The internet as a materials resource

The internet has its advantages and disadvantages as a source of teaching materials.

Advantages:

• It offers a seemingly endless range of topics to choose from , all in one handy location. There are a growing number of materials specifically designed for English language teaching. The limitations are determined by the users' speed of access and the computer facilities available.
• While some of the content of the internet is several years old, much of it is updated on a regular basis: monthly, weekly or daily. You can get todays' news from any number of web pages http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/. And of course many new are being added every day, some of them unavailable to print.

Disadvantages:

• Many schools do not yet have the facilities that would allow classes direct acces to the internet. Even teachers may have restricted access because of the costs involved or the logistics of scheduling.
• Language may contain grammatical errors and information presented can be completely inaccurate.

It is important to look at internet materials as closely as you would at materials from any other source, and where necessary take the time to adapt them to suit your situation.

Teachers split over web use in classrooms

A new survey suggests students and teachers disagree about how useful the internet is as a learning tool.

http://www.itpro.co.uk/605904/teachers-split-over-web-use-in-classrooms

Are teachers using internet?

No one really knows how many people are using the internet. The figures published in the media are quite often just a mixture of informed guesswork and surveys (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/frss/publications/2000090/, http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6608496.html). So how can we know whether teachers are using this technology? And if so, how is it being used by language teachers?
According to teachers' comments - at conferences, in papers and on the internet mailing lists dedicated to ELT - they seen to use it for just about everything: development, updating language skills, finding materials, learning about computer applications, keeping in touch with friends and colleagues, teaching, working on class projects and activities and just having fun.
Computers are becoming increasingly available in schools around the world. Governments, teachers and parents are advocating the networking of these computers, and making plans of their use at all levels of education. New demands are then being made on teachers to use the technology creatively.