Background information
I am Neo(Hao Qiang). I want to share with you my experience on the use of technology integration in to teaching and learning.
I am an English teacher of a training school in Beijing, you can say that, I suppose. Though students sign
up for attending my classes for merely improving their scores on standardized tests, like SAT or Toefl. I still believe I was teaching English, not only examinations in English. Why? I tried hard not to just offer students cunning or unpractical examination-cracking tricks but to base my class on interesting contents in English which include the information they need to understand for their tests. Maybe you doubt that I can not do it, and I doubt it too in an earlier time. To convince you I have had such a successful experience of teaching relevant to the implementation of IT, I think there is a necessity to talk about the 4 sessions of classes I taught in last summer. We just take the third session to unfold into details, for all sessions are similar to each other in that summer.
up for attending my classes for merely improving their scores on standardized tests, like SAT or Toefl. I still believe I was teaching English, not only examinations in English. Why? I tried hard not to just offer students cunning or unpractical examination-cracking tricks but to base my class on interesting contents in English which include the information they need to understand for their tests. Maybe you doubt that I can not do it, and I doubt it too in an earlier time. To convince you I have had such a successful experience of teaching relevant to the implementation of IT, I think there is a necessity to talk about the 4 sessions of classes I taught in last summer. We just take the third session to unfold into details, for all sessions are similar to each other in that summer.
An example of IT integration into teaching
A session includes 30 hours class time, 3 hours per day. It lasts for 10 days. What I was teaching is the reading part of Toefl reading.
For all readers’ convenience, I have to give some background information about Toefl test. Let’s do it simple. If your first language is not English, and you have the intension to further your study in countries where people speak English as their mother tongue, then you have to attend language tests to prove you can understand English, and by then the school of which you applied for admission will consider whether you are competent in your academic realm. Among all the tests Toefl(Test of English as a foreign language) is one choice for you.
The traditional English teaching in China is still grammar-based and vocabulary-based lessons. These classes will be rather boring in the hand of an experienced teacher, let alone a green hand. It is of course not the teachers’ fault, but the pedagogy’s bad. Students are driven nearly mad by the pure mechanism of how a language is working without even knowing a little about why it is so. Besides, there is not even a piece of meaningful content in this approach of teaching. You can imagine all students sitting in a classroom unsatisfied and dull, and accompanied by an angry and tired teacher. If students have no interests in knowledge, nobody can force them to learn.
Of course, in order to avoid the above embarrassing situation, I never practiced grammar-based and vocabulary-based teaching. Instead, I did a lot of work to make the content of my class interesting, if not riveting. I had set the purpose of my class to arouse most students’ interest, and teach them only some basic knowledge. You may wonder, the lowered standard is not a good thing. Actually, the class time is only a small part of the big picture. The ultimate purpose of my class is to guide students to learn by themselves, and motivate themselves. Therefore, the content of my class only include three parts: one is to arouse their interests, another is basic and relevant knowledge, the other is guides on self-learning.
The three parts are inter-related with each other. The basic knowledge was chosen carefully to be sth interesting and easy-to-present in a crowd to arouse their interests, and attract them to explore more about what I did not cover in class. Then instruction on how to explore the uncovered knowledge is following soon.
As the repetition(reading, listening, reciting) of the same content is very important for second language acquisition, the arrangement for repetition is also taken care of.
In order to make it clear, I have to use some concrete examples.
An episode of the second class is about the general knowledge astronomy for many students are unfamiliar with that knowledge in English, and it is one part which often appears in Toefl reading parts. The instruction is guided by significant astronomers’ anecdotes and their great discoveries. I just found students liked people’s stories, and they laughed many times in the class.
The homework for this part is reading material chosen from Microsoft Encyclopedia, shown as following:
1
Moon is the only natural satellite of Earth. The natural satellites of the other planets in the solar system are also sometimes referred to as moons. Telescopes have revealed a wealth of lunar details since their invention in the 17th century, and spacecraft have contributed further knowledge since the 19’0s.
o moon [mu:n] n. 月球
o satellite [‘sAtElait] n. 人造卫星
o solar system [‘sEulE] [‘sistEm]n. 太阳系
o refer to sb / sth as … [ri’fE:] [tu:] [‘sQmbadi]/[‘sQmWiN] [Az]v. 称某人/某物为……
o reveal [ri’vi:l] v. 揭示，显示
o a wealth of [ei] [welW] [Ev]adj. 很多的
o lunar [‘lu:nE] adj. 月球的
o spacecraft [‘speiskrB:ft] n. 宇宙飞船
o contribute [kEn’tribju:t] v. 贡献
2
As the Moon orbits Earth in a counterclockwise direction, Earth itself rotates counterclockwise (from west to east) on its axis and revolves around the Sun in a counterclockwise orbit.
o orbit [‘C:bEt] v. 绕(吸引中心)运转 n. 轨道
o counterclockwise [7kauntE’klCkwaiz] adj. 逆时针方向的
o rotate [rEu’teit] v. 自转
o axis [‘Aksis] n. 轴(plural: axes [‘Aksiz])
o revolve [ri’vClv] v. 公转
3
The Moon is full when it is farther away from the Sun than Earth; it is new when it is closer. When it is more than half illuminated, it is said to be in gibbous phase. When it is less than half illuminated, it is said to be in crescent phase. The Moon is said to be waning as it progresses from full to new, and to be waxing as it proceeds from new to full.
o full [ful] n. 满月
o new [nu:] n. 新月
o illuminate [i’lu:mEneit] v. 照亮，使明亮
o gibbous [‘^ibEs] adj. 光亮部大于半圆的
o phase [feiz] n. 位相
o crescent [‘kresnt] adj. 新月形的
o crescent phase [‘kresnt] [feiz]n. 新月位相
o waning [‘weiniN] adj. (月亮)渐亏的
o waxing [‘wAksiN] adj. (月亮)渐盈的
4
By a cosmic coincidence, the apparent sizes of the disk of the Moon and the disk of the Sun are approximately the same when seen from Earth. If the Moon’s orbit lay exactly in the plane of Earth’s orbit around the Sun, a solar eclipse would occur somewhere on Earth every month at new moon. However, solar eclipses occur only about 2 to ‘ times a year. Partial eclipses, when the Moon only partially covers the disk of the Sun, happen more often than total eclipses.
o cosmic [‘kazmik] adj. 宇宙的
o coincidence [kEu’insidEns] n. 巧合
o approximately [EprRksE’mEtli] adv. 大约
o lay [lei] v. 位于
o plane [plein] n. 平面
o eclipse [i’klips] n. 食
o occur [E’kE:] v. 出现，发生
o solar eclipse [‘sEulE] [i’klips]n. 日食
o partial eclipse [‘pB:FEl] [i’klips] n. 偏食
o total eclipse [‘tEutl] [i’klips]n. 日全食
5
The Moon’s surface is covered with craters overlain by a layer of soil called regolith. Nearly all the craters were formed by explosive impacts of high-velocity meteorites.
o crater [‘kreitE] n. 环形山
o overlie [7EuvE’lai] v. 在. . . 上面
o regolith [‘re^EliW] n. 风化层
o explosive [iks’plEusiv] adj. 爆炸(性)的
o impact [‘impAkt] n. 冲击
o velocity [vE’lCsiti] n. 速率
o meteorite [‘mi:tiErait] n. 陨星
6
Eight major or classical planets are currently recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the body that gives official names to objects in the solar system. The planets are commonly divided into two groups: the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) and the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). The inner planets are small and are composed primarily of rock and iron. The outer planets are much larger and consist mainly of hydrogen, helium, and ice. Pluto, historically counted as the ninth planet, does not belong to either group, and was reclassified as a dwarf planet by the IAU in 2006.
o major [‘meidVE] adj. 主要的
o classical [‘klAsikEl] adj. 传统的，古典的，经典的
o recognized [‘reki^naizd] adj. 公认的, 经过验证的
o solar system [‘sEulE] [‘sistEm]n. 太阳系
o divide [di’vaid] v. 划分
o Mercury [‘mE:kjuri] n. 水星
o Venus [‘vi:nEs] n. 金星
o Earth [E:W] n. 地球
o Mars [mB:z] n. 火星
o Jupiter [‘dVu:pitE] n. 木星
o Saturn [‘sAtEn] n. 土星
o Uranus [‘ju:ErEnEs] n. 天王星
o Neptune [‘neptu:n] n. 海王星
o compose [kEm’pEuz] v. 组成(be composed of: 由…组成)
o primarily [‘praimerEli] adv. 主要地
o consist of [kEn’sist] [Ev]v. 由…组成
o mainly [‘meinli] adv. 主要地
o hydrogen [‘haidrEudVEn] n. 氢
o helium [‘hi:liEm] n. 氦
o Pluto [‘plu:tEu] n. 冥王星
o dwarf planet [dwC:f] [‘plAnit] n. 矮星
7
Mercury is surprisingly dense, apparently because it has an unusually large iron core. With only a transient atmosphere, Mercury has a surface that still bears the record of bombardment by asteroidal bodies early in its history. Venus has a carbon dioxide atmosphere 90 times thicker than that of Earth, causing an efficient greenhouse effect by which the Venusian atmosphere is heated.
o dense [dens] adj. 密度大的
o iron core [‘aiEn] [kC:]n. 由铁组成的核
o transient [‘trAnFEnt] adj. 瞬间变化的
o bombardment [bCm’bB:dmEnt] n. 撞击
o asteroidal body [‘AstE7rCidl] [‘badi] n. 行星体
o carbon dioxide [‘kB:bEn] [dai’Cksaid] n. 二氧化碳
o greenhouse effect [‘^ri:nhaus] [i’fekt]n. 温室效应
o Venusian [vi’nu:VEn] adj. 金星的
8
Jupiter is the largest of the planets. Its hydrogen and helium atmosphere contains pastel-colored clouds, and its immense magnetosphere, rings, and satellites make it a planetary system unto itself. Saturn rivals Jupiter, with a much more intricate ring structure and a similar number of satellites.
o hydrogen [‘haidrEudVEn] n. 氢
o helium [‘hi:liEm] n. 氦
o pastel [pAs’tel] adj. 色彩浅而柔和的
o immense [i’mens] adj. 极大的
o magnetosphere [mA^’ni:tEusfiE] n. 磁层
o planetary system [‘plAnEtri] n. 行星系统
o rival [‘raivEl] v. 相匹敌
o intricate [‘intrikit] adj. 复杂的
9
Cosmology is a branch of astronomy, but the observational and theoretical techniques used by cosmologists involve a wide range of other sciences, such as physics and chemistry. Cosmology is distinguished from cosmogony, which used to mean the study of the origin of the universe but now usually refers only to the study of the origin of the solar system.
o cosmology [kCz’mClEdVi] n. 宇宙天体学
o astronomy [E’stranEmi] n. 天文学
o observational [7abzE:’veiFEn] adj. 观测的
o theoretical [WiE’retikEl] adj. 理论的
o a wide range of [ei] [waid] [reindV] [Ev]adj. 广范的
o distinguish [dis’tiN^wiF] v. 区别
o cosmogony [kaz’ma^Eni] n. 天体演化学
o origin [‘CrEdVin] n. 起源
10
A galaxy is a massive ensemble of hundreds of millions of stars, all gravitationally interacting, and orbiting about a common center. Astronomers estimate that there are about 12’ billion galaxies in the universe. All the stars visible to the unaided eye from Earth belong to Earth’s galaxy, the Milky Way. The Sun, with its associated planets, is just one star in this galaxy. Besides stars and planets, galaxies contain clusters of stars; atomic hydrogen gas; molecular hydrogen; complex molecules composed of hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, and silicon, among others; and cosmic rays, which are collectively called interstellar matters.
o galaxy [‘^AlEks] n. 星系
o massive [‘mAsiv] adj. 大量的
o ensemble [a:n’sB:mbl] n. 整体
o gravitationally [7^rAvi’teiFEnEli] adv. 引力地
o interact [7intEr’Akt] v.相互作用
o orbit [‘C:bEt] v. 绕(吸引中心)运转
o unaided [Qn’eidid] adj. 独立的
o unaided eye [Qn’eidid] [ai] n. 肉眼
o Milky Way [‘milki] [wei]n. 银河
o associated [E’sEuFieitid] adj. 关联的
o cluster [‘klQstE] n. 星团
o atomic hydrogen gas [E’tamik] [‘haidrEudVEn] [^As] n. 原子氢气
o molecular hydrogen [mE’lekjulE] n. 分子氢
o complex molecule [‘kCmpleks] [‘mClikju:l] n. 复杂分子
o nitrogen [‘naitrEdVEn] n. 氮
o silicon [‘silikEn] n. 硅
o among others [E’mQN] [‘QTEz] adv. 及其他
o cosmic ray [‘kazmik] [rei] n. 宇宙射线
o interstellar matter [7intE’stelE] [‘mAtE] n. 星际物质
11
When viewed or photographed with a large telescope, only the nearest galaxies exhibit individual stars. For most galaxies, only the combined light of all the stars is detected. Galaxies exhibit a variety of forms. Some have an overall globular shape, with a bright nucleus. Such galaxies, called ellipticals, contain a population of old stars, usually with little apparent gas or dust, and few newly formed stars. Elliptical galaxies come in a vast range of sizes, from giant to dwarf. In contrast, spiral galaxies are flattened disk systems containing not only some old stars but also large populations of young stars, much gas and dust, and molecular clouds that are the birthplace of stars. Often the regions containing bright young stars and gas clouds are arranged in long spiral arms that can be observed to wind around the galaxy. Generally a halo of faint older stars surrounds the disk; a smaller nuclear bulge often exists, emitting two jets of energetic matter in opposite directions.
o exhibit [i^’zibit] v. 呈现
o detect [di’tekt] v. 探测
o globular shape [‘^lCbjulE] [Feip]n. 球形
o nucleus [‘nu:kliEs] n. 核子
o elliptical [i’liptikEl] n. 椭圆星系
o giant [‘dVaiEnt] adj. 巨大的
o dwarf [dwC:f] adj. 矮小的
o flattened disk system [‘flAtn] [disk] [‘sistEm]n. 平底圆盘状系统
o population [7pCpju’leiFEn] n. 个数
o molecular cloud [mE’lekjulE] [klaud] n. 分子云
o spiral arm [‘spaiErEl] [B:m]n. 旋臂
o halo [‘heilEu] n. 光环
o bulge [bQldV] n. 凸出部分
o emit [i’mit] v. 喷射
o jet [dVet] n. 喷射物
12
Other disklike galaxies, with no overall spiral form, are classified as irregulars. These galaxies also have large amounts of gas, dust, and young stars, but no arrangement of a spiral form. They are usually located near larger galaxies, and their appearance is probably the result of a tidal encounter with the more massive galaxy. Some extremely peculiar galaxies are located in close groups of two or three, and their tidal interactions have caused distortions of spiral arms, producing warped disks and long streamer tails. Ring galaxies, for example, form when a small galaxy collides with the center of a spiral galaxy. An intense ring of stars forms at the outer edges of the new, combined galaxy. Quasars are objects that appear stellar or almost stellar, but their enormous redshifts identify them as objects at very large distances. They are probably closely related to radio galaxies.
o irregular [i’re^julE] n. 不规则的物体
o tidal [‘taidl] adj. 潮汐的
o encounter [in’kauntE] n. 相遇
o peculiar [pi’kju:liE] adj. 罕见的
o interaction [7intEr’AkFEn] n. 相互作用
o distortion [dis’tC:FEn] n. 扭曲变形
o warped [wC:pd] adj. 弯曲的
o streamer tail [‘stri:mE] [teil]n. 带状的尾巴
o collide [kE’laid] v. 碰撞
o edge [edV] n. 边缘
o quasar [‘kweizB:] n. 类星体
o stellar [‘stelE] adj. 恒星的
o redshift [‘redFift] n. 红移
All the possible unfamiliar vocabularies were marked, given meanings in Chinese, and given pronunciation of words and whole passages, which also came from Microsoft Encyclopedia. The reading material is stored as attached files of an email account approachable for all students.
However, that is not enough. Several days later, students may easily forget what they have learnt. Then the self-learning guides came. The instruction about self-learning is about how to learn different academic topics in English from documentation films. All the documentation films recommended were related to what had been instructed. As for the topic on astronomy, a series named 100 greatest discoveries is recommended.
Then instruction on how to download and take advantage of the subscription, and is following. As for 100 greatest discoveries, its subscriptions are stored on a Wiki site.
By then related books were also recommended to students. It is also downloadable online.
Besides, in order to follow students’ questions and thoughts about the class, I built up a personal website for better communication, which have been moved to a new webserver a few months ago and lost much data, and I have no time right now to fix it.
The whole classes are organized in approach, and I skipped mentioning some necessary syntax analysis in class, which is irrelevant to our discussion.
Feedback information
As for the feedback from students, the score students gave me may be the most responsive to their belief of the class quality, which is shown as following, and the total score is 5. The average score of all teachers is about 3.5.
There were also tons of emails students sent to me, which can also to some extent reflect their satisfication degree about the classes.
Here are some examples:
(not finished yet)
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