Who was the world's first online shopper?

You are going to 

• discuss shopping online
• practise listening
• look at and practise technology vocabulary

Note - activities in this post are level differentiated and can be used with students from pre-intermediate to upper intermediate levels.The final gap-fill and crossword are aimed at upper intermediate students.
You will hear the following vocabulary.

Discuss 
You are going to watch a video about the first person to shop online.

• Do you ever shop online?
  
• What do you buy online?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of shopping online?
• Who do you think was the first person to buy something online?
• Do you think it was a man or a woman?
• How old do you think he / she was?
• What do you think he / she bought?
• When do you think it happened? Where?

Watch
Watch the video and find out if you are right.







Discuss

• Does anything in the story surprise you?
• Why do you think Mrs Snowball is called a "silver surfer"?

Practise 
1) Watch again and do the matching exercise.



 

2) Quiz - Answer the questions.





3) Do the vocabulary matching exercise.





4) Read the summary and do the gap fill exercise



5) Gap fill of complete transcript here


6) Crossword of vocabulary used here




Download printable worksheets
1) Sentence matching exercise here
2) Listening Quiz here
3) Vocab matching exercise here
4) Gap-fill here
5) Complete transcript gap-fill here
6) Print Crossword (and answers) here





Write
Choose one

• Write a report about online shopping. Explain how to do it, why people do it and what to be careful of.

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of online shopping?

• "Technology has transformed the way we shop and changed the face of our high streets."  To what extent do you agree?

More

• UK goes online shopping Advanced, Business, IELTS, Listening, Technology, Upper Intermediate 

• What is the most important innovation of the last 100 years? Debate, Intermediate, Inventions, Inventors, Listening, Presentations, Science, Speaking, Technology, Upper Intermediate

• 60 Seconds - Things That Happen On The Internet Every 60 Seconds - Things That Happen On The Internet Every Sixty Seconds, Intermediate, Numbers, Technology,  Passive, Upper Intermediate
  
   

Cyber Bullying. How safe are you online?

You are going to 

• discuss being safe online and on social network sites
• listen to a discussion about cyber bullying
• do a gap fill exercise
• write a leaflet giving advice to people who use social network sites

1) Discuss
There has been a lot of talk recently about the risks of bullying and abuse on social networking sites. The NSPCC says nearly a fifth of children who use them have suffered a negative experience in the last year.

• Do you enjoy being online?
• Do you feel safe online?
• What bad things can happen on the internet?
• Has anything bad happened to you or anyone you know on the net?
• What can you do if anything bad happens to you online?
• What are trolls and what is trolling?
• What is cyber-bullying? Do you understand the words in the image below?

 

2) Listen
This listening clip is from BBC TV.  Dr Radha Modgil from BBC Radio 1’s The Surgery and the blogger Hannah Witton discuss how safe young people feel on the internet.

A) Listen. Don't worry if you don't understand everything. 
Answer these questions.

• What problems do they talk about?
• What advice do they give?

listen to ‘How safe do young people feel using the internet?’ on Audioboo

B) Now listen again and fill in the gaps in the exercise below.

Printable worksheet here






3) Discuss

• Do you agree with the advice Hannah and Rhada give?
• Is communication the best solution? Should parents and teenagers discuss these issues more?
• Do you agree that it the responsibility of parents to find out about the dangers of being online?
• Do you discuss the dangers of the internet with your friends / parents / children?
• What can we do about people who post anonymously?

4) Write
Using the ideas in the listening and any of your own ideas, write a leaflet giving advice to people who use soial network sites.

• Think of a title
• Use headings
• Think about the kind of language you could use (modal verbs for advice, conditionals, imperatives, suggestions...)
• Write an introduction - say who the leaflet is for and why it is necessary
• Describe some of the problems people can have on social network sites
• Give some advice / solutions

More
Hannah posted about the program on her blog. You can watch it here.
What does she say most people are like online?

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Does more technology mean more communication? Communication, Crossword, IELTS, Intermediate, Technology, Upper Intermediate , Writing an argument 
  
Exposed (CEOP Video - Staying Safe Online) Discussion Activities, Elementary, Exposed - Staying Safe Online, Intermediate, Listening, Present Simple, Writing. Technology

Sexting: is technology endangering teenagers? Advanced, Discussion Activities, Health and Safety, IELTS, Listening, Sexting, Smartphones, Technology, Upper Intermediate

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CN U TXT? (Texting, language and mobile phones)

You are going to

• watch a short video about the history of the mobile phone
• do a comprehension quiz
• look at texting in English
• look at an infographic on the history of the mobile phone
• discuss and write about language and the possible effects of technology on language

1) Discuss
What do you know about the history of the mobile phone?

• When was the first mobile phone?
• What did it look like?

2) Watch the clip
A) What do you find out about the history of the mobile phone?

B) Do the quiz
Answer the questions.
Watch the film again if you need to.

3) Practise
Can you text in English?
What text abbreviations do you know?
Can you match the ones below with their correct spelling?

4) Translate
Look at the 10 sentences below. They are from the video. What do they mean?
Can you translate them into "correct" English?

5) Discuss

• Do people use abbreviations to send texts in your language?
• Why do you think people do it??
• Do you agree it is "degrading spelling" (having a bad effect on people's ability to spell correctly)?
• Do you think it is important to spell correctly?
• In your language who decides what is "correct" spelling or grammar?
• Do you think that text abbreviations will become normal spelling one day?
• Do you think it is good for a language to change or should it always stay the same?
• How does language change and why?
• Are there words which have become fashionable / unfashionable in your language?
• What exactly is language?
• Who or what makes a language what it is?
• Who decides how we communicate?
• How do we decide what is language and what is not?
• In the end who has the final say in what is right or wrong when we communicate?

6) Write
"Technology is having a negative effect on young people's written language skills".
To what extent do you agree with this statement?







7) Read
Look at the infographic below

• How many mobile phones are there in the world?
• Which country has the highest number of phone subscribers?
• Who holds the record for the fastest typing on a phone?
• What did she type?
• How fast can you type it?

Printable worksheets are here


More
How to text in English




Try these posts
Are you always on your phone? Advanced, CAE, FCE, IELTS, Intermediate, Listening, Technology, Upper Intermediate, Writing, Writing an argument, Writing introductions for argument essays

Could you live without it? Mobile phones, Living without electricity, Advantages and disadvantages, IELTS, Intermediate, Linking words, Listening, Reading, Smartphones, Writing an argument, Contrasting, Technology

More technology means more communication? Communication, Crossword, IELTS, Intermediate, Technology, Upper Intermediate , Writing an argument 

Should parents follow their children on facebook?

You are going to

• discuss social networks
• listen to some teenagers discussing social networks
• listen to some teenagers and parents talking about their online relationships and order their comments
• look at some language used for writing - connectives
• write a discursive essay on the topic

1) Discuss

• Do you use any social networks?
• Why do people use them?
• What do you do on them?
• What effect do you think they have on people?
• Do they change how you think about other people?
• Do they make people happy?

2) Listen

An American study suggests that social media can affect your thinking about other people. VOA Learning English talked to some young people to find out what they thought

Questions
Researchers at Utah Valley University wanted to explore if the amount of time spent on Facebook affected how users saw others.

• What questions did they ask college students?
• What did they find?
• Do you think it's true?
• What does Tod Kashdan say is important to do?

Answers - Highlight here = They asked college students if other people have better and happier lives. And, how long they had used the website and how many hours a week they spend following Facebook friends. The study found students who were more involved with Facebook were more likely to think other people's lives were happier.
Tod Kashdan says it is important to live your own life.

3) Discuss

Should parents to follow their children's activities on social network sites? Why / Why not?
Are you "friends" with your parents / children?

4) Listen

Students from around the UK told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour about how involved their parents get in their social media lives.

They discussed whether parents should be "friends" on sites like Facebook, and how much privacy they were allowed.

Answer

• How many of the comments are by parents / teenagers?
• Do they think being "friends" is a good idea?

Click play to listen

listen to ‘Should parents know about your social media life?’ on Audioboo

School Report is an annual BBC project which helps young people make their own news reports for a real audience. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport/17388168

5) Put the comments in order

Read the comments below. Listen again and put them in the order you hear by choosing a number form the drop-down menu.

6) Informal expressions

These common informal expressions have been edited out
... and stuff... 
 ...it's like...  it's kind of like sort of...
I'm like...

What do they mean?
Highlight = for answers 
... and stuff...   = etc 
 ...it's like...  it's kind of like sort of... = describing something 
I'm like... = can be used like reported speech eg I'm like "Leave me alone!" or describe feelings eg I'm like so angry / happy...

7) Discuss

"If you post something that your mum won't be happy with then it's really not suitable"

• What kind of things do you think are suitable to post on a social network?
• What are the dangers of posting unsuitable material?

8) Writing / Connectives

If we are speaking we use quite informal language. However if we are writing we should use more formal expressions. Look at these connectives / linking words.

ESSAY WRITING LANGUAGE
Don’t forget to have an introduction Introduce the topic and question
ORGANISING POINTS Firstly Furthermore In addition
ANALYSIS So Therefore That is why As a consequence As a result of this / that	CONTRAST However Nevertheless On the other hand
GENERALIZING In general Generally On the whole	GIVING EXAMPLES For example For instance
OPINION It’s my opinion that… It seems to me that... I agree that... I am convinced that... It seems obvious to me that...
CONCLUSION Finally To sum up When all is said and done After careful thought we can see that... It can be seen that... In conclusion

Fill in the gaps with the connectives shown

Printable versions here

9) Read and discuss

Look at the information below.

• How many parents send a friend request to their kids?
• What do they look at on facebook?
• What else do they look at?
• Do you find any of the statistics surprising?

Vocabulary

Keep tabs = follow

Snooping = spying

nosy =  curiosity about other people's affairs.

Courtesy of: Online Schools

10) Write
"Children and teenagers are vulnerable on social networks and many are on facebook without their parents' permission" 

To what extent do you agree with this statement? Do you think it is justified for parents to follow their children's activities or is it an invasion of privacy?

Give reasons for your answer using your own ideas and experience.

More
More Connectives http://www.english-at-home.com/grammar/linking-words/

More reading
http://www.safetyweb.com/social-networking-safety-tips

Quiz. Are you addicted to facebook?
http://theoatmeal.com/quiz/facebook_addict/go

More on writing arguments and linking words
http://efllecturer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/could-you-live-without-it.html





More on EFL SMARTblog
Sexting: is technology endangering teenagers? Advanced, Discussion Activities, Health and Safety, IELTS, Listening, Sexting, Smartphones, Technology, Upper Intermediate

Does more technology mean more communication?

You are going to

• discuss technology and communication
• listen to a short radio program about technology and communication
• do a sentence ordering exercise
• discuss, plan and write an IELTS style argument essay on the question
• practise some information and communication technology (ICT) vocabulary with a crossword

1) Discuss

• What kinds of technology do we communicate with?
• Is it easier to communicate now than 50 years ago? Why?
• How has technology affected communication and relationships?
• What are the good and bad things about modern forms of communicating?
• Do you use social network sites? Do you agree with any of the comments below?

2) Listen

You are going to listen to Rory Cellan-Jones, the technology correspondent of the BBC. He is going to find out whether more technology means more or better communication.
Look at these questions.

• What examples of information and communications technology (ICT) does he give?
• What disadvantages are mentioned?
• What advantages are given?
• What do you think is the Rory's opinion?

 

http://audioboo.fm/boos/605372-does-more-tech-more-communication-from-bbcr4today




3) Read
Look at the sentences below. You are going to put them in the right order to make a written summary of the program but before you do...
Read quickly and answer.

• Which sentence makes the best introduction? Why?
• Which sentence makes the best conclusion? Why?
• Which sentences can be seen as disadvantages?
• Which comments can be seen as advantages?

Now put the sentences in order. You can listen again to check.

4) Discuss

Look at the sentences again.

• How does Rory introduce the topic he is going to examine?
• How many examples of it does he give?
• How does he introduce the argument?
• How does he give a conclusion / sum up? Does he recognise more than one point of view?

What do you think?

• Does more technology mean more communication?
• Does more technology mean better communication?
• Do you agree that "technology is an addition, not a replacement" for face-to-face socialising and communication?

5) Write

Look at this IELTS question

Nowadays the way many people interact with each other has changed because of technology.

In what ways has technology affected the types of relationships that people make? Has this been a positive or negative development?

Plan your essay.
How many paragraphs are you going to write?
1. Write an introduction
  a) Introduce the topic to be discussed.
  b) Explain it and give a few examples.
  c) Introduce the argument. Restate the question in your own words.

2. Give examples of how technology is changing relationships. State some advantages and disadvantages of these changes. Support your ideas - give some specific examples of the positive or negative effects of these changes.

3. Write a conclusion. Sum up what you have discussed.

6) Vocabulary - Crossword

How much vocabulary can you remember? 
All the answers in the crossword are from the radio clip.

Printable version of crossword here
Printable reading exercise  here

STaRt!