Recently, I have read Liaw's article entitled "E-learning and the development of intercultural competence" about using ICT (Information & Communication 
Technologies) in the classroom for the students to communicate with other students of the target language, discussing culture. I thought it was very interesting in several ways. First of all, it allowed the students to talk about their own culture and read about the other student's. This, secondly, gave them the motivation needed to communicate because of the interest in learning about the other student's background. And last but not least, the students were improving their second language drastically, without putting too much effort. Because they enjoyed the activity so much, increasing motivation, less effort was needed to accomplish the task. The only problem I could see is the lacking of ICT in schools... They have computer labs, but often, a number of computers are broken, which means that students are forced to work in teams. I think that the government should invest more in these technologies because that's where the future is headed! It has been proven that working with internet broadens the possibilities to learn a new language and it also increases the learning process.
Technologies) in the classroom for the students to communicate with other students of the target language, discussing culture. I thought it was very interesting in several ways. First of all, it allowed the students to talk about their own culture and read about the other student's. This, secondly, gave them the motivation needed to communicate because of the interest in learning about the other student's background. And last but not least, the students were improving their second language drastically, without putting too much effort. Because they enjoyed the activity so much, increasing motivation, less effort was needed to accomplish the task. The only problem I could see is the lacking of ICT in schools... They have computer labs, but often, a number of computers are broken, which means that students are forced to work in teams. I think that the government should invest more in these technologies because that's where the future is headed! It has been proven that working with internet broadens the possibilities to learn a new language and it also increases the learning process. 
5 commentaires:
I completely agree with you. It is frustrating to see how money can stand in the way of such great activities. Another interesting fact about this type of activity is that it almost prevents plagiarism, since even if students choose to copy/paste a text, they have to read it first to make sure it is pertinent. Communicating with real people can also break down prejudice and stereotypes of either culture.
The government SHOULD take action... I think that the project that you read about is the future in teaching and the schools should get more funds for that reason. They said that in the 21st Century, students would all have a personal computer in their classroom... Boy were they wrong!!
Right! We have no choice but to embrace technology... it is the way of the future. Classrooms without computers or connectivity are already obsolete. And as far as learning new cultures, what better way than to connect online??? The internet binds us, allows us to see past the artificial barriers. I remember the days before the internet, and must say I'm glad my children will benefit and believe it is up to me to shape their exposure into appropriately bounded behavior.
I do agree that including new technologies in the classroom is a great way of making learning more interesting for students. Yet, I come from a small town in Gaspésie and we don't even have access to high speed internet!! In addition, because of the small number of students in the school, the computer labs don't even have enough computers for the whole classroom. This being said, we do need to evolve in our teching methods and I do think that the schools NEED to get more funds, even the smaller ones!!!
Hi Viky. I agreed with everything you wrote and I thought your post was great. I also think that ICTs are the way of the future. Kids spend so much time on computers at home that somewhere down the line, they have been conditioned to see internet and computers as entertainment. This is why it is the perfect medium for education.
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