مقاله ict به زبان انگلیسی

Why ICT?

Firstly, new technologies can enable the active, vibrant, relevant teaching of English. They need not replace traditional texts. They need not undermine traditional skills. They can aid motivation, understanding, engagement, analysis and creativity.

Secondly, forms of communication have changed radically in the past few years. We need to help our students understand, critique and produce the new media in which they are immersed. Students also need to experience a learning environment that reflects the media rich environment outside school.

As a profession, we cannot ignore ICT. By far the largest component of ICT is the C: communication. We don't have to embrace every aspect of it, any more than we do of the printed word. But we do need to acknowledge young people's use of Web 2 technology ¹ and we need to understand how to harness their creative potential in the classroom.

Where are we now?

Inevitably, an answer to this question will date quite quickly. Nevertheless, at the time of writing, it seems to us that:

·       only a minority of secondary English departments have embedded ICT confidently into their teaching; the situation in primary schools is probably better but we need more evidence

·       many schools do not give ICT in English a priority, or even an equable share of resources and attention

·       many departments do not understand what ICT can offer them which is better than more traditional (and often less expensive / less troublesome) approaches. Nor do many take account of the ICT being taught elsewhere in the school and, as a result, the prior knowledge which students have.

·       many departments view ICT, where it is used, mainly as a way of accessing the internet and internet-derived resources

·       access to technology on an 'at need' basis is limited to a minority of departments

·       where access to technology has improved (more interactive whiteboards, projectors and so on) departments have not always taken this into account in considering their teaching and rewriting Schemes of Work.

However

·       confidence in the use of technology among teachers has grown enormously over the last few years, partly through developments in schools but more often through the personal ownership of computers and other devices.

·       the advent of reliable (and increasingly, wireless) networks in schools is enabling much greater use of the internet and the sharing of resources

·       the advent of interactive whiteboards and, particularly, data projectors is changing the nature of what can be achieved without access to computer suites

·       the development and spread of other technologies - wireless keyboards, voting systems, tablet PCs, for example - will also have a positive impact on the learning and teaching of English.

Where do we want to be?

We want to achieve an e-confident classroom. Or, to avoid the perhaps irritating 'e-' prefix, English classrooms where both teacher and students are at home using ICT as and when it is appropriate.

In what ways might ICT be appropriate in such a classroom?

In three areas, which can be summarised as

·       Receiving / understanding

·       Sharing

·       Creating / producing

Receiving / understanding

·       Edi ting / transforming

·       Investigating / discovering

·       Reading for information

·       Media rich ICT resources help elicit new meanings from texts (often more quickly - and with added relevance for today's young learners)

Sharing

·       Collabora tive writing and publishing

·       Group talk

The increased / enhanced use of VLEs ² - all schools must have them in place by 2008 - opens up huge potential for self-publishing, electronic drafting, independent learning any time, anywhere etc English will benefit from these new models of learning / accessing information / communicating. (The Building Schools of the Future programme, about to be rolled out by NCSL, will make much of this.)

Creating / Producing

·       Drafting / redrafting

·       Proofing / preparing for publication / presentation

·       'Publishing' (see above - we may need to qualify this in light of future teaching / learning aspirations with VLEs)

It will not have escaped your notice that these areas are exactly those where non-ICT approaches are also appropriate ....

In all these considerations, it is important that we keep in the forefront of our minds, the principles of enhancement and extension. ICT is still an expensive and scarce resource; it still poses challenges to teachers in terms of confidence and time. Therefore, if we are to propose its use, we need to be sure that it is helping us to do something new, something better or something beyond what we could achieve by other more traditional means.

Faced with a plethora of techniques, products and resources competing for limited time and budget, it might be useful to consider the following points when planning Schemes of Work, deciding the allocation of hardware and software resources or the spending of money - whether the department's or the school's.

The most worthwhile resources employing ICT in English tend to:

·       allow users to import their own work;

·       permit users to adapt and add to the content (leading to a greater sense of ownership of the content);

·       encourage active participation with the resources;

·       are organised so that teachers and pupils find materials and support 'to hand' when they need them (eg the online dictionary built into the latest versions of Word);

·       genuinely save time and improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning;

·       exploit unique features of ICT (such as animation) to enhance learning and engage learners in fresh ways.
 

What are the barriers to getting there and what can help us get there?

Efficacy of training

Sometimes training is simply not very good, or does not focus on the specific needs of teachers of English.Sometimes, though, teachers attend training and show enthusiasm but practice in school does not change.The other pressures of daily teaching overcome many good intentions.             

Support is essential, from outside and inside.The key is often the attitude of the head of the department, the Head or SMT.Action plans with key dates and planned report-backs to the group can help to raise the priority of ICT in schemes of work and in the day to day experience of teaching.Intervention and support from LA is another way of sustaining momentum.

Over-reliance on 'an expert'

Schools frequently rely on one very keen teacher and as a result practice does not improve for the others in the department."So-and-so is our ICT expert" can be an excuse for inactivity and can make the school vulnerable when that teacher leaves.             

The ICT 'expert' needs to be empowered to encourage the rest of the team: to become the agent for change, not the person who does it all.