Reflection 4

In week 4 of the course, I had a chance to learn about using CALL (Computer-assisted language learning) in writing and reading activities and to write a technology-enhanced lesson plan.

As a student, I was familiar with writing and reading on papers, with a pen to draft out ideas for writing or take notes on reading passages. However, there has been a shift in language learning and teaching, and as a teacher, I have been more cognizant of how technology can aid students in the classroom. Regarding writing skill, I think Padlet can be a useful tool in the stage of brainstorming, as it allows students to read and exchange ideas. In instances where I lack the time to design handouts from scratch, I download worksheets from the British Council website. Preparation, reading comprehension, and post-reading tasks make up the majority of the worksheets on BC. Likewise, their writing lessons include both free- and controlled-practice exercises to help students grasp and apply the material. In addition to BC, Purdue is a relatively new website that has a lot of useful tutorials on academic writing. Since the majority of my students specialize in English, they frequently have to write academic essays. Thus, being able to write academically will be very beneficial to them in getting good grades and eventually going on to further their education. Purdue provides just what they need. Even though its interface lacks visual appeal, the website is user-friendly. Most importantly, it offers quality articles on academic writing such as paragraph organization and punctuation. There are also videos to make their instructions more captivating and comprehensible. My peers also suggest certain websites to assist reading and writing lessons such as Quill, Read Write Think, and Breaking News English, amongst which I am the most interested in Breaking News English. This website offers reading passages of various levels and topics to facilitate students’ learning process.

In the module, I was also offered a chance to write a technology-enhanced lesson plan, which is relatively novel to me. I am quite familiar with writing lesson plans, but those with technological elements might be a bit more difficult to design. My peers have made it easier for me by presenting their work in the online sharing session. For example, Bích Hồng, one of my teammates, suggests Flipgrid, an online platform where students can submit videos and interact with their teacher. She uses Flipgrid to assign students with a speaking task. In case the Internet connection in her class is weak, she will ask her students to use their phones to record or perform in front of the class. This shows the importance of having plans B and C if plan A does not work due to technological difficulties. In my lesson plan, I use Educaplay for the warm-up activity and Blogger for the writing activity. In my senior year at university, my lecturer recommended using Educaplay for creating educational games, and the site has been of great help in the classroom. The game I create for this lesson is a word search puzzle to inform students of some words related to the topic. In addition to Educaplay, Blogger is used to store students’ writing portfolios. Students are required to post their essays on Blogger so that their peers can easily comment on their pieces and I can gather their writing with no difficulty. 

I have been halfway through the course of Internet in English teaching, and I have seen myself grow so much along the way. Throughout the course, I have had the opportunity to apply technology to my teaching by designing blogs, keeping bookmarks and writing learning objectives. I look forward to the upcoming modules where I hope to gain more valuable insights.

All in all, module 4 has been extra helpful in forming my knowledge about computer-assisted language learning. I have had experiences using several suggested websites and written a lesson plan with certain technological elements to it.