From Classroom to Vienna: Bringing English Lessons to Life

 


Bonjour mon amis!

Hi everyone, welcome back 🌸
In this post, I’d like to share a teaching task we designed for our Current Issues in Teaching course. This project felt special to me because it pushed me to think like a future teacher and question how technology can be used meaningfully in language classrooms. I made this task with Bernis, Sıla and Azra, if you want to see their blogs, just click on their names!

Our lesson is called “Exploring Vienna” and it is designed for A2-level high school English prep students. During the lesson, students become virtual travelers and explore Vienna by scanning QR codes on a printed “Vienna Travel Agency” handout. ✈️ They visit Schönbrunn Palace, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and the Belvedere Palace Museum through 360° virtual tours. While exploring, students answer guided questions, share their opinions, and learn about Austrian culture, including the famous Wiener Schnitzel 🍽️. At the end of the lesson, they write an 80–100 word email to a friend describing their experience using simple sentences and the past tense.

If you want to check our material and ASSURE model lesson-plan, you can check them here!

AR/VR integration into ELT material!

ASSURE model lesson-plan!

Overall, the task went really well 😊. From my perspective, AR/VR tools made the lesson more engaging and helped create a natural context for communication. I realized that when students are curious and emotionally involved, they are more willing to speak and express their ideas.

However, the process also challenged me. Selecting level-appropriate content and planning for possible technical issues required more effort than I expected. This made me realize that technology alone is not enough. It needs clear objectives and careful planning to truly support learning.

To wrap things up, this task helped me see AR/VR not as a “fun extra” but as a powerful tool when used thoughtfully. It was a valuable experience for my professional growth, and I hope to use similar tools in my future classrooms.

See you later💕

Hi! My name is Begüm. I'm a 20 years old ELT student at Marmara University. I will share what my study life is like with you all!

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