Senin, 15 November 2010 Utilizing Technology for English Subject Diposting oleh an.pane di 21.10

            In this writing, I want to talk about technology used in the school that I observed. In spite of technology utilization, this relates to the method of teaching that my master teacher used in his class.

He invited me to join his classes which consists of grade ten, eleven, and twelve. There, I could see that each class had an LCD but without any computers and LCD’s screen. He also told me that the school provides Wi-Fi that can be accessed in every class. There is also a computer lab that can be used for language subjects.

For teaching preparation, he told my friends and me to make slide presentation in power point explaining about text types. Actually, I still wondered how to operate it with only an LCD in a class. On the next day, my master teacher told us to bring our own laptop to the class. The connector or the cables were brought from teachers’ room. In the class, the slides were shown on a white board because there was no screen on the wall. I just realized how to use this technology in the class.  In fact, it did not impede the teaching and learning process. Students could see the slide easily and understand the materials.

The students can also access Wi-Fi in their class. Mr. L.H. told me that he could not blame the students to access it during the class. It was hard to control it. He told me that they are already senior high students.  They cannot be prohibited by any rules. I think it was not wrong but he did not tell me whether he had used that Wi-Fi for teaching and learning process or not.

Two days later, I came to a class to do pre test and post test about text types. When I was trying to use the power point, the LCD did not work. So, my master teacher asked all the students to move to the computer lab. I followed them then saw that each computer was for two students. Sometimes, it made it difficult for them to read the texts that appeared on the computers’ screens. In spite of the amount of the computer units, the condition of the lab and the facilities there were good enough.

taken from google images

Talking about Wi-Fi that can be accessed freely in a class, I think it will be easier for students to use internet for learning process. If I were a teacher, I would ask the principal to enlarge the bandwidth and allow students to bring their laptop, netbook, or cellular phone to access it. For example, I asked them to open google map, which can be accessed from cellular phone. Then, they would do conversation and ask their friends about directions. They could also pretend to be a tourist and a tour guide. Here, I could train their speaking and listening skill. For writing skill, I would ask them to write in a blog. They would feel as if they were in an informal situation. So, they would not get nervous and afraid to write. They could also improve their grammar comprehension, vocabulary knowledge, and reading skill by visiting their classmates’ blog and giving comments to each other.