ICT (part 4)

ICT(part 4)

Ways to Use Smartphones in Your Classroom

Smartphones are here to stay. For English teachers it means we need to either ban iPhones, Androids, and whatever next flavor arrives, or we have to learn how to incorporate the use of smartphones into our routine and classes. Students who sit in class and use their iPhone or Android are missing out. However, it's also true that students are going to use their smartphones if they haven't been taken away.

Here are some tips that will help you to properly use smartphones in the classroom so that it is only useful for learning.

1.Vocabulary Exercises Using Google Image Search

Ask students to use their smartphone to search for specific nouns in Google images or another search engine. You've all seen how a visual dictionary can significantly improve vocabulary.

2. Translation Activities

Encourage students to read using three phases. Only allow smartphone use in the third phase. Students are pleased because they can look up words. However, they're developing good reading skills by not immediately translating every word they do not understand.

• Read for gist: no stopping!
• Read for context: How can the words surrounding unknown words help with understanding?
• Read for precision: explore new vocabulary using a smartphone or dictionary.

3. Use Apps for Communication Activities

We all communicate with our smartphones in different ways depending on different apps. In other words, texting with a messaging app is bound to be different than writing an email on your computer. Take advantage of this and promote activities that are specific to a given context. 

4. Practice Pronunciation

You can use smartphones to record audio as you model pronunciation for your students. For example, gather suggestions, then ask students to open a recording app. Read five different ways to make a suggestion aloud. Pause between each suggestion. Have students go home and practice mimicking your pronunciation in the pause between each suggestion. There are many, many variations on this theme. Another great use for pronunciation is to have students change the language to English and try to dictate an email. They'll have to work really hard at word level pronunciation in order to get the desired results.

I really hope that these tips will help you look at the usefulness of smartphones from another side. Good luck:)

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