Miles to ‘fly’ before I sleep: Why not with a Boeing Dreamliner?

A relatable context

It’s 2 pm just after lunchtime. You have a reading class with 40 students. After entering the classroom, you have discovered that half of the class is yawning as if they immediately need a short nap. Right at that moment, you start thinking 'how will I motivate them to be engaged for the upcoming 2 hours!' You probably feel like sailing across an ocean with a boat and an oar. At the same time, your students are thinking ‘how will we survive among extreme boredom (of reading) in the long two hours!’ They seemingly feel like searching for a ray of light at the end of a dark tunnel. Both of the parties are thinking, ‘miles to cross before I finish my lesson’. So, why not give a motivational booster by flying in the class time together with a Boeing Dreamliner airbus instead of tough sailing or stumbled walking? Yes, incorporation of tech games in the classroom can motivate the students to be engaged in the class-work and also can motivate the teachers to teach.

Teaching English language skills in mixed ability classrooms is not easy. Teaching receptive skills is even more challenging in terms of motivating and engaging the students in classrooms tasks. In this respect, researches in the field of classroom motivation show a very strong and positive connection between technology-enhanced games and student-teacher motivation. Here, I want to introduce Quizlet, an online gaming tool that can be utilized for carrying out engaging classroom activities.

Features

Using Quizlet activities in the classroom may give you the experience of flying with one of the fastest and most luxurious airbus: a Boeing Dreamliner. Quizlet has several studying and learning features among which flashcards, matching games, spelling games, live quizzes, and electronic assessments are pivotal ones. Teachers can create and store classroom lessons, study materials and activities by using which live games can be played. Moreover, with the free version of Quizlet, it is possible to create and use a range of different activities which may not be possible with some other similar kinds of gaming tools like Triptico where if you do not get registered for the paid version, you will get partial access to many of the interactive activities. It is really easy to use and by following some simple steps, you can devise various tasks for students:

  

Pedagogical justification

If you are confused about the pedagogical rationale or doubtful of the effectiveness of classroom incorporation of techno-games, here is a boost up for you. Ushioda (2013) states that in the ELT classes, gaming tools can help students to be motivated while focusing on developing their grammatical accuracy in English. Stockwell (2013) summarizes that computer-mediated games and instructions can bring novelty into the class and it creates room for individualized instruction and non-judgmental feedback which help to create a motivating environment where students can work autonomously. Not only that, while playing digital online games in the classroom for learning, the students’ “self is affirmed, the individual feels authentic and is motivated to continue with current and similar activities” (Henry, 2013, p. 142).

But, what’s about the teachers? Don’t they need motivation? In this regard, Stockwell (2013) asserts that, when teachers can observe positive learner attitude and increased motivation which result from tech games, they also become motivated to teach.

Creating classroom activities

I have provided a demonstration of how you can create a basic and simple classroom activity for learning vocabulary while teaching reading. If you have time, you can have a look:

Why Quizlet?

If the activities can be created skillfully and administered appropriately, this gaming tool can turn out to be a powerful means for enhancing students’ motivation and engagement in the classroom. By using the content which I mentioned in my video in the previous section, Students can build on their previous knowledge and then can refresh their schemata while participating in that. Theoretically, this activity is based on constructivism where the learners are also believed to be the knowers. Again, while playing live games in pairs or groups, students are negotiating among themselves meaningfully to find out the correct answer which idea is supported by social-constructivist theory. Moreover, students’ engagement with the tech games promotes autonomy and increases their level of motivation which are inextricably related to positive teaching-learning outcomes.

Downsides

Everything in the world has two sides: positive and negative. Quizlet is also not above its limitations. Firstly, for unlocking advanced level activities I am afraid you need to purchase those. Secondly, in-built options for activities are majorly vocabulary-oriented and it is difficult to re-organize those for teaching things other than lexical features. Lastly, a common limitation for technology-enhanced games, those are not suitable for use in low-resource classrooms. Therefore, as flying with an airbus, you need to keep in mind your (and your students’) affordances and access to available resources.   

Caution!

You need to be careful of overdoing it in the classroom which may move your class away from the core pedagogical focus. Do not expect that the use of gaming tools will motivate your students automatically. Only an effective blend of devising the activities and administering those in proper contexts can ensure success! Sometimes, regarding the availability of technological devices and internet connection, you may need to strike a balance between the ‘haves’ and ‘non-haves’.  

Ending notes

The issue of motivating and engaging the students during classroom activities cannot be addressed by a simple search:

‘Google! Google! Dear one! Please tell me which one is the most motivating classroom activity for my students?’

So, what to do?

Come on! Explore! Discover! Challenge yourself! Take risks! Look forward! Try possible way-outs!

What are you waiting for?

Useful resources

https://quizlet.com/blog/how-to-use-quizlet-classes-like-a-pro

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Quizlet+Review&ru=%2fvideos%2fsearch%3fq%3dQuizlet%2bReview%26FORM%3dVARSQP&view=detail&mid=112BC859CB7C72AA6B03112BC859CB7C72AA6B03&&FORM=VDRVRV