Enjoying the results of the ICT age
See 'Reaping the benefits of technology' , Learning Post, page L6from Boon Boonprayoon
There is little doubt that the Internet, computers and technology have played a key role in learning and have become one of the most efficient educational tools. Information and Communications Technology, or ICT, has also become a familiar word. The United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), recently held a consultative meeting and launched the Next Generation Teachers Project. According to this feature, the project will reap the benefits of technology and catapult teaching into the ICT age. The project will benefit teachers and the students when it is implemented.
The feature is quite simple, direct and, therefore, very easy to understand. One of the best ways to work on this reading material is through a pre-reading activity such as skimming and scanning. You can start reading by looking very quickly through the article and the illustration — the picture above the article, and find out what it is all about. I have included two sets of questions, one is to pick out the main idea and the necessary details of the article; the other set includes questions for discussion. Try to work on both sets. The answers of the first set of questions are in the teacher's notes, but the answers for the discussion are open for you own opinions.
Comprehension Questions:
1. What organisation took part in the meeting?
2. What kind of meeting was it?
3. When and where was the meeting held?
4. What was the purpose of the meeting?
5. What is the pilot group? And how do these participating institutions become a pilot group?
6. How are the roles of the teachers and students changing?
7. How long will it take for the the project to be completed?
Discussion Questions:
1. What effects do you think the project will have on you?
2. What should an innovative learning environment be like?
consultative - giving advice or making suggestions: advisory
reaping the benefit - to enjoy the result
catapult - to throw or to launch something suddenly as if from a catapult, i.e., to move something ahead very quickly
collaboration with - working with another person or group of people to create something
pilot - done on a small scale in order to see if something is successful enough to do on a larger scale
ensure - to make sure that something happens or is definite
utilise - to make use of something
enhance - to increase or further improve the good quality, value or status of something
innovative - introducing or using new ideas, ways of doing things
facilitator - a person who helps somebody do something more easily by discussing problems, giving advice, etc.
implement -to carry out
conduct - to organise or do a particular activity
formulate - to create or prepare something carefully, giving particular attention to the details
subsequently - afterwards; later; after something else
Extra exercise
I would also like you all to practice your skills in grammar. Try to arrange the following words into a sentence without looking back at the feature. To make sure of getting correct answeers, study the parts of speech of each word and keep in mind that an affirmative sentence starts with a subject (which is a noun or a noun phrase) and then a verb or phrasal verb.
1. May 16, launched, the Next Generation of Teachers Project, UNESCO, on.
2. 10 countries, UNESCO, to participate, in Asia-Pacific region, has selected, in the project.
3. not just, the aim, to improve, is , the ICT skills of teacher educators and pre-service teachers.
4. for the changing roles, to prepare, the underlying philosophy, of both teachers and students, is.
5. shift, will, from, the role of the students, to active participants, in the learning process,that of passive recipients.