I.

Before class: INTRODUCTION
I.1 Rationale
Information technologies have affected every aspect of human activity and have a
potential role to play in the field of education and training, specially, in distance
education to transform it into an innovative form of experience. The need of new
technologies in teaching learning process grows stronger and faster. The
information age becomes an era of knowledge providing sound and unmatched
feasibility for discovery, exchange of information, communication and exploration
to strengthen the teaching learning process. Information technologies help in
promoting opportunities of knowledge sharing throughout the world. These can
help the teachers and students having up-to-date information and knowledge.
Accurate and right information is necessary for effective teaching and learning;
and information technologies (Haag, 1998; p.10) are “set of tools that can help
provide the right people with the right information at the right time.” Students are
independent and they can make best decisions possible about their studies, learning
time, place and resources
Technology ushers in fundamental structural changes that can be integral to
achieving significant improvements in productivity. Used to support both teaching
and learning, technology infuses classrooms with digital learning tools, such as
computers and hand held devices; expands course offerings, experiences, and
learning materials; supports learning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; builds
21st century skills; increases student engagement and motivation; and accelerates
learning. Technology also has the power to transform teaching by ushering in a
new model of connected teaching. This model links teachers to their students and
to professional content, resources, and systems to help them improve their own
instruction and personalize learning.


Online learning opportunities and the use of open educational resources and other

technologies can increase educational productivity by accelerating the rate of
learning; reducing costs associated with instructional materials or program
In the era of technology, IT aids plenty of resources to enhance the teaching skills
and learning ability. With the help of IT now it is easy to provide audio visual
education. The learning resources are being widens and widen. Now with this vivid
and vast technique as part of the IT curriculum, learners are encouraged to regard
computers as tools to be used in all aspects of their studies. In particular, they need
to make use of the new multimedia technologies to communicate ideas, describe
projects, and order information in their work.
I.2 Aims of the study
The general purpose of this study is to explore the use of ICT in teaching and
learning languages. Especially, this study focuses on the most useful and or the
fastest way of exploiting the internet as well as some techniques to design an Elearning lesson with Adobe presenter software.
I.3 Scope of the study
Within limit of this paper, this study will not cover all the ways of exploiting /
mining the Internet and how to create an E-learning lesson with different software.
So, it mainly focuses on some ways to exploit / mine the Internet effectively and
how to create an E-learning lesson with Adobe Presenter.
I.4 Research methods:
To achieve these aims, both qualitative and quantitative methods will be
used in this study. The data will be collected via questionnaires, student’s
reflection, semi-structured interview. The data for preliminary investigation were


collected via questionnaires. Besides, the data about the effectiveness of ICT of the
study were collected via students’ reflection and semi-structured interview.

II.

DEVELOPMENT


1

II.1 Basic Internet Search Techniques and Strategies

1.7 steps to search information, using google search engine
1

When you begin, Google should be ready to do a web search – and the word
“Web” (at the top) should have a blue box around it. If not, click one time on Web.

2.

Type your search term or terms in the box, and then click one time on the Google
Search button to get a list of possible Web sites.

3.

If you click on the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button, you will be taken automatically to
the first Web site that Google finds. You will NOT get a list of Web sites.

4.

At the top of your list of results, you can see how many Web sites Google found
that match your search term.

5.

Single click on the blue underlined title of any Web page to view it.


6.

Want to go faster when you view pages? Open the Web site in a new browser
window. When you are finished with the Web site, close that window and you will
still see your list of Web sites in Google. (This trick works with any search
engine).


Right click on the title and select “Open in New Window” OR “Open in New Tab”
7.

Try using the Advanced Search sometime. You can give Google very specific
directions to get better results.

TIPS
The following pieces of basic advice can help you find what you want quickly:
• The more words in your search criteria, the smaller the number of results.
• Do not bother with capital letters and small words such as the, in, and, etc, since

most search engines ignore them.
• If you cannot find something you want in the first 30-50 results, rethink your

search criteria. Maybe add or remove words.
• Local versions of search engines are programmed to prioritize results from your

country.

For

example,


if

you

are

based

in

Vietnam

try

using

or .
Once you have mastered the basics, further techniques can be added to improve
your search results:
• Placing the + symbol in front a word means that this word must be on the web page

for it to be included in the results.
• Placing a - symbol in front of a word means that no web pages with this word must

be included in the results.
• Placing an OR between two words means the web pages must include either one of

these words or both.
• Placing a phrase inside double quotation marks tells the search engine to look for


this exact phrase.


Here are a few more tips that are unique to Google, the most popular of the search
engines:
• Placing the ~ symbol in front of a word means Google should search for this word

and synonyms of this word, eg nuclear ~power produces results for nuclear power,
nuclear energy and nuclear electricity.
• You can limit your search to a single website instead of the entire Web. Your search

criteria should be followed by site: then the address of the website, eg "nuclear
power" site:www.bbc.co.uk will search for the term nuclear power, but only in the
BBC's website.
• Google has a feature that allows you to limit your search to online glossaries. You

enter define: followed by the word you want to know the meaning of, eg define:
nuclear power produces a short list of definitions of nuclear power taken from
specialized websites.
• Google News, , searches only websites of news-gathering

organizations such as newspapers and TV companies. Its homepage is generated
automatically, and you can enter search criteria to find exactly what you are
looking for. Because Google News only covers a very small part of the Web, it is
able to list articles that are very recent, sometimes only a few hours old.
Generally, typing sentences or questions in a search engine (e.g., Google) search
box does not provide good results.

Instead, use the terms or keywords that


describe concepts of your topic to construct search statements.

Identifying

keywords before searching the Internet will save you time when you are locating
information. Often a keyword that works well in one search will not retrieve
enough or relevant items in another.


Brainstorm synonyms or keywords for each concept. Try asking a friend for ideas,
or use a thesaurus if you are having difficulty identifying synonyms for your
concepts.
Question

Keywords

Are there any games for games,
teaching grammar?

Synonyms & Related Words
teaching

grammar

Where can I get a lesson lesson
plan about plagiarism?
grammar

points


should

I

in

include

beginner level class?

a

grammar

present,

English,

English

grammar, ESL grammar
plan,

plagiarism

What

activities, fun activities, instruct,


class, syllabus, outline, copying

points, topic,

beginner, class

structure,

elementary,

beginning, lower level, course

(Adapted from Algren, M. (2011) in Teacher Educator Workshops with Dr. Mark
Algren)

2 Create Exercises from Internet Resources
Using authentic texts
One of the benefits of the Web is the ability to easily access authentic
material. Such material can be of great value for discussion classes, debates or
project work in which learners need to explore the controversy surrounding a topic.
It can also be useful when the learners' needs are very specific, fall outside of the
range of published materials or simply need to be authentic and current.


Once you have located a text that you want to use with your learners, it can
be copied from the web page and into a word-processor document. Do this by
highlighting it with your cursor in the same way you would in a word-processor
program. Then right-click with your mouse and select Copy, or press the Ctrl key
and the letter C on your keyboard. Finally, open a new word-processor document
and click on the Paste button, or Ctrl and V on the keyboard. You can now save the

text and edit it to create material to use with your learners.
The types of activities you can do are those often used in reading lessons. The
following list gives examples of common modifications to texts to create activities:
•

Separating the headlines from the text as a predicting exercise.

•

Simplifying the text to remove or replace vocabulary and idiomatic language you
think will distract from the target of your lesson or is inappropriate for your
learners' level.

•
•

Creating a gap-fill exercise by editing out target language or structures.
Creating an exercise to match sub-headlines with paragraphs or match text with
pictures.

•

Jumbling paragraphs or sentences onto separate pages to be put back into the
correct order.

•

Selecting a short passage to use as a dictation (reconstructing a text from memory,
usually in pairs) exercise.
As well as using the Web as a source of texts to adapt, you can encourage

computer-literate learners to find, choose and modify texts themselves to use in the
classroom. See the practical applications at the end of this chapter for an example.


3 Evaluate Knowledge and Information from Internet
Teachers are frequently accessing material that is new to them. Whether via
Google or an educational website, the quality of material found on the Internet is
far more random and variable than is normally considered acceptable in a formal
educational setting. Even material of variable quality need not be a problem if the
students are orientated towards what they find in sufficiently structured and critical
ways. This, however, requires an evaluation of the information before using it.
Almost anyone can put up a Web page. Your responsibility as a teacher is to
carefully evaluate the web site for accuracy and authority. Remember: although
sitting at a computer to look for information is fun and easy, you are still
responsible for the selection of any resources you use. Because this is still a
rapidly changing environment, you need to ask some serious questions about every
Web-based resource you use. Think critically; don’t believe it just because you see
it on the Web!

(The following is a list of questions taken from
/>WWW Evaluation Checklist
Author
Who is the author of the piece?
Is the author the original creator of the information?
YES

NO

CAN'T TELL


Does the author list his or her occupation, years of experience, position, or
education? If so, list:


With this information or lack of it, do you feel this person is qualified to write on
the given topic?
YES

NO

If yes, why?
Local Institution or Home Page
What institution (company, government, university, organization, etc.) or Internet
provider supports this information?
If it is a commercial Internet provider, does the author appear to have any
affiliation with a larger institution?
YES

NO

If it is an institution, is it a national institution?
YES

NO

Does the institution appear to filter the information appearing under its name?
YES

NO


Does the author's affiliation with this particular institution appear to bias the
information?
YES

NO

Document Information
When was the information created or last updated?
What appears to be the purpose for this information? (explain)
To inform, e.g. new information, current events, etc.
To explain, e.g. describe a process, teach, etc.


To persuade, e.g. change your mind, convince you to buy, etc.
Conclusion
Given all the information you determined from above, is this piece of information
appropriate for your information need?
YES

NO

If yes, explain your decision and any reservations you would tell someone else
using this information.

4 Practice and Exercises
Exercise 1:(adapted from Googling, n.d.)
1. In the address bar (URL, or ‘uniform resource locator’), type: www.google.com/
; press the “enter” key on your keyboard.
2. In the Google search bar, type [efl young learners]; do not type the brackets [..].
What is the first site listed?

Right click on the name of this site. Name a few things that are available on the
site:
3. Find the “Search” bar at the top of your screen. You are already in the Google
search engine, so you can now use this search bar as a shortcut.
In the search bar, type in [efl young learners]; do not type the brackets. This
time, click on the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button. What happens?
4. In the Google search bar, type [efl young learners +songs]; do not type the
brackets!
Describe the results you get with this strategy:
5. In the Google search bar, type the following:


[efl young learners –tefl]; do not type the brackets!
What do you notice about all of the sites listed?
6. In the Google search bar, type the following: [~efl young learner]; do not type
the brackets!
What is the common synonym used with/instead of efl?
7. In the Google search bar, type the following: [animals]; do not type the brackets!
Briefly read the list of sites. Now, in the Google search bar, type the
following: [“animals Vietnam”]; do not type the brackets!
What is the main difference between your first search on animals and your
search on “animals Vietnam”?
8. In the Google search bar, type the following: [efl young learners OR efl adult
learners]; do not type the brackets!
Notice that the results you get will be information for all ages and levels of
EFL learners.
9. In the Google search bar, type the following: [Indonesia 1999..2009]; do not
type the brackets!
Take a moment to skim the titles of the articles listed and click forward to
subsequent pages

(find the page changer at the bottom of the page under the Google logo).
For what might this search be used?
DON’T STOP NOW! Try an advanced search.


There are many techniques for performing advanced searches. Additionally, there
are a variety of good websites to help you know where to look when you have
specific information to find. Try the following one:
In the URL bar at the top of your screen, type the following:

On the web page, find and click the “Teacher Resource” button. Next, scroll
down to “Information Literacy”. Under this title, find and click on “Choose the
Best Search Engine for your Information Need”. What kind of information does
this page give you?
Exercise 2:
Authentic text gap-fill
Aim: to create a gap-fill exercise using an authentic text from the Web.
Rationale: It is very straightforward to find a text on the Web, evaluate the
content, copy it into a word-processor document, then remove words to create a
gap-fill exercise. This activity hands that process to the learners.
Procedure:
1

In groups brainstorm a topic of a lesson you would like to focus on. Discuss

and agree on the type of language you are going to remove to make the gap-fill
exercises, eg prepositions, verbs, etc. Finally, agree on whether or not to include
the missing words as part of the exercise.
2


At the computer, work in pairs to search and find a text on the agreed topic.

3

Copy that text into a word-processor document and replace some words

with a


gap using underscore symbols, ie____________________. If it has been agreed to
include the missing words, these should be retyped at the top of the page.
4. If there is no access to the Web where the class is being held, stages 2 and 3 can
be set as homework, with the subsequent stage carried out the next time the class
meets.
5. The completed gap-fill exercises are printed and distributed to other members of
the group, who try to complete the exercise.
Exercise 3
Finding and using ESP materials with your peers
Aim: to find and use materials for the language of contract law
Level: upper intermediate to advanced
Interaction: one-to-one
Technology: downloadable worksheet and teacher's notes
Rationale: This is an example of how to find appropriate materials from a
publisher's website. In this situation, you require material which covers a
specialized area important for the peers, who could be a lawyer or senior sales
manager. You may or may not have any expertise in this area, but are relying on the
fact that the worksheet is on the website of an established publisher of languagetraining material.

1 Visit the OneStopEnglish website at .
2 Click on the following links: Business and ESP > Business ESP Bank > ESP


Bank: Legal > ESP Bank: Legal - The law of Contract.


3 At the bottom of this web page is a box labelled Related Pages. Click on the link

for the worksheet and the teacher's notes. Each will open in a separate browser
window using the Acrobat Reader plug-in.
4 Print a copy of the teacher's notes for yourself and two copies of the worksheet for

you and your peers. Spend a little time before the lesson doing the exercise
yourself and checking the answers with the teacher's notes.
Procedure:
1 Introduce the topic and give your peers the worksheet.
2 Work through each page of the worksheet with the peers. Make use of either a

general or specialist legal language dictionary to check words if necessary.
3 The final stage on the worksheet consists of a number of discussion topics. If there

is time in the lesson, ask your peers their opinion about each of these.
Alternatively, ask the peers to select one of the topics and to prepare a short
presentation about it for the next lesson.
Follow on: As with much ESP, you do not need to be an expert in this area. If any
legal questions do come up, suggest that the learner takes the responsibility to
research the answer, either using the Web or by contacting a colleague, and be
ready to provide an answer by the next lesson.

2

II.2


1

Introduction:

ADOBE PRESENTER

Adobe Presenter is a software tool for creating e-learning content and high-quality
multimedia presentations rapidly. Presenter uses Microsoft PowerPoint, a popular
application that is part of the Microsoft Office suite, as a base. Finished


presentations are in Flash format (SWF file). Content created with Presenter is
SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 certified and AICC compliant.
After you install Presenter, you access the application from within PowerPoint. All
Presenter authoring functions in PowerPoint can be reached using the Adobe
Presenter menu.
You can add straightforward or sophisticated quizzes to presentations. Presenter
supports six different types of questions that can either be graded or used as
surveys. Add branching to quizzes to guide users through different paths in the
presentation based on their answers.
Presenter provides a simple interface for using a microphone to add audio narration
to your presentation. In addition, you can easily synchronize your PowerPoint
animations with your audio narration.
1

Planning a presentation

It is helpful to do some planning before you create a presentation. First consider
what you want the user to learn from your presentation. Defining this goal at the

beginning lets you create a comprehensive plan for success. After you have defined
the goal of the presentation, you can use an existing PowerPoint presentation and
enhance it with the most effective Presenter options.
Design your presentation.
Use storyboards, scripts, or whatever organizational materials are appropriate.
Consider what elements to include in the presentation.
Start PowerPoint.
You can open an existing PowerPoint presentation or create a new presentation.


Include narration and other special elements.
In PowerPoint, from the Adobe Presenter menu, add audio narration, quizzes,
video, presenter information, and other options to your presentation. Include
attachments, such as web pages or documents, and customize themes (the look and
feel of the presentation viewer) for each presentation.
Preview your presentation.
View the presentation on your machine by publishing it locally to test the timing
and the features you have added.
Publish the presentation.
Publish the presentation to Connect Pro Server. You can also burn the presentation
onto a CD or upload the presentation to the web using a third-party FTP software
program.

2

Presenter best practices

Adobe recommends these best practices for creating presentations:
1 Design your online presentation based on the bandwidth capabilities of your


audience. If your audience has fast, broadband connections, you can create a
graphic-intensive presentation that includes many animations. However, if your
audience has slower connection speeds, consider using graphic images only (no
animations) or no graphics at all, to ensure that your audience has a good viewing
experience. Presenter also enables you to lower the quality level of images and
audio files to create content suitable for audiences with low bandwidth.
2 Consider creating a written script before recording audio for your presentation.

Speaking into a microphone can be more difficult than giving a presentation to a
live audience. To ensure a smooth delivery that covers all of your important points,
consider creating a script for the entire presentation before recording audio for it.


(If you have slide notes written in PowerPoint, you can easily import them into
Presenter to use as a script or as the basis of a script.)
3 Add animations to enhance the overall presentation, if your audience has fast

connections. Presenter supports PowerPoint animations so that you can create
powerful, animated, multimedia presentations. Animations add impact to your
message and improve the overall viewing experience of users. (Animations must
be set to On Click.)
4 Add video to presentation slides or to the sidebar to reuse information you already

have. Video is appropriate if your audience has high bandwidth.
5 Create presentations that are a manageable size. A single PowerPoint presentation

typically corresponds to a single module or course. Usually a module contains 20–
40 slides and results in a 15–45 minute session for users.
6 Preview the presentation by publishing it locally before publishing to a Connect


Pro Server. Previewing enables you to see the converted presentation and ensure
that it meets your requirements.
7 Create slide titles to give users easy access to any slide. Check that titles appear in

the PowerPoint outline for all slides, including graphic-only slides, before
publishing your presentation.

3

Create Presentations

1

Create a Presenter presentation

Presenter presentations are always based on PowerPoint presentations. To start a
new presentation, you open an existing PowerPoint presentation (or create a new
one) and then add all of the features available in Presenter. For more information
about how to add these features, see the appropriate section.


1 In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT or PPTX file) or create a new

presentation by selecting File menu > New.
2 From the Adobe Presenter menu, select the Presenter features you want to add to

your presentation. You are not required to change the presentation before
publishing, but adding Presenter features, such as audio narration, video files, SWF
files, quizzes, attachments, and a theme, enhances the presentation and gives you
the opportunity to experiment with the functionality available in Presenter.

3 Preview the presentation by publishing it locally to your computer.
4 If necessary after previewing, return to st ep 2 and edit the presentation.
5 When you are finished, publish the presentation to Connect Pro Server.
2

Preview a presentation

If you want to check your work, preview presentations at any time by publishing to
your local computer. Previewing is an easy way to see how a presentation will look
to users.
When you preview a presentation, it appears in your default web browser. All of
the functionality in the presentation, such as audio and quizzes, works exactly the
way it will in the Presenter viewer. The presentation appears with all of the theme
settings and colors you have chosen.
1 In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT or PPTX file).
2 Select Adobe Presenter > Publish
3 Select My Computer on the left side.
4 (Optional) Click Choose and navigate to a different save location for Presenter

files.
5 (Optional) Select View Output After Publish to open the index.htm file in your

default web browser when the publishing process is complete.


6 (Optional) Select Zip Package to add all presentation files to a Zip file. A zip

package is useful if you need to give or send the files to someone else to preview.
(The View Output option is not available if you select Zip Package. To view the
files, use Windows Explorer to navigate to the published file folder.)

7 (Optional) Select CD Package if you are going to distribute the presentation on a

CD-ROM after previewing. (If you select this option, you can burn the
presentation onto a CD-ROM, and when it is opened, the presentation
automatically begins playing.)
8 Click Publish: When you publish, a new folder with the same name as the

presentation is created and placed in your My Documents\My Adobe Presentations
folder. The new folder contains all of the presentation files, copies of attachments,
and any audio, video, and image files that are part of the presentation.
9 If you selected the view output option in step 4, the presentation appears in you

default web browser.


4

Add Audio & Synchronize Animations

1 Choose Record Audio from the Adobe Presenter menu.

2 Set your microphone recording level.


3 Begin recording audio. Clicking Next >> advances the presentation to the next

slide. Clicking Next Animation allows you to time PowerPoint animations to your
narration. If there are no animations on the slide, click Stop Recording, then
Next>> to start narrating the next slide.


5

Add Multimedia

1 Choose Insert Swf or Import Video from the Adobe Presenter menu.

2 Browse for your content using the Insert Flash or Import Video dialog.


3 The Flash/Video file is inserted / Imported on the slide.

4 To preview the inserted file, view the presentation in slideshow mode

6

Capture Video

1 Choose Capture Video from the Adobe Presenter menu.

2 Select Attach to slide <Slide #> as <Slide video> or <Sidebar video>


3 Capture the video using Start Recording

and Stop Recording

4 Click Ok to insert it to the slide or Click

to save it to a different file.


7

Create Quizzes and Surveys

1 Choose Quiz Manager from the Adobe Presenter menu.


2 Click Add New Question to add a question or Import Quizzes from your existing

presentations created in Adobe Presenter or Articulate

3 Choose the type of question you would like to create and fill in question properties.


4 Continue until you have created all questions and click OK in the Quiz Manager.
5 New slides are added to the presentation for each question you created.
6 Edit Quizzes for advanced options like pooling, shuffling and branching
1

Add a multiple-choice question to a presentation

In Presenter, you can have multiple-choice questions branch according to user
responses. For example, in a question with three possible answers, you can set up
branching in this way: If the user selects the first answer, go to the next slide; if the
second, jump to a slide later in the quiz; if the third, open a web page.
1 In PowerPoint, open a presentation (PPT or PPTX file).
2 Select the slide before the one in which you want to insert a question. For example,

if you want the new question to be slide 7 in the presentation, click slide 6.
3 Select Adobe Presenter > Quiz Manager. (PowerPoint 2007 users select Adobe


Presenter > Manage Quiz.)
4 Select the quiz to which you want to add a question and click Add Question. (To

quickly add a new question without specifying if the question is graded or not,
click the arrow next to Add Question and select a question type.)
5 In the Question Types dialog box, select Multiple Choice and specify how to grade

the question: Create Graded Question The question is graded. Create Survey
Question The question is not graded.
6 On the Question tab, accept the default text for the name or enter a new name in

the Name text box. The name appears on the question slide in the presentation. If
you are creating more than one question of the same type (for example, multiplechoice, short answer, and so on.) in a single presentation, type a unique name for
each so that you can distinguish between them.