.Mangai Wilson and Dr.Ramni at KV AFS AVADI in 2014, I felt encouraged and the need to put into use the aspects of integrating ICT in classrooms. After my transfer to KV Ashoknagar, it took a definite shape in the form of a project titled ICT SUPPORT IN LANGUAGE LEARNING .This project taught me that language teachers have to be skilled in ICT to address the new challenges that this generation is facing. It has transformed my approach to students and teaching methodologies.It has also strengthened my ICT skills and made me a reflective practitioner.

I did a lot of reading and research in designing the activities as it had to be connected to the curriculum and real life. While I was eager to execute many activities in school, the challenge was to create and implement effective programs within the given timeframe and resources.

This project helped me in transforming my approach to becoming more of a facilitator to the students in not only strengthening their language skills but also their ICT skills to some extent.

I realized that teachers have to become expert in helping learners to navigate through the sea of information rather than attempt to be effective transformers of that information into knowledge for the learners. There is an urgent need for students to be trained to bring about this transformation, during and beyond the school years. ICTs are crucial in coping with the explosion of knowledge over the lifetime of the learner; otherwise, people’s knowledge becomes obsolete, and countries become marginalized.

Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.”