Many of today’s English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms regularly incorporate digital materials, and with good reason. Online course materials offer flexibility to both in-person and distance learning students while also increasing student engagement (Yamauchi, 2014). Likewise, today’s EFL students have shown overall positive attitudes towards various educational apps (Danka, 2017). However, instructors who seek to incorporate more technology in their own classes may not always know how to maximize impacts on learning while also making efficient use of their own planning time. This presentation will be a practice-based session intended for classroom teachers to acquire practical tools and strategies that can easily be adapted for use in their own classroom. Digital tools such as Google Jamboard, Baamboozle, and Flip will be highlighted by providing examples of authentic course materials used in a Japanese university EFL program and demonstrating how they were adapted from paper-based to digital format. The session will conclude with a review of existing literature on the benefits and drawbacks of both digital and paper-based classroom materials in order to offer evidence-based criteria that teachers can use when deciding which assignments should be updated and which are best left in analog form.

Authors:
Robin Ramsey, Tokyo International University, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Ms Robin Ramsey is a University Assistant Professor/Lecturer at Tokyo International University in Japan

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

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