A website as an ICT tool!

I have chosen to write about the website http://www.towerofenglish.com/. The exercises on this site are based with the help of many other websites, so when you click on any of the headings a new window will appear. The only thing you need to make this website work is a computer with internet connection. You do not have to be a member to visit this site and there are no fees involved which are a good thing for the school.

One of the things I thought was so great about this page is that there are so many different exercises to choose from. There is for an example language exercises which usually involves either that the children should read about something, look at a video or play a game and later on do a follow-up activity regarding the things they just learned called “your turn”. This works as a kind of repetition for the children and hopefully they will learn more because of that. Below is an example on how the exercises are structured:

The history of ice-cream

One of my favourite things to eat in the summer is ice cream. I like all kinds, but my favourite is chocolate chip. What is your favourite kind of ice cream? Your Turn: Here are some very interesting facts about the history of ice cream. Scan the article to find the year that each of these events happened: What year did... 1) the first ice cream parlour open in America? 2) the World's Fair start selling ice cream cones? 3) a housewife invent the ice cream churn? 4) Cookies 'N Cream ice cream become very popular?

This was just an example and maybe ice cream is not the most important topic for children to learn about but I only wanted to show you how and exercise can look like. Many of the tasks are structured like this i.e. that the children first read or listen to a text or play a game. Later on they will get a suggestion on what to do next. In this case they have to show that they have understood the text they just have read by answering the questions.

On the left hand side on the website you will find all the exercises there are to choose from. The good thing about this is that they are sorted in different categories like animals, holidays, people, movies, food and poetry. So if you are working whit a theme whit your students this is a great opportunity to let them go online and find many fun and exciting task regarding that topic on their own.

There are also the more “classic” topics to choose from like, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, writing, reading and listening. They all contain many different tasks regarding whatever you chose. Under the category writing there is for an example one task that asks you to write an online chain story. You can choose to write on whatever “level” you think suits you personally. This is a great opportunity for the teacher to step in a “guide” the students on the right path according to their ability so that they will get “the most out of it”.

As a teacher it is important to remember that this type of site do not suit all of your students needs and interests. I would recommend using this website with older students that have been learning English for a couple of years. Before the students click on the task they want to try out there often is some sort of text that explains what to do during the exercise. Without some level of prior knowledge of the English language I believe that it may be too difficult for the students to understand the task.