Embedded Files
In this entry, we’ll use the guideline suggested by Dudeney and Hockly’s (2008) in How to Teach English with Technology to review online resources for future ELT lessons.
The criteria that we will use to evalute online resourses are:
ACCURACY: It refers to the reliability and correctness of the content, in particular, in language teaching.
CURRENCY: It refers to how up-to-date the website and its resources are.
CONTENT: It refers to how interesting and engaging from the learners' point of view.
FUNCTIONALITY: It refers to how easy it is to navegate, how well links and features work and whether multimedia functions effectively.
APPLIED EXAMPLE
Group: 3rd year secondary private school -(15/16 years old)
Book: Gateway to the world B1 - Unit 3 “Plurilingual”
Level: B1
Objectives
By the end of this unit of work, the students will be able to:
Identify lexis about countries, nationalities and languages.
Express their ideas using grammar topics developed in the unit (defining relative clauses and quantifiers).
Analyze the influence of the English language in their own language.
Create a presentation to show how the English language appears in their daily lives.
Considering the students' level of English, they will only use authentic material. The following seven educational tools are well-suited for this unit of work.
YOUTUBE
YouTube is a great tool for students to search for videos on specific topics and also tutorials on grammar points they might not have understood in class. This particular video is part of the education resources included in Gateway to the World B1 textbook. Students can access these resources on the Macmillan education site or on youtube. They are recommended for use in flipped classroom settings. As regards accuracy, The video provides clear, correct explanations of countable and uncountable nouns as well as the use of quantifiers in English, suitable for B1-level learners. Currency: as I mentioned earlier, this video is part of the to The Gateway to the World B1 series which was published in 2021. The content includes up-to-date vocabulary such as references to tweets and events like the 2012 London Olympics. Content: The explanations are concise, and the examples are practical and familiar to learners.The material is relevant for B1 curriculum, focusing on the grammar points at this level. Functionality: As a YouTube video, it is easily accessible and can be paused, replayed, or used in a flipped classroom setting.The video is logically structured, moving from explanation to examples and practice.
ISL COLLECTIVE:
It is a useful tool for students to practise interactively, through worksheets and videos, grammar, vocabulary, reading and listening. This web was launched by Adam Laszlo, Peter Laszlo and Benedek Princz,with the collaboration of many teachers and translators, to offer free online teaching resources to teachers. The content of this workshes is accurate, as it focuses on countries and nationalities. It is linguistically correct and aligns with standard ESL teaching practices. Currency. This vocabulary topic - countries and nationalities- does not require frequent updates so this material remains relevant for today's learners. Content: The worksheet is relevant to the ESL curriculum, helping students practice and reinforce vocabulary related to countries and nationalities. Activities such as matching, filling in blanks, and crosswords help students to internalize the vocabulary effectively. Functionality: The worksheet can be completed online or downloaded as a printable PDF. The instructions are clear, enabling students to work independently.
CANVA
This is a user-friendly tool that helps students to prepare their final outcome in a creative and organized way. In terms of accuracy, this presentation provides relevant and accurate content related to the topic, supporting student learning effectively. Regarding currency, The material is up to date, featuring short videos from movies and interactive games on each slide, ensuring it aligns with current technological and educational trends.
The content is topic-based, relevant and engaging. It helps students practise and reinforce what they have learned through a variety of interactive activities. Finally, as regards functionality, this presentation is easy to follow and to complete all the activities on each slide with minimal guidance.
BRITISH COUNCIL: LEARN ENGLISH ONLINE.
This website provides students with authentic videos about different languages among other relevant topics. Also, there are listening comprehension activities to check students’ understanding. Accuracy: The video and its activities demostrate grammatically correct English and reflect authentic language use as well as accurate cultural information. Currency: The video references recent realities of language use and community attitudes, making the material up-to-date. Content: The material is relevant for English language learners, offering insights into multiculturalism and language diversity. Functionality: the video is easy to use: learners are guided through a preparation task, the video, and follow-up exercises
BBC Learning English:
This website is a department of the BBC World Service dedicated to teaching English as a second language. It provides free resources and materials, including audio, video, and text, to learners of all levels and from around the world.This particular article reads about how the language we speak may affect the perception of the world and also how we go through it. Accuracy: This article presents research-based findings on how languages influences cognition, particularly in perceiving time and space. It references scientific studies and provides accurate linguistic and psychological insights. Currency: Since the article was published in 2022. It reflects recent research and contemporary debates in linguistics and cognitive science. Content: The topic is highly relevant for English language teaching, especially for lessons involving culture, language diversity, and cognitive aspects of language. Functionality: The BBC website is user-friendly, and the article is well-structured with headings, short paragraphs, and illustrative scenarios that support students’ comprehension
WORDREFERENCE
It is an online translation dictionary created in 1999 by Michael Kellogg. This web is accurate since it incorporates many well-known dictionaries making it a reliable source for translations and definitions. As regards currency, the platform maintains active forum discussions with recent posts, indicating ongoing engagement , content updates and also reflecting current language usage and contemporary expressions. The content of this page consists not only of words , meanings and audio pronunciation but also Forum discussions that provide real-world usage examples and cultural context. Wordreference has strong functionality with reliable performance, cross-platform compatibility, and user-friendly design
WIKIPEDIA
It is a user-edited encyclopedia, which means its articles can be edited by anyone. Accuracy: This entry provides factually correct information with proper citations and transparently discusses methodological limitations, though it remains vulnerable to Wikipedia's collaborative editing nature. Currency: the data used in this webpage is the most recent from 2024, with regular updates provided annually since 2011. Although the content is not specifically designed for English language teaching, as it serves more as a statistical reference, it can still be used as a reliable source of background information. Functionality: The site offers standard Wikipedia navigation with clearly organized tables, headings, and cross-references, making it easy to explore related topics.
Educational Implications: Wikipedia's value depends significantly on user digital literacy and critical thinking skills. While it provides excellent breadth and currency, its accuracy requires verification through the cited sources it references.
REFERENCES:
Dudeney, G., & Hockly, N. (2007). How to Teach English with Technology. Harlow: Pearson Longman.
BBC Learning English. (n.d.). Learn English with BBC Learning English - Improve your English for free. Retrieved June 10, 2025, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish
Aljohani, N. R., & Davis, H. C. (2022). YouTube and education: A scoping review. Computers & Education, 177, 104379.
WordReference.com. (n.d.). WordReference online language dictionaries. https://www.wordreference.com
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved June 10, 2025, from https://www.wikipedia.org
Canva. (n.d.). Canva. https://www.canva.com/
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