40 Things you can do with a Data Projector in an EFL/ESL lesson

40 Things you can do with a Data Projector in an EFL/ESL lesson

There's no doubt that IWB's are very popular these days. However, many schools do not have them, but have data projectors instead. A data projector connected to a computer with an internet connection is quite a valuable resource for the EFL/ESL classroom. Here's a list of possible uses of a data projector for an EFL/ESL context.

1. Watch a film
2. View and navigate the Internet. Surf and display websites that the entire room will be able to see in a teacher-directed manner.
3. View and solve interactive problems together in groups.
4. Work collaboratively on word processing documents, spreadsheets, design projects.
5. Connect to video conferencing systems.
6. Present student work to a wide audience.
7. Show video clips.
8. Demonstrate how an educational software programme works, e.g., Wordle
9. Create drawings, notes and concept maps in class time which can be saved for future reference using a mindmapping tool.
10. Display images for brainstorming, warm up, discussion, creative writing, etc
11. Model how to effectively use technology (Spell check, searching online, copyright issues) as well as critical thinking skills.
12. Model comprehension strategies on non-traditional texts (i.e. blogs, wikipedia, website articles, ezines) as well as media texts (i.e. commercials, youtube) to develop critical literacy.
13. Highlight lines of text so that students can follow along.
14. Integrate power point presentations into your lessons.
15. Display quickly-changing information on the board (i.e. interactive graphs)
16. Do interactive language exercises
17. Show and tell
18. Highlight good vs bad grammar in writing
19. Go over tests
20. Do creative writing tasks - add a line
21. Do comparison activities using split-screen
22. Show slide show presentations
23. Do class webquests
24. Do group storyboarding
25. Display class agenda/schedule
26. Read aloud from a projected text
27. Freeze images from videos
28. Use sequence of pictures, time lapse, to demonstrate progression.
29. Do compare and contrast tasks.
30. Do choral reading.
31. Do group cloze activities.
32. Do labeling activities - project on a white board and label images.
33. Do prediction activities.
34. Give instant feedback on student work.
35. Use split screen for before/after.
36. Do descriptive writing activities using image as writing prompt.
37. Travel interactively using Google Earth or other web app like Nile Guides.
38. Use picture books with read alouds.
39. Show rubric next to writing using split screen, and grade the example.
40. Allow students to present lessons/ projects.

One of my favourite uses is for any aspect of digital storytelling, which I will address in more detail in future porstings.

If you come up with any other use, please leave a comment and I will add it to the list.