Урок для III курса педагогического колледжа. Тема: "Modern Technology: FOR and AGAINST"

Цели урока:

1. Практические: формирование практических умений в чтении, письме и говорении.
2. Образовательные: учить правильно употреблять языковые средства, строить фразы, повышать общую культуру выражения мысли, расширять кругозор по теме.
3. Развивающие: развивать мышление, память, логику, воображение, самостоятельность, умение работать в группе.
4. Воспитательные: формировать мотивацию к изучению иностранного языка, воспитывать умение внимательно слушать и уважать чужое мнение.

Оборудование: карточки с текстом и заданиями, картинки, плакат с цитатами.

Ход урока

Начало урока: приветствие, сообщение темы урока.

Teacher: Good morning, students! Today we are going to speak about modern technology again. Technology is changing our life very rapidly. Nowadays we can’t do without computers, mobile phones, fax machines, digital cameras, microwave ovens, air conditioners etc. Machines are becoming more and more intelligent. They have already learnt to think and to do many jobs. Technology is changing society and has a great influence on our everyday lives. Nowadays almost everybody has a personal computer at home and many of us have found a new source of information and entertainment – the Internet. Now give the definition of the word ‘the Internet’.

Answers:

• The Internet is a computer system that allows millions of computer users around the world to exchange information.
• The Internet is the global information system that is logically linked together.

Teacher: Why do you use the Internet?

Answers:

• I like to surf the net and to look at different websites.
• I download music, video and games.
• I like to chat with my friends via the Internet or to send them email messages.
• Sometimes I shop online. It is very convenient.

Teacher: Nowadays more and more people prefer making friends online. They use the Internet to arrange meetings with other people in the hope of finding someone to have a romantic relationship with. Let’s read the article ‘Internet Dating’ and do some tasks.

Internet dating.

Internet dating has often been stereotyped as the domain of the sad and lonely. However this opinion may be changing, as younger generations now feel that meeting people online is just the same as meeting in a bar. Richard, 25 from Stockport, says ‘internet dating has definitely lost some of the stigma attached to it, these days it is something I would consider’.

Internet dating has many advantages. Shy people can find it easier to chat through a keyboard than face to face because the fear of rejection is reduced. ‘You can cherry pick, you can be selective. It builds your confidence. I’m generally shy but once you’ve been on one date it gets easier the more you go on’, said Janet, 26 from Northern Ireland. Rebecca, 26 from Liverpool agrees ‘there’s just so much choice. You can list all your likes, dislikes and romantic requirements and then find exactly what you want.’ There is also the convenience, as Janet says it’s something ‘you can dip in and out of depending on how busy you are.’ There are also many speciality sites such as millionaire dating and sites specifically for disabled people.

There can of course be problems associated with online dating. Many scams exist, often related to marriage agencies offering to introduce men to a foreign bride for a fee. Internet daters need to be cautious. Manote, a 29 year old student from Thailand, has friends who have experienced bad relationships which started on the internet. ‘You don’t know what you’re going to get from online romance. I believe face to face dating is nice and easy’.

Janet, a 26 year old from Northern Ireland, didn’t have a great first experience and describes the man she met as a ‘bit of a dodgy stalker’. Happily, she went on to meet her fiancé Robert.

An academic study by Dr Jeff Gavin has shown that relationships formed on the internet enjoy a 94% success rate. With 12 million unattached people in Britain today and divorce rates rising dramatically perhaps internet dating really is the best way to find love. If you don’t meet someone at school, university or work and are not interested in clubbing it seems a great alternative and in the future may be it will be the main way people meet.

Task 1. Match the English words with their Russian equivalents.

Task 2. Match the words with their definitions.

Task 3. Say if these statements are true or false.

1. Internet dating has often been stereotyped as the domain of the sad and lonely.
2. Internet dating has no advantages.
3. There are a lot of marriage agencies offering to introduce men to a foreign bride absolutely free.
4. Internet daters need to be cautious.
5. Relationships formed on the internet enjoy a 55% success rate.
6. Internet dating has no future as it is quickly becoming less and less popular.

Task 4. Answer the following questions.

1. Why do shy people find it easier to chat through a keyboard than face to face?
2. Do you agree that ‘meeting people online is just the same as meeting in a bar’?
3. Is there much choice in the Internet?
4. What is very convenient to Janet’s mind?
5. What speciality sites do you know?
6. What problems can there be associated with online dating?
7. What has an academic study by Dr Jeff Gavin shown?
8. Do you believe that internet dating is the best way to find love?
9. Do you agree that in the future it will be the main way people meet?
10. Have you ever met people online? Share your impressions.

Teacher: We have spoken a lot about the advantages of the Internet. And now think for a while and make a list of its disadvantages.

Answers:

• There is a lot of unreliable information online.
• Some people become obsessed with the Internet. It makes you forget about reality.
• There are too many advertisements on websites.
• It’s better to communicate face to face than through a keyboard.
• The more time we spend in front of computers, the less time we spend communicating and interacting with other people.

Teacher: And now let’s try to decipher the word ‘Internet’.

Teacher: Can you imagine your life without a mobile phone? The modern mobile phone is a more complex version of the two-way radio. Traditional two-way radio was a very limited means of communication. As soon as the users moved out of range of each other’s broadcast area, the signal was lost. In the 1940s, researchers began experimenting with the idea of using a number of radio masts located around the countryside to pick up signals from two-way radios. A caller would always be within range of one of the masts; when he moved too far away from one mast, the next mast would pick up the signal. Scientists referred to each mast’s reception area as being a separate ‘cell’; this is why in many countries mobile phones are called ‘cell phones’.

Why have mobile phones become part and parcel of our everyday lives?

Answers:

• They help us stay in touch wherever we are.
• Mobiles have become more advanced, with built-in cameras, global positioning devices and internet access.

Teacher: Right you are. And now listen to what other people say about their mobile phones and make a list of advantages and disadvantages of mobile phones.

Alice, 19, student.

‘I can’t live without my mobile phone. Thanks to it I can be reachable everywhere and I can never miss something important. If I need some help, I just call my friends and they rush to rescue me. If I have a meeting and I’m late, I can send an SMS with my excuses. It is very fast and convenient. I’m fond of taking photos and sending them to my friends. The only problem is that I spend too much money on my mobile phone.’

Nelly, 33, shop assistant.

‘I have two children and a mobile phone makes my life much easier. If I worry about my kids, I can call them and make sure they are all right. But I begin to hate my mobile phone on weekends and on holidays. I feel that I have no privacy when I know that every minute my friends, colleagues and my boss can call me and find me wherever I am. Sometimes I feel so exhausted that I go to bed earlier and forget to turn off my mobile phone. As a rule I’m awakened as soon as I fall asleep because somebody has forgotten to tell me something unimportant. Some people don’t understand that I’m not obliged to answer their calls 24 hours a day.’

Teacher: And now look at the pictures on the blackboard and say which of these things you can’t live without and why. Prove their importance in your life.

1. PC (personal computer)
2. laptop
3. mobile phone
4. microwave oven
5. MP3 player
6. digital camera

Teacher: Look at the blackboard and read the quotations. Choose any quotation you like and comment on it.

•  ‘Technology... is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other.’ (Carrie P. Snow)
•  ‘One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.’ (Elbert Hubbard)
•  ‘The Internet has become such a great tool not just for chefs but for everyone. The net has given everyone the tools to see and almost experience new and different ideas.’ (Graham Kerr)

Teacher: There are people who do not like, trust, or want to use technology, especially computers. Such people are called technophobes. They fear technological advance and suffer feelings of self doubt and anxiety. Some worry that they will lose their job because they cannot keep up with the times. In most cases technophobes belong to older generations who were not brought up playing computer games and mobile phones. They have never sent a text message or heard of an i-Pod. What technophobes need is information. Knowledge and learning is the way to rectify the situation. Simple computer classes often prove highly successful. So we either accept the changes of the environment in which we live and move with the times or we resist and become technophobes. It is up to us to decide.

I hope you liked the theme of our lesson. Thank you for participating in our discussion. The lesson is over. Good-bye.