In this article, Jishan Uddin, co-author of the MINDSET for IELTS series, looks at the functions tech can play within the IELTS classroom.
Our learners are generally tech savvy and highly computer literate. This has had an impact in many ways. Perhaps a consequence most relevant to us as their teachers is what this means for attention spans and learning expectations. As educators, it now seems we need to compete with so much online and smart phone app-based stimuli for our students’ undivided attention. At the same time, we’re inundated with so many tech options that the temptation must be to cram in as much as possible within our lessons to act as crowd pleasers and get our students onside. However, what lies behind our choices? What exactly are we hoping to achieve? Importantly, what does the theory say?
Engagement issues?
Is it really fair to say that our students nowadays lack the tools to concentrate for the duration of a class? According to research, millennials as well as younger students may indeed demonstrate a shorter attention span with some figures suggesting that there is a steady and continuous decline after 10 minutes before a slight return in the last few minutes. However, this may be an oversimplification. Other research has found that it’s not attention spans but the differing needs. Our students have frequent collaborative and technological experiences in their daily lives so what happens in class should probably mirror this. A movement away from passive learning towards more active methods, for example teamwork, debates and self-reflection, is seen to help with motivation as well as higher order thinking.
Is tech the answer?
We can, at times, be overwhelmed by the choices that technology offers us in the classroom. Perhaps there’s a temptation to overdo the gamification element that Kahoot, Quizlet or Socrative can provide – not that there isn’t a time and a place for it, but consider varying this up a little. Switch between teacher and student-paced as well as multiple-choice and open questions etc. This will maintain variety and encourage collaboration depending on the nature of the tasks. For more of an active learning environment where tech-based collaboration is desired, there are a large number of options. Students can use Office Online to work collaboratively – particularly useful for the longer written productive IELTS tasks – to discuss, provide peer support and then respond to feedback collectively. Alternatively, for more spoken production, Flipgrid adds an opportunity for video creation and peer commentary – think IELTS speaking tasks – all on a user-friendly dashboard, plus it adds a social media element that our students are highly familiar with.
Tech to cultivate deeper learners
We’ve looked briefly at how tech can offer our students the opportunity of gamification and collaboration in their learning. Another area where tech can improve the learning experience is how it can help to nurture deeper learning. Studies have identified more critical and reflective tasks as something we want to provide for our learners. Deep learning requires students to reflect on the learning process itself and consider where they are on this journey. It also requires them to be internally motivated and be able to relate what they are learning to their knowledge and past experience, rather than seeing classroom tasks as monotonous chores with the aim of memorising, reciting and regurgitating material inactively and due to external incentives. It is undoubtedly more desirable for everyone concerned to have more students like this.
Where does tech come in here? Software that provides opportunity for self-reflection is key. This can be simple traffic light faces on Poll Everywhere, as just one example, where students rate their progress or confidence with the task before and after doing it. This can be expanded on using OneNote to create a learning journal where students focus on skills and processes they have developed. This will hopefully make students have more ownership of their learning and develop the idea that learning isn’t simply an innate trait but one that can be worked on. Such a journal can be customised, making it into something more blog-esque using Microsoft Sway or similar. Students share their learning journeys to provide an opportunity for self-reflection and peer learning.
Watch Jishan’s webinar below where he explores these functions in more detail and uses the MINDSET for IELTS series to illustrate how we can further create a highly contemporary classroom environment.
Learn more about the MINDSET for IELTS course.
Find more advice and ideas for the IELTS classroom here.