Reflections on week 2: integrating the Web

    There are many factors that the English teacher should consider while planning a class session. Considering a lesson plan, I’d rather say that all the areas of the syllabus would benefit from integrating the Web.  Actually, it provides a very dynamic interaction from which students can check their classmates’ tasks so that they can give feedback each other. In this way, the process of improving the development of different skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening) are carried out more efficiently under the stance of the English teaching.

    In addition to that, the selection of the Web sites has an essential importance in the development of a lesson plan. The session will flow smoothly or not, depending on  the appropriateness of the Web sites for the purposes of the lesson plan. The usefulness of the website is given by some relevant features, such as its validity in providing reliable and authentic material, information shown in a friendly format, and display of interesting topics for students and teacher.

    It depends on the teacher of ESL to make a relationship between the websites learners are used to looking at, and the objective of the lesson plan. Learners would feel more confident and comfortable when working with a topic that is familiar to them.  On the other hand, the objective cannot be too ambitious in terms of syllabus, though.  It needs to be strong enough inasmuch it reflects that the teacher has set out the areas of language acquisition to be achieved. In my opinion, I would ask myself the following questions: 

What do I want students to learn in the session class?

What relevance does the website have from the communicative approach?

Does the website look attractive for students?

Does the topic seem engaging/interesting/ challenging  for students?

Does it demand the recognition of real language, grammar structures and demanding/varied vocabulary? Why? Why not?

     As a consequence, the knowledge about how to look for useful available resources and the application of a convenient methodology are keys in the work out of the design of a lesson plan. This is the pillar on which the learning process is founded.