Teaching with Tech 2016: Language Educators Talking Tech

Teaching with Technology 2016: Language Educators Talking Tech

Written By Mariela Andrade, Hanh Do, Carmen Durham & Paul Nitz

Edited By Dustin De Felice

Copyright 2016 Mariela Andrade, Hanh Do, Carmen Durham, Paul Nitz & Dustin De Felice

Cover Design by Dustin De Felice and the tools available in Canva Home Page

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The work within this text originated in a course on teaching with technology at Michigan State University. This course is offered yearly as part of the Master of Arts in Foreign Language Teaching (MAFLT) degree, which is supported by the Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA). For more information, please visit MAFLT Home Page or CeLTA Home Page

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Michigan State University.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Issues in the use of Google Applications in the Foreign Languages Classroom

The Internet and Language Teaching

In Support of Social Media in the Second and Foreign Language Classroom

The Use of Digital Flashcards in Communicative Teaching of Ancient Greek?

Ideal Tech Infused Classrooms

21st century World Languages Classroom

Critiques of a Technology-Infused Classroom

Ideal Technology Infused Classroom for Foreign Language

A Proposal for Classroom Improvements

Talking Tech, Reviews by Educators

Tech & Apps

Review of "6 Tips to Make the Most of Student Blogging"

Review of "The Case for Using DUOLINGO"

Review of "15 Platforms to Publish and Sell Online Courses"

Tech & Social Media

Review of "9 Ways to Get Every Student Tweeting"

Review of "Using Facebook to Enrich the Online Classroom"

Review of "Using Twitter in an Undergraduate Setting"

Tech & Approaches

Review of "Technology Enhanced Learning for Higher Education in Brazil"

Review of "Bring Your Own Device"

Review of "Do you Blend?"

Tech & Development

Review of "New Keyboard Could Boost French"

Review of "10 Principles to Consider"

Review of "Language Materials Development in a Digital Age"

Concluding with Teaching with Technology

About the Authors

About the Editor

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Introduction

By Dustin De Felice

What teacher doesn’t face a hurdle, a surprise or a challenge in helping students become learners? Many teachers often look to technology as a way of alleviating, solving or removing the obstacles. This volume focuses on the intersection between the technology out there for language learning and the teachers who are using them. Within these pages, there are numerous stories, ideas, strategies and words from educators who are wrestling with how to best make use of the constant change in technology. These same educators teach a variety of languages and they come from different backgrounds. Because these educators work in unique locations and they have specific needs, they are driven to find solutions that makes sense to them and their daily practice. One of the more endearing traits of this technology journey is the fact that it is so personalized and adaptable. I had the distinct pleasure of working with these fantastic, dedicated educators as they sought to personalize and adapt their own tech use with the use of journal articles, practitioner pieces and blogs. Our final result is this volume of work on technology and classroom use and we hope you find something to add to your own classroom practice. We recommend perusing the table of contents for topics that catch your eye. We also highly recommend visiting the original works from our tech talk reviews. These resources may hold the key to improving your own daily classroom practice.

In the first section, you'll find persuasive arguments for specific tech tools or specific approaches to classrooms as they relate to technology. Mariela Andrade starts us off with a discussion on the issues of using Google applications in a language classroom. She details a number of key considerations for working online and she discusses the pros and cons of creating digital communities. Hanh Do discusses the larger picture of the Internet and language learning. She writes about how language classrooms have embraced the Internet and how it applies to distance learning. Much like Mariela, she focuses on a number of opportunities and challenges for teachers in online environments. Carmen Durham looks into the use of Social Media as a way to support language classrooms. She ties her discussion to the iGeneration (those born after 1990) and the importance of Social Media in their learning. Lastly, Paul Nitz shows us how digital vocabulary flashcards can support teacher-led initiatives in Communicative Teaching of Ancient Greek. His approach moves us into an important and timely discussion on meeting the needs of all our students including the studies of Classical languages like Ancient Greek. All four essays provide guidance for any language instructor looking to improve their daily classroom practice through technology.

Return to Contents

Issues in the use of Google Applications in the Foreign Languages Classroom

By Mariela Andrade

Nowadays, technology influences every aspect of life and teaching and learning has carries that imprint too. Web 2.0 in particular has been in use since the 90’s in regards to incorporate technology to the classrooms (Greenhow, C., Robelia, B., & Hughes, J., 2009) but it seems that today there is a sense of emergency to use new tools for making the curriculum more appealing and accessible to students as well as to prepare them for the future. As Adams, 2008 says, the migration of online educational needs to tools like Google applications (…) forces educators to find ways to use technology to enhance traditional curriculum (Adams, 2008, p. 96). This transition from traditional to XXI century classroom is occurring at a rapid pace and much of it can be the result of who the current students are: native digitals. Even a growing number of teachers are, if not native digitals yet, they are certainly from a generation that if not born, grew up knowing how to use and interact with technology.

For this paper, three articles were considered for taking a position for or against the question: What are some of the issues in the use of Google Applications in the Foreign Languages Classroom? By trying to answer this main question this paper inevitably treats extensive concerns regarding technology use in the classroom in general. Some people argue that it is not correct for students to spend so much time in front of a screen (Manzoor, 2016), but if it results on effectiveness in teaching, is it worth? Is it real that using technology in the classroom, like Google applications, loads our students with tools for the future? And finally, when learning a new language students are passing out information about themselves and possibly browsing the web, therefore, how do Google apps deal with