Effective Use of IT for
English Learning and
Teaching in Primary
Schools
Paul McMahon
International Teacher
Why are we considering
ICT for learning?
• If our kids are doing well on test
scores…
• And our economy is strong…
• And parents and kids seem to want us
to focus on the bookwork…
• Why should we change?
Friedman’s Flatteners
– The Fall of the Wall and the Waging of the
Windows
– The Dawn of Connectivity: When Webs were
No Longer for Spiders
– Work Flow Software: Don’t Mind the
Difference and the Distance
– Uploading: Redefining the Multi-Colored
Post-Its
– Etc.
One Laptop Per Child?
Do you
market your
school as
being
conservative,
traditional
and the place
for oldfashioned
learning??
Natives and Immigrants
Digital Native Learners
Digital Immigrant Teachers
Prefer receiving information quickly from multiple
multimedia sources.
Prefer slow and controlled release of information from
limited sources.
Prefer parallel processing and multitasking.
Prefer singular processing and single or limited
tasking.
Prefer processing pictures, sounds and video before
text.
Prefer to provide text before pictures, sounds and
video.
Prefer random access to hyperlinked multimedia
information.
Prefer to provide information linearly, logically and
sequentially.
Prefer to interact/network simultaneously with many
others.
Prefer students to work independently rather than
network and interact.
Prefer to learn “just-in-time.”
Prefer to teach “just-in-case” (it’s on the exam).
Prefer instant gratification and instant rewards.
Prefer deferred gratification and deferred rewards.
Prefer learning that is relevant, instantly useful and
fun.
Prefer to teach to the curriculum guide and
standardized tests.
*Ian Jukes and Anita Dosaj, The InfoSavvy Group, February 2003
• What’s wrong with just turning out a
group of kids with the same solid
learning that their parent’s
generation had?
It requires more than a
“bolt on”
Online Interactives
• There are a large number of these available free
online. Examples include:
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/i
ndex.shtml (Simple sounds games)
• http://www.funbrain.com/grammar/index.html
(Grammar)
• http://www.oupchina.com.hk/elt/magic/students/
game.htm# (words and sentences)
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/magickey/adventur
es/index.shtml (words and sentences)
• Are these useful in class/out of class?
Front of Class
Interaction
• There is research being produced,
especially from the UK that suggests
Interactive Whiteboards engage
more learners by getting them to the
front of the class doing things that
all can see.
The Ability to Edit Not
Just Use
• Making things happen at the front of the
room where the learners attention is
focused is what most teachers want to be
able to do.
• You can do this to a certain extent with a
wireless mouse and keyboard.
• A tablet PC and wireless projector is also
good but costly and not easy to pass to
students.
IWBs and Other Front
of Room Devices
• Boards are good but costly and not
portable.
• Many cheap alternatives on the
market.
• Need to make sure that you have
software that you can
download/share resources with.
Easiteach
• A presentation/editor for WholeClass teaching that can be used on
both platforms and every
presentation device.
• Very easy to use
• Developed using teacher input
Download and Modify
• A great deal of content available for
Easiteach both for sale and free.
• http://www.easiteach.com.au/
• http://www.learningalive.co.uk/t_res
ources_results.aspx?prod=137&type=
2
Collaboration Tools
• non-synchronous exchange
http://www.epals.com/
• Collaborative Projects
http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Cla
ssroom+Wikis
• http://flatplanet.wikispaces.com
• Voice exchange
• http://voicethread.com
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Synchronous
Collaboration Tools
• Conversations http://www.skype.com
• Full classroom sharing tools
http://www.e-lecta.com/
• Podcasting
http://www.podiumpodcasting.com/po
dcasts/index.html
Hands On
• Use Easiteach trial to create learning
activities (see handout)
• Go to WikiSpaces
http://www.wikispaces.com/ to
create a WIKI or add comments to
my sample WIKI
http://lsa.wikispaces.com/
More Hands On
• Use the trial Podium software on the
computers to do 3 of the 5 P’s
• Sign up for an account with ePals to
join in with other schools doing
language exchanges.
• If able, webconference with Sydney,
Australia for a while!
• Ask Questions and Enjoy!
Thank You!
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Paul McMahon
Learning Solutions Asia
Email: pmc@learningsolutions.com.hk
Phone: w81702808 m91705605
PowerPoint:
http://iclassroom.hkedcity.net/teach
er/teacher979