The Use of Website in ELT

Sabrina Khairissa, 1201025 K3-12, English Department

The Use of Website in English Language Teaching

EVALUATING WEBSITES

Requirements for a suitable website for learning English.

PLANNING LESSONS USING THE INTERNET.

Methods using ICT for Language Teaching

THE EXAMPLE OF THE WEBSITE

learnenglish.britishcouncil.org

EVALUATING WEBSITES

Criteria in Evaluate Websites

It is important to find out the author's identity and his or her qualifications or expertise in order to determine the credibility and reliability of the information

Accuracy of Web Documents

Who wrote the page and can you contact him or her? What is the purpose of the document and why was it produced? Is this person qualified to write this document? Make sure author provides e-mail or a contact address/phone number. Know the distinction between author and Webmaster.

A Web site author can be:

Person Academic Institution Government Agency Non-profit organization Military site Country specific

Jamie Oliver .edu .gov .net .mil .uk, .id, .jp, .kr

Authority of Web Documents

Who published the document and is it separate from the "Webmaster?" Check the domain of the document, what institution publishes this document? Does the publisher list his or her qualifications? What credentials are listed for the authors)? Where is the document published? Check URL domain.

Objectivity of Web Documents

What goals/objectives does this page meet? How detailed is the information? What opinions (if any) are expressed by the author? Determine if page is a mask for advertising; if so information might be subjective. View any Web page as you would an infommercial on television. Ask yourself: why was this written and for whom?

Currency of Web Documents

The currency or regularity of updating information is vital for some types information and less so for others.
SHOW EXAMPLES

the presidential papers of George Washington stock market information.

When was it produced? When was it updated? How up-to-date are the links (if any)? How many dead links are on the page? Are the links current or updated regularly? Is the information on the page outdated?

Coverage of the Web Documents

Are the links (if any) evaluated and do they complement the documents' themes? Is it all images or a balance of text and images? Is the information presented cited correctly? If page requires special software to view the information, how much are you missing if you don't have the software? Is it free or is there a fee to obtain the information? Is there an option for text only, or frames, or a suggested browser for better viewing?

Design, organization and ease of use

Design, organization and ease of use are important considerations. Web sites can provide useful sources of information; but if they are slow to load and/or difficult to navigate, search or read, then their contribution or usefulness will be diminished.

 Is the Web site clearly organized and easy to read, use and navigate? If applicable, are "Help" or "Search Tips" pages available? Are they easy to understand? If the Web site is large, is a search capability provided? If so, is it easy to use?

Purpose and content

Some sites provide links to information detailing the purpose in creating the Web site. The purpose of other sites might not be obvious at first. Take the time to thoroughly explore a Web site to determine if the information is mostly subjective, objective or mixed.

 What is the purpose of the Web site? (Look at the title and headings for clues.) What is the purpose? To provide research and scholarly information? To provide educational or factual information? To entertain? To advertise, market or sell something? To advocate ideas? To persuade you? Or, is there another purpose? Is there a link to a mission statement or "About Our Organization" page?

 Does the site provide balanced, objective or factual information? Does the Web site provide subjective, editorial or opinion statements? Is the site a forum for a personal, political or ideological bias? Is the point of view presented in a direct manner, or is it presented in an unbalanced and unreasonable way? Are arguments well supported?

PLANNING LESSONS USING THE INTERNET

Using Discovery Learning to Research Technology Terms

Technology Terms Research

Students choose the words to research.
Present what the term means and provide examples

Some technology terms may function as a spelling list.

In computers students could put the words in alphabetical order by cutting and pasting the words.

Technology Terms Online Display

Create an online video using kinetic typography (videos, songs, and commercials) could be shown to the class as a technology lesson plan by itself.

Technology Terms Presentations

Students, as part of their presentations, could create a blog, a Facebook account, or a twitter account to show how each works. Blogs created by students could be designed to: 1. Discuss the best application for a system or game, 2. The best price, 3. The best feature of the system, or 4. The most popular use of it.

Once the blog has several responses from the class or from the internet, the student summarizes in a document or final blog entry the findings from his or her daily blog.

General terms such as network, website, search engine or operating system should be defined, displayed, and described in easy to understand ways. The definitions could be collected in a glossary of terms in one large display or file for the entire class to access.

 Students should be allowed to add their own words to the display of things. They should also add words when new technology evolves over the school year. Current trends in computers should be read daily so that students can change their minds about which project they would like to research.

THE EXAMPLE OF THE WEBSITE

learnenglish.britishcouncil.org
British Council The United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).