Download the digital handout for "Using Technology in Teaching All the Skills," a workshop held at the 2014 IATEFL Hungary Conference in Veszprem by Anita Derecskei and Joanna Szoke.

1. Using Technology in Teaching
All the Skills
!
ABSTRACT
There are hardly any workshops, presentations, or lectures in 2014 which do not mention
technology in one way or another. While this might seem overwhelming after a while, being a
competent user of 21st century technology is not only a competitive advantage anymore, it is also
becoming a necessity. As the stakes are getting higher in the world of school and college
applications, job interviews, and career advancement, there is now an increased demand for a way
of teaching that helps students exploit all possible ways of learning - both inside and outside the
classroom. Given that our students are constantly surrounded by different mobile devices, using
technology is undeniably one of the easiest methods to provide this 360 degree approach of
learning, thus promoting learner autonomy outside the classroom. There are already dozens of
smartphone apps and websites which our students use day by day to study new or practice their
older skills. By incorporating these new tools into our lessons and teaching, we can make use of all
freely available resources on the internet while making our and our students’ lives easier.
In this interactive workshop, we are going to show you some tips for using technology in teaching
all the four skills, both with larger groups and in a one-to-one setting. Your input will constitute an
essential part of the session because it will be featured in the handout that will be published
online! !! LOW-TECH IDEAS: Mobile learning – low-tech
Let’s look at an absolutely low-tech gadget, your mobile phone. Regardless of whether you
have a smartphone, or a ’dumb phone’, there are several things you can use it for, several
functions you can utilise in teaching.
One of these functions is the timer, which you can use, for example, when you are doing a
brainstorming task with a set time limit.
Some possible functions and their applications in teaching can be the following:
• timer – time limit for speaking tasks, brainstorming vocabulary, how many…
can you write/say/ask in x minutes, tic-tac-boom, prep-time – make it visual,
it wakes up sleepy students! ☺
• voice recorder – recording the student – error correction, pronunciation,
upgrading/reformulation
• calendar – What are you doing next week? Discuss weekly plans, birthdays,
dates, etc.
• phone language – set it to English, look at functions, emerging language (e.g.
notifications, days, weather, time)
• photos – past tenses, deduction
• texting – free texting apps – colloquial English, functional language,
abbreviations

2. • phone directory – talking about people, appearances, personality traits, Where
did you meet? How long have you known them?
• call history – who did you last talk to? What did you talk about? Reported
speech
• calculator – numbers, simple Math vocabulary !
!
MID-TECH IDEAS: Computer and other websites
Now we are moving on to the world of computers and the internet. When we say using
webpages, most teachers think of Youtube and videos. We believe that there are much
more to webpages than watching videos or reading articles with your students.
Sometimes it’s not even teaching sites that we can make very good use of.
Look at this grid. You can see 3 columns: Webpage, What is it? and How can I use it for
teaching?
!
Webpage What is it? How can I use it for teaching?
The Big Picture
http://
www.boston.com/
bigpicture/
New stories in
photographs
• talking about recent events
• writing headlines
• deduction (This picture must
have been taken somewhere in
Asia)
• creative writing, writing
articles
Pinterest
http://
www.pinterest.com/
A virtual pinboard on
which you can collect
websites and images or
browse through pinboards
collected by other people.
• collecting ideas for teaching
(inforgraphics, websites,
picture prompts for speaking)
• keeping your students’ projects
on pinboards (digitalized
posters for examples)
• setting web projects (plan your
future home, plan your trip
around the world etc.), which
they can save on a pinboard
Rewordify
http://
rewordify.com/
An online reading
comprehension software.
All you have to do is paste
a text and the software
simplifies it.
• making a text available for
different levels; slowly raising
the level for students
• you can create vocabulary
lists, cloze activities,
matching tasks, etc. in a
printable format
Quizlet
http://
www.quizlet.com/ !
An online flashcard
generator, where students
can study individually or
collaboratively in virtual
classes which can be set
up and maintained by the
teacher.
• studying, recycling, testing
vocabulary items easily in and
outside class
• setting the creation of
vocabulary sets as regular
homework
• using the various flash games
as fillers
Derecskei A., Szoke J. Using Technology in Teaching All the Skills

3. HIGH-TECH IDEAS: Apps
Now, we are going to go high-tech. We have collected some applications that we use
amongst many-many others. There are a lot of apps with in-app purchases, but this time
we have collected only free ones for you.
!
Johnny Grammar's Word Challenge
(available on Google Play and the AppStore)
!
Beat the clock and answer as many spelling, vocabulary and grammar questions as you can
in this 60-second quiz!
Johnny Grammar’s Word Challenge is a quiz for English learners to test common
vocabulary, spelling and grammar that appears in everyday English.
The game features:
• 3 quiz categories – Words, Grammar, Spelling
• 3 levels - Easy, Medium, Hard
• 10 common topics – Food & Restaurants, Travel, Small Talk, Hobbies etc.
• Earn badges as you play and share with others
• Compete with others on a global leaderboard
• Share your badges with others on a leaderboard
• Feedback provided on wrong answers to enhance your learning.
!
Derecskei A., Szoke J. Using Technology in Teaching All the Skills

4. Sounds: The Pronunciation App
(available on Google Play and the AppStore)
!
!
!
Winner of the prestigious British Council ELTons Award 2012 for Innovation in Learner
Resources. The ELTons judges said: “This is a great App – it is easy to navigate, user-friendly,
thorough, and, I am sure, innovative”.
Includes the Interactive Phonemic Chart. Tap to hear a sound, or tap and hold to hear the
sound as an example word.
Free version features:
• Interactive Phonemic Chart (British & American English) with high-quality audio
• ’Introduction to the Chart’ video
• Fully working demos of the Quiz and Practice sections from the Premium Edition
Premium version features:
• Vocabulary Wordlist (with over 650 words): full phonemic transcriptions and audio;
record and playback your own pronunciation
• Buy new wordlists directly in the app – wordlists are just £0.69 each. Choose from
extra general English or Macmillan coursebook-based lists
• Practice Activities (Listen, Read and Write)
• Quizzes (’3 Minutes’ & ’3 Lives’ modes) for listening, reading and writing
• Phonemic Typewriter for free practice
• Teaching Plans for Teachers
• ’Teaching with the Chart’ one-hour workshop video with Adrian Underhill
Derecskei A., Szoke J. Using Technology in Teaching All the Skills

5. Things to Think About
(available on the App Store)
!!!!!!!!!!
Kids’ Things to Think About provides 100 prompts to spark thinking for written responses
and encourage conversations about ideas and issues for kids. Created by students and
teachers in Michigan, it can be used in classrooms or with families by allowing children to
explore the prompts and by using them to guide a discussion or lesson.
• 12 categories of questions including Friends, Family, School, Fun and Feelings.
• Challenges kids to dream about the future, think through “what would you do..”
scenarios and make decisions about interesting topics.
• Voice narration of prompts and original illustrations by local elementary students
• Coding and graphics by Jackson Area Career Center students
!
Derecskei A., Szoke J. Using Technology in Teaching All the Skills

6. Idioms & Phrases Dictionary
(available on Google Play, but there are a lot of similar ones on the AppStore)
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!L
ists of 3500 idioms used in everyday conversational English, with their meaning.
Learn and practice a lot of great idioms and phrases for your upcoming conversations. !
• Idioms are arrange by categories and A-Z
• One idiom have explanation and useful example
• Create instance test with idioms on some specify category for practice daily.
• List favorite idioms
• Search categories, idioms for quick access
!
Derecskei A., Szoke J. Using Technology in Teaching All the Skills

7. 94 seconds
(available on iOS and on Android)!
It’s a challenging fast-paced (you have 94 seconds to find as many words as you can) word-based
game that will have you guessing and scratching your head. There’s one category,
one letter, and one word to find. !
• Perfect for practicing or recycling vocabulary and for learning new words.
• There are more than 50 different categories, 4 different jokers, and the app is
available in 6 languages (English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish).
• Typos and spelling errors are allowed, within reasons… You get extra points if you give
a rare or hard response.
• The app works with several social networking platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Google+,
email). !!
Derecskei A., Szoke J. Using Technology in Teaching All the Skills