IMPORTANCE OF LITERATURE, NEWSPAPER, TELEVISION, RADIO, INTERNET FOR TEACHING ENGLISH

125

IMPORTANCE OF LITERATURE, NEWSPAPER, TELEVISION, RADIO,

INTERNET FOR TEACHING ENGLISH

Ibragimova Shaxlo Zavqiyevna

Head teacher of Academic Lyceum of Tashkent
State University of Economics
E-mail:

ibragimovashahlo3@gmail.com

Abstract:

This article aims at analyzing the importance of using Mass Media in the

classroom and finding the ways how to use Printed and Audio-visual Media. It is the result of an
in-depth study, surveys and questionnaires thus trying to make the ideas in this article more
trustworthy. It is based not only on the literature review but also on long personal experience. It
is a brief description of some practical examples and some tips for novice teachers. Further more,
this article tends to deal with some of the key issues of using media in the classroom. Here are
included some of the findings of my research work on a post-doctorate Fulbright Program in
2001. The following issues are open for discussion: the importance of Media in general and in
education in particular; Media are persuasive and pervasive, newspapers, magazines, radio,
television and internet in the classroom, etc.

Keywords:

teaching English, multimedia in education, mass-media in education.

Introduction

Using various kinds of Media in the classroom has always been a

challenge, and how to bring these Media in the classroom is more than a
challenge. Students and teachers should be able to use in their classrooms
different media through different technologies. Media provide teachers and
students with creative and practical ideas. They enable teachers to meet various
needs and interests of their students. They also provide students with a lot of
language practice through activities using newspapers, magazines, radio, TV,
movies, books, Internet, etc, and tasks which develop reading, writing, speaking
and listening skills. They entertain students and encourage reading English in
general, both inside and outside the classroom, promoting extensive reading by
giving the students the confidence, the motivation and the ability to continue
their reading outside the classroom. Media “inform, amuse, startle, anger,
entertain, thrill, but very seldom leave anyone untouched”. (Shirley Biagy,
1996) Bearing in mind all these features and positive input of Media in
Education I thought to undertake this study to give my modest contribution to
the enhancement of teaching and learning English. I undertook a lot of surveys,
questionnaires and interviews to make this issue more persuasive and more
practical for the students. Based on my experience and the study in this field I

126

also aimed at giving some practical advice and tips how to use Media in the
classroom. As classroom teachers it is necessary to bring mass media in our
classrooms exactly for all these reasons mentioned above. We should
understand the media, the messages they give and their influence upon us, how
to explore this abundant information and create a continuum of the liveliness
media create in the life of people and why not in the classrooms where students
spend a lot of their time.

It has been almost ten years that the following questions have always been

in my mind:
1.

How can Media help my students speak more?

2.

How can classroom Media presentations help my students speak freely?

3.

How can I help my students not to forget what they learn through Media?

4.

How can we exploit a piece of learning material offered by various

Media?

Through my research work on a post-doctorate Fulbright Program and my

long experience with student teachers I have found some answers to the above
questions but I am sure there are many other ways, hundreds to maximize the
effectiveness of Media in the classroom.

Here are some findings and answers to the questions:
Media provide huge information, they motivate students to speak and help

them integrate listening, reading, talking and writing skills, through various
kinds of activities.

A clear example are Power Point presentations which help students speak

freely, eye contact, organize ideas. Through Media Presentations there is more
communication and collaboration among students, while working with the
pages of a book is more individual, less collaborative and less interactive.

There is so much information available at the click of a mouse but at the

same time you have the feeling that there is little memory space in the brain
and students may forget everything, so, try to select the most important things
and review and review till they are located in the long-term memory.

We can exploit a piece of learning materials offered by various Media in

several different ways through: analyzing a text in the book, reading and
generating ideas from a text in the newspaper or magazine, watching and
discussing a TV program or a movie, classroom presentations, exercises and
activities using various kinds of Media, pair and group work, reconstructing

127

“We live in a world where media are omnipresent. An increasing number of people spend a
great deal of time watching television, reading newspapers and magazines, playing records
and listening to the radio… The school and the family share the responsibility of preparing
the young person living in a world of powerful images, words and sounds”

(UNESCO

Declaration on Media, 1982)

the text based on the above information brought from different Media,
engaging students in useful writing and revision activities, etc.

Once we mention the phrase “Multimedia in Education” it comes to our

mind technology, computer, Internet, etc.

On one hand

we are right because nowadays the phrase “Technology in

Education” has become the ‘buzz’ word in every educational environment. We
the university teachers should think how to help student teachers to use Media
successfully in their future career, especially think of what is practically hidden
behind them.

On the other hand

, “Multimedia in Education” does not only mean

computer and internet. We should not forget the use of other media, as each of
them gets priority every now and then while being used in the classroom.

Why are the Media Important?

Media are important because we get to

know the world through using them; we understand the world and try to change
it.

Media Education is important because it develops students’ creative

powers for those images, words and sounds that come to the students from
various Media. Thus, creating more active and critical media users, who will
always be more demanding in the future.

Media Education has to do with film and television, press and radio, their

impact on the students’ progress. It has to do with

what

to teach through media,

when

and

how

. Its aim is to enable students to develop critical thinking,

analyzing and reflecting on their experiences while using various means of
Media.

Media Influence is Pervasive and Persuasive.

Media today have an

enormous impact. They have become so important that it is rarely that we can
live without them. Every morning we may wake up with the radio music in the
background, or we play a tape while having shower or being dressed. Someone
may run to the PC or laptop to check the mail or the news. On the way to
school or work we may grab a newspaper and have a look at the headlines. At

128

school we may go to the library and consult a lot of books and magazines for
our research project. At home we may watch television for a while, etc, etc.
Each of these experiences puts us in contact with a medium, or channel of
communication. Radio, books, records and tapes, newspapers, magazines,
movies, television, on-line media, new media, all these are called

mass media

,

they reach many people at one time.

In the years to come, media will become more pervasive. Understanding

them and their influence will be crucial to wise use.

So, as said above, everyday, everyone is affected by the Mass Media in

some way or another, when you study a textbook for school, when you turn on
the radio in your car, when you see a movie on TV, etc. The collective effects
on society of all these media choices are tremendous; some times we are not
aware of.

Despite the criticism of the mass media, most thoughtful persons agree

that mass media do a superior job in reporting the news and informing the
public. It’s our task as teachers to help students and pupils understand this
information, transmit it to the coming generations and try to use it for
education purposes.

Mass media provide students with a lot of language practice through

activities using newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, movies, books, Internet, etc,
and tasks which develop reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. They
also provide students with lots of inside and outside classroom activities,
promoting extensive reading by giving the students the confidence and the
ability to continue their reading outside the classroom and above all they
enhance motivation. Media keep us informed about what is happening in the
world, they extend our knowledge and deepen our understanding.

Nowadays the information is abundant, it comes through different

sources, but we should try how to benefit from this information, how to learn
about specific issues, how to become aware of problems, opportunities and
resources, how to find issues we are interested in, how to identify the issues
that have impact on us, etc. So, it is easy to get this information but it is
difficult to choose and more difficult to bring it to the classroom.

Newspapers and the classroom

129

“People learn through reading, and reading about interesting new
things in one’s interest subject, undoubtedly helps motivation”.

(Paul

Sanderson, 2002)

Newspapers are easy to be brought in the class in different subjects and

courses, especially in geography, history, literature, language classes, etc. Some
of them have valuable information for these subjects, but we should know how
to find this information. Many libraries have systems of classification
according to the topics and issues and we can easily find our way in searching
this information. If not we would spend a lot of time to find something. It is
often said that academic success starts at the library.

There are different purposes and ways for using newspapers in language

classroom. They may be used for the

culture

they transmit. The more widely

students read, the greater their understanding of this cultural meaning will be.
They may also be used for reflecting

changes in the language

as well, and in

doing so, helping students and teachers keep up pace with such changes. Most
newspapers are linguistically up-to-date and provide valuable linguistic data.
They may be used for the wide variety of

text types

and

language styles

, not

often found in textbooks. At the same time, newspapers provide a natural
source of many of the

varieties

of Written English that become very important

to students, and valuable for language study as the students progress. So, they
may be used as supplementary material and examples in Text Analysis,
Academic Writing, Stylistics, Semantics, etc. while analyzing different types
of texts.

The

variety

of subjects and topics makes newspapers interesting and

motivating for the students to work with. Newspapers report real-life events,
and this arouses students’ curiosity.Newspaper-based activities in the
classroom may engage students in enjoyable activities and encourage their
further reading. Newspapers are an invaluable source of

authentic materials

.

The more students read, the more they want to explore.

Newspapers are also a great source for

ESP teachers

. They can be used as

teaching materials to develop students’ language skills. They can be used
effectively with a wide range of levels from Elementary to Advanced, either
interpreting them or using them as they are. Some newspapers are easy to read,
easy to use. The committed teachers can design exercises to develop reading

130

comprehension, critical thinking skills, writing skills, grammar skills,
vocabulary, map/chart reading skills, geography skills, social study skills and
more. Having a lot of newspapers and information the teachers should be
careful with the way how to organize a certain activity using them. So, they are
particularly suitable

for mixed-ability classes

, depending on the activity,

questions, etc.In planning a lesson using a newspaper, the teacher should take
into consideration the length of the article, paragraph, the complexity of the
language, the density of information, the subject-matter and content, the time
available and the level of the students.

Nowadays, we are living in a period of rapid technological changes in mass

communications. Through Internet, we are now able to access thousands of
newspapers and magazines worldwide. Internet has increasingly become a
major source of newspapers and magazines for language teachers; just find the
web site and click. But we should be very careful in choosing suitable
newspaper materials to use with our students.

It is helpful to bear in mind these questions: (Paul Sanderson, 2002).
Will my students find the materials interesting? If yes, they will raise

students’ motivation. If no, the students will be frustrated.

Are the materials appropriate for their level of knowledge? If they are too

difficult to be understood, students will be discouraged. Otherwise their level of
understanding would be O.K.

Are the materials appropriate for the students in terms of language level?

Choose more challenging materials, choose materials where the language level
is suited to the level of students, choose tasks that can be done by the students at
a certain level.

Should I use only materials from today’s newspapers? The answer is yes

and no.

Lessons take time to prepare. The schedules of the teachers are

periodically busy. Once we find an interesting material, we may use it over and
over again, avoiding articles or news mentioning dates or topical events, data
for well-known personalities, etc.

Another very important issue about newspaper use is

materials collection

.

It is an on-going process and worth doing it. Choosing and collecting short
articles, weather forecast, advertisements, headlines, etc. is a hard task, but we
may use them at a later time and more than once for different students. So, it is

131

necessary to be very careful in organizing newspaper materials. Once we start
collecting them we should begin thinking to organize them, put under certain
categories, systematize them, etc. Everyone has experienced many times the
frustration when he/she knows that he/she has that piece of information but
does not remember where he/she has put it. It is good to categorize the materials
under certain titles, headlines, advertisements, etc. or under topic titles, sport,
cinema, relationship, according to language level of students, etc. Of great
importance are the use of the

photographs

and

illustrations

. We should be

careful to prepare these materials in good quality to use them again and again,
and with every passing year we create folios and enrich them, then photocopy
what we want for students’ use.

We should not avoid using newspapers in the classroom only thinking that

they are

difficult

for our students. It is true that the language there is difficult,

but after all it is authentic. There are several ways of making newspaper
materials usable for the various levels of students, by selecting interesting
newspapers and the students will be interested in reading them and would skip
some difficult expressions. A very important thing that enhances success in
using newspapers in the classroom is the careful design of

tasks.

“Grade the

task – not the material’ is a well-known maxim in language teaching’. (Paul
Sanderson, 2002) In spite of the difficulty of the texts, the task should suit the
level of students, this is more important than the difficulty of the text.

The involvement of students in pre-activity, while-activity preparation

techniques, in the selection of materials and in carefully designing the tasks are
the key to success.

Here are some pre-activity and while-activity preparation techniques that

can be used in combination with one another: (Paul Sanderson, 2002)

Give the students the materials before the lesson, ask them to look for

vocabulary at home

Explain any key vocabulary in the materials
Summarize the newspaper item
Ask the students to brainstorm what they know about the newspaper item
Tell the students the headline and show any accompanying photograph
Before reading, write on the board and explain key vocabulary
Ask the students to predict the story-line
Allow your students to use a dictionary during the activity

132

Encourage your students to go for the overall meaning of a text, rather

than to understand every word.

Encourage your students to bring to their reading their own world

knowledge

Try to help the students in understanding the grammatical complexity of

the text, facilitate to assimilate the density of information, guess the low-
frequency vocabulary, etc.

The newspaper

activities

might be a lot, interesting and multidimensional.

They might be about the headlines, headline combinations, articles,
categorizing articles, news flash, putting it back together, exchanging the news,
ranking articles, press conference, filling in the gaps, news in brief,
photographs, predicting photographs, famous faces, photo stories, moving
pictures, putting the picture in the story, advertisements, classifying adds, role-
plays ads, job interviews, horoscopes, problem page letters, TV guides,
cartoons and strip cartoons, acting out cartoons, strip cartoon stories,
weather forecast, predicting the weather, matching weather forecasts,
newspaper reading corner, find some one who… special interest groups,
newspaper puzzles, crosswords, and many many others.

Magazines in the Classroom

There are different kinds of magazines. According to a questionnaire done

with high school and university students most of them mentioned that they
liked to read mostly political, scientific, fashion, cultural, entertaining and sport
magazines. This interest of the university and high school students should be
exploited by the teachers to up-date their teaching materials and break the
monotony of the lesson by using always the textbooks.

As with newspapers, magazines are resources for different subjects,

cutting out pictures and passages associated with particular topics. Magazines
are also sources in language development in providing pictures to stimulate
verbal or written stories. For example, they may be used for introducing colors
and clothes, means of transport, short stories, stimulating picture discussions
and for other supplementary materials as well, which cover a topic that may be
under discussion in a language class.

As for the ways how to use magazines in the classroom we can refer to the

ideas and clues given for the newspapers. Both newspapers and magazines

133

‘Those who have already discovered the joy of books, however, are hooked
for life. And as others become aware of the vast array of books available,
they too will find that unrivaled knowledge and pleasure await them
between the covers of books’

(Beckert, 1992).

have a lot of things in common.

The Role of Books in Everyday Life and Education

Books

are crucial in modern life as well, a driving force in education,

business, law, science, medicine and entertainment. Through books the students
gain the legacy of knowledge earned by those who came before. (Beckert,
1992) People of all ages find information, pleasure, relaxation and inspiration
while reading books. Books lack the immediacy of other mass media, but they
make up for that by greater thoroughness and permanence. Books are saved
and treasured in great public libraries and in personal collections. Readers go
back to famous books, rereading them again and again. Others enjoy a book
once and pass it on, wanting others to share their discoveries.

There is also a vast area that

textbooks

cover. Besides them there are a lot

of books that we read as a class assignment, a novel in the English class, in the
course English through Prose and Poetry, in British and American literature
course; a book on the planets in the science class, and many others.

So, books are among the most enduring of the mass media. Some people

save them for years, and libraries save them for centuries. Here is the right
place to mention the words of Franklin Roosevelt: “People die, books never
die”.

Radio and Education

Radio plays an important part in developing people’s imagination, in

creating pictures in the mind through the power of words, it stimulates the
imagination to fill in the visuals, etc. The listeners see the drama in their heads.
Thus, when radio is used in the classroom it helps students to promote their
imagination, to voice their creativity.

A lot of radio programs contribute to language learning. Besides getting

new information and entertainment, in language classes radio helps the
pronunciation, the intonation, the pitch of voice, etc. These might be successful
if we undertake adequate preparation and design carefully graded tasks.
Students gain a feeling of satisfaction from having understood something of an

134

authentic broadcast, we can see the joy in their faces. They develop greater
confidence in their ability to cope with English as it’s spoken outside the
classroom. Albanian students may use BBC World Service news bulletin,
Voice of America or other foreign radio stations. In case students have no
possibilities, the teacher may record the news bulletin, transcribe it and prepare
to explain any difficult vocabulary that may come out. Then the teacher may
ask the students if they have listened to the news in Albanian the day before,
because nearly all the news, especially international news, is almost the same.
So if the content is somewhat known to the students, they will be more
motivated and the success of the task will be easier.

In the classroom the students may be put into groups to discuss what is

going on in the world and what they predict they are going to listen to. The
teacher or one of the students may write all the predictions on the blackboard.

The first step might be to listen to the headlines, several times, as they are

short, but convey a lot. Then the teacher may ask the students to identify which
of the stories they predicted are included in the headlines.

Then ask the students various questions about, what has happened? Where

did it happen? How many different stories have you heard for the same event?
etc. Then let the students listen to the news bulletin 2-3 times and then give
them time to discuss about the above questions. In the meantime the teacher
may explain any key vocabulary.

We know that it is difficult, but if we can make copies of the news

bulletin, it would be possible to organize follow-up activities. Students may
transcribe certain stories, use dictionaries to check the meaning of unknown
words, group words according to various fields, etc. They may also compare the
language of the news bulletin with the language of a newspaper of the same
date and the same topic. So, we can organize listening and reading
comprehension activities.

At last the students may report on what they have listened to. There might

be tens of different activities using radio in the classroom. We have practiced
these procedures with such topics as: The War in Iraq, Pollution and
Environment, Global Warming, Weather Report, Poverty, Holidays, etc.

Television and the Classroom

Most people today watch about three to five hours of television a day.

135

‘Defenders call TV a window on the world, a magic carpet of discovery. They
claim that it enlarges both knowledge and understanding. Defenders say it
encourages a new way of thinking, with interlocking hopes, needs and
problems. Critics call it the idiot box. They say it promotes mindless viewing
of mindless programs. Critics say it stifles creativity and promotes distorted
thinking. Social observers often urge parents not to use television as an
electronic baby-sitter’. (Beckert, 1992)

“It’s no use complaining that children today would rather watch TV or

videos than read”.( Philippa Thompson, 2000) We the teachers should try to
exploit students’ viewing habits as a starting point for developing more active
literary skills. The teachers need to know the interests of the students and what
they like most to watch in order to keep high their motivation, undertake
different duties, fulfill various assignments and feel the success. In a
questionnaire the students were asked which TV station they watch most and
why? Most of the students replied that they preferred to watch Top Channel
because they like it very much. Here are some of the considerations that the
students wrote:

It has a lot of information
It is a powerful and trustworthy station
It is attractive, entertaining, informative, serious
It gives quick and exact information in different fields
‘Fix fare’ is one of the most watched programs
News is of high quality, quick and fresh
The staff is very professional and well qualified
It uses an advanced technology
It gives a lot of interesting documentaries
It has a wide range of programs, etc. etc
These considerations show that the students watch that TV channel that

meets their interest. Through their answers we see that the students really think
about what they watch. We also see what they are interested in and so, we
should try to exploit those TV programs to promote students’ learning.

TV programs may be used as warming-up activities, pre-activities for the

coming issue, as supplementary materials for a certain topic, for up-to-date
information, to update the information in the textbooks, etc.

Documentaries are also educational. Documentaries on Wildlife, on Civil

136

War, on Discovery Channel, and others, have opened valuable windows for our
students. Through them our students can learn about languages, cultures,
science, etc. Some of these documentaries, if carefully selected may be used
successfully in the classrooms and be a part of the curriculum. They may help
students to better understand the subject.

As we can not use TV information when it is given, we can bring this

information into the classroom through videotaping various TV programs for
later use. Often activities using television, video and movies overlap, there is
not a strict division among them.

Using Movies to Teach English

We should encourage the students to see as many films as possible outside

the classroom or parts of films in the classroom. Watching films is very
important as it increases their visual and critical awareness. Watching films in
the classroom can be realized through recording them. We have tried to make
the activity of film-watching an active rather than a passive one. This can be
done in a variety ways as setting questions about the film, promoting
discussions in small groups, asking the students to comment on various things,
inviting criticism, etc. We may also stop the film from time to time and ask the
students what has happened so far or guess what might happen next. Another
way might be turning the sound down and asking the students to imagine or
make up dialogues.

137

“The eye is more powerful than the ear”

. ( Jane Sherman, 2003)

Anyway it is difficult to use films in the classroom. Sometimes they are

difficult to understand but Western Films for example are easy to understand

because there is a lot of action in them. Some other films are easy to understand
because there is a clear conventional story line, as love stories, epics and
science-fiction drama which have simple plots. Of great importance are the
subtitles and dubbing which might be in English. They help a lot the aim of
helping learning English through films, depending on the procedure the
teachers decide to follow. Sometimes the teachers recommend students to see a
film dubbed into or subtitled in Albanian, if possible, before seeing it in
English. It would be great to find English films with English subtitles. They
make understanding the language easier as listening to authentic language is
more difficult than seeing the expressions written, thus matching the words
with pictures and voice. Jane Shermon says,

In this case the students are offered both reading and listening. Judging

from our experience usually students prefer more reading than listening, with
few exceptions.

While using a film in the classroom to help our English we have paid

attention to the accent, voice, div language, choosing of the words, training
ear and the eye, lifestyle, plot idea, summary, what’s going on, why and how,
and many other things depending on the aim we have put to ourselves. The
overall aim has always been to maximize comprehension and learn more
English. But we all know that watching a full feature film needs more time
than teaching hours. So, we need to be able to fit films into a classroom
schedule organizing different activities that help this aim. In order to save time
we might tell the story of the film ourselves, illustrating it by showing three or
four key scenes without telling the end. Another way is the use of video-
cassette. The students may watch the film themselves in the video-classroom or
at home and come the next day and present what they watched and what
happened in the film.

Another way of using the films to teach English is that of comparing the

film with the book if the same story appears in both ways. This kind of activity
can be done before or after watching the film, it can be used to adopt or
compare characters, to compare differences and similarities, using the Venn

138

Diagram, between the book and the film, the examples might be enumerous.
The book may be used to supplement and clarify the film, but at the same time
the film may be used to illuminate the book. All these could be done through
several activities.

We may also give assignments to our students, write about your favorite

film, your favorite characters, your favorite actors, what makes them your
‘favorites’, the differences you see if a book has been made into a film, etc.
When a preliminary work is done before watching the film the above activities
may produce interesting writing activities. These kinds of activities also
contribute to the promotion of critical thinking especially in evaluating films
and improving language skills.

Other ways of using films in the classroom are: Segmenting the film, pre-

watching, while-watching and post-watching activities, which are very useful
as cloze exercises, quizzes, related readings, web sites, film presentations,
discussions, research work, etc.

Of course, there are not ready made recipes to be followed. Teachers

should be creative and decide themselves for the procedures that they feel that
have worked well.

Let us see a questionnaire prepared by Akis Davanellos. We have adapted

it to our experiences, students and our classes: (Akis Davanellos, 1999) The
students are asked to tick in which of the stages these activities should be
carried out. Some of the activities may be carried out in two stages. The first
one is done for the students. After filling this questionnaire the students had a
very interesting discussions and a lot of interaction.

Nr

Activities to be carried out

Pre

While

Post

1.

Prepare the students psychologically for the film

which is to be shown

V

2.

Expose the students to the target language

3.

Ask the students to reflect on the film shown

4.

Provide students with some necessary background

information about the film

5.

Involve the students in language production

6.

Prepare the students linguistically, vocabulary,

139

accent, etc.

7.

Making personal comparisons about the topics of

the film

8.

Provide the students with reasons for watching the

film

9.

Increase motivation and arise interest around the

topic

10

Parallel performance of tasks, listening and note

taking

11

Refer to the title of the film and predict its content

12

Write a review about the film giving your opinion

13

Watch the film or parts of it and order the events

14

Predict the content of the film

15

Build up a story based on visuals to compare it to

the actual plot of film

16

Ask the students to fill in questionnaires about the

film

17

Answer true/false questions about the plot of the

film

18

Write a letter to the main character of the film

19

From a list of words tick the ones mentioned in

the film

20

Write the summary of the film

21

Listen to the music of the film and anticipate its

content

22

Guess the meaning of the words/expressions while

watching the film

23

Design posters to advertise the particular film

24

Answer multiple choice questions

25

Pre-teaching of the vocabulary to ease students’

viewing

26

Give out a speech about the film (pros and cons)

27

Role play a scene from the film after writing your

version of the script required for the acting out

140

28

Ask the students to answer comprehension

questions

29

Write an article in the newspaper about the plot of

the film

30

Ask students to re-write the story of the film

involving themselves in it

31

Ask the students to change the ending of the film

Supporting Activities
Create a set of cards on various concepts and words matching definitions,

etc.

Identify the person described
View video tapes of events related with the topic Evaluation
Create a rubric with these items
Select three key events
Present each event clearly
Work might be free of errors
Note: There is always space for anyone to add other activities for each

stage of the lesson.

It is very important to know how to communicate on the Internet and how

to search, explore and locate information.

Internet is not merely a source of authentic material in English but also a

source of information about all sorts of topics we may want to discuss in the
classroom and at the same time a source of professional knowledge for
teachers in the form of bibliographies, articles, courses and conferences. But to
get all these we need to have some practice and experience. It is often that we
spend a lot of time searching the Internet, and we feel that we are wasting time
and finding nothing that we really wanted. So, it is crucial to have some tips
about the ways how to search the Internet, especially the key words of research.

Internet helps students and teachers to compare and classify information,

to induce and deduce ideas, to analyze errors, to abstract concepts, to analyze
perspectives, to gather information, to work in teams, etc. The Internet is an
excellent tool for locating the latest news not yet published. Information on the
Internet has three characteristics that distinguish it from traditional classroom
materials such as books, supplementary readings, videos and films. The
information on the Internet is

extensive

,

dynamic

and

readily accessible

.

141

Acknowledging these characteristics will provide a better understanding of the
potential as well as the challenges this new instructional tool offers to teachers.

Unlike most traditional forms of classroom materials, information on the

Internet exists in a medium that can be modified, revised or deleted with relative
ease. Here lies its

dynamic

nature. Information

is

obtained immediately,

inexpensively and without a great deal of effort. The

extensive, dynamic and

accessible

nature of information on the Internet presents new challenges to

the learner. Without adequate tools and strategies, students may become
overloaded with information, unable to comprehend material written at
different levels of complexity or they may become disorientated in countless
links. In order to assess and evaluate the information received through the
Internet we should focus our attention, think critically and attend to various
chunks of information.

Time has come to try to use Internet in teaching process, not in every

lesson. This process may continue over several years. With the passing of the
time, students and teachers gain skills, and then they may use the Internet for
gathering information or for communicating with experts in subject areas.
Once the teachers and students are involved in the Internet, soon they will
develop their own materials and projects.

The Internet is nowadays considered to be the greatest innovation in

Information Technology. The number of the users of the Internet increases
dramatically everyday. The benefits and uses of the Internet for education are
growing with every passing day. Internet can make education more attainable
by more people. It can promote improved and new types of learning. Today
schools and universities are spending a lot of money for technology. Nowadays
you can hear everywhere “the Age of Internet”. Recently computers are being
used in the classrooms in our country, but still a lot of schools do not have
computers and Internet access. Universities, some high schools and thousands
of individuals are connected to the Internet. Some teachers have Internet
access in their classrooms, which their students use frequently. There are cases
that some technology-based tools are sitting idle in some schools and as Linda
Roberts stated (1993) ‘You can have all the technology in the world, but if you
do not invest in teachers and help them acquire the comfort and know-how, it
will be wasted’. We could have not thought about using internet in the
classroom ten years ago. Today our university has several computer labs,

142

which have internet access, and you could see hundreds of students doing
research or homework assignments till late in the evening. University students
are learning a lot by using computers, the Internet or other ‘fancy technology’.

But, gaining access to any technology is only the first step. Teacher

training in Internet use and curriculum integration is another important step.
Research has proved that teacher training how to use internet is very important,
but still a hot issue, and yet often neglected.

Today it is a great undertaking and a challenge to prepare the future-to-be

teachers, to use effectively the new technology. Training in-service teachers is
lacking a lot. Education technology training for teachers should be a part of in-
service teacher training and a crucial part for pre-service teacher training as
well. This may be done through seminars for in-service teachers and through
putting it in the curricula of the teacher preparing universities for the future to
be teachers. We need to find ways to help teachers be competent, confident and
creative users of technology.

Our country is still lacking behind in this direction. The lack of teacher

training is a major obstacle to the push for computer-assisted learning. The lack
of student preparation is another obstacle on the other hand. To properly
prepare our students to use computers and technology, we must provide real-
world instruction and computer-based activities. Only one computer class per
week, in one year of studies at the university is not at all enough for teachers to
be. They should use the Internet-based activities, video and audio conferencing
to explore more in details the topics presented by the teacher and to share ideas.
All these can be done by competent teachers and students.

Some schools now recognize the growing tendency of student skills and

are taking advantage of the movement “The Age of the Internet” to secure the
technology they need to provide these skills.

Schools and universities should promote the implementation of the new

technologies, considering them teaching and learning tools, thus trying to make
students and teachers technology competent. In order to make this easier for the
students and teachers, schools should spend more money on hardware and
software, they should realize connection within school, connections between
various schools, and on professional development, having support resources
that help teachers integrate technology in the classroom and curriculum.
Universities must make considerable choices about how much to invest on

143

technology, how best to achieve their educational goals and how fast they wish
to deploy recent technology. This is an imperative task, because ‘technology
facilitates deep exploration and integration of information, high level thinking
and profound engagement, by allowing students to design, explore,
experiment, access information and model complex phenomena. This is what
we all want for our schools, our teachers and our students, the best’. (Lawrence
Tomei, 2002)

Technology itself is not the goal. We also should be conscious of the fact

that technology is an ongoing process that demands the time, attention and
dedication of the entire people using it. The users should understand and
appreciate the advantages and limitations that technology provides to the
learning environment.

We should not use technology for the sake of technology, to use something

new. If the teachers use the technology in the preparation of lesson materials
and in the classroom successfully, this is an excellent indicator of the use of
school technology program.

In fact technology is still hardly used by the teachers in their classrooms.

Very few use audio and visual materials. Computers are nearly not at all used
in the classroom except for the computer skills classes. They are mainly used
as sources of information. Teachers hesitate to use technology in their
classrooms. They still do not have confidence in technology. It has not become
a part of the lesson yet.

Many teachers do not feel personally qualified to use the technology in the

classroom. They may not be adequately trained in its operation and
maintenance. Many teachers are not properly introduced to the various
software programs that are available in the school. Also they are not aware of
how much of these can be integrated into their curricula. Teachers do not have
the available time to learn the various technologies on their own. Many schools
have not kept up with the advances in technology that make them easier to use.
Flexibility of moving the technology to the classrooms is another obstacle that
often results doing the lesson without it.

It is imperative to understand that training is only one piece of teacher

preparation. In addition to the above mentioned, teachers should also receive
training for the integration of the technology into their curricula. Perhaps the
best sources of such preparation are the universities for pre-service teacher

144

preparation, as centers where the future teachers are being prepared.

We are aware of the fact that the new is not embraced enthusiastically.

We do not expect a revolutionary change in teacher attitudes and we can not
expect tangible results all of a sudden. It takes time for the teachers and less for
the students. We should help teachers distinguish between using technology as
a tool and using technology to support other learning objectives. Curriculum
change is not a rapid process; integrating technology may take even longer.

Today technology is mostly used in teaching science, mathematics,

languages and social studies. Once computers are available using technology
should become the goal. Teachers will integrate technology unless it is
available in their classrooms.

The library of the university is another place where technology plays an

important role. Those libraries that have computers and have digitized their
catalog provide students and teachers with the opportunity for personal online
research and study. We all know the maxima ‘Academic success starts at the
library’.

Some other sophisticated High-tech tools and learning systems are: Smart

Board, Blackboard, etc. which have a lot of advantages:

They save space and time
They allow teachers to organize courses and lectures
They track students’ progress
They increase students’ participation and autonomy
These might seem a little bit too early to be used in our classrooms, but

who knows what might come tomorrow. Let’s go ten years back and think what
we knew about and what is in use today concerning technology in the
classroom.

The role of the teacher in the Technology era

Today the role of the teacher has changed a lot. Traditionally a teacher’s

job has been “to fill” the minds of students with “true” knowledge. The teacher
was the only authority that gave information. Students were supposed to give
their knowledge back to the teacher through retelling and reporting. But today
the teachers should be aware of their new role and responsibilities that high
technology requires from them

Today students are supposed to conceptualize ideas, work as part of a

145

collaborative team, problem solve, and take action. In today’s world, the
teacher must go beyond knowledge transmission.

The change of the role of the teacher is conditional by the development

and implementation of new technology in the classroom. Once the computers
are found the classroom environment should be changed. This brings another
dimension to the role of the teacher, that of a facilitator and a manager.

The classroom becomes a multidimensional environment. It is difficult for

the teachers to manage this multidimensional environment. It is essential for
them to make the students able to use the computer and at the same time deal
with other activities such as researching for information from books and
magazines, collecting data from observations, gathering information from a
videotape, or conducting an experiment, etc. etc. This type of environment is
student-centered, very active and requires careful planning and cooperation
from the students. The students should be able not only to use computers but
also manage the extra resources required by technology as well.

Time has come that Internet be considered as a tool to promote learning.

The success of this tool will depend upon students’ and teachers’ ability not
only to examine and make sense of information they encounter, but also to
evaluate this information.

We all know that nowadays teacher is no more the only source of

information. Among other roles, the teacher today is a kind of a ‘conductor’ of
the orchestra, where musicians (students) are different and play (learn)
differently (Lawrence Tomei, 2002). Media being multi-dimensional realize
this mission successfully and differently.

Conclusions

Multimedia helps us teachers make teaching and learning visual (easy for

visual learners). A picture not only tells a thousand words but it also helps
students improve their thinking and observation skills, it promotes imagination,
etc. Playing the video with or without the subtitles enhances visual learners.
Radio (playing the audio) helps auditory learners learn better. Listening to the
tape and then having the script is a clear combination that helps visual and
auditory learners.

By using various kinds of Media in the classroom we can enhance

students’ understanding and promote it where necessary.

146

The use of audio and video with student teachers is crucial also in giving

feedback and training, in Reflective Teaching, in analyzing and synthesizing, in
tracking students’ progress over time, in editing certain options, in testing, in
peer coaching, etc.

Media can help with many issues such as: motivation, clarity, recycling,

drafting, revising, editing, variety, mixed-ability classes, updating information
in the textbook, giving life and color to classroom procedures and methods, thus
at the same time helping the students improve accuracy and fluency. There are
a lot of issues that can or cannot be solved by media.

Internet has three main educational uses. It serves as a source of

information, a place for collaboration, and a place to learn and publish.

Some years ago it was thought that the computers would substitute the

teachers but it did not work. Learning and teaching through computers is an
alternative approach that stresses the student’s use of computers to solve real-
world problems while learning. But however sophisticated it might be, teachers
will never be replaced.

Literature

1.

Akis Davanellos (2001),

Film Time

, Iguana Press

2.

Alessi Stephen, Trollip Stanley (2001),

Multimedia for Learning;

Methods and Development

,

3.

Allyn & Bacon, Boston, MA

4.

Beckert Christine (1992),

Getting Started in Mass Media,

National

Textbook Company, Chicago, IL

5.

Biagi Shirley (1999

), Media / Impact

, Wadsworth, New York

6.

Biagi Shirley (1996),

Media Reader

, Wadsworth, New York

7.

Davies (1992),

Multimedia Support for Studies in FL and Culture

’, IBM

8.

Garrett (1991),

Technology in the Service of Language Learning

, Modern

Language Journal

9.

Jane Sherman (2002),

Using Video in the Language Classroom

, CUP

10.

Gavin Dudeney (2003),

The Internet and the Language Classroom

, CUP

11.

Marion Geddes (1988),

Video in the Language Classroom,

Heinemann

12.

Merill Paul (2002),

Computers in Education

, Allyn & Bacon, Boston, MA

13.

Morrison Gary, Lowther Deborah, DeMeulle Lisa (1999),

Integrating

Computer Technology into the Classroom,

Prentice-Hall, Inc, New Jersey

14.

Norton Precilla, Sprague Debra (2001),

Technology for Teaching

, Allyn &

Bacon, Boston, MA

15.

Paul Sanderson (2002),

Using Newspapers in the Classroom

, CUP

16.

Philippa Thompson (2000),

The Primary English Magazine

, February

147

17.

Ryder James Randall, Hughes Tom (1998),

Internet for Educators

,

Merill Prentice-Hall, New Jersey

18.

Tomei A. Lawrence (2002),

The Technology Facade

, (Overcoming

barriers to Effective Instructional Technology), Allyn & Bacon, Boston,
MA

19.

UNESCO Declaration of Media Education, Grunwald, FRG, January 1982

20.

Willets (1998), ‘Integrating Technology into the Foreign Language
Curriculum’, A teacher training manual, Washington, Center for Applied
Linguistics