Digital Tools for Enhancing ESL Lessons

Nowadays learning requires modern approaches, too. There are a lot of different teaching methods, styles, etc.

It is a great solid base for building a lesson plan. However, it can be enhanced with the help of some authentic materials or digital tools. 

Digital tools still might trigger someone.

There should not be a choice for something. It can be a great mix that gives fulfilling and amusing lessons at the same time. Students need some time to relax, cheer up, and use digital tools as a booster.

It Can Come in Handy

No need to make enemies and friends, as everything might come in handy for teachers. And here are some reasons why.

1. Students’ engagement

Imagine students learning with a book all the time, and then the teacher offers to do an exercise on their phones. 

They will become so involved, as this is something new for them. They switch their brains to a new format and become so vigorous.

The students are not so tired, and time doesn’t drag on for them.

2. Real-life communication & authentic input

The students can access real-life English through videos, podcasts, articles, and native speakers’ blogs.

They can watch something relevant to their topic of the lesson, then discuss it. It shows real context, people, problems, and issues like in real life

The teacher doesn’t omit a book but adds some authentic materials. And there is no difficulty in finding something like that available. So, that’s a great opportunity to combine and show real English.

3. Recharge of batteries

“The brain switches” means the brain relaxes. BTW, the students can hit upon topics they prefer, and it will be such a pleasure for them to talk it over. When you do what you like, it really winds you down. 

4. Different learning styles

The students, depending on their preferences and so-called brain features, learn information differently. Let’s take a look at how to simplify it for different styles.

Such tools as videos, infographics, mind maps, digital flashcards, and slides help visual learners to understand and remember information through images and color.

Such learners will be keen on podcasts, audio recordings, pronunciation apps, songs, and listening tasks. It supports those who learn best by hearing.

Interactive tools like drag-and-drop exercises, simulations, games, and VR experiences would engage learners who prefer hands-on activities.

Platforms that offer digital worksheets, blogs, online dictionaries, or some note-taking tools help the students who learn best by reading and writing.

The learners with this style will prefer problem-solving apps, for instance. 

There are collaborative tools like shared documents, breakout rooms, discussion boards, and project platforms that allow students to learn through communication and teamwork. 

They also can interact in open-class discussion through one special platform and see each other’s answers and ideas.

The tools that opt for self-paced apps, personalized dashboards, progress trackers, and reflective journals will help those who like working alone. 

They need extra time to reread and analyse everything on their own. They are good at their progress tracking, too.

5. Better group work

Despite having one lovely style, the teacher needs to encourage diverse ways of interaction. One of them is group work.

There are many platforms which allow the students to work together, see each other’s writing, comments. They can even give feedback to one another, which is extra practice for them.

6. Instant feedback

The teacher can prepare some tasks and tests beforehand and assign them at the lesson.

After completing that, the answers will be shown immediately. It enlightens the process of checking for the teacher, and the students can see their mistakes just after completing. 

This instant feedback gives the opportunity for the students to analyse their mistakes on their own, correct themselves. While the teacher can track everyone progress and see weak points to work on.

If these tests are programmed to give a mark, it will be assessed right after closing the test, too. Thanks to such tracking systems, assessment became so easy.

Digital Tools To Add

Adding digital tools will definitely lead to reaping benefits. Let’s find out what to add and make lessons jazzed up.

For Listening

These are platforms to practice listening skills. The teacher can find any topic because they are relentless there. It’s amazing to listen to such podcasts and find out new information in fields of occupation.

Later on, the students will talk it over. Vocabulary bank before speaking will be preferable so that the students implement it.

It is better for intermediate and advanced levels.

Talking about beginners, here is such a tool to use – Ello. One can find a lot for any level, including A1-A2. There are audios/videos to listen to, and then working on vocab, doing quizzes and grammar exercises.

The teacher can find a lot of topics that are relevant to their lessons and add such a booster. 

BTW, there are videos to watch. It’s perfect for beginners to pay attention to articulation, repeat after speakers and improve their pronunciation. 

For Reading

This is a perfect platform for practising reading for any level and topic. All the teacher has to do is to choose the language, and some other features relevant to the topic of the lesson. 

Then, the class can work on exercises answering some question and doing multiple-choice exercises.

If the teacher has a premium subscription, listening is available, too. At first, they can lead and read the transcript (primarily reading) if needed. Such transformations.

It has a pile of articles about business meeting, people in business, business obstacles, conversation on phone, human resources, economics and many others.

This is a platform to adapt existing materials for any level of the learners.

It happens every now and then that you find a perfect article for your students. 

You could spend hours rewriting that text, creating some exercises based on that text. So time-wasting. There is a way out! 

Using this platform, it is possible to paste the URL of an article, choose the needed level, language, and will give a new edited article. Scrolling down, the teacher will see the article, summary, key vocabulary given in a separate list, and some exercise (multiple-choice questions, short answers questions). 

Adding, editing, coping are available. A wide range of formats is here: printable docs, Google Docs, PDF, etc.

For Grammar

Twee is a platform that will create anything, no exaggeration. One of the great example of its usage is grammar.

Twee can help on the first stages of learning. The students are able to practice sentence structure. The teacher can make a matching exercise (halves of the sentences). 

Another variant is the task for unscrambling words that will sharpen the skills and knowledge of word order.

Wordwall is perfect for brushing up on skills in grammar. These could be all types of exercises: controlled practice, semi-controlled practice and freer one.

The teacher can create an exercise where the students have to fill in the gaps with a correct verb form. 

Freer practice can be done in open class discussion or in breakout rooms. The teacher shares a screen from the Wordwall platform showing beginnings of the sentences that the students have to finish using their own ides and topical grammar. 

For Learning Words

That’s a practical app which can be used by both teachers and students. Firstly, talking about the teacher, they can prepare sets of words for any lesson.

The students can memorise the words, play the game Blast, learn it with flashcards, listen to the pronunciation, do matching exercises and tests (choosing right options, matching, true/false, writing or everything together).

Solitary learners can get a real buzz out of this app and doing sets on their own. Any topic and words to add. They can work on their weak points, doing some extra sets for themselves, too. It’s also convenient to break these sets down into folders.

These are two tools which are quite similar by their functions. They are good for open class activities.

Sharing their screen, everyone can see each other’s progress and tempo of work. Everyone works in their own phones, however, can see each other on the teacher’s screen. 

So, the students will be motivated to learn new vocabulary so that they can complete at the lessons and giving a lot of right answers. In the end of the game, it shows a winner–that one, who gain gained most of the points.

What games to play?

The teacher can prepare multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, image-word exercises. The questions appear one by one while the students are answering. There can be a timer to make it more challenging.

The teacher can share their screen as a board and ask to write their own ideas about something or make up a sentence with a key word. 

It’s great to practice in group and share some knowledge with each other. 

Here we go again. Twee is great for visual learners. The teacher can prepare a task “Word-image matching”. 

All you have to do is to upload pictures, name them and press the button “do the magic”.

Twee can give vocabulary based on a suggested topic, and vice versa, write a topic on suggested vocabulary. This is beyond belief. 

The teacher can manage some settings as the level of the students, the topic, and get new materials. It is even possible to choose a part of speech you need. 

For Writing

Simply, but practically. If the teacher has a group of students, here is a way out to practice writing. One needs to create a document adding as many tabs as there are students. 

Each tab should be named after the students. Then, sharing only one link, everyone can work in that document finding their name.

It’s an opportunity to become a teacher, try a new activity, giving feedback to their partners.

This is a great platform for group paragraphs and story collaboration. There are many pre-writing tasks. The teacher analyses texts with the students, teaches some phrases to use. 

The students can use it for rewriting paragraphs, making their own ones, making sentences with key vocabulary. Then, they can give feedback to each other in written form, or discuss everyone’s ideas. 

One more way to use it is brainstorming ideas before writing. The teacher asks to give some ideas and each student writes on this board. 

For Speaking

Here one can use prompts for communication games. There are many squares, each of them has its own speaking task. 

To make it even more challenging, the teacher can set a timer: 40 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute and a half.

The students will speak up, learn to express themselves in a limited time and put topical vocabulary into practice, no doubt. 

Wordwall is a speaking platform where the teacher can prepare a lot of tasks. This is an extended version Bamboozle. 

Except of random speaking cards, there is a wheel. The teacher spins it, and a random task pops up. What can it be?

For example, storytelling (one card shows one key word to use in a sentence).

What’s more, such speaking activities are always unexpected and surprising because the students are assigned, and then they get a task. This is luck of getting something interesting, simple, challenging, funny, etc.

This is tremendous work of providing lessons, teaching, finding approach and adding tools. More difficult is to operate everything and feel what to use, what will be beneficial for the students.

Something, that will bring lots of benefits to the students.

Only then can these tools together with a teacher do magic.