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IMPROVING EFL/ESL CLASSROOMS THROUGH USING ONLINE PLATFORMS: NEARPOD - AS AN EXAMPLE OF TOP-RATED ONLINE
EDUCATIONAL PLATFORMS
In the era of technology the use of online and offline tools are becoming more and more prevelent in fullfillmg EFL/ESL learners' language needs. Newly-introduced E-based teaching method is well received by majority of the EFL/ESL instructors. However, it is argued that there is a great need of introducing the method to language teachers and learners in order to achieve its most benefits. Obviously, the same condition is true with Uzbek language teaching life. Inspite of the fact that many researches have been done to introduce online tools to language teachers, there are still gaps that need to be addressed, such as the use of this method in Uzbek language lessons and itroducing the educational websites and internet platforms and their educational features to language teachers. In this sense, the current study provides detailed information about the Nearpod.com with revealing its several educational features.
Keywords: web-based learning, online tools, Nearpod.com, online educucation, EFL/ESL classes, game-based learning, assessment
INTRODUCTION
The use of online game-based applications in teaching English and other foreign languages to today's young people is becoming more popular among all language teachers around the globe. One of the main reasons for this trend is that this method is more effective than traditional methods [1]. Despite the prevalence of online gamification apps, they are still not fully undewrstood by EFL / ESL educators today [2, 8]. This, in turn, means that there is a need for new research on online gamified methods, research that proves how each online tool has advantages and contributions to the development of language learners in their language comprehension. The following article has two goals: 1) to increase the knowledge of language teachers about online tools by explaning the functions of some top-ranked online platforms; 2) providing guidelines of implementing these tools in EFL classrooms.
Ashurali Bakhtiyor ugli Mirzaev
Fergana State University Mirzayevashurali 1997@gmail .com
ABSTRACT
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2. INTRODUCING GAME-BASED ONLINE TOOLS TO UZBEK EFL/ESL TEACHERS
There are a few methods in language teaching such as Grammar translation, suggestopedia, task-based method or Communicative method which is considered more realistic and effective by many teachers as it enhance students to interact with each other in class and provide enough opportunity to learn the new language by practicing and implementing [3, 48]. However, we are living in a post-mehtod era in terms of English teaching pedagogy [4,21]. If we have a quick look at post-method era in language teaching, it is introduced by Kumaravadivelu in 1994. From the title of the post-method approach, it is clear that this approach motivates language instructors not to get devoted to a lonely method or approach blindly, but enhance the adaptation and modernization in language teaching classes. According to Kumaravadivelu this post method pedagogy is not a method which doesn't have any regulations and approaches which leads the instructors being more convenient in their language classrooms [5,550]. For example, Kumaravadivelu sees post-method teaching system in three main dimensions which are particularity, practicality, and possibility [4,21]. From this statement, we can emerge the idea that the method which we are using in our language classrooms should be practical, particular and available in today's EFL environment. Game-based apps are meeting nearly all of these dimensions excluding possibility which means internet-based technology is not available in every corner of the globe. Many researches have been conducted in the field generally presented convincing results regarding the benefits of implementing gamification in language learning and teaching [6,441]. This also confirms that it is not only motivation that online game-based method can add to EFL classrooms, but also this approach provides students with the opportunities to enhance their problem solving skills [7], equips students with metacognitive support [8,153], boosts learners' critical thinking skills [7] and adds to the English language classrooms fun and meaningful activities [9,38]. Approaching to the methodic aspects of e-learning approach more closer, it can be seen that students enjoy a few advantages of the method including improving students' problem solving skills.
According to recent research done by Bican & Kocakoyun gamification can help students to improve their cognitive skills such as problem solving and critical thinking [7]. As students who are working in the environment in which they can win or loose they can be more creative and eager to use all their abilities to get the score. However, in traditional lessons a few students are found to be lazy and not enthusiastic to participate in even dynamic activities.
CENTRAL ASIAN ACADEMIC JOURNAL ISSN: 2181-2489
OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH VOLUME 2 I ISSUE 4 I 2022
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In terms of metacognition, metacognition refers to higher order thinking that involves active control over the cognitive processes engaged in learning [10]. What it means, every learner whether he is language learner or not should be well-informed about his/her learning styles, behaviors and habits. In other words, metacognition is one of the most critical components of being successful in language learning process. How gamification method can provide students with metacognitive support, in that case? The key is simple, nearly all of the e-learning tools have the availability of presenting quick feedback, at least in the form of results. In this way, language learners will have the opportunity of thinking about their performances in the language learning process. If we take Kahoot!, a game-based online tool, as an example, it has the part after finishing the game in which the winners are shown on the podium. While this rises the spirit of victory among students and enhance them to perform more successful, the next step of the game will visualize the feedback scene. In this part, the participants can see and do an analysis of their performances comparing their answers to the correct ones (see the figure 1).
Figurel
Another academic support to the EFL/ESL classes by online game tools is that they provide a meaningful and fun activities and environment. More specifically, learners achieve objectives by moving between the ideation loop and the experience loop, engaging in the detection of ideas during problem solving, reflection, and observation to construct schemata [9,43]. As it is true for every successful learning environment to have a connection between theory and practice, it can be considered using online tools to provide this feature to be an effective way of teaching a foreign or second language. For example, most of the e-learning tools can give an access to the leaners as well as teachers to have a practical and constructive link between the knowledge they gained in class and using this knowledge in real life environment. Let
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UZBEKISTAN | www.caajsr.uz
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us, here analyze how this happen in the language teaching classes in the example of Nearpod.
3. NEARPOD - THE CLASSROOM OF THE FUTURE
The idea of creating this online educational game-based platform has come to Guido Kovalskys's mind in 2012 as a result of a few problems in K-12 education zone such as schools are risk-averse, strapped for cash, and slow adopters of technology [11]. Not only this but there was also the demand of engaging the school boys and girls into language and other classes, because they were better educated on smart devices and no more final grade counters. When he recognized these obstacles of schooling and came into edu-software-martket he was accompanied by Felipe Sommer and Emiliano Abramzon. Since then Nearpod has become one of the most visited web-based online platform. For further information, an online platform means an internet-based platform which provides different services to the users ranging from online interaction to finding educational recourses [12]. In the coming paragraphs, some of the functions and services which are offered by Nearpod.com - educational platform are defined and their plus and minuses analyzed.
Firstly, it has a simple presentation running option which enables instructors to conducts their lessons with featured slides. It can be considered to be a substitute to Google Slides (an online platform providing a feature to make slides) or Power Point. According to Jalolov, Makhamova and Ashurov integrating visual aids such as presentation of the topic assissts to imrove the quality of the language teaching lesson [13]. Additionally, it can be accepted as a plus side of Nearpod over the traditional offline power point programms with the function of doing 'Drop and drag' in which users can utilize their preexisting pdf or ppt(x) format documents and easily adopt them into slides. Secondly, instructors can share the resources easily by the platform itself. Students can be asked to save the presentation or images or other recourses which are presented by the instructor to their drive in order to use it later on. Next and one of the most foremost features of using Nearpod in EFL classes is teachers can conduct formative and summative assessments by creating many types of quizzes including Quizzes, Polls, Open-ended Questions, Matching Pairs and many others. Teachers can utilize these formats of testing either in classes or via online mode of teaching [14,105]. It should be mentioned here, one of the advantages of using internet-based tools as a formative or summative assessment is that students can have a very quick feedback on their performances which allows learners to improve their metacognitive thinking [15]. The next priority of Nearpod platform is that students can easily self-evaluate. In traditional language teaching classes it is done by several methods and techniques such as implementing traffic lights method. Shortly defining, traffic lights method in self-
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evaluation is done by attaching or drawing red, yellow or green colours on somewhere of students' notebook reffering the level of understanding the topic [16,437]. Red means the learner has hardly understand the topic, while yellow colour shows a moderately understanding and green means the input is digested well by the learner. When it comes to using Nearpod.com as a evaluation tool, it has an opportunity to conduct polls. The teacher can do this after introducing a new topic and students can do the same things to evaluate themselves by putting the right symbol to show the level of understanding as they do with 'Traffic lights' method. The minor difference between that old-fashioned method and this new generation tool, the latter can gather the data quickly and the instructor saves his/her precious time. Another assistance of Nearpod.com to language teachers is that it can enhance students' language learning by modeling. According to Ismailova modeling is providing language learners with the opportunity to experience immediately the learning input after the teacher explain [17,80]. This can be done by a whiteboard tool of the platform. It is an interactive whiteboard which allows several students working on it simultaneously. The instructor can make the students' performance either visible to all or only for individuals. But still the teacher can show to all participant unique works at the end of activity to praise the well-done students or showing a received example of the output. One way of enjoying the e-based teaching tool is using its pre-made resources function. This is done by pressing the 'explore recourse' button to find out thousand of pre-existed materials and recourses [15]. By pressing 'explore resource' button the user can find massive amount of pre-made activities, videos, lessons and other teaching materials for free. CONCLUSION
According to recent data, a lot of the researches have been conducted in the field of teaching EFL/ESL classes integrating online gamification platforms, however, most of them focused only on the motivational function of the method and considered it can only stimulate extrinsic motivation [18,1140]. For this reason, the present study aims to make new researches on anlyzing other functions of mobile-based language teaching method comparing its advantages over other traditional language teaching methods. Results shows that it isn't only stimulation or motivation that language learners and instructors can enjoy when using these online platforms, rather there are other pros as well, including, convinient way of presenting slides online, sharing the wightboard which letting them to interact with each other while working in unguided activities, availability of downloading class materials by the learner to their own cloud to revise them later and also this method has proved to assist the language learners to improve their metacontitive, critical thingking skills. According to Abdumannonov & Akhmedova metocgnition occurs when the learners have the chance to get an
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appropriate feedback right after their performance [19]. As they have a good chance to thingk about their deeds and comrehend about the ways to improve their language comprehension, it can be considered e-based learning in language classrooms assisst language learners to improve their metocognition skills. However, the other side of the coin shows that, eventhough the functions of the online gamification have a considerable advantage over the traditional methods of language teaching, it shouldn't seem or claim to ignore the traditional way of teaching, rather it should assisst to imrove language learners skills and comprehension where needed [20].
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