The
future of technology
Handout from BESIG - Wien
November 2004
Contents
The future of technology
This presentation looked at some current
developments in the way IT is integrated in the teaching of
business English, and made some tentative predictions as to
the future.
It suggested that there is cline of attitude
for both teachers and students, with "technophobe"
and "technophile" positions typically at each end
of the scale. The situation is complicated in that multiple
perspectives exist, those of: teacher / student / multimedia
author / publisher / software producer / institution. There
are frequently conflicting viewpoints as to the exact role
of technology in language learning.
My personal beliefs are that technology
is here to stay; there are many exciting features of current
software which can support both teaching and learning, such
as:
- Use of electronic dictionaries
to help learners access meaning from a web-page / compose
text in Word
- Dictionaries on the web, which
can be updated regularly
- Use of a data projector, sometimes
called a "beamer", which helps students to give
a PowerPoint presentation, and teachers to use multimedia
in lessons
- Variations on search engines types
on the Internet
- Using the "slider" to
control input while listening from the Internet / reading
transcripts while simultaneously listening to audio clips
Business English and the Internet
 Uses
of the Internet in Business English are explored in "The
Internet and Business English" (Barney Barrett and Pete
Sharma: Summertown 2003). These include:
Exploitation of students web sites / annual
reports / product descriptions / pictures / graphs and diagrams
/ financial data / specialist dictionaries.
The interactive nature of such material
is what makes the Web an exciting environment.
Material can be authentic,
current,
relevant
and motivating.
To download
a set of framework worksheets for teaching Business English,
visit:
http://www.summertown.co.uk
New ways of searching
Google
- The tilde "~" symbol placed
in front a word in the Google search box activates the Google
thesaurus for that particular word. Example: ~price also
produces result for pricing and buy
- News search
- The "define" function
that accesses the Google glossary search
Meta-search engines
Search search engines. In order to compete
in the market they have introduced some technology to help
organise and display the results in ways that can graphically
illustrate aspects of the language or help to demonstrate
language points. Examples:
Vivisimo
http://www.vivisimo.com
Dogpile http://www.dogpile.com
Kartoo http://www.kartoo.com
Ithaki http://www.ithaki.net
Profusion http://www.profusion.com
Interactive whiteboards
An interactive whiteboard links the touch-sensitive
screen to a computer and allows the teacher to show a Word
document, or other programs such as Excel or Access, a Power
Point presentation, or a web-page. The teacher can write on
the surface with an e-pen. The e-pen can also perform the
function of a computer mouse, tapping the surface of the whiteboard
onto which is projected a computer screen. If you want to
know more, two places to start are:
http://www.prometheanworld.com
http://www.interactive-whiteboards.co.uk
E-learning
There is a lot being written about E-learning
at the moment. It seems we are all searching for the right
"blend" in blended learning, the mix of technology
and face-to-face training. Common environments used by large
institutions are Blackboard and WebCT. Students can communicate
with each other and the teacher through chat, e-mail and leave
messages on bulletin boards.
M-learning:
Mobile learning includes texting, PDAs (personal digital assistants)
and e-books.
CMC (computer-mediated communication):
can be synchronous (Chat) or asynchronous (E-mail). This area
includes desktop video conferencing.
The future of IT in language teaching
Key words are: connectivity
/ ubiquity
/ speed.
More lessons will be held in virtual classrooms, connecting
people globally. More speculative are developments in AI (artificial
intelligence) / virtual worlds. It is dangerous to look more
than two years into the future, although futurologist try!
Post-session
handout
Participants in the session were given
the opportunity to suggest useful web-sites for teaching business
English, and list other forms of technology the use in the
classroom.
These were submitted to Pete.
Useful websites
Websites suggested by participants:
BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk
Economist http://www.economist.com
(Subscription for premium content; newsletter)
Sunday Times Enterprise Network
http://www.enterprisenetwork.co.uk
(subscription)
Financial Times http://www.ft.com
(Subscription for premium content)
British Council
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning
During the talk,
Pete mentioned the newsletter sent by the British Council.
More details on how to subscribe from:
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/talk/list.shtml
The students' company web-site was also
mentioned as a rich source of material for specific courses.
There are many more sites suggested for
ESP in "The Internet and Business English". All
hyperlinks in the ESP section are available on the Summertown
web-site.
http://www.summertown.co.uk/internet_business_english.shtml
Other forms of technology
Other forms of
technologies used in courses, as suggested by participants:
telephone / video recorders / DVDs / audio.
Also: e-books. More on e-books at:
http://www.pyramidmultimediaconsulting.com/inhalt_e.htm
Barney Barrett has drawn my attention
to the possibilities of adding voice collaboration to a Virtual
Learning environment. More on this at:
http://www.horizonwimba.com/solutions/eduvoice.php
News
The next CD-ROM
/ Internet page (by Barney Barrett & Pete Sharma) will
be appearing in BESIG Business Issues as usual. The next article
will include a focus on VLEs.
Newsflash
After the BESIG conference, we heard that
"The Internet and Business English" received a "Highly
Commended" in the English-speaking Union Duke of Edinburgh
Innovations in ELT awards.
Pete can be contacted through: http://www.petesharma.com
To subscribe to a free e-bulletin
on T.E.L.L. (Technology-enhance language learning), email:
e-bulletin@petesharma.com
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