Developing the technologies of classroom activities: new technological and psychological challenges

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DEVELOPING THE TECHNOLOGIES OF CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES: NEW TECHNOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CHALLENGES

LYSENKO LIUDMYLA OLEKSANDRIVNA -

Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor,

Department of Linguodidactics and Foreign Languages Kirovohrad

Volodymyr Vynnychenko State Pedagogical University

Formulation and justification of the relevance of the problem

One of the main distinctive features of today's education system is moving of gravitation centre from the traditional methodology of conducting lessons to innovational one. This process is usually accompanied with a series of obstacles that do not leave the teaching and learning process unmarked. Technology classroom activities differ greatly from the traditional ones. The teacher should take into account various methodological, psychological, linguistic and physical aspects that impact the process of learning of foreign language. The process of developing new technologies has become integrated in the classroom in so many ways, that we often don't even think about how we are using it.

Analysis of the recent research works and publications

G. Dudeney and N. Hockly emphasize that layout of your computer room will directly affect the types of activities you are able to do with your learners, and how they interact with one another and with you as the teacher. A layout which has computers at desks around the walls, facing the walls, with a large table in the centre of the room, allows the teacher to walk around and easily see what the learners are working on and what they're looking at on the computer screens (monitors). The central area provides and easily accessible space where learners can go when they don't need the computers, and for when they might want to do some communicative group work [4, p. 13-14].

Speaking about language laboratories, J. Harmer stresses the role of innovation overuse that makes teaching and learning too machine- based. Modern language laboratories have come a long way from the drill-only booths that once characterized them. This allows teachers and students to listen, word process, watch video clips or other presentation programs. Teachers can have students work individually, individually with the teacher, in small groups or in lockstep where the whole class working with the same material at the same time. The great advantage is that users no longer have to worry about alphabetical order. They can find what they want just by typing in a word or phrase. Modern portable electronic dictionaries are now much more impressive than the originals since they have bigger windows, better navigation systems, and often two or more dictionaries bundled into the same device [6, p.256-257].

The purpose of the article is to highlight some peculiarities of managing the technology of classroom activities. Throughout the work we mention the importance of correct application of information communication technologies in teaching a foreign language and various factors which accompany that process and from which much depends.

technology classroom teaching language

The exposition of main material

Information technologies are the catalysts of the social progress. Their use in the sphere of education allows not just collecting, saving, processing, presenting and circulating of all information types but also contains vast opportunities for person-oriented education, promotes the selection of content, individualization, management programming of learning process, cognitive work of every student. Thanks to these peculiarities information technologies (IT) lead education to the level of personalization that allows take into account the initial state of the object, to diagnose the quality and the motivation of the basis knowledge, to correct learning gaps and so on.

The transition from traditional forms and methods of teaching into technology classroom requires methodology improvement and attentive teacher's approach to conducting the lesson. Quite many teachers ignore to be well prepared to their disciplines explain the fact of being the experienced teacher for over 15-25 years. No one can contradict the experience in education system but one should bear in mind the readiness and experience in IT tools. A large group of teachers have already acquired the necessary knowledge and skills in the application of IT in teaching but haven't realized the importance of psychological factors in the process of teaching and learning a foreign language.

If we characterize a personal computer just a technological learning device, we will soon understand that the role of the latter one is bigger than we have imagined. Its work should be forecasted, controlled and observed before, during and after the lesson. While conducting the lesson in technology classroom, the teacher should remember some factors which will influence the result of foreign language competence. Among them:

1. Individual learning. Multimedia learning programs open new opportunities and borders for learners' process. But not all can use this «learning freedom». Much attention, observation and control should be given to such group of students (pupils). Individual work should acquire some features of self-work, self-control which can be achieved after permanent psychological and educational teachers' help;

2. Attention dispersion. This factor can be the result of failed teacher's work. While working in the technology classroom, the learners can be side-tracked if the learning material was not organized well and the classroom activities were not managed in a proper way. And the learner can be tempted to browse some proposed links and website. That requires hard work of the teacher to concentrate the learner at the process of learning and cognition;

3. Lack of interactivity. The level of live interactivity between the learner and the screen (monitor) is far from the level of interpersonal communication. Thus, interactivity in the technology classroom should not consist just of working at the computers but involve different forms and methods of work;

4. The absence of proper feedback. Unfortunately, the feedback in multimedia programs is limited by the answer «yes/correct» or «no/incorrect»;

5. Insufficient teachers' and learners skills in the application of ICT;

6. The complexity of learning material designing. The work in the technology classroom quite often is really more difficult than to put down a lecture. It takes more strength, imagination, attention, creative and logical thinking;

7. The use of time. Some teachers can not forecast the lesson in time context. That causes insurmountable troubles in material understanding, group and solo work;

8. Accessibility. Not all learners have got necessary software and hardware in their disposal that can limit learning a foreign language with the help of ICT;

9. The complexity of software and hardware use;

10. The complexity of reading the learning material from the screen and others.

B. Wilson suggested that learning environment is a place where people can draw upon resources to make sense out of things and construct meaningful solutions to problems [8, p. 3]. R. Webster proposed the definition of personalized e-learning environment (PELE) as a virtual leaning environment which acts as an interface to learning resources as well as to other learning systems and environments. The process of developing the PELE is regarded as a way of enabling students to develop as autonomous learners in that it helps them to think about their own learning in a structured manner [7, p. 4].

Unfortunately, many teachers ignore training in the use of information-communication technology. Teachers do not pay enough attention to the lesson preparation and thus very often are far less skilled that their own students. A gap arises not just between students and the teacher but between the latter and the technology. Some decades ago the teacher was the main person which conducted the foreign language lesson. All attention and efforts were directed to satisfy his demands. But implementing ICT in the classroom opens not just new horizons for the teacher but causes new demands, first of all, for his readiness to conduct the lesson on the appropriate pedagogical, methodological and technological level. Is any of these components are beyond his attention or control, the lesson is expected to be unsuccessful.

The potential of IT in education appears in a different way and contains such opportunities: methodology and strategy improvement of educational content selection, change insertion to the process of traditional disciplines; learning efficiency raising, its personalization, individualization, organization of new cooperation forms in the learning process, content and character change of the teacher's and student's role; modernization of management mechanisms of education system, educational process, its planning, organization and controlling.

Leading link of the informatisation process is the change of its objectives and lesson content: the content of the disciplines; a wide use of informatisation means; a deep informatisation impact on the objective of the learning process.

As all youth lives side by side with technology, the teacher's aim should be to create all possible conditions to bring students' outside world in the classroom. Almost all languages are well mediated nowadays. Thus using the Internet the teacher will present the students powerful and interesting opportunities for communication, interaction and collaboration. Students are encouraged to communicate not just with their group mates in the classroom but with those who are physically and geographically apart. Doing this, new ways for practicing language are opening. ICT provide appropriate basis for the development of main language skills - speaking, listening, writing and reading.

Speaking about foreign language competence, the teacher himself should realize that phonetic, lexical skills should become automatic in the target language. It should not cause any troubles or language barriers for the student to express his own point of view in an oral or written form. If we speak about secondary education one should take into account the fact that lesson time doesn't propose the teacher much time for theory, explanation, examples. Practical exercises take main part in foreign language teaching. As a result these exercises whether phonetic or lexical should contain practical orientation.

The foreign language teacher is not always the best example of the speaker of a foreign country: his articulation, pronunciation, and speech in general, physical, psychological, emotional state does not always reflect the best model for pupils to follow. Sometimes he can contradict himself by proposing different variants of intonation or stress patterns by distracting.

Speaking about teaching pronunciation, intonation, speaking in general, the teacher can use a wide range of opportunities that IT suggests. For example, using any sound editor, the teacher can ask the pupil to record his homework (a list of new words, any set-phrases or sayings) digitally at home. Then he sends it either via e-mail, Skype or using social networks, web camera to the teacher. The teacher analyzes pupil's recording and tries to correct it and to explain the pupils how, where and when correct and make it perfect. At the next lesson, the pupil will be ready to present an appropriate version of his homework in front of the classroom. This pre-lesson (distance) work will make him confident and motivated at our lessons. The question is: «Is the teacher ready to find 25 minutes for his pupils to keep in touch outside the classroom?» If the teacher continues his work outside the classroom or language laboratory, the flow of learning a foreign language will become permanent, emotionally coloured and positively receipted.

Speaking about forming of lexical skills we should take into account the fact that due to the opportunities of IT the organizing of lexis presentation, training and using has become easier, more effective and useful.

Very often it is impossible to take some objects/things as a visual aids and materials to show for pupils. At the stage of word presentation, the image appears on the screen together with its pronunciation. It allows forming the visual and graphic image of a word.

The sense of communicative learning lies in understanding that process of learning is a model of communication process. Communicative approach is a strategy that designs communication and is directed at the creation of psychological and speech readiness to communication, conscious comprehension of material and ways of its working, understanding of demands to utterance effectiveness [1, p. 132].

Clark E.T. suggested that a good teacher expresses:

- belief in and development of human capacities;

- awareness of one's vocation to become human;

- an expanded social imagination;

- new organizing ideas;

- deep sensitivity to tools in human relationships;

- a learned immunity to technical goals;

- ability to make complex value choices;

- highly developed moral awareness;

- sophisticated information handling skills;

- expanded consciousness of the future [3, p. 2-3].

Conclusions and prospects for further researches of direction

During the lesson the teacher should bear in mind that between the student and himself one more participant appears - a personal computer which is an essential recipient in the learning process. In an ordinary classroom the teacher cannot observe, control and check pupils' understanding of new lexical material simultaneously. And if the teacher does him best to achieve that doesn't mean that all pupils are able to acquire essential lexis and know how to use it in practice. IT proposes different levels of difficulty, various task speed, different topics that make pupil motivated and interested during and after the lesson.

Supporting the integration tendencies of cognition, the process of education informatisation actualizes the design and development of approaches to the potential use of information technologies in order to develop the personality of a student, his alternative thinking, imagination, attention, abilities.

Bibliography

1. Clark E. The research for a new educational paradigm /E. T. Clark // Holistic Education review. Vol.1 (1), 1988. P. 18-25.

2. Dudeney G., Hocky N. How to teach English with technology / Gavin Dudeney, Nicky Hochky // Pearson Education Limited: Edinburg Gate, Harlow, - P. 8-9.

3. Ford P., Goodyear P., Heseltine R., Lewis R., Darby J., Graves J. Managing change in higher education: A learning environment architecture / P. Ford, P. Goodyear, R. Heseltine and others // Society for Research in Higher Education and Open University Press. 1996. 146 p.

4. Harmer J. How to teach English / J. Harmer // Pearson Education Limited: Edinburg Gate, Harlow, - 176 p.

5. Webster R. A refective and Participatory Methodology for E-learning and Life-long Learning / R. Webster // Advances in E-learning: Experiences and methodologies / J. Francisco, G. Penalvo // Information Science Reference. Hershey. 2008. P. 4-10.

6. Wilson B. What is a constructivist learning environment? In B. g. Wilson (Ed.) / B. Wilson // Constructivist learning environments: Case-studies in instructional design: Educational Technology Publications. 1996. P. 3-10.

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