Task:

This week, you are supposed to do some research, before you write your article. Find out about today’s use of computers in your old grammar school. Try to find information in the „Schulprogramm“ or on the website, remember if and how your teachers included the New Media in the classroom. Describe your findings and your opinion about it. The entry is due on the 9th of December.

Well, my entry this week would be rather short: Apparently, there is no such thing as a “Schulprogramm” for my old school (at least not online). All the information I could find on the website concerning the use of New Media is:

·        There are computers at my old school

·        There is an after school club for informatics

When I went to school, computers were rarely used. I remember a very few lessons, in which we used learning software for English. That was it, basically. It’s perfectly possible that things have changed, after all, it’s four and a half years ago that I last went to school – but there is no way one could find out on the website. If you want to check, that’s the website of my old school: http://www.lgratzeburg.de/page2008/.

My opinion about it? Well, if the school really doesn’t integrate New Media into the curriculum, I would find it quite sad, but as I said, I don’t know if that’s the case.

 

 

To not end my entry here, I would like to describe a school in England I worked at from October ’07 to May ’08 as an FLA (Foreign Language Assistant). It was a comprehensive school near Portsmouth in Hampshire: http://www.bayhouse.hants.sch.uk/. According to national rankings it was neither one of the top schools, nor a “bad” school either. Nevertheless, in terms of New Media it was better equipped than any school I’ve seen in Germany so far. Other FLAs told me about similar conditions at other schools. So, concerning New Media we might actually learn something from the English school system.

New Media Equipment

As I worked in the language department of the school, I will, first of all, focus on the New Media equipment of the language rooms and the implementation of New Media in the language lessons. At my school (and I guess generally in England), not classes but teachers have their own classroom, although sometimes two or three teachers might share one or two rooms. All the classrooms for language lessons are in one part of the school. As I already mentioned, the rooms are very well equipped with New Media devices. In each (!) language room there is a computer and a projector and in most of the rooms there is also an interactive whiteboard, also called smartboard. Before going to England I had never even heard about interactive whiteboards and I felt as if I were coming from some less developed part of the world :-( because for the teachers and students the use of this seemed to be so normal… In case I’m not the only one who was baffled to hear about “such a thing”:

The interactive whiteboard looks like a normal whiteboard, but it is actually linked to a computer and a projector and functions like a giant touch screen. The teacher can project everything he can see on the computer screen onto the interactive whiteboard and by tapping on the interactive whiteboard with his finger he can, for example, open documents, scroll down a document or “drag and drop” items. It is also possible to digitally write on the board using your fingers or a pen (that is not really a pen, but more a pen-shaped stick) and erase what you have written by wiping it away with your hand. I will insert a little video about a teacher giving a demonstration of the smartboard.

I think having an interactive whiteboard in class is a great advantage for teachers and students. First of all, the teacher doesn’t have to sit in front of the computer while projecting websites or documents on a screen, but can stand next to the screen and just touch it to go to a different page, write something, etc. That way the teacher is always present for the students and can face them. In addition, the teacher can easily store things he has written down on the board. When preparing a test, the teacher can check what has been written on the board and moreover, he might send the whiteboard sketch to students who did not attend the lesson. What is more, the interactive whiteboard has a motivating effect on students. From my experience I can say that pupils really enjoy working with it and it keeps their attention to the subject. Lessons in which the whiteboard is used are often experienced as more “fun” than conventional lessons. The interactive whiteboard can also be used to “treat” the students, for example with an interactive game.

Implementation of New Media in Language Lessons

What I experienced in England is that in many lessons New Media was implemented in a way that fostered learning and was motivating for the students. I will give some examples New Media was used for:

-          PowerPoint presentations

o   To introduce a new topic, new vocabulary, new grammar rules

o   To give an overview over common exam tasks

-          Games

o   To practise vorbaulary or grammar (e.g. in two competing teams)

o   To treat the students

-          Websites

o   Presentation of learning websites

o   Students get introduced to those and might use them at home

-          Films

-          Videos

o   Presentation of short (YouTube) videos

o   Work with authentic material

o   Work with songs and video clips

o   Listening comprehension

 

 Although I am a strong supporter for the use of New Media in school, I have to say that during my time in England I also realized that THE USE OF NEW MEDIA DOES NOT NECESSERILY MAKE A GOOD LESSON! Computers, projectors and interactive whiteboards can be very beneficial for teachers and students, but the TEACHERS NEED TO KNOW HOW TO USE THEM EFFECTIVELY so that they facilitate successful learning for the students (so it’s quite good I’m in the New Media course J…). I also experienced some negative examples – very few, though – of how not to use New Media in the classroom. In my opinion possible risks of the integration of New Media into schools are:

·        Overuse of the New Media and neglect of conventional learning arrangements

·        Inappropriate use of the New Media => Depending on the topic, teaching aim and class traditional teaching arrangements might have an advantage over the use of technical equipment!

·        Some teachers might abuse New Media to justify very teacher-centred lessons (PowerPoint presentations)

In my opinion, the problems mentioned should not deter teachers from using computers, smartboards, etc., but teacher should simply be aware of the potential risks to prevent an inappropriate use of New Media.

Implementation of New Media in the Curriculum

Of course the use of New Media should by no means be restricted to language lessons, but take place in all lessons. At ”my” school, there were also media classes, like “Design and Technology” and “ICT” (Information and Communication Technology). ICT is a subject that according to the website of the school “provides students with an understanding of the range of computer applications. Students are taught through an interesting variety of projects how to use ICT tools to find, explore, analyze, exchange and present information responsibly, creatively and with discrimination”. The students have this subject from year 7 (when they are 11 years old) until year 11 (when they are 15 years old). In their first year students learn foundations for ICT and basics about presenting information, handling data, controlling and monitoring. In year 8 and 9 topics include, among others, processing text and images, public information system, reliability, validity and bias of information, and publishing on the web. In year 10 and 11 some new aspects are introduced and the students further their existing knowledge.

Personally, I think that the technical equipment, as well as the implementation of New Media in the curriculum of the school I worked at can be regarded as a model and pioneer of what the situation of New Media in language learning could and should look like in future Germany. In today’s world the Internet is already so important that –if we want to or not – we cannot close ourselves to it and the technical development that comes with it. The New Media brings along a lot of advantages, but to fully appreciate those we have to learn how to deal with the New Media and prepare our students to do just the same. Computer and communication skills are so essential today and requested by nearly all employers that we as teachers mustn’t neglect the development of information and communication technology, but it is our duty to teach our students the skills needed. Therefore, I am strongly convinced that computer classes should be implemented into the curriculum of each school in Germany, similarly to how it is done at the English school I presented in this entry. In addition, New Media should be integrated into lessons of all subjects where suitable. The (hopefully) coming changes concerning this in Germany will be quite costly and require changes in the structure of our schools – like the creation of technical support teams in schools and a change in teacher training. Nevertheless, in my opinion this seems an important issue that needs to be tackled and win recognition.