The seemingly easiest way to introduce ICT into the language classroom is to use specially-created learning software. The advantages of such software are obvious – the content and the tasks are already there, the teacher does not need to design any tasks of his/her own, the software can be used both in class and by individual students, and it is readily available in the market. But the situation is not really as brilliant as it seems to be, and sometimes disadvantages of such software may outweigh any potential advantages that it may have. Let’s look deeper into this issue.

Types of software and their features

First of all, there are different types of learning software. Among others, one can find skills-building software, which is aimed at building students’ vocabulary, or grammar, or listening, or reading skills. Usually such software includes only one type of skills, although more and more often one can find different skills sections on a single disc, e.g. such as grammar and pronunciation building program. Such programs are good for individual practice if they suit the student by the language and conceptual level. However, very often, as it would sometimes happen with a grammar-and-vocabulary course, the vocabulary is either too low-level or too high-level for the grammar exercises and thus creates problems rather than helps students to get rid of them. Besides, as these programmes are too focused on particular skills, they are not easy to apply in a classroom where students are expected to be equally making progress in all types of language skills.

Another example of learning software is exam preparation or testing software. Usually it takes the form of a set of electronic tests, which provide immediate feedback to the user and explain the peculiarities of a particular type of task or an entire exam. Numerous TOEFL Preparation CDs belong to this type of software. These programmes are useful mainly for those who wish to prepare for a particular exam and are not very suitable for pupils studying English for General Purposes.

Probably the most frequent type of learning software are ready study courses. Such programmes are, basically, courses of English which are supposed to be ready for studying. They are usually arranged around certain topics (like Travelling, Eating Out, Checking In a Hotel, Buying Tickets and so on), contain exercises for learning vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing and simulating speaking activities and are designed according specific language levels. Some courses include a variety of features, such as images, games, glossaries, voice record and playback option and short videos. Other courses include mainly dialogues together with their audio version, vocabulary, grammar and writing games and exercises, mock role plays when a programme pronounces certain phrases and the student has to insert suitable phrases in the gap, sometimes using a feature allows students to record their own speech and compare it to the bits recorded by native speakers. Again, very much like with skills training software, such courses are best for use by individual students, who can select and adjust their pace of work as they go along. Using these courses in the classroom frequently leads to problems, as often the content of these courses does not fit the federal standard and the federal programme, the topical vocabulary is different from what the students have in their textbooks, the order of learning grammar issues also differs from what there is in a textbook or from what is required by the federal standard and programmes. In short, such digital courses clash with the textbooks in vocabulary, grammar, level of difficulty and pace of study, and the teacher has to spend a lot of time and effort to select the contents which would suit the class and make studies more effective rather than leading to failures.

A more suitable for a general audience type of software is multimedia, specially designed to go with a particular textbook. On the surface level the advantages of such multimedia supplements are obvious: they fit the lexis and grammar of the textbook, they suit the students’ language level, they do not confront the conceptual level of the textbook, and the exercises on CDs support and expand the exercises in the textbook by providing more practice on varying levels.

On the other hand, though, there still is a number of aspects to consider while analyzing the supplement to decide how to use it most effectively.

 

What makes multimedia supplement effective?

Multimedia supplement is most effective when it:

• Follows the topics of the textbook, thus helping students to expand their understanding of the material that they are studying;

• Fits the vocabulary, grammar and language level of the book, providing extra practice in the subject matter;

• Contains multi-level exercises so that both the more and the less-successful students would benefit from using the supplement;

• Provides various features that can not be included into the textbook: videos, animated cartoons, sounds, interactive games, puzzles, tests, other exercises for interactive practice;

• Provides instant feedback to students so that they know whether they have been successful in doing an exercise or a test. Some multimedia supplement rely on the teacher to give feedback to the students, which, instead of increasing learner autonomy, make the students even more dependent on the teacher, which is hardly effective from the point of view of applying ICT to teaching EFL;

• Contains additional resources, such as additional exercises, information, access to online resources (which is relevant only unless the textbook itself has a support website);

• Can be easily built into the learning process both on technology (that is, be used with a single computer and a data projector plus a smartboard if required, used in a computer classroom or by the students individually as part of their homework) and on methodology level (contains clear and concise instructions for the students on what to do and how to do the exercises);

• Helps the teachers to save time and better organize study process (that is, contains a detailed teacher’s guide which explains the overall uses and objectives of the supplement and contains instructions and recommendations for every single exercise, together with information on how they can be best fit into the lesson), contains a class management system;

• Is easy to use due to an intuitively understandable interface and does not require installation of any additional software or access to the internet to do the exercises.

 

The following checklist can help teachers to analyse learning software and easily decide if they want to use it in their classroom:

 

 

Analysing for Focus on Questions to consider How to find out

Target audience Age and level of students 1. What level of English is this software for?

2. What age of students is it meant for?

3. Are the instructions and tasks formulated clearly enough for your students to easily understand them? Check the annotation on the cover. Run a demo of the software to see if it suits your students.

Educational objectives Type of software and its objectives 1. What type of software is it? Is it a skills trainer? Is it meant for exam practice? It is an independent course? Is it a multimedia supplement to a textbook?

2. What is it supposed to prepare students for? Check the annotation on the cover. Check the index (the contents) page of the main menu of the programme. Run a random lesson to see what its objectives are.

Usability Equipment needed and technical difficulty/ease of the software 1. Does it need any extra software to be installed?

2. What equipment is needed can it be used only with a smartboard? Will it work if you have only a standalone computer and a data projector? Do you need a computer classroom to use it? Can it be used by individual students at home?

3. Does it require internet connection or special registration/activation key?

4. Can it run in a network, or does it have to be installed individually on each and every computer?

5. Do you need to obtain a license for using it on several computers?

6. Does the manufacturer provide technical support?

7. Is the interface (the layout of the screens and the elements on the screens like buttons etc) clear and understandable? Check the technical requirements information on the cover.

Check the booklet/inlay to see if it contains an activation key or any information on licensing.

Check the cover, the booklet/inlay for technical support contact information/website.

Content and features Content of the programme and what it can do 1. What features of the programme make it different from a textbook?

2. What type of resources does it contain? Does it contain videos, sounds, interactive images?

3. What type of exercises does it contain? Does it contain multi-level exercises? Does it contain interactive texts, quizzes, tests?

4. What skills does it focus on? Does it contain reading, listening, writing and speaking exercises?

5. Does it contain information and tasks for project work/case studies etc?

6. Does it increase learner autonomy through exercises for independent work, exploration and instant feedback? Check the booklet/inlay for information. Run a random lesson to see what it includes.

Management of the study process Information for teachers and students 1. Does the software include teacher’s guide in the booklet/inlay or on the disc?

2. Is the teacher’s guide written in clear, concise language?

3. Is there enough information in the guide on what stages of the lesson to use the software at?

4. Does the guide include pictures or video instructions that explain how to use the software?

5. Does the guide contain recommendations on how to use every single exercise?

6. Is the software fully compatible with your textbook and easy to build into your lessons?

7. Does the software include a Class Management System? Check the booklet/inlay for information. Run a random lesson to see what it includes.

 

This checklist may help you to analyse learning software and foresee most of the potential problems that you can face as a teacher. However, the importance of each of these issues is more visible when applied to a concrete example. Let’s do a case study of some learning software.

 

Learning software – a case study

The software we are going to study is called “Enjoy Listening and Playing 2”. We are going to quickly go over all the questions in the checklist, answer them and then decide whether this software is suitable for your classroom.

 

Target audience:

1. What level of English is this software for? – Beginner to elementary.

2. What age of students is it meant for? Grade 2 of Russian schools – 1-8 years old.

3. Are the instructions and tasks formulated clearly enough for your students to easily understand them? – The tasks are in Russian, written in simple language, formulated in the same words throughout the entire disc which makes them easy to understand for students. The instructions are written in white letters at the bottom of each screen. Besides, there is a button marked “?”, which makes more detailed instructions appear on the screen. Students should easily understand them.

 

Educational objectives:

1. What type of software is it? Is it a skills trainer? Is it meant for exam practice? It is an independent course? Is it a multimedia supplement to a textbook? – The software is a multimedia supplement to the “Enjoy Englis” Grade 2 textbook, as it says on the cover.

2. What is it supposed to prepare students for? – The main objectives of this software is to practise students’ listening and reading skills, with the main focus on interactive listening. Another objective is to help students memorise and practise vocabulary and grammar.

 

Usability:

1. Does it need any extra software to be installed? – No, no extra software is needed, the program will run “as is” on any computer, no installation is required.

2. What equipment is needed can it be used only with a smartboard? Will it work if you have only a standalone computer and a data projector? Do you need a computer classroom to use it? Can it be used by individual students at home? – This program can be used both with a standalone computer and a data projector, with a computer, data projector and a smartboard, in a computer class or individually by students on their PCs at home. Thus the programme is pretty universal in usability.

3. Does it require internet connection or special registration/activation key? – No, no internet connection or special activation key is necessary in this version.

4. Can it run in a network, or does it have to be installed individually on each and every computer? – One disc can be run in a class network without having to be installed on every single computer.

5. Do you need to obtain a license for using it on several computers? – Unless you use one disc for the class network, you need to have a separate disc for each computer.

6. Does the manufacturer provide technical support? – Two websites are listed on the cover as providing internet-support.

7. Is the interface (the layout of the screens and the elements on the screens like buttons etc) clear and understandable? – The interface is intuitively understandable. There are instructions on how to use the buttons on the inlay and in the teacher’s guide.

Content and features:

 

1. What features of the programme make it different from a textbook? – Although the programme is built on the audio from the textbook, it consists of fully interactive exercises, animated cartoons and contains additional exercises for extra practice to add to those you can find in the textbook.

2. What type of resources does it contain? Does it contain videos, sounds, interactive images? – The programme contains animated cartoons, sounds, interactive images, interactive listening tests and exercises.

3. What type of exercises does it contain? Does it contain multi-level exercises? Does it contain interactive texts, quizzes, tests? – The programme contains interactive listening exercises and tests.

4. What skills does it focus on? Does it contain reading, listening, writing and speaking exercises? – The programme focuses mainly on listening exercises, but also contains a large number of reading and some writing exercises. With most of the exercises students need to repeat new words and phrases, thus practising their pronunciation and speaking skills.

5. Does it contain information and tasks for project work/case studies etc? – Although the programme contains extra exercises, there are no project tasks as enough of such tasks are used in the textbook.

6. Does it increase learner autonomy through exercises for independent work, exploration and instant feedback? – The exercises provide instant feedback and can be done independently by learners. The programme will repeat words, phrases and dialogues as many times as needed until the learners get them right. Every timea learner does an exercise correctly, he/she gets a visual bonus (a short animated cartoon) which motivates learners to do the exercises.

 

Management of the study process:

1. Does the software include teacher’s guide in the booklet/inlay or on the disc? – The software contains a detailed teacher’s guide on the disc. The guide is in pdf format and can be viewed either on the screen or printed out for reference.

2. Is the teacher’s guide written in clear, concise language? – The guide is written in clear, concise language and is easy to understand.

3. Is there enough information in the guide on what stages of the lesson to use the software at? – The guide contains a description of the overall goals and objectives and use of the software as well as recommendations on what stages of the lessons the exercises can be best used.

4. Does the guide include pictures or video instructions that explain how to use the software? – The guide contains pictures and screenshots that make it very easy to understand.

5. Does the guide contain recommendations on how to use every single exercise? – The guide contains detailed recommendations for each and every exercise.

6. Is the software fully compatible with your textbook and easy to build into your lessons? – The software is fully compatible with “Enjoy English” Grade 2 textbook, the information in the Teacher’s Book and in the Teacher’s guide on the disc is enough to allow it to be easily built into the lessons or to be used by students for homework.

7. Does the software include a Class Management System? – No, this version of the software does not have a Class Management System. But it looks like ot does not need one either.