If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.
-John DeweyLesson plan is believed to be a scheme that sets limits to the extent of teaching in a particular time and place with varying formats depending on any educational institutions’ discretion. This presented lesson plan does not claim to switch any other formats of lesson plans but rather tries to basically introduce how a lesson can be integrated with simple forms of technologies while students engage with activities to efficiently refurbish their macro skills and language awareness for effective interaction. Modern language learning does not only entail macro skills and linguistic skills but achieving the essentials how technologies are used in the classroom among learners is a must in a continuously expanding digital learning environment. This semi-detailed procedural lesson plan that adheres to the fundamental and essential components of a learning blueprint seeks to encourage the creativeness of teachers to incorporate instructional technologies in any method it is possible.Lesson Plan for Level B1′s Reading SkillI. Behavioral ObjectivesAt the end of the reading lessons, the B1 students will be able to:1. scan and predict the content of the passage
2. obtain main ideas of the passage
3. gather details found in the passage
4. create inferences from the text
5. use Microsoft word processing fundamentals
6. immerse and utilize technology-related learning tools
7. Appreciate the use of technology in language learningII. Subject Matter
Reference:
Reading 1: Customs around the world
Unit 2: Customs and Tradition
From Pages 36 & 37
Unlock 3 Reading and Writing Textbook for B1 level
By Carolyn Westbrook
Cambridge Press, Fourth Printing 2016Target Student level: B1 from Common European Frame of Reference (CEFR)
Time Frame: 60 minutesIII. Materials:Soft copies of activities for screen display and downloads
Hard copies and soft copies of activity sheets
Projector for passage displays
Internet to surf pictures and to propel the Blackboard
Students’ Blackboard account to download files
Teacher’s Blackboard account to upload files
Desktop computer for class activitiesIV. Procedurea. PreparationSet all the materials as tools in the teaching and learning process. Create classroom as an atmosphere for conducive learning. It is suggested that the behavioral objectives or intended outcomes may be underscored for students’ prior awareness.b. Motivation• The teacher uses this portion as a springboard that links students’ attention to be engaged with the lesson.
• The teacher presents a globe’s picture from the internet in the absence of a globe. The teacher may further substitute it with a Google map.
• The teacher displays pictures of people around the world with varied customary gestures onscreen in a PowerPoint presentation
• The teacher elicits responses from the students on what do these gestures mean. The teacher indiscriminately collates all possible responses and be able encourage students to write accepted answers through a spider gram and relate their accepted responses to the main word in the graphic organizer.
• The spider gram should have a soft copy enlarged by a projector for the students to complete on the spot. All responses should be transparent for the students’ inquiries.
• Students are requested to fill-in the blanks using the classroom computer.
• The teacher may further ask some customary gestures which they are familiar with and may additionally relate the pictures to that of the globe presented in class.c. Presentation of the lesson• Overview some reading essentials through a PowerPoint presentation
• Provision of a background knowledge regarding passage comprehension
• Delivery of some techniques in answering comprehension questions. These ideas are displayed onscreen.d. Lesson ProperDiscussions are followed by activities displayed onscreen. Answers in every activity will be highlighted, circled, underscored, italicized and painted, respectively by the students. Errors of one students’ may be the errors of others so it is beneficial to display answers done by students individually. This involves teacher roles and students’ roles. The teacher strives to adhere on the principles of facilitation rather than lecturing depending on the students” performance exhibited in the process.• The teacher explains scanning and predicting.
Students will response to activity numbers 1 & 2
• The teacher introduces the meaning of main ideas
Students will perform reading activity number 1.
• The teacher discusses what details are with concrete examples.
The students are going to deal with activity number 4.
• The teacher elucidates inference as a part of reading
The teacher explicates by elaborating what ” reading between the lines” means by providing specific examples and guiding the students on the task related.
The students will perform activity number 5.V. EvaluationThe teacher frames or customizes an example of a passage if there is no available authentic passage as a springboard to test the students’ abilities on scanning and predicting the content, obtaining main ideas, assembling and creating inferences from the customized text.
Answers are deliberated by the teacher for common understandingVI. GeneralizationThe teacher accentuates on the importance of reading and how effective reading comprehension is achieved through learners’ abilities in scanning, predicting, determining main ideas, assembling and creating inferences.VII. HomeworkRead the passage, A British Wedding found on page 40. After reading, open your Blackboard account and download two (2) files related to this text.• The first file contains activity sheets that tasks you to fill-in the gaps regarding the passage.
• The second file entails you to complete the tree diagram for text comprehension.
• You are required to bring these sheets for further discussions about Reading Number 2, tomorrow.Incorporating instructional technology in language teaching doesn’t need to be complex or sophisticated. Through the basic technological materials, the lessons become worth-engaging and worth -exploring. Excerpted film clips, film soundtracks, film opening and closing credits, an excerpted dialogue, digital script, film posters, music video, songs, film biography, film trailers, book reviews from the cyberspace internet graphics, music or sounds, reading passages from the internet, popular speeches, pictures, tables, Blogs, Facebook posts and comments, YouTube clips, live or print varied advertisements, recorded recitals, newscast among others, are materials that trigger practical technology -related instructions. As noticed, these authentic materials are media forms and productions that necessitate the employment of multimedia and technological tools. These phenomena further stress that integration of technology in instructions is always interconnected with the interplay of print and audio-visual media and are absolutely operated by multimedia highlighting the fact that the multiple and prolific growth of multimedia are propelled by rising technology to produce media forms which are now advocated by innovative educators in an authentic learning environment in the design of curricula and instructions. Access to these materials yield the occurrence of students’ technological involvement guided by well-designed lesson plans characterized to be specific, measurable, aligned, realistic or relevant, and time-bound (SMART) just as how their behavioral objectives are keenly observed as students ‘performance indicators. Furthermore, the success of technology integration in lessons is measured through the manipulation of technical tools by both teachers and students to attain a two-way pedagogical process.Finally, the educational world of learners in the contemporary times is digital. It is crucial that students must be brought into authentic learning environment for the creation of a real- world to be explored by by productive learners. “Social tools leave a digital audit trail, documenting our learning journey-often an unfolding story-and leaving a path for others to follow,” as Marcia Conner articulates. Every educator embraces the fact that learners and educators in the contemporary times are called maneuvers of a digital age for a more globally digital world through the academe as the hub of a continuing instructive progression.
A Lesson Plan Practically Incorporating Instructional Technology for Reading Skills
Electronic And Electric Equipment Usage In Swaziland
Like all other developing countries, Swaziland consumers are attracted to items imported from across the globe. The trends observed elsewhere can also be observed in Swaziland.In a research study conducted by Knotell, a marketing company based in the kingdom of Swaziland the results showed that overall 21.1% of the +18 years survey respondents said they bought at least one electronic equipment within a thirty day period. A majority of these buyers bought a home theatre (or just a DVD player), followed by those who bought a hot plate, a microwave, a hairdryer and a computer respectively.In terms of marital status, singles seemed to have mainly bought a microwave, a hot plate and home theatre more than married consumers. This trend is in line with expected consumer patterns as most singles are just starting out in life and are buying the basic necessities while at the same time are regarded as fast adopters of latest product offerings.The trends show a sustained increase on home theatre and PC buying across all consumers. Consequently there has been a slight decrease on sales for video players (VHS) across the country as people are shifting their interests to the latest electronics.Shopping areas for these itemsIn the survey conducted by Knotell, six shops stood out as having the highest market share. These are Best Electric, Lewis, Bradlows, Clicks, Cash Crusaders, and Diskom. These shops can be found in the two cities of Swaziland, Manzini and Mbabane. At the time of writing Cash Crusaders is available only in Manzini.Men seemed to have bought their electric equipment mainly from Diskom while a majority of the women reported to have bought them from Lewis stores.About the survey processThe information in this article is based on the Knotell Omnibus Survey conducted within the Manzini-Mbabane Corridor in the kingdom of Swaziland. The Knotell Omnibus Survey has three Swaziland designated survey areas that form the basis for developing the sampling design.1. The Corridor Survey Area (CSA), which covers the Ngwenya – Manzini Corridor and areas within 20km from the main highway. (This is known to be the economically active part of Swaziland).2. The Key Towns and Cities Survey Area (KTC), which covers the two cities (Mbabane and Manzini) and major towns in Swaziland. The standard areas include Mbabane, Piggs-peak, Manzini, Mankayane, Siteki, Big-bend, Nhlangano and Hlathikhulu.3. The National Survey Area (NSA), which divides the four administrative districts of Swaziland (Hhohho, Manzini, Shiselweni and Lubombo) into urban, semi-urban and rural areas.
Benefits of Custom Software Development
Professional software products are an important part of the working process for most companies in virtually every industry. Every company needs management and accounting software, and some sort of software solution for online presence. Larger companies implement customer service systems, human resources management software, sophisticated e-commerce software or web portals with extended functionalities corresponding their field of industry. All these systems are mostly developed by other companies, so-called software vendors, implemented and supported by the vendor or by the internal IT team.There are two main approaches to acquiring software systems for enterprise use. The easiest way for a non-IT company to automate its business processes is to purchase a package of off-the-shelf software and invite software engineers from the vendor company to deploy it. This approach works well with basic online shopping solutions, hotel reservation software or open source project management systems. It is convenient for small and medium enterprises with traditional business models, though larger companies can integrate ready made solutions into their system by customizing some of their functionality, if possible. Nevertheless, standard inexpensive software solutions are not reliable enough when it comes to banking software, healthcare or mobile programming.Ready-made software often fails to meet expectations of large businesses and innovation-oriented fast-developing companies. Their main disadvantage is lack of scalability. Of-the-shelf software is a finished product with limited possibilities for enhancement and upgrade. It may have issues with software integration, or it may be compatible only with software systems of the same software vendor. It cannot evolve along with the company, and sooner or later must be replaced by another software solution, more capable and more expensive. Custom software development can generally lead to the same expenses in the long-term perspective as purchasing new products, as it can be adjusted to emerging challenges and business needs.Custom software systems are always tailored to exact business requirements of the customer and adjusted to his unique business model. They are scalable and normally supported by long-term maintenance agreements, and help comes immediately if the upgrade is needed. Of course, the customer must define his key business objectives as clearly as it is possible from the very beginning, although it is allowed and, in some models of software development, even desired to give feedback to developers, so they can make corrections to the program during the development process. The aim is to ensure the right business logic behind all elements of implemented software and make it work under the real-life conditions.A compromising decision can be made if the company’s funds are limited. Some parts of the software company can be purchased as ready made solutions, and the key systems can be developed by request and put together by software integration. For example, a typical CRM solution and a standard database can be integrated with a custom online shopping portal, some bespoke business analysis software and even with an enterprise mobile application that can provide the complete business data from all those systems. Seamless integration is a highly professional kind of service that requires deep expertise in several fields, but it will be cheaper than developing the whole system from scratch.Custom software development can lead to noticeable expenses. But if the customer owns the resulting product, he can sell it to other companies. There are a lot of options like partner programs with other companies working in the same industry or “white label” distribution. Technology companies can develop the solutions they need for work by their own, but in many cases even they can do electronic document management or buy enterprise software products because of the high level in specialization that is characteristic for the IT industry.