Revista simpozionului Eficiență și calitate în educație - 19 mai 2017 Eficiență și calitate în educație | Page 60

NEWS BROADCASTS
Another way of raising our students’ interest is through the use of up-to-date
methods and materials. News broadcasts can be a challenge but also an interesting and
attractive resource of genuine input. I used such activities with upper-intermediate
students with the purpose of checking listening and speaking competence. Older news
reports and videos are useful as well because we need to be able to play them again. But
the material is genuine.
I will offer an example of a video from September 2016 on education and the
importance of technology in British schools: http://www.bbc.com/news/av/education-
34252598/too-much-technology-could-lower-school-results. I created some tasks for my
students:
1. Watch the film and answer the questions:
30 points: 6 points/item
a. What is the topic of the material?
b. Do you think that investing heavily in school computers and classroom
technology improves pupils' performance?
c. Are computers and the internet a source of inspiration or a source of distraction
in the classroom?
d. How should computers be used in the classroom?
e. Should teachers and students go back to pen and paper?
2. Imagine that you are John Morris, head teacher at Ardleigh Green Junior School,
for one day. What decisions would you make to improve the school’s teaching-
learning activities? Explain in one paragraph.
20 points
3. Are we facing the same problems in our educational system today?
10 points
Using the video material as a starting point, write an essay on the following
statement: School life has become increasingly challenging for students today.
Express your opinion in 150-200 words.
40 points
Useful listening materials from news reports can be found at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learnin genglish/english/features/news-report/ep-160510. They are
accompanied by tasks for the students such as multiple choice questions.
60