Session 2C
Title: Enhancing student learning using online tasks

Abstract:
This session will explore ways to motivate and engage students, and to develop their skills, by incorporating online tasks into your weekly classroom and homework program.

Listening Logs: use Ted-Talks to develop listening skills at home and stimulate speaking in class.

Reading Logs: use online Discussion Boards to improve reading and writing skills as students post and comment on articles they and their classmates have read.

WebQuests: develop self-study strategies, create brochures, research and hold a Climate Summit – these are just some of the ways WebQuests can be used to motivate and involve students in their own learning.

Audacity: use free voice recording software to improve speaking accuracy and intelligibility.

Group Journals: use to create forums of students’ finished work.

You do not have to be a computer expert to incorporate these online activities into your weekly classroom program. You’ll also find you can utilise familiar teaching strategies in innovative ways.

For example:
- Do a dictogloss - then students record it and post their recording to the Group Journal
- Students listen to two different audio recordings - then do as a pair dictation in class
- Students write a story - after editing, they record it and post their story and recording to the Group Journal
Come along and get some ideas and share your experiences with others.
Open up a world of possibilities- it’s easier than you may expect.

Bio
Sue Hodgson has been teaching at the University of Newcastle Language Centre since 1996. Sue has coordinated the English for Academic Purposes program (EAP) at the Language Centre, and recently revised the EAP curriculum to incorporate a task based focus. Sue has trained English teachers in Vietnam and Cambodia, and has taught in Japan and Vietnam. She has also worked with migrants, refugees and students with poor learning skills. Sue has presented workshops nationally and internationally. She holds a B. Ed., Grad Cert (TESOL) and M. App. Ling.