Sam Shepherd, UK
Having had experience of using all of these in a classroom, the interactive whiteboard has made the biggest individual difference to my teaching at a very intrinsic level, being more than just a gimmick. It allows my students to access the computer in a more meangingful way than the keyboard + mouse combination, and provides me with a very effective teaching tool, with a whole stack of images, ideas, games and words that I couldn't practically make myself. The beauty of it is that unlike a computer room, it feels "right" as a teaching tool, and doesn't impact on the class when it is switched off. Number 2 on the list would have to be the single computer as you are able to access the internet & the masses of online resources, design effective and smart looking materials. I was once asked if I had only one resource, what would it be, and answered with a PC, a printer and an internet connection.

Having said all that, no technology yet is ever going to replace the teacher, and we should never lose sight of the fact that all these things are merely tools to do a job, nothing more, nothing less, in the same way that someone with an electric drill still needs to choose the right drill bit, mark the spot carefully, hold the drill steady and make sure they drill to the right depth, the same as anyone with an old manual drill.

India
I'm lucky enough to work at a school where each classroom has a full computer-dvd-video setup. One of the most useful tools for me is Google Images for new vocabulary.

Tatyana Ustyugova, Kazakhstan
Computer classrooms are efficient, by all means. But since most of my students are used to asking me for clearer (or sometimes simplier) explanations, I can't imagine my classes without so-called "whiteboard activities". Sometimes it happens, my students fail to apply the skills obtained by working with certain programmes in real life, so I pay particular attention to all types of communication as it doesn't only give them an opportunity to bring new vocab items and grammar models into practice, but it helps them overcome shyness, which is a great obstacle in learning a language.

Mark, Brazil
I'm lucky enough to work at a school where each classroom has a full computer-dvd-video setup. One of the most useful tools for me is Google Images for new vocabulary.

Marcia Ma ,China
The way I teach English is rather simple. We mainly rely on the tape recorder , therefore, the role the teacher plays is very important. In other words, students get it just by listening. So I think some device can make learning English easy.

Syed Afzal Hussain, Pakistan
Being a Director of Studies of one of the most prestigious English Language centres in Karachi, Pakistan; it has been my prime desire to drag something very beneficial for students in each EFL Class.

Since 2005 my ELTs have been using computers in each EFL Class and they have found it most useful equipment in the class as it is fully loaded with 21 inches monitor and all the course, worksheets, audio clips, video clips and different EFL activities.

Students love to have Multimedia class almost every day and teacher is more energetic, more enthusiastic and above all more effective in the class.

Omolara, Nigeria
I find the whiteboard most useful because it is more accesible to both students and teachers. Most public schools in my country do not have all these high tecs you`ve mentioned. It would indeed be a delight to see our children work on the computer. It appears only students in the private schools enjoy these devices.

Kamal, Egypt
I think the interactive whiteboard is the most appropriate aid , becouse it is the most simple in use and no much effort and both teacher and learner can use it easly. However, I'm not against other high tec. !!!


Idit, Israel
I find the computer the most useful device for my English classes. From the moment the kids were able to write sentences and knew the letters by heart they accomplished any piece of homework, essay, survey or even tried to make new games for smaller children that learn english.
I must say that is not so easy for everybody. Some have to remember where the letters are and how to work with them. Some have to remember how to make links to look after details and information for their essays but in all, they worked in pairs so that what one did not remember the partner tried to find the solution and everything worked wonderfully. The best thing that happened to me was to use the computer room with my students to write letters to other students in a school in the USA and at the same time learn about their country, their weather, geography, plants, animals. My students found it so interesting that they began to write each other without waiting to correct their spelling or sentences. This made me very happy for the simple reason that they were able to write and connect with other students through the computer room succesfully.

Virdian Sefrizal, Indonesia
I find using computer room the most useful teaching aid. Computer eases me to teach using interactive multimedia material. I notice also that students learn better and faster since they are interacted with the learning.

Maria Costa, Portugal
Indeed, all these technological devices can make wonders! However, we think the greatest wonder is more likely to happen with carefully-planned lessons, thoughtful / reflexive teachers, always ready to friendly interacting with their learners. If this does happen on a regular basis, then the very starting point for generating a positive learning environment can be found. We believe this is the core of the daily teaching-learning context!
Secondly, any of "these devices" listed above can be useful. We have been using mostly single computer, CD and DVD player. We entirely agree with Valentina (Italy), especially when she says that "adapting its use for each situation is essential." Dear colleague Brian, we sincerely congratulate you and your students for using cutting-edge technology. But remember that few schools can afford it even in the so-called "developed countries". Fortunately, in our secondary school almost all these technological tools are available for teachers and students, except the IWB, so far ... Anyway, we look forward to working with it. Meanwhile, we keep being confident in our learners' interest in language education.

Laura, Uruguay
I feel that nowadays nobody can deny de motivational impact computers have on students of all ages and levels. I am particularly fond of webquests since students get so engaged in the task that as a teacher I feel my only task is just to see the way they work and enjoy the task!

Anuradha ,India
Having used the DVD in my ELT classroom I came to the conclusion that it is a tool which the kids enjoy and because of that they learn much faster. Here I talk particularly of listening skills.

Meenakshi Harraw Verma, India
We are fortunate to have modern technical devices to use in our classrooms to teach English Language. Indian students learn English as a second or third language and face a lot of difficulty in mastering communication skills in English. In such a condition I experienced that computer proves to be the most effective device. CD/DVD player is also a powerful device to be used for teaching of English.

Jorge Anchiraico
I find a computer room, under a network, most useful in ELT or any other area. The teacher is able to monitor students while they do a pre designed tasks. Also, students can share info among themselves and with other on the web (it could be developed through projects or modules). However, it is a requisite that students must always be supervised by a teacher or lab assistant.

Karol, Poland
Computer gives you a lot of possibilities, the Internet particularly, being a good source of entertainment and knowledge or teacher resources at the same time. PDAs are also very useful and helpful, however, for a lot of people in countries like Poland it's still just a dream they cannot afford.

Hala Fawzi, Sudan
I believe one computer can do miracles, but who convinces the technophobes' ,in this case the teachers? I believe we have to convince teachers first of the impact of using ICT in the English language classroom, then move to students, whom I found very enthusiastic about using different interactive tools for improving their English language skills.

Porntip Bodeepongse, Thailand
I find computer room is most useful for using ICT in ELT because I can it's what is available at my university. I can assign students to work individually, in pairs or in groups during the lesson. Students can also take responsibility on their own learning to complete the tasks, that is, if they can't finish their work during the classes, they can work later in the computer during the free periods.

Liana, Brazil
I've found Mp3 player and DVD player most useful. Talking about DVD's I use them once a week, showing film scenes and doing some listening exercises.

Anna, Italy
I've found that using mobiles, texting for example, really motivates my learners (15-19). They really learn how to communicate and establish a friendly relationship with the teacher.

Vargheese K J, India
I am doing my PhD in ICT applied ELT, but I find it difficult to motivate learners towards it. Most of them are not technosavy!

Syria
Well, I think having all these devices would be more than good. Nevertheless , it will be more expert to use them in the right way.

Sahdia Awan, United Kingdom
I have fallen in love with the interactive whiteboard. I find that it motivates my learners much more and they love coming up to the board and writing with their 'magic fingers'. It is brilliant for whole class teaching. I use it for picture prompts, quizzes, games and even displaying google images of unfamiliar vocabulary.

Maria, Cyprus
I haven't had the chance to use any kind of technology in my classroom apart from the CD player. I have been observing classes being taught with interactive whiteboards and I believe if I had one in my classroom I would definitely deliver many of my lessons much more effectively. I came up with loads of ideas for working with interactive whiteboards but I haven't got the chance to put them into action.

Lt Col KS Kapaliswaran, India
ELT is my profession for the past 20 years and I find, a single computer along with a video projection system as the best resource to teach. With a little bit of surfing and homework, I am in a position to make most of my classes lively and interesting.

Demostene Marinotto
Ideally is to use a computer room but how many countries can afford having a computer room their schools?
Take example in my country (Brazil) only huge cities and highly developed areas can afford such devices. The government is trying to help but up to now a little has been done. Now, take countries in Africa, in Asia or somewhere else.What can be done?

Jordan
I have found the interactive board so much fun to use and our enthusiasm carries onto the children. It needs preparation, but once you have done the work you have many uses and ways to adapt it. Kids are very visual and with follow up worksheets, and as a revision tool it is priceless.

Rosanna Iannaccone, Italy
I found useful to work in the computer room with my pupils and we had a personal link where we can chat, discuss, use a forum and so on, at home too.

Nora Lía Sapag, Argentine
My choice #1 is the OHP. I feel you can make it work wonders if you are creative while planning classwork and preparing transparencies. It really is a focal point of attention; it gives teachers the scope to present info in chunks (by overlapping foils); it can show an image as backdrop to a number of activities, and so much more. And on the plus side, you don't waste time moving to the Computer Lab.

G Steed, Poland
Why has no one included the library? Books are the most useful device available.

Rahma, Morocco
Technology has become very important nowadays especially in schools where students need different and various resources for knowledge and information. I think that computers are very suitable for students in their classroom, they simply find different and useful information but, I would like to attract your attention to an important point. You have asked us about our opinions about the kind of technology to be used in schools and you forget that millions of children in many areas of the world are not educated.

Kathy Parker, New Zealand
I use DVDs for many different purposes. ie follow up to reading a novel, listening assessments, learning about tertiary institutes students may attend etc. I also tried to click computer rooms but the poll only let me click one choice. We have a small computer room attached to our area and it is in constant use for wordproccessing of essays, research, CALL sites, powerpoint compilation and presentation etc. We have some classes with computer connection points and hope eventually to have points in all rooms but I think the computer pod (which we also use for self-access) will continue to be popular because it creates a good interactic environment with the buzz of so many students working together.

Suzanne Dreyer
12 years of experiences trying to help teachers integrate technology into their daily practice, have proven to me IWBs have made the greatest impact! It's a natual process for teachers to use this resource with students.

Jean Galindo, Brazil
I've been using headphones for listening exercises, because I consider them more useful than radios. The sound is better and the students pay more attention to what you are trying to teach. In addition they stop listening to noise in the classroom and are able to understand the exercises more clearly.

Maria, Portugal
I still haven't used or seen a Interactive whiteboard. A computer room has brought major improvements to my lessons and it has helped students develop their technological skills as well as English. It has been deeply useful because all students need to be very skillful when it comes to real life and they have to use an email account or merely search for any important data. Technologies were thus available for everyone.

Richard, UK
The danger is that the survey mixes the issue of usefulness with availability. But that aside, I would be interested to know: Are computers still available to students only in dedicated 'labs' or 'computer rooms' (whether for general access or specifically for teaching)? In the approaching era of ubiquitous computing, why aren't computers becoming part of classroom furniture like OHPs and TVs with videos? I'm not talking here of every class being a computer room with enough machines for each student: Why would that be necessary? (Maybe I am just working in the wrong place?)

Milan Czech Republic
For us it is without any doubts IWB as it is the best tool how to teach according to DOMINO theory /Dynamic, Original, Motivating, Interactive, Narrative and Open to change). We extensively use IWBs in our classrooms and all teachers are really enthusiastic to share their experience with European colleagues.

Valentina Dodge, Italy
Face to face my students and I have access to quite a range of ICT equipment - what I find essential though is adapting its use for each situation. They are all useful (both inside and outside the face-to-face classroom) but need extra skill to be integrated and balanced correctly. Different age groups react differently. The time available is also crucial. I'm also involved in teacher training (ICT in the classroom) and the course is run entirely online - there is a need for training - using ICT involves new skills for all participants. Maybe you could add VLE (virtual learning environment) to your list of "devices" or you could set up another voting system to see what people do with a computer room or MP3 player (i.e webquests, podcasts or blogs so we can see how these powerful tools are being implemented and learn from each other's experience.


Gladys Baya, Argentina
It's hard to make one choice, but I took into account my teaching context: the only access to technology is via personal computers and individual access to the Internet (both by the students and me). With my computer, I can somehow replace the MP3 player and the DVD player... There's great potential in all the devices listed, though, and I think the mobile phone will make our next step, as more and more students get access to powerful versions.

Reinaldo Campos, Brazil
We have been using a computer with multimedia devices (cd rom, dvd, Internet) connected to a beamer in the classrooms at our school for over 4 years now and the experience has enriched the learning from teachers' and learners' perspectives. In addition to those, we use a VLE called eCampus, developed by Macmillan UK, which has added a great variety of activities and resources to learning both in and outside the classroom .

Jo, UK
It was difficult to choose just one. If I had been able to select three I would have gone for IWB, computer room and single computer. As I had to choose I stated IWB as I want to defend this versatile and exciting new tool. Almost every week I find some new use for it, not just another flashy capability, but something that I think really enhances the learning process. And IWB teaching software is in its infancy. Once publishers start to exploit its full potential and institutions start to realise that training must be costed in and not neglected, then it can really start to mature. I don't think it's fair to blame the IWB for teacher-centredness. My learners do far more on the IWB than they ever did on the whiteboard - because they want to and because there's just more to do on it. Much more communication goes on when learners are focused on the same place than when each is looking down at his or her book. If research or observation does show that classes with IWBs are more teacher-centred, maybe we should be patient with the brave souls who are pioneering them. With new technology there will be times when you have to give it a bit of attention as you get to know what it can and can't do. I find that if I have problems with it (through my own lack of knowledge or technical hitches) my learners are all fully engaged in communicating what I should try next- loudly and authoritatively! It's OUR board, not mine (as long as nobody messes with my settings!).As for the cost - yes, it's expensive but is it much more expensive in today's terms than computers were when they were first introduced into schools? (A genuine question - I don't know) What I do know is that good quality training and support must be offered if technology is to be used to its best advantage in the classroom. And in my experience this just isn't happening.

Tim, UK
It's interesting that mobile phones have not received any votes so far and that electronic dictionaries were not included. Nearly all my students have them. Perhaps teachers are so fixated with the nuisance they cause that we forget that there is such a wonderful resource to hand(?)

Iffaf, Mexico
More than a year ago, the teaching centre video camera was stolen and last year teachers campaigned for a new video camera. I then went to great lengths to shop around and buy the best one, only to discover that it is now hardly ever used! One of the few times that it was used was when an important cable was almost lost.

Teachers feel neglected if their centre doesn't have everything and then tend to complain when things don't quite work the way they expect them to.

What is one to do?

Christos Sotiropoulos, Greece
We are using a combination of these at my school. I agree with Andy, a laptop with a computer is a very powerful tool. A computer room is really good for project work. A DVD player gives you excellent quality freeze frame for discussion and description plus the subtitle option can become a useful language tool. Interactive whiteboards are too expensive over $3000 in Greece and why not mobile phones? You can set up an sms centre and sms students with vocabulary/grammar quiz question of the day. I believe it was also a service offered by American Union in Athens for the ECCE Exam. PDAs are difficult to use, lack software and they are not user friendly.

Brian McDonough, Japan
I teach English at Keio University, Shonan Fujisawa Campus, and the entire campus is wireless. All instruction that I do is web-based and multimedia, with heavy use of blogs, streaming media, and on-line content. While some paper is still used, it can be measured within a few dozen sheets during a term. On the other hand, the learning products that the students produce are extensive. Each student must bring a wireless-capable PC to class in order to be effective. This leads to a high face-to-face content value during classroom time, while the possibilities for independent research-based study outside of class place the responsibility for learning on the student and allow them to follow their own interests. The learning curve for this type of instruction is steep at first, but, once stabilized, it is not difficult to maintain.

Jane, Cz
I use more devices for teaching and preparation an would vote interactive WB plus a computer room for teaching and single computer for preparation at the same time. I find all of them useful.
I think that the reason why other devices are not mentioned so often might be because we cannot use them so easily. I think that DVD, MP3, digital camera and others can serve very well as well but need to explore first myself what I could use them effectivelly for. Once they are easily accessible and I could prepare appropriate materials which would save my preparation time or pay back the time and effort put in it to support my teaching and learners learning I would use them as a benefit to what I have already been using :-)

Carla Arena, Brazil
I've been trying to vary the kind of technology I use in the Classroom depending on my lesson goal and students' need.

I've been using a computer lab, audio recorder, mp3 player (connected to the classroom stereo in order to podcast to my students), one computer in the classroom, DVDs, etc... I use them whenever I feel they will supplement positively my classroom and spice up students' learning experience.

They really seem to enjoy variety and extra practice!

Sheila Vine, Germany
My classrooms do not have access to any technology of this type,in fact sometimes there is no chalk or whiteboard pen. As a freelance teacher I teach in meeting rooms,and occasionally in students' offices. I still carry my own CD player and cassette tape player and in some companies it is not easy to take them into the building. Technology is passing me by. When I do online classes I usually work from my own PC at home.

Nigel Haines
I think a single computer is the most versatile 'tool' - both in and out of the classroom.

Ken, Hungary
'Teaching spectacle or learning festival'? I wonder if some technologies encourage the former at times in the classroom.
It's of course a truism to say that it depends on how it's used. It also depends on the learners' own preferences regarding teaching/learning styles, class aims, class sizes etc.

Tom Walton, Spain
Give me a computer room any day, one where students can work on collaborative projects, blogs, creative writing, etc...

Sure, you can use an IWB for tons of wizard things, but to my mind it smacks of the teacher being in control, the teacher WANTING to be in control...

Oh, and can I have a digital camera, and a digital video camera too...? Er, two video cameras...?

Illya Arnet-Clark, Switzerland
I haven't made much use of tech. resources in the classroom, but am practically dependent on the computer for e-mails, worksheets, background information, corrections etc from home. I am going to expand the use through blended teaching. In general, I think the technology is more useful (and necessary) as an addtition to the classroom, and in the classroom I prefer to emphasise the human aspect.

Jonathan Villis, Italy
Our Business Unit teaches mainly offsite - teachers download the audio materials they need from the shared drives in the staff room onto their MP3s, then take them offsite with portable speakers. This means: No more spending on copying cassettes / CDs, no more bulky cassette players / CD players, and makes a great impression on professional clients!

Mary Carney, Hong Kong
I agree with Simon - visualisers are highly effective and user-lovely. I have seen them exploited very well in Hong Kong Primary State Schools and always feel rather loath to slope back to my IWB afterwards. Why are they so under-promoted in ELT?

Rena Penna, Czech Republic
"Most useful" is obviously dependent on what your aims are - for whole class teaching and modelling programs, there's nothing that can top an IWB; but for individual practice, it's obviously better if students can have access to computers in pairs or alone ... but I'd prefer a set of laptops in the classroom rather than having to drag students off to a computer room, which is far from being "integrated". We're not quite at the PDA/mobile phone stage yet ... :)

Revathi Viswanathan, India
I have made use of technology to a large extent. I should say I am very dependent on technology to handle my sessions. I t has helped to give individual attention to my students, monitor their learning, evaluate their performance and so on.

Simon Sergeant, Singapore
I bought myself a visualiser (document camera) which enables me to project anything - student work, pages from the textbook, introduce and give feedback on tasks etc. It is an essential piece of equipment, I have been using it for over a year and keep finding new ways to do things. My own handwriting on paper is better than on the IWB, as well as much faster. I don't need to worry about copyright issues. Nothing ever goes wrong, it is entirely reliable. Teaching writing is much easier and effective since I can display student texts and comment on what they have written. I am a bit surprised this technology was not on the main list. Of course I also need a projector.

Liu Wentao, China
We have been using a distributed network system in which every classroom is a network-based computer room when the students arrive and plug in their laptops

Graham Stanley
I agree with Andy, but as well as the projector, I'd want an IWB too.

Dennis Newson, Germany
I'm retired so I'm writing from reflection and observation rather than recent practice, but I'd say with a single computer, if that is all that is possible, (and presumably a connection to the internet)teacher and learners could achieve a great deal.

Andy Baxter
I think a single computer in the classroom is best and simplest, possibly with the addition of a projector.