Fernandez j reading_report 05

1. How to Teach English with Technology
Technology-Based Courseware & Producing Electronic Materials
Judith Fernandez Diaz

2. 2014
Technology-Based Courseware & Producing Electronic Materials
There are many resources available to teach English nowadays that help students to
better understand the language and to better develop their English skills. Many of these tools
are been used by all English teachers around the world, and fortunately, many of these have
been updated thanks to technology.
It is not new that learning a language is something difficult that really requires a lot of
commitment from the learners and patience from teachers. Some recognized materials that
teachers use are CD-ROM and DVD- Rom. CDs were introduced first to the market than DVDs,
and they are used to save important data such as images, text, audio and video by the software
system. The CD word means “Compact Disk Read-Only Memory”, and they might have a great
use regarding teaching-learning process, they can include some features that can be applied in
any class regardless the level or the topic chosen. Professors might want to develop some
activities in class like listening, or checking pronunciation as well as grammar activities. There
are many English books for learners that include CDs; these will help them to practice a lot and
to start having a better articulation when talking. The idea of CDs is for students to start getting
used to read at the same time they are listening, and therefore, follow up a same right rhythm
to get to the level of English in a faster way. English books contain many conversations or texts
for students to fill out, engaging them to practice listening, reading and developing their
accuracy. All of us who have been studying the language so far have used these great tools in

3. the past to improve certain areas. A good activity that can be done with CD is having students
recording their voices during the whole learning process, for them to distinguish the level they
are getting in and to realize how important is to talk in a good way. This is called “voice
recognition software” and it really has assisted learners from all areas, even native speakers.
One thing to have in mind is that CDs are more effective for listening or reading rather than
speaking, so it could be a good material to use for beginners or people who are afraid to have a
conversation because of their speaking level. However, giving it the right use will definitely have
a nice impression on students.
There are also the DVDs, which are worthy for English teaching; these artefacts have
some better things than CDs, and also some improvements such as the greater storage
capacity. DVDs have been used more for video procedures since the capacity they have is
bigger, including video in classes might lead the lesson to a more interactive or attractive way
for the individual. The content might be viewed in a PC or laptop, having students dealing with
technology while learning. With DVDs more activities can be done during class, not only
listening or reading, but also speaking, improving the capacities of the students and obtaining
their attention. Many accomplishments can be done with DVDs and the topic can easily be
picked up by the professor itself according to the class subject, student’s level or why not, what
students are interested in, any topic that really caught their attention for the performance
during class to be more participative. One amazing characteristic of DVDs is that they have the
option for subtitles. Having subtitles will completely benefit students to get the ideas faster,
and to learn more vocabulary. Also, a video in English with subtitles could certainly help them
to better manage their articulation skills when talking. All in all, DVDs are great tools to

4. incorporate in class. In general, DVDs and CDs might be great even though they are not as new
as any other technologic tools such as podcasts and wikis, since they can be used with no
internet connection.
Another good tool that can be used is the computer-based testing which is basically a
software test programs that people use online instead of paper and pen, and they are actually
really good to be applied at any level. It is a perfect program for those who have not much time
to go to a course outside or those ones who rather practicing alone. For English teaching classes
are great for dynamic activities, and to have a control of the improvement of the student’s
level. Any skill can be practiced in computer based-testing: listening, speaking, reading, writing
as well as other important areas such as grammar or vocabulary, and there are many websites
online to visit and do this useful tests. Regardless the usage of this content, it is relevant for
teachers to know that computer based-testing has advantages and disadvantages and those
need to be clear.
To mention another great technology improvement, there are also the Digital Portfolios
or E-portfolios, which are a collection of learner’s work online in a specific web site. These are
considered a great instrument for teachers who applied technology into class and also to have
organized their student’s work material during the class, quarter, semester and so on. An
advantage of these assignments is that students might get the responses of the score easily and
faster than if they would had presented them in paper.
For teachers who want their classes to be also more effective, electronic material can
also be a good option to choose. When we mention electronic materials we are referring to all

5. those Informational resources or exercises that a teacher could create by using technologic
stuff such as: computer, CDs, DVDs, etc. By applying these materials in class, teachers will have
more chances to organize the performance of each student as well as the content and the time
that it will take to do it. Something important to point out about electronic materials is that
they are very easy to build up, on internet, professors can find a lot of instructions or steps
about these resources, how to apply them and when. Electronic materials can be taken into
class physically, like papers with specific activities or exercises for students, or they can also be
developed online, in web sites, wikis, blogs or any other software system that could be
available and easy to manage by the learners.
Finally we have the Authoring Tool which is an installable program that are used to
make reference tools and can be distributed on CD, DVD, USB or web pages. This too can be
used to add pictures, texts, audios, video or anything that can useful to teach learners in a
communicating way. There are offer facilities to teachers and they are easy to use. Also this
material can be downloaded by teachers for free so they can create activities according to the
approach of the lesson plan. Anyhow, there are plenty of programs and material that educators
can find on the internet or any other places to help students to better understand the topic and
to get to know more things on the industry that for sure will help them in the future. Most of
them are very easy to use, and if there are some doubts, professors can also find easy steps to
use them during class time.