4th confession: I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things that I haven’t done.


I like trying new things very often, visiting new places, experiencing new cultures, meeting new people, tasting new food and also new ways of teaching. I strongly believe that when someone wants to achieve something good, it is necessary to get out of the comfort zone and take risks. When you try something new, you get experience and you will be able to learn from those experiences and make wiser decisions.


In teaching, I think that most of us are afraid of trying something new because we are content in our comfort zone and since most of our methods have worked so well during so many years, why would we change them? If teachers have already prepared all their lessons and they have taught them for so many years, why would they prepare new lessons? If our students spend too many hours with their phones and probably know more about technology than us, why would we bother to use technology to teach? 

Prensky (2009) stated “Digital wisdom means not just manipulating technology easily or even creatively, it means making wiser decisions because one is enhanced by technology.” We live in an era in which many people have access to technology (the type of access depends on the socio economic status) however, how much do you know about technology? Are you a tech-savvy? Are you “digital stranger” or “digital intimate”?

 I totally agree with Prensky. Technology is improving the way we connect with each other; using different instant messaging apps like Whatsapp lets us keep in touch with family and friends who are thousands of kilometres away from us. Technology is also helping us to have information available just with one click; hypertext, downloading music libraries online, Netflix, Shazam, Youtube, Facebook. People around the world have been networked in some many ways and for some many years. However, is it possible that just the access begets skills? Is technology boosting our minds and leading us to make wiser decisions? "Just knowing how to use particular technologies makes one no wiser than just knowing how to read words." Prensky (2009) 


I have to confess that I was so afraid of changing the way of teaching and implementing technology in my classes. Even though I do not lecture and being an English teacher requires that we as teachers speak less and maximise students time talking and give them opportunities to interact and practice with the language; I still felt that there was a gap between my students and the way I was teaching them, I felt that I was using methodologies since last century and that I was not taking advantage of the technological resources that this digital era is offering. In other words I felt like a “digital stranger” in a world of “digital natives”


In my introductory class I had students opening accounts in Edmodo, exploring this website, then I had them experimenting with the interactive phonetic alphabet and getting familiar with the sounds, then I had them interacting with the IPA website that let them translate the text into the phonetic symbols and finally I told the students how the grading system was going to be. I spoke most of the time (big mistake for a language teacher) but I think it was totally worth it, I had a go and took the risk to implement these tools. Did I do it in a communicative way? No, I did not. Did I maximise the students time talking? No, I did not. Could I have done it better? Yes, I could have. Did I implement digital technologies to enhance my students’ independent learning? Yes I did. I took the risk and I made mistakes but now I know that there are better options to give that first lesson. I was not afraid of trying something new, of making mistakes. I tried to move forward in order to leverage my students’ learning skills even though I did not do it in the best way.


Surprisingly, most of the students did not know how to open an account in Edmodo. They did not know about the interactive phonetic alphabet, they did not know that there was a website that translates texts into the pronunciation transcription and very a few of them had used their voice recording app that comes in all phones. I consider that they were also “digital strangers” in a digital era.


On the contrary, my second session, which was last week, was totally different. Students spoke more, some students were assigned to used technology and students developed communicative activities. I was satisfied since most of the students understood what I wanted from them, they were responsible and they had a go trying these websites and experimenting with them. I still need to improve; classes still need to be better focusing in context and communication and students still need to become more independent and autonomous. As Palfrey and Gasser (2011) said "students have a chance at a much richer, much more participatory way of learning and interacting with the world than their grandparents did”.   


I still have so many fears about this methodology, about my expectations, about preparing classes with technology, about coming up with new ideas to make my classes more communicative, about not being able to get more intimate with technology in my classes and being a “digital stranger”. However I will not let fear get in the way. I am convinced that having a go and try new things will lead me to find out ways to leverage students’ skills, to teach them how to navigate the internet in an effort to improve their language learning process, to make students more independent and autonomous.  I know that I will make many mistakes on the way but it will also give me experience and based on this I will be able to make wiser decisions.


Reference
Palfrey, J. and Gasser, U. (2011) Reclaiming an Awkward Term: What we Might Learn from "Digital Natives". a journal of law and policy for the information society 

Prensky, M (2009)  H. Sapiens Digital: From Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom.   http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=705


Comments

  1. Jairo Sánchez Galvis22 October 2017 at 11:08

    Nice article. As an elderly teacher (:)) who is fascinated with technology, I find that my students are not as competent with technologies as one would expect. You mentioned your students not knowing how to set up an account in Edmodo. I get those kinds of surprises quite often. We are language teachers but should also teach students to make better choices with the technology they have at hand.

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