Using a word processor such as Word for Windows to develop a class project can stimulate learning in a number of areas and provide motivation through the students' sense of accomplishment at producing a high quality document in English. The main challenge in working on this type of project is that of making sure that each student is involved. Here are some general guidelines for using the computer in class:
The computer should always be turned on, booted, and the program loaded (preferably the exercise chosen) before the class begins. In this manner, students focus on doing the task at hand rather than getting to the point where they can do the task.
Students who are not comfortable using computers should be placed with students who are. These students should not be forced to use the mouse or type at the keyboard. As they become more familiar with the technology, they will often begin to play a more active role - even if they don't, the ability to use the computer is not the issue.
Students more comfortable with the computer should be strongly discouraged from using other resources available in the program itself, or in other programs. These students should be encouraged to explore these resources on their own by taking advantage of self-access programs.
Use of the computer should be phased in; instead of introducing a complex series of exercises to be done for a lesson, teachers should begin by doing a limited amount of work with the computer (i.e. one listening exercise followed by an interactive quiz).
his plan focuses on developing a class writing project over a period of time and is therefore designed as a general outline to such a project. Some of the advantages to having students develop a report on the computer are: 1) improving fluency through discussion of an "authentic" task 2) improving spelling, grammar and lexical skills through the use of various computer tools 3) deepening student knowledge and communicative ability in one subject which the student enjoys 5) increasing vocabulary knowledge specific to chosen topic 5) indirectly improving computer skills through the "hands-on" aspect of the exercise.
Aim: Group production of high quality computer generated reports
Activity: Developing a report in English created on the computer with a word processing program. This report should be thought of as a project to be completed over a number of weeks.
Level: All levels
Outline:
In a group session, have students do a brainstorming session on topics which might be interesting/useful for them.
Ask students to choose the five topics that they find most interesting and put them in order of interest.
Discover which students know how to use the computer and which do not.
Divide students into groups of four students. Match two computer-savvy students with two students who feel less comfortable using the computer. Try to create groups based on a matching of interests using the previously created interest list.
Have students begin their project by collecting related materials. Students who do not feel comfortable using the computer can use traditional information sources such as magazines, encyclopedias, etc. Those who enjoy using the computer can use the Internet or CD-ROMs.
Once materials have been collected, have students develop their presentation by discussing which materials they would like to use or base their presentation on - materials should include: text, pictures, sound recordings if applicable, etc.
In their groups, have students develop an outline of their presentations. This outline should be done on the computer using functions such as bullets, bold, various fonts, etc. Students who are less comfortable using the computer can quickly learn the principal functions of the computer without having to focus on developing content, thus giving them more confidence for future phases of development.
Once students have developed a feasible outline, ask the more advanced students to share their computer skills with the other students by walking the other, less computer-savvy, students through the outline process again. At this point, students should also be thinking about which text, images and other resources should be used for each outline point.
Students should now be ready to create their project. Each student does not necessarily need to type or perform the computer commands. More importantly, each student actively participates in the conversation of what should be included in the report and how it should be presented. In this way, students naturally begin to take on roles within the group while building fluency about the chosen topic.
Make sure that students use various computer tools during the creation of their reports. Possibilities include: spell-checking, online dictionary, thesaurus capabilities, and grammar check. The use of these tools will provide students with many possibilities for repetition thus promoting passive knowledge to become active.
The final product should be printed out and given to each student.
Finally, each group should prepare a short quiz based on the report they have produced.
Students should then distribute their reports to another group for reading comprehension purposes.
Students can then do the various reading comprehension quizzes and further drill their classmates on the information presented in the reports.
This Article is from: http://esl.about.com/library/lessons/bl_wordprocess.htm
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