Technology in the ESL elementary classroom Term Paper

Technology in the ESL elementary classroom - Term Paper Example One of the primary ways that the whiteboard can be used to help ESL teaching is in student motivation: â€Å"[O]nce a chapter section or story has been assigned and read for homework, the teacher can use an electronic â€Å"flip chart† presentation, displayed on a screen in front of the class, that visually emphasizes academic vocabulary and important content from the lesson. The flip chart allows a teacher to hide, reveal, and highlight text and images as necessary to motivate students† (Wappel, 2010). The flipchart allows vocabulary to be presented in interesting ways and can be used to encourage immediate participation. â€Å"To enhance and complement the teacher’s chart, each student is given an interactive tool. Using these hand held devices, the classmates can record their responses to quiz or test questions, either in an objective (true-false or multiple choice) format or using complete sentences† (Wappel, 2010). Teachers can pair immediate reinforc ement with students' answers, and students can feel that their participation is being immediately noted and rewarded. Whiteboard programs also allow collaborative on-line text editing and participation. â€Å"The on-line texts are particularly helpful in trying to get a large group of language learners to focus on one element of a lesson together. The format allows a teacher to have better control of a class and maintain continuous eye contact while directing attention to a particular sentence, paragraph, or picture in the text. The online texts also offer practice quizzes and tests, a writing lab and interactive questions, all of which may be sent electronically to the teacher† (Wappel, 2010). Eye contact during ESL teaching is one of the ways to build schemata and encourage interactive learning, making the process seem more human and less difficult (Stott, 2001). Students can be put into online groups, able to discuss and work together, figuring out each others' weak points and letting them build confidence collectively on assignments. â€Å"A bank of computers in Solebury’s ESL Center enables students to become part of an online community through e-mail, chat rooms, and posting and reading announcements and homework on the school’s web site† (Wappel, 2010). Any instructor knows that one of the most important elements is staving off boredom and prompting interest (Wappel, 2010). Whiteboard software allows teachers a wide variety of approaches. Stress, rhythm and structure exercises can be specially created which are not only different from the regular classroom process but also interactive, giving immediate feedback. In particular, the ability to encourage participation in other areas besides direct, verbal participation is useful. Shore argues that one of the ways to encourage participation and reduce stress for ESL students is to â€Å"Encourage participation in less language-demanding subject areas: music, art, physical educat ion† and provide opportunities for success. Whiteboard projects can allow students to sing along, make presentations with their own prompts, and otherwise demonstrate their skills in a non-threatening manner and setting. Whiteboards also allow participation to be immediately rewarded (Jeffrey, 2003). Jeffrey proposes a â€Å"