Buying and selling: Setting the context Activity 1 Bingo



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Consumer Education

What is your personal criteria for choosing a mobile phone?

Activity in which learners discuss the features to consider when choosing a mobile phone handset, service provider or tariff.

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Technology: Unit 2 Activity 1 What is your personal criteria for choosing a mobile phone?

This document provides activities to use with learners/ participants/ service users; the material has been written to include education focuses on literacy, numeracy, functional skills and English for speakers of other languages within a formal education setting. However if you wish to use the activities within an informal group or as part of an awareness raising campaign you will only need p5 onwards

Learning resources are not designed for tutors/ educators to advise their participants on specific cases; where necessary participants should be directed to the appropriate advice agency.

|Unit/ Activity focus |Consumer education |Literacy, language and numeracy objectives |Literacy curriculum refs |ESOL curriculum refs |Key/ Functional Skills |

| |objectives | | | |curriculum refs |

|RESOURCES AND PREPARATION |

|Before the session: |

|T U1 Essential information Mobile phones: a copy for each learner |

|Whole class to bring in leaflets, advertisements, flyers, magazine articles etc. on mobile phones and mobile phone deals |

|Computers with Excel and internet access |

|LITERACY AND LANGUAGE FOCUS |

SUGGESTED PROCEDURE

• Set the context by asking who has bought a mobile phone and/or changed mobile provider recently, their reasons and how they chose the new provider. Ask learners to identify whether their decision was based purely on cost - or did other factors such as the tariff package, the ’look’ and design of the phone, and features such as music or camera, also influence their choice? If so, how much are they willing to pay for these extras?

• Group learners into similar mobile user types either using the flashcard headings from T U1 Activity 1a Mobile phone user flash cards or by usage identified from T U1 Activity 2 Mobile phone usage patterns.

• Each group needs to prepare a five point list of their agreed main criteria for a mobile phone in order of importance e.g.

1. free handset 2. free minutes 3. free texts 4. cheap peak calls 5. camera

If necessary, learners can use a range of source material such as the internet, such as kelkoo.co.uk/c-100020213-mobile-phone-handsets.html#l2bg, leaflets, flyers, magazine adverts, articles and their research from T: U1 Activity 3 to help build their list.

• Each group presents its list, explains the order and any terms or features which other learners are not familiar with.

• Explain to learners that they are now going to focus on important information to get relating to their criteria before making a decision and buying a new mobile phone. Elicit and build up a list of key words and phrases on the board. Make sure the list includes anything which may incur extra costs:

|coverage |call time/chosen tariff |model/free handset |insurance content |

|calls to different networks |contract length/tie-in |battery life |insurance cost |

|cost to pick up voice mail |contract/ pay as you go |included in guarantee |penalty/not use phone |

|cost of texts |cost/ picture message |included in warranty |roaming |

| |

|OPTIONAL LANGUAGE FOCUS: Question forms |

|Some learners may need practice with question form structures such as: |

|How much do/does it cost to + verb + noun/noun phrase?/ How much is/are the….?/ How long is the …..? |

|Use some of the prompt cards/words from the board to elicit and flag up possible questions and put the structures (below) on the board. Elicit and drill a few questions for each structure. |

|Point out that some questions can be asked in more than one way e.g. How much does it cost to…? How much is/are…? |

|How much does it cost to |

|make calls to other networks? |

|send texts? |

|pick up voicemail? |

| |

| |

|How much does it cost to |

|use your phone from abroad (roaming)? |

|insure the phone? |

|send a picture message? |

| |

| |

|Does it include |

|a guarantee? |

|a warranty? |

|insurance? |

| |

| |

|How much is |

|a warranty? |

|insurance? |

| |

| |

| |

|How much are |

|calls to the helpline? |

|calls and texts if you go over your limit? |

|calls to other networks? |

| |

| |

|How much are |

|calls abroad? |

|calls from abroad? |

| |

| |

| |

|What does the |

|guarantee |

|warranty |

|insurance |

|include? |

| |

|What’s the |

|coverage |

|battery life |

|like? |

| |

| |

|Is there a |

|penalty if you don’t use the phone? |

|tie-in period? |

|free handset? |

|guarantee? |

| |

|How long is the |

|contract? |

|tie-in period? |

|period before I can change my tariff? |

| |

| |

|Can I |

|change between tariffs? |

|choose the model for the handset? |

|choose between a contract or pay as you go? |

| |

| |

• Elicit a range of questions using the key words on the board e.g. How long is the tie-in period, please?

For higher level learners encourage the use of indirect questions with an appropriate level of politeness e.g. Could you tell me how long the tie-in period is, please?

• Divide learners into pairs. Give each pair a promotional leaflet for a mobile phone. Learners have five minutes to read and discuss the leaflet together and discuss the phones, tariffs etc on offer, checking any words or terms that they do not know.

• Check that learners understand ‘hard sell’ i.e. when the salesperson puts a lot of pressure on the customer to make a purchase using a range of techniques. Ask for examples of how this can happen, such as when the salesperson:

– is quite aggressive or intimidating either verbally or through body language

– bombards the customer with information

– creates a sense of urgency for the sale

– offers the consumer a ‘limited offer’ which requires an immediate decision or purchase

– asks leading or unnecessarily personal questions and then uses this information to try and persuade the customer that they need the item.

• Elicit ideas on possible strategies which consumers can use in this situation such as:

– be aware of your own body language and maintain a confident and assertive position

– stay calm

– don’t feel pressurised to make a purchase or an instant decision

– clearly and politely explain that you are not going to feel pressurised into making a purchase

– ask for clear information about cancellation and returns

– don’t disclose personal information

– if necessary, ask to speak to a manager

– ask for written information to take away and think about

– make sure you read and understand the small print – ask for help from

friends, Citizens Advice consumer service if you don’t

– make it clear that you are aware of your consumer rights

– if necessary, make a complaint.

• One learner role plays being a ‘hard-sell’ salesperson and the other a potential customer. The customer has to ask as many questions as possible, relating to their criteria and using the prompts on the board. The salesperson has to use the information available to answer each question based on the facts and try and ‘talk up’ every aspect of the phone. Learners then change roles.

• After each learner has played each role, they then discuss what they have learned e.g. in relation to ‘hard-selling’, the importance of customers’ questions.

• Give out copies of T U1 Essential information Mobile phones. Explain to learners that the information on tariffs will be explored in more depth in the next two units.

|Ideas for Level 2 and/or extension activities |

|Each individual/group identifies a mobile phone handset that they like and undertakes research in shops, on the internet etc. and compares prices and contracts between providers. |

|Ask learners to research some tariffs set by different network providers. You could allocate different providers to different groups of learners and suggest websites or search engine search terms. Each individual/group |

|analyses data and finds best current deal for heavy, moderate and light users, records data on spreadsheet or table. |

|Learners use data from their own research on their own usage, enter data into at least two price/deal comparison websites. They then present their results to the group. |

|In pairs or individually, learners write a flyer to describe a tariff which is perfectly tailored to their needs and usage requirements. Display tariff flyers around classroom and learners give each other feedback and |

|identify which offers the best overall deal for particular types of mobile phone users. |

Technology:

Unit 1 Essential information Mobile phones

Technology – Mobile phones

GENERAL

Before you choose a phone, think about what you need.

• Check that the network provider provides a good service with clear reception in your local coverage area.

• Check the battery life for new phones – you don’t want to have to recharge your phone every day.

• Make sure the phone feels comfortable to hold and the features that you use a lot are easy to use and follow such as:

- size and amount of text on screen

- menu options and instructions

- keypad.

Do not scratch or bend your SIM card and keep it clean and dry.

TARIFFS

• Call and text charges vary between providers and contracts. Understanding your pattern of phone use will help you find the right deal for you.

• Before picking a tariff think about:

- when you mostly use your phone – peak or off-peak

- the type of calls you most often make – to landlines or mobiles

- whether you make more calls or texts

- your approximate minutes and text use per week or month

• If you change how you use your mobile, check if your provider can change you to a better tariff for your pattern of use.

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Technology

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