Answer the questions

Parents Face Fines in Few School Rules

LISTENING

The Internet and Education

Read the article and find the answers to these questions as quickly as you can.

READING

1. Is information technology more or less important in education than before?
2. Where does the word “blog” come from?
3. What is a “blog”?
4. What are blogs used for at universities?
5. What does “wiki” mean?
6. Who puts the information on this kind of website?
7. Why do students need to be careful if they use “Wikis” when they study?
8. What is Wikipedia?

Until quite recently Silicon Valley and its innovations had little effect on teaching and learning. But with the rise of the Internet, information technology is now beginning to have much more influence on education. Two areas which are becoming more and more significant are “blogs” and “wikis”.

The word “blog” is short for “weblog”. A blog is an online diary or “log” of someone’s life, thoughts, or opinions. Anybody ca create their own “blog” and blogging is becoming extremely popular – type “blog” into Google and you’ll get over 500 million results. For educational purposes, academics, teachers, and students create blogs as personal online study sites: places to work together and share information and ideas. Some universities even give their students and staff free space on a server to start their own blogs.

“Wikis” are websites where anyone can add content and make changes, so that the site becomes a group creation – “wikis” stands for “What I Know Is”. These sites can be a valuable source of information and opinion for students, though the information may not be totally accurate –some academics refuse to use them. Perhaps the best known wiki is the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, which has more than one million entries in over 100 languages. Wikipedia is working hard to make sure that its information is completely accurate, so students will be able to use it with confidence, and there is no doubt that it is an incredible resource.

2 Underline five words you don’t know. Use your dictionary to look up their meaning and pronunciation

3 Do you use the Internet when you study? What for? What sites do you use?

1What do you know about school rules?

2What rules existed in your school?

3Did you use to follow them?

4Should pupils be fined for breaking rules?

5What punishments should schools give for: bullying, truancy, smoking, damaging property, punching teachers, using drugs?

6 Should parents get a fine if their children misbehave?

2. Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F).

a.	British parents may have to pay penalties if their children misbehave.	T / F
b.	Some parents could go to prison if their children are unruly.	T / F
c.	There is very little bullying and truancy in British schools.	T / F
d.	The British Schools Secretary said teachers must follow the new rules.	T / F
e.	The Secretary has plans for some students to have private lessons.	T / F
f.	The Secretary wants parents to speak more loudly.	T / F
g.	The majority of parents are fully behind the new plans.	T / F
h.	There are concerns that some parents are too poor to pay fines.	T / F

Дата добавления: 2014-11-18