Information and communication technologies in schools: a ...

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ICT IN SCHOOLS
A HANDBOOK FOR TEACHERS
Transforming oral speech into written form
The classical work of taking dictation can be radically transformed as well by
ICT. A teacher may ask students to use their computers to make a sound recording
of their oral text, recited as normal speech, and then to transcribe it. Each
student may play the recording back while listening through individual headphones
as many times as they need to write down every word. The advantages of
such dictation are obvious:
• All students work at a pace that suits them best.
• A teacher can trace the progress of each student in detail by simply connecting
to the screens of students’ computers.
• When teachers see a student finish a task, they can provide more oral
text, either as live dictation through a microphone, or as a pre-recorded
sound file. In this mode, every student in a classroom can move
along at their personal pace, not interfering or competing with other
students for the teacher’s attention and time.
The next stage would be to give the class an assignment to make an abstract,
or synopsis, of the teacher’s oral text. The major difference here is that students
themselves choose the object of transcription. It can be a TV discussion or a
movie segment, a political leader’s speech or, in the best case, something recorded
by students themselves – a teacher’s introduction, a street interview on the
environment in the school area, or Grandma’s story of her childhood. Digital
technology provides a comfortable environment for this activity: to slow down
the tempo, segment and mark the texts, see the speaker, and so on.
Group discussion
In the new paradigm, there is much more space for class discussion with many
students participating. Such discussions can start with a text or a hypermedia
piece presented by teachers or students. The major points expressed by the participants
can be recorded and presented on screen. Thus, the evolving discussion
is visualized. Moreover, short video-clips of speeches can be made and presented
on screen in the form of icons. The teacher can participate as moderator. The
discussion is not limited in space and time: it can go on the Internet as live chat
or be delayed. Prerecorded and recorded discussions can be sent as an immediate-to-all
or delayed message. At the same time, screen-written images help to
make discussion more systemic, effective and disciplined.