third confession: getting started with myths

Hi there

Before starting I want to thank all you for taking some of your time to read my blog. It is really important to me that you do it and give me feedback about it. The idea is that you all can contribute to make this blog better.

This week reading, in my master, was about four different myths about technology and Second Language Acquisition (SLA) by Blake, R. (2008). To known: technology is monolithic, technology constitutes a methodology, today’s technology is all we need to know and technology will replace teachers.

But what is educational technology? Is it understood as internet exercises or online exercises only? Is it just restricted to online services? What is the difference between a “traditional” teacher and a “modern” teacher? Is it being innovative just about technology? Is it being a "traditional" teacher the one who does not use the cutting-edge technologies in their classes?

Technology is monolithic

I stated in my previous post that I decided to make some changes in my approach and methodologies that are implemented in my classes. I also said that I wanted to motivate my students to be more autonomous and independent in their language learning process by using their mobile devices, videos, chats and other digital tools to improve their oral performance by using these digital technologies.

With this intention, I started my first week of speaking English class with freshmen students by having them signing in to Edmodo, which is a social learning network that allows teachers and students to post links that are related to the topic that is being studied; at the same time, teachers can conduct polls that are really useful for knowing what students think and they can also comment on it. I have to say that I am not an expert on it (if you have any experience, you are more than welcome to share it) but I will do my best to get the most of it.

Edmodo

At the same time I started implementing a Chinese app, which is a mixed version of Facebook and WhatsApp, called QQ. This app allows me to create groups which, in my personal case, I use to handle classes in a better way, first because students are going to be using their phones for the class so it could prevent students to use them for other purposes. Second, it is more environmentally friendly, I have been using it for a while and I have stopped making copies for activities in my classroom. And finally I can share links, pictures and also conduct polls that they can use to develop activities in the classes. Besides the computer in the classroom does not have internet or if it does the connection is very slow, whereas, all students have their mobile phones with data so it is easier and faster for them to receive the information and get online, in addition they could save the information and use it later or check something if they miss anything during the lesson.

Having said that, I concur with this myth, technology is big, enormous, gigantic, colossal, I mean MONOLITHIC. There are many technological resources that you can use for your classes out there, the point is to know what to use, how to use, when to use it and why to use it. It cannot be at random; it has to be thought and carefully planned, hence it can improve the way students learn, instead of just having fun with it.

Technology constitutes a methodology

interactive phonemic chart

Last week, I also provided my students with two online tools; one is called “interactive phonemic chart” that allows students to identify the English phonetic alphabet with their corresponding symbols and sounds by clicking on each symbol or sample word to hear. The other one is called “IPA phonetic transcription of English text”. This is an online converter that will translate English text into its phonetic transcription using International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

IPA phonetic transcription of English text

Blake, R. (2008) states that “any activity without adequate pedagogical planning- technological enhanced or not – will produce unsatisfactory results with students, even if it’s attractive from the multimedia point of view.” In like manner, I plan to use the online tools that I mentioned before in order to strengthen students’ pronunciation by having a group of students, in each class, translating a text from the student book into the phonetic transcription and then recording their voice while reading this text. The recording will be used in next class in different activities.

As it can be seen, I have a plan for the online tools that I will be using inside the classroom, it will not be a methodology per se, but it is rather one of the strategies that I intend to implement to enhance students speaking skills.

Today’s technology is all we need to know and technology will replace teachers

Teaching is a profession that is very demanding, and depending on the place that teachers are working sometimes extremely bureaucratic, it is utterly difficult to embrace technology’s full potential when teachers are overworked and extremely busy planning classes, giving classes, making exams, grading exams, filling forms, attending parents, paying attention to students’ learning process and attending to school/universities/institutions meetings.

Blake, R. (2008) affirms that “technology will not replace teachers in the future but rather teacher who use technology will probably replace teacher who do not”

Fortunately or unfortunately technology is not going away and I totally agree with one of my partners, Christopher Evans, when he says that “Technology is evolving at a rapid rate and this affects everyone from teachers and learners, learning technologists, programmers and technicians. It is up to us to stay engaged, up-to-date and relevant. I strongly believe that to support this, institutions should encourage, offer and support (and finance!) continued professional development for all staff.”