Making a . Google guide Pete Clements recent British Council inspection at my schoo! led produces support ‘to many improvements in ICT provision, However, materials to help teachers although we now have many new tech-based resources, it seems few of our use online tools. teachers are interested in using them. The inconvenience of setting up equipment, lack of classroom contro, lack of knowledge and technophobia are just some of the reasons why our staffroom copy of Language Learning with Technology has been collecting dust. ‘As part of a DipTESOL research ‘project, I thought I'd take it upon ‘myself to drag our methods, kicking and screaming into the 21st century. J thought our school would benefit from some in-house material with ideas for integrating ICT into our teaching practice. My broad aims were: «© to create an introductory handbook, with guidance notes and user-friendly lesson plans, on integrating Google products inthe classroom; «© 10 gt feedback ftom peers on the effectiveness and usefulness of this handbook, based on their evaluations of lessons delivered from it My colleague evaluated the booklet {and lessons) using a questionnaie. Participants included both teachers and management at the schoo Where did the idea come from? During a peer observation of textbook- ‘based IELTS lesson on describing graphs, recalled a blog post (by Jeremy Krit) about Googie Trends, Tis is one of many lesserappreciated Google tools, allowing 'B + tosve 101 November 2015 + ENGLISH TEACHING professional »n.r-u21 the user to explore the popularity of diferent search engine items overtime ~ displayed in the form ofa line graph. During feedback, I tentatively suggested to my colleague that Trends could be used for some follow-up work. She wasn't too confident with exploring the tool, and suggested afew instructions might help her get to grips with it, My idea for a ‘Buidebook took off from there ~ I could really ee how some integrated ICT could add & new dimension to our clases, but With ttle necessary guidance. There is an example of a lesson plan I developed for use with Gogale Trends on page 11. Why Google? Trends isa really fun tool, and where there was one great Google product, there must surely be more, With a litle research, I stumbled across a hidden haven of elasstoom-friendly platforms ‘and applications including Art Project Doodles, Maps, World Wonders and Historie Moments. Google Art Projects a platformn allowing users to access images of artworks from world famous galleries through ‘virtual collections’ It includes captions for many of the artworks, providing some useful language input, and lends itself to focused tasks on | particular artists styles and institutions, ‘There isan example of some student ‘material I developed for use with Google Art Project on page 12 Google Historie Moments bas stock photos of many femous events and people in world history. tis useful way 0 restrict the images which appear in search results froma search engine. Its ‘ast features are its ‘onlin exhibitions ‘which are fantastic for focused groupworkand independent research. Google World Wonders is similar, and good for sgeography-based lessons. Both resources hhave material which could supplement certain modules in some textbooks. Google Maps and Google Doodles serve specific purposes in the classroom, such as revising directions or dates! times, but are arguably less versatile ‘than the other tools Audience considerations ‘An important consideration during the design of my materials was my audience. ‘This was twofold ~ I needed engaging. lessons for the learners, but also clear ‘guidance to enable the teachers to utili the new online tools. [wanted to provide ‘the teachers with clear lesson ideas so they could spend their planning time learning how to use the Google products However, I dida’t want to create a rigid set of lessons which woulda’t allow them to adapt the materials. The classes offered by our school sreatly influenced the resource design, ‘The purpose of our short-stay courses is to provide experience of interacting in an immersed English-speaking environment, and the focus is firmly on speaking and listening. This has a major impact on our set syllabus for younger learners; iis underpinned bya broadly communicative focus, and classes inelude as many speaking and listening tasks as relevant, but that is not to say that other skills are overlooked. Whilst purely grammar- focused classes for short-stay young learners are often avoided, grammar more frequently occurs in communicative Function-based lessons. ‘Most learners come to the school as part of a group (often monolingual), and their studies are tied in with cultural excursions and free time around the town, Our programme aims to develop each learner's socio-cultural awareness, whilst many groups also request a CLIL approach, with specific subjects and skis integrated into the syllabus, Planning considerations ‘The target audience for the lessons 1 devised was very specific - teenagers (up to age 18) at a short-say language school, From experience of teaching teenage earners, [could make certain assumptions about computer literacy (Gc general competence in using the intemet), the general interests of the learners and suitable resouroes for this age range There wore also general planing considerations related to behaviour and classroom management. These included varying the tsk organisation Ginividals, pairwork, groupwork, ts), adding a competitive element activities when possible, keeping lesson stags short to rainain focus and allowing or student- directed lesson content wherever possible. ‘Alter evaluating each product, I decided to create cight lesson plans covering the pre-intermediate, intermediate and upper intrmediate levels Most ofthe resources seemed ‘more suited to higher-level learners ~ as authentic materials designed for native speakers, the language wasn't graded ~ but these texts would still be accesible to lower levels if preparatory tasks were undertaken. Although this was tue of the product content, each web page used 4 fairly straightforward navigational format, making most resources easily accessible (perhaps with some pre- teaching). Where the product content ‘was besed around infographis, it was often easily adaptable across levels Goals and objectives The objectives ofeach lesson focus on skills and language development, but the purpose ofthe guide was fa better judged by the more general goals it addressed. Its important for teachers to remember that teenagers ae stil developing socio-cognitive skills which are shaping ther thoughts, attitudes and perception ofthe world around them. Similary, they are acquiring the broader study skils needed as they progress in education and life. Many tasks inthe suide were designed with this in min. attempted to include all skill types across the lessons (see below), but none of the resources allowed for Hstening activities. It was often the case when creating lesson that, although certain skills provided the focus of the lesson, some activities incorporated snultipe skills Piloting ‘As most lessons required the leas to tse Gevioes such as Pads or iPhones, had to ensue that certain websites and applications could be noesed using ‘aious types of equipment. When Iwas piloting the lessons, few problems ccurred. The stadents could easily use ‘each ool in thet LI, so preventing this required monitoring, Offtask behaviour svhilst online was sometimes bard to keep on top of, though sharing the learning outcome with the cas certainly Jed to more fous. [es important that the students be allowed to choose their own topics for the esearch-bnsed tasks as tis gives them ovneshp, bat teachers need to nae sre these ate appropriate Although the teachers eoeed some written gedance on how to use each product, practical demonstration Guring lesson preparation time was often necessary Teacher evaluations Many colleagues were unwilling to trial the resourees. Their reasons included: ‘lack of spare time «© apprehension about the resources «© willingness to teach, but not to evaluate «perceived lack of relevance and language focus of the lessons ‘The school management suggested that teachers providing a workshop for other teachers based on the resources might ‘reate interest, but other commitments dda’ allow for this. The evaluation consisted of three pages about the booklet, and a one-page {qualitative evaluation form for those teachers who trialled a lesson, In all five teachers evaluated the booklet and trialled one lesson. One teacher adapted a lesson for adult learners Information from teacher feedback questionnaires showed the following Skills included across lessons Srenmar/ | Vesbulary Weng | isterng | Speaking | cites! | Stuy functions ‘inking | sits toner | x x x Mite |x x we wigher |x x x x[ xsMaking a _ Google guide Al participants agreed that there was adequate information and instructions provided for each product «© the teacher instructions were clear, concise and relevant 6 the student handouts were clear, organised and relevant © the lesson objectives were clear, concise and relevant «© there was a very good range of activities in the booklet © the Tessons were easy to adapt © the lessons were graded for level correctly Selected quotes from feedback: ‘An extremely thorough resource with ready-to-go lessons. Very easy to follow ‘and on a topic which is new and exciting tome. “Some people may lke the addition of having an exercise demonstrated to them 1s part of a training session. Lesson evaluations (Clear positives in each lesson were evident through the language used by the teachers inthe evaluation, where students were described as interested, engaged, eager and genuinely communicating. One participant referred specifically to the progress made during the lesson, whilst there were positive appraisals of the lesson resources in all classes involving (conagers. In particular, the interactive nature of the products and problem- solving tasks relating to them were cited. ‘The most interesting feedback was that in theee of the lessons (two teenage and one adult general English class) the participants mentioned that a range of new vocabulary arose during the tasks ‘This might be the case in any lesson, and it doesnt mean that the vocabulary itself ‘was al related to the topic. However, it does show that a languagelvocabulary focus ean emerge asa result of the tasks, although this process relies on the teacher's ability to exploit the task cifectively Learners accessing the Google products in their L1 was noted as an issue by two participants. Some lessons TO - teoue 101 November 2015 ENGLISH TEACHING professional » (you're thinking of making your own ICT-based resources, here are a few things t've learnt: Remember, your audience isn’t just the learners. How much do the teachers know about using ICT, and how confident are they with it? A bit of research into the ICT capability of your colleagues isa good starting point, B start off simple. The Googie products | used can do quite a lot, but the more ‘echnical your tasks, the more teacher-centred things tend to become, Keep ‘demos to a minimum, design simple tasks which give the learners more independence El Cheok all your equipment fst. One resource may work fine on a laptop, but is slower on another format Ike an iPhone, Never assume! Gl Don't be afraid to leam from the students. Think about the apps or the sites, they use. If they are appropriate and easily accessible, you might have a ready-made resource at your disposal! © Evaluate. Get fellow teachers to evaluate, Get informal feedback from the earners. Sometimes, things might soem more interesting than they actually are. ‘required the use of certain keyboard Despite these positives, many staff at functions to complete activities (eg my school were still unwilling to explore “print-screen’) which proved difficult for the resources available. A workshop may some teachers and learners, showing have helped familiarise them with using hhad perhaps overestimated their prior the products: However, it may have knowledge, I might consider producing increased the inhibitions of those short section on how to explain these teachers less confident with ICT, who tasks to the students, as they are will naturally judge their ability against transferable to other domains. However, peers during a development session. if too much pre-teaching of other ICT It could be that the main reason for tasks is needed, the Google products some teachers” reluctance to use the lessons may be best avoided, booklet was the lack of grammar and Itis interesting thatthe teacher of the vocabulary focus in some lessons, adult class felt that the Google Trends Developing research skills may seem a lesson might be better suited to IELTS rather loose aim to some, whilst an students The IELTS teachers at the ‘emphasis on emergent language may schoo! were reluctant to trial the lessons, also give lesson too much although they perhaps might reconsider unpredictability, Furthermore, the siven this feedback from their peers. task-based approach used in many ‘The most common areas for lessons may not be everyone's chosen improvement for the esson plans method. For my next in-house material, ‘mentioned in the feedback included: 1 will consider incorporating a broader '» allowing more time for tasks, and ae of methodologies in the model ing stage timings in lessons. ¢ Sterley, G Language Leaming with ‘© monitoring students to ensure use of | Tpetmology CUP 2013 the products in English; Pete Clamants has aught {in South Korea, Spain, Vistar, Thaland and the UN He has acanty Eompleted the Trt) DipTESOL, Hes ntarests include asia-saase {Bacher aavelonmant gporna nw teachers «© ensuring appropriacy for all users (some of the at exhibitions included nuit), wk Overall, the guide was a success, The evaluations show that earefully-planned lessons based on Googie products were engaging and interesting for the learners, sand the teachers found them bath someon and adeleExample activity 1: Google Trends This activity Is a short research task using Google Trends (waw.google.comitrends/exploretcmpt=<). ‘The too! allows a comparison of the popularity of different search torms on the Google search engine, giving the results in the form of aline graph. A filter bar at the top allows the user to change the date, location, ‘category and search type. Up to five search items can, bbe compared at once. Google Trends could be used as a supplementary resource for IELTS Writimg Task 1 ~ describing graphs. Hore are the lesson plan notes for this activity. Level: Upper-intermediate Time: 60 minutes Focus: Research skills; presenting information Aims: ® to practise analysing and presenting information ‘splayed in lino graphs; © t0 practise searching for specific information ontine using the basic functions of Google Tren. Materials ® device to access the internet ~ at lesst one per pair of students; ® classroom computer/projector to present information and explain tasks; © activity handout, Anticipated probloms: © Ensure a strong internet connection, as the lesson Is predominantly tech-based. © The students can access Google Trends in thelr Li Ensure they are using It in English ‘Access Google Trends through wrw.google.co.ukltrandslexpioretempt=g or «© Type ‘trends’ into the Google search engine. «© Follow the first link: the Google Trends home page should appear. ‘© Ada search terms where instructed. «© Use the fiter bar above the search terms to filter your search by date, location, category (eg shopping) or search type. choose atopic you think it prompt cscussion among your students. Formy class aged 1-16, normaly choose eseoriies or pop cutie. Give the students @ question fo discus in pais. e9| Who was more popular in Googie seerches in the UK test ‘year: Robert Pattinson or Daniel Raccitie? Ect responses and discuss ideas as a class. Bl Explain thatthe studonts can find the answer using Googie Trends (you might need to quickly concept check trending). Show them how to access Trands, using your ‘computer IB. Use the ‘search terms’ boxes and fter bar to-create a graph showing search trends for Robert Pattinson versus Daniel Radcife The students discuss whether their predictions were ‘correct. The graph can be explored a ila more ~ elist why each eearch term may be more popular at certain times of the year (eg a new movie being released, gossip, in the newspapers, etc). Ask another question about popular culture, eg Last week, were there more Google image searches for 4) Miley Cyrus b) Bayancé or ¢) Paul McCartney? ‘After a bret discussion, have the students use thelr own devices to access Google Trends and find the answer. ‘They may need direction in fitering the information, for ‘example by date or chosen information (mage searches, only) GD Give the students a practice activity to familiarise them with Google Tends as a research tol. You can instruct them to predic the answers first, to create more interest. Example activity: Predict the answers to these questions: 1 In2018, what was @ more popular search term: "Gangnam Style or Harlem Shake"? 2 What was the most searched for travel destination by UK internet user lat year? ‘3 Who is more popular in Google searches right now: Gareth Bale or Cristian Bele? 4 What is more popular on Goagle Shopping now: ‘shoes’ or laptops"? 5 Was Wayne Rooney more populerin Google searches in 2010 or 20417 © Which is armore popular Googie search term in England: ‘Fish and chips’ or Gury"? Now use information on Googie Trends to see it you're right! ENGLISH TEACHING professional» resus 101 November 2015+ 44Example activity 1: Google Trends I Use Google Tend to splay a graph comparing Apple and Samgung since 201 tight be good idea to have thisready ina window at he start of he lesson. Exam Example target language: Tnoductory expressions | Langvaye for areps “The graph shows ndcatas/ epics /iluseates constant increase, As can besten fromthe fel) decrease d-dh arph «roo (rope, dropped), sight Asisshonn/itsrated by | (at steady sendy gradual the graph (gredvaly), gentle gent, dowrrrdtend remain unchange, stable, one me El Put tne students in pairs, They choose two or three search ‘torms which they ara interested in comparing. Make sure their choices are comparable: ‘Arsenal versus "Manchester United’ is probably worth comparing, but "Bognor Regis Town FC’ versus ‘Liverpoo! is unlikely to produce comparable data to analyse! Got the students to compare these itams using Googie Trends. They can then prepare a brief presertation on the ‘graph produced, using the target language where relevant! possible. When presenting ther information, they can use the lass computer to access the graph so that tha other students have @ point of reference. (Note: selecting ‘News headlines’ shows important storios relating to these search terms (marked A-{ on the graot). "You can find the content of the story by moving the cursor over each letter) Use this data to elcivteach vocabulary for describing line ‘graphs, You may want to make your own resource to Introduce these words and phrases. Example activity 2: Google Art Project ‘This activity Is a webquest, designed to be used with Google Art Project (www.google.com/eulturalinstitute/home). ‘The students can uso a search bar at the top of the home page to find the answers to all the questions, Art Project isa great way to introduce learners to art as a subject, and to encourage independent research, Art Go to www.google.com/culturalinstitute/home {and find the answers to these questions. You have 15 minutes! ‘Search for ‘Banksy’. |@ What ype of art does he eraate? 9 What's unusual about the tte of hs works? ‘Seareh for ‘William Hogarth’. View all ‘the items. Find ‘Southwark Fair’. 1 What year was It painted? 2 Where is Southwark? (Hint: search ‘Search for Vincent Van Gogh’. 114 Van Gogh painted a picture ot his friend Paul Gaugui's chair What can you see on the chair? in Details) 10 Inone of his images, what are 15 In his paling from 1885, how 3 Find the man smoking. What colour the poicarnen doing? ‘many people ae around the table, ishis jacket? ‘and what ae they doing? 44 Which animal i a) hanging from post? b) ona sign under the big red flag? Find information on the National Gallery, London. 5 When did it move to Trafalgar square? 8 How many paintings of Bacchus ‘and Avladine are on the National Gallery page? 7 Who wore the artiste? ‘Search for ‘Damien Hirst’. 44 True or faloe? Damien Hirst spent six weeks creating a sculpture of airdryer ‘and a ping-pong bal. ‘Search for ‘Whistler's Mother’ 12 Thisis the nickname of a ‘very famous painting. \Who painted it and whats it actually called? "18 Whereis the painting displayed? ‘Search for ‘Queen Victoria’, 116 How old was she in her portrait by Denning? ‘Answers 11788.) Landon (cut of the ‘Thamas) 3) us (ese ofthe paring) 443) ody, 8) Povo 8) 183 6) two 17 Tian, Ris 8) treat 216) Theyre al alee Mural by Bark 10) Kesirg 1) a 42) Jaros Abbot MeN White, Porat ofthe Att Moth 19) Musbe O'Oreay inParis 14a candlestick and sere Books| 1) five eating potatoes 1 ou years 8 42 + tosve 101 November 2015+ ENGLISH TEACHING professional +