They can offer so much more than a list of dishes, with mouthwatering images, links to recipes and even videos of the chef in the kitchen. I think QR-code menus are here to stay, too. I’m going to continue to support local businesses, ordering fresh produce to be delivered to my home. Looking to the futureĪs we move beyond the restrictions of social distancing and into a world post-coronavirus, I hope we’ll be taking some of the new lessons we’ve learned with us. Or they can be listening to different texts in a jigsaw-listening task and then report back to their group. Each student, using their own headphones, can be listening to the same text at a different speed, pausing and repeating as they need to. They can also be used to boost student autonomy and support differentiation. Students are in control of the audio texts and video clips or can work together to highlight target language in a text. In a face-to-face classroom, eBooks facilitate group tasks and collaboration. You can’t do that on a print book! eBooks and the face-to-face classroom The great thing about highlighting a digital text is that you can erase the highlighting when you don’t need it anymore. The wonderful thing about writing digital notes in an eBook is that you can store them, and flick back through them or search for a particular page. Using the previous example, the EVOLVE series offers notetaking and highlighting functions. Just as you can write notes on the pages of your print coursebook, or highlight interesting language in a text, you can do the same on your eBook. You can also zoom in on details on the screen, an interesting image, or a passage in a text.Īnd there’s more. There’s no need to turn to the back of the book and find your page. It includes easy access to the grammar reference and extra practice material at the back of the book, just when you need it. For example, the EVOLVE series of eBooks (samples are available on the Cambridge Bookshelf) include links to audio and video files, a short click away on the digital page. You can flick through the pages one by one, or you can jump around to find what you’re looking for.īut eBooks are so much more than digital versions of the print books. It looks like a print book it has a cover and it’s organised in pages. The second is that its format is very familiar for students and it’s incredibly easy to use. The first, most immediate advantage of an eBook is that you can access it directly at home. This single, simple change has sparked a worldwide love of eBooks. It was the perfect solution to a difficult situation. Rather than the teacher having to hold their book up to their webcam, students could download the eBook version and follow the lesson on their screen. So, in response, publishers offered eBook versions. In others, teachers would cycle around rural areas taking materials to their pupils.įor many, print books were no longer available. In some areas, the local police picked up and delivered these books to students. Neither teachers nor students had had time to take them all home. In schools across the world, books were locked away in deserted classrooms. These acted as a link to an online menu so waiters and customers didn’t have to handle paper menus. For example, restaurants in Spain stuck QR codes on their tables. Boxes full of fresh produce would arrive at our door, sometimes with a personal message.Īs the first lockdown eased, businesses found ways to use technology to heighten hygiene. For example, instead of going to the local market to buy our fresh food and vegetables, my local stall owner would send out videos of his stall and we would order by text. We found new ways to use technology, to build networks and support already existing systems. We have learned to be more careful, to wash our hands, to wear facemasks. Stories of neighbours supporting each other, of small businesses finding ways to serve their customers, and of teachers trying their best to be there for their students. There have been a number of hardships of course, but there have also been thousands of stories of solidarity and resourcefulness. It’s been a dramatic change and a steep learning curve. We have been forced to re-think the way we work, the way we study, the way we live our lives. Many of us have experienced a nearly overnight lockdown at some point and may even today still be facing tough restrictions. Ceri Jones, author of EVOLVE, discusses her lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic and how eBooks have really come into their own in light of a blended or solely online classroom. It has been a turbulent time for those of us working in education, in particular. The coronavirus pandemic has affected all of us in one way or another.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |