An Eight-Hour Teaching Scenario Using Web 2.0 Applications on a Reading Platform for the Acquisition of the English Language in a Multilingual Classroom
Aikaterini Venetikidou, Hellenic Open University (Greece)
Abstract
We would all agree that humanity has long time passed to the digital era which refers to the widespread availability of technology that provides people with enables access to data, ideas and interaction with people from all over the world at the same time (Starkey, 2010). In order to catch up with that uprising digital era, more teachers are experimenting by designing digital tools as web 2.0 applications and blog creating platforms are greatly available online nowadays. Some freshly graduated teachers are already experienced in the use of digital technologies (Starkey, 2010), while others try to self-educate themselves by watching online tutorials or online courses for lifelong learning. This educational scenario takes place on a platform created by the author. The theme of this platform is based on the book ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone’ by J.K. Rowling and it has been created within the context of face-to-face interaction and instruction in the classroom, in which the students participate in asynchronous or synchronous online activities. The audience that this reading platform refers to is 17 Grade 4 students who are being taught English as a Second Language in an international school. The digital tools on the platform have been developed in order to serve the educational needs of the students and they aim to provide them with a learning experience that will enable them to track their progress in reading as well as to encourage parents to engage themselves in the school community and actively participate in their children’s education. The students’ performance on the tasks is assessed through evaluation activities, their products as well as their cooperation.
Keywords: game-based learning, digital tools, second language acquisition, task-based learning;
References:
[1] Rowling, J. (1997). Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (pp. 1-18). United Kingdom: Bloomsbury.
[2] Starkey, L. (2010). Teachers’ pedagogical reasoning and action in the digital age. Teachers And Teaching, 16(2), 233-244.