Tag: technology

Artificial Intelligence in Classrooms

B2 – Upper Intermediate

China is at the forefront of using artificial intelligence (AI) in classrooms and it has implemented various AI-based technologies to enhance education.

It aims to provide personalized and immersive learning experiences, improve teaching effectiveness, and enhance student engagement and achievement.

However, the use of AI in education also raises concerns about data privacy, bias, and ethical issues. These are some of the challenges that need to be addressed for AI to be used effectively in classrooms.

Watch the video to learn more about how AI tech is being used in the classrooms. Be able to answer the questions that follow.

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does the expression “a glimpse of something” mean? “Some schools offer glimpses of what the future of high tech education might look like.” Use the idiom in a sentence.
  2. What does the word “consent” mean? “School says it wasn’t hard for them getting parental consent to enroll kids into what is one of the world’s largest experiments in AI education.” Give an example sentence using this word.
  3. What does the expression “doze off” mean? “This fifth grader whom we caught dozing off in class, told us his parents punish him for low attention scores.” Use the phrase in your own sentence and give two synonyms of ‘doze off’.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you think of using AI in classrooms?
  2. Should AI tech be enforced in classrooms more? Explain your stand.
  3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using AI tech in education?
  4. Would you like your child to be immersed in this kind of education or would you prefer them having the traditional method? Explain your answer.

AI Chatbots ChatGPT and Google Bard

B1 – Intermediate

Chatbots are computer programs used to simulate chat with a human user. The latest chatbot to become more popular is ChatGPT. When a user asks something on ChatGPT, it can answer almost every question you ask it and with perfect grammar. It’s like you are really talking to another person.

Google didn’t waste time and launched its own version called Google Bard. 

It has now become a race for the best AI chatbot in town between Google and Microsoft.

Read the article on the AI chatbot battle between ChatGPT and Google Bard.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2302/230213-chatgpt-chatbot-4.html

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does ”hot on the heels of sb/sth” mean, ”Hot on the heels of ChatGPT came Google’s Bard.”? Use this expression in your own sentence.
  2. What does the expression “to spread like wildfire” mean, “A new online revolution has begun and is spreading like wildfire.” Use this idiom in your own sentence.
  3. What does “shake up” mean, “There are many questions about how chatbots will shake up our world.” Use this phrase in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is your opinion on AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Bard? Would you use such programs?
  2. What are the uses and dangers of such AI chatbots?
  3. How is this going to change our lives/societies?
  4. Share your opinion on this: “Teachers are worrying about “the end of homework”. 
  5. Do you agree or disagree that “AI can deepen our understanding of information and turn it into useful knowledge making it easier for people to get things done.”? Explain.

Transhumanism

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Embedding a chip to unlock doors, store personal medical data, and getting smart contact lenses to record video by blinking are only some of the things transhumanists do to alter their body.

Watch the video and learn about the technological advances that have already altered the medical industry.

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does hasten mean, “There are some however who would not only rejoice at it, but want to hasten the day it arrives.”? Use this word in your own sentence.
  2. What does supersede mean, “Transhumanists look forward to a future in which Homo sapiens is superseded by a better, smarter, fitter model- humanity 2.0.”? Use this word in your own sentence.
  3. What does dire mean, “Humans are in dire need of improvement.”? Use this word in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are your thoughts on transhumanism?
  2. Share your opinions on the possibility of being able to leave our ‘fragile human bodies’ behind and upload ourselves to computers and be able to live forever in the virtual world.
  3. Do you have any wearable devices that help you track your activities, for example, sleep patterns or steps? Do you analyze the information you receive from them?
  4. Would you be ready to try only those biohacking techniques that have been proven or would you go for something completely innovative?
  5. Should people be worried about the fact that such experiments can completely transform humans?

Global Scramble to Tackle Deepfakes

B2 – Upper Intermediate

A lot of fraudulent activities flourish in the online world. Nowadays, AI deepfakes have been a crucial tool in spreading misinformation on the internet.

Read the article to know more about deepfakes and how the world struggles to fight against it.

https://www.voanews.com/a/seeing-is-believing-global-scramble-to-tackle-deepfakes-/6945185.html

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “to rein in” mean, “Chatbots spouting falsehoods, face-swapping apps crafting porn videos, and cloned voices defrauding companies of millions — the scramble is on to rein in AI deepfakes that have become a misinformation super spreader.”? Use this phrase in your own sentence.
  2. What does ”deluge” mean? “Artificial Intelligence is redefining the proverb “seeing is believing,” with a deluge of images created out of thin air and people shown mouthing things they never said in real-looking deepfakes that have eroded online trust.” Use this word in your own sentence.
  3. What does “stymie” mean? “China recently adopted expansive rules to regulate deepfakes but most countries appear to be struggling to keep up with the fast-evolving technology amid concerns that regulation could stymie innovation or be misused to curtail free speech.” Use this word in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are your thoughts on the prevalence of deepfakes nowadays?
  2. How can deepfakes be prevented?
  3. How would you feel and would you know what to do in case you fall victim to a deepfake content?
  4. Share your thoughts on this, “With no barriers to creating AI-synthesized text, audio and video, the potential for misuse in identity theft, financial fraud and tarnishing reputations has sparked global alarm.”
  5. According to the Eurasia group, “AI tools are “weapons of mass disruption.” What is your opinion on this?

Ransomware Attacks in Europe

B2 – Upper Intermediate

In Italy, the recent ransomware attacks coincided with the widespread internet outage. At this point, it is difficult to say whether the two incidents are related. However, cybersecurity groups have warned of ransomware attacks that involve systems that are already in circulation.

Read the article to know more about the ransomware attacks in Europe.

https://www.voanews.com/a/ransomware-attacks-in-europe-target-old-vmware-agencies-say/6949349.html

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What is ”ransomware”? “Cybersecurity agencies in Europe are warning of ransomware attacks exploiting a two-year-old computer bug as Italy experienced widespread internet outages.” Use this word in your own sentence.
  2. What is “hypervisor”? “A Friday technical bulletin from a French cybersecurity agency said the attack campaigns target VMware ESXi hypervisors, which are used to monitor virtual machines.” Use this word in your own sentence.
  3. What does “interfere with” mean, “The problem attracted particular public attention in Italy on Sunday because it coincided with a nationwide internet outage affecting telecommunications operator Telecom Italia, which interfered with streaming the Spezia v. Napoli soccer match …”? Use this word in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How can ransomware attacks be prevented?
  2. In case of a ransomware attack, should an individual or company pay a ransom to get their data back? Explain.
  3. How would you feel and would you know what to do in case you fall victim to a ransomware attack?
  4. Has there ever been a nationwide internet outage in your country? What caused it and how was it resolved?
  5. How do you feel when an internet outage occurs/would occur in your area?

Google To Give People More Power Over Their Personal Data

B2 – Upper Intermediate

In the last two decades, the internet has been a widely used platform for the advertising industry. It reaches large audiences at a much cheaper cost. Brands splash their ads in different websites that are suitable to the user’s precise interests. They use the users’ data to give us the ads that we are looking for.

Let’s read the article and find out more about the new user privacy protection measure when using Google.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/may/19/privacy-by-design-google-to-give-people-more-power-over-their-personal-data

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. What does “pushback” mean? Use it in your own sentence.
  2. What does “opt out” mean? Use it in your own sentence.
  3. What does “watchdog” mean in this sentence, “Just last month the Australian competition watchdog won a court case against Google…”? Use it in your own sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What new privacy strategy Google offers? How does it work?
  2. What is your opinion on third party companies purchasing user’s data easily?
  3. What do you think of the possibility of Google monetising future privacy features?

Draw Electrical Wires with Conductive Paint

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Liquids and electricity are probably the last thing you’d think you could pair up. 

Bare Conducive has created a paint that conducts electricity.

Watch the video about conductive paint.

https://mashable.com/video/conductive-paint-studio-london

Discussion Questions:

  1. Describe the conductive paint. What are its good and bad points?
  2. What are your thoughts on this 
  3. Which groups do you think could benefit the most with these bare conductives?
  4. Would you be interested to use this paint? Why or why not?

Computers

B1 – Intermediate

A computer is a machine that can store and process data and information. It is one of the best inventions of modern technology nowadays. People from all walks of life use computers to make our jobs easier, and more convenient and effective.

Listen to this audio and read the transcript about computers.

https://listenaminute.com/c/computers.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. How useful are computers for you?
  2. What do you do with a computer? How did you learn these skills? Which software can you work with?
  3. What would happen if all of the world’s computers suddenly stopped forever?
  4. Do you control computers or do they control you? Explain.
  5. What is the worst thing about computers? Why?

The 5G Revolution

B2 – Upper Intermediate

With the recent changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, internet connectivity has become almost always necessary in both business and our day-to-day lives.

High speed connection is what most people need especially for work and studies. The new 5G technology promises a much more stable connection and ultra-reliable low latency communication.

Listen to the audio and read the transcript about the 5G technology.

Business English News 45 – The 5G Revolution

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is 5G technology? How is it better than the current 4G technology we are using?
  2. What are your thoughts on the controversies surrounding the 5G technology?
  3. Do you think 5G will make wi-fi obsolete? Why or why not?
  4. What are the benefits of 5G in the business setting?
  5. Are you satisfied with your current network connectivity? If not, how do you make it work?
  6. What other improvements do you want to see in internet connectivity?

The Everything App

B2 – Upper Intermediate

In today’s digital world, everything seems to be one click away. There are different mobile apps that can deliver just about any service or product the consumers want. In China, WeChat started as a messaging app and then turned into a one-stop shop. This is what business magnate Elon Musk aspires Twitter to become.

Let’s read the article and know more about the X app.

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/elon-musk-suggests-plan-to-create-an-everything-app-/6779792.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. What is Elon Musk’s X, the everything app?
  2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of such apps?
  3. How do you feel about using just one app for all your online activities and transactions?
  4. Do you find it burdensome to download different apps for different purposes? If yes, how do you manage it?
  5. Are there mobile apps that have multiple functions? State some.