The use of technology in EFL/ESL teaching

Being an EFL/ESL teacher for almost eight years, I have always wanted to know all the new methods and techniques used around the world. Because my main focus is my students, I always want to provide them the support they need and find the best way to transfer the information to them and make them problem solvers and not just passive consumers. Honestly, the technology course is what I have always wanted; it supports me with great ideas of how the technology can be used in EFL/ESL classes and how it can make the learning enjoyable and effective not just in the classroom but also out of it. By using the technology students can be active learners. There are many technologies that I liked such as Twitter, blogging, Moodle, Weebly, podcasts, Wikis, the second life and many others. For now as an English teacher in a language institute I am using some of these technologies, but if I teach in an English dominant school I am sure I will use many others according to the level of the students I teach. I am amazed by the idea of using mobile devices in teaching and I find it interesting especially with the twenty first century students who are interested in using them in their daily life, so why don’t we connect teaching with their interests. I should say that when I first read about some of the technologies I didn’t like the idea of using them in my class, but honestly after our class discussions I changed my ideas and started to think more critically about them.   

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is delivery of computing services over the Internet. Cloud services allow you to use hardware and software. It costs less, its more secure and a more reliable software. Examples of cloud computing is online file storage, social networking sites, and webmail. Cloud services should be combined to meet the needs of twenty first century educators and learners. The cloud computing model allows access to information and computer resources from anywhere and anytime on any device. The only thing that we need is the network connection. Google Glass is one of the most effective and helpful tools that help learners and educators. I can’t imagine my life without Google apps that make my life really easy while searching especially for literature reviews and books. The wealth of information we get by just fingertips is tremendous. Learning is not just happening in class but it’s ongoing while learners are out of their classroom. Google Glass extends learning beyond the physical classroom. Another good option that Google Glass offers is that we can engage everyone in any school community even the families are more involved than any other school that doesn’t use Google Glass.

What about Google Apps for education it has many helpful tools for everyone: Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Groups, Talk, and Sites. Each has its own characteristics and can be used for different purposes. Google apps is always up and running. Your data is safe, secure and in your control. You own and control your data by detailed privacy policy. You can get apps today and go sign up.

www.google.com/a/edu

I recommend you more webs like www.chrom.google.com/webstore

www.google.com/enterprise/marketplace

Chrome books are great to use in classrooms. They are web based computers that are easy to use. Students open the web and sign in and search for the information they need, it’s not time consuming at all it saves valuable learning time inside the class. You don’t need to worry because everything is saved on the web. Students have web application for them to access. Chrome can be shared and they are saved. Another great tool for teachers this time is you tube for schools and teachers that allows you bring any educational video to class. www.youtube.com/teachers www.google.com/edu

 Finally, cloud computing offers benefits for both organizations and individuals.

 

 

 

 

 

The Analytics in Learning and Teaching

How can we better understand the learning process? How do we know what is actually happening in the learning process? How can educators make improvements in their teaching?

All these questions and more I always think about and I am sure thousands of teachers do. What can we do as educators of new generations of learners? We live in a new technologies century, with computing devices and open education. I am really happy with the new shift of education in general and the higher education in particular, from just lecturing and reading materials or books which have limited effects on the learning, into analytics learning. Learning analytics is more specific than academic analytics. The former’s focus is exclusively on the learning process whereas learning analytics centers on the learning process. Analytics have many positive trails. It provides learners with insight into their own learning. It also provides up-date information and can innovate and transform colleges and universities systems.

The story of the woman in India who died while trying to get the chance of applying her son into the college, really affected me. I really envy those who can make a difference in others lives, and as teachers we can make that difference, may be because of that I really like teaching. I wish I can be the change agent wherever I teach. But of course the technology is there to help the teachers or the educators, and we can’t just ignore it. On line education is one of the greatest things that technology offers, Daphne Koller gave the example of computer checking and giving feedback to thousands of learners which is something a human being cannot do. I am amazed with the idea of the computer asking a question while an online learner attending a lecture, and how he/ she cannot go on the lecture until he gives the correct answer to the question. On line education can offer opportunities to millions of people who don’t have the chance to be in a college or university for their higher education. NLGC focus on the educational possibilities that analytics can offer (http://nextgenlearning.org/).

               

  

 

 

Learning Management System versus Personal Learning Environment

PLE is a unique interface into digital environment. It integrates personal and professional interests of the owners, including formal and informal learning. Users of PLE can select the content they need and it is a social and informative environment that connects the users through the Net. The responsibility of learning in PLE is on the user, as users of PLE we can manage our own data and access resources of our interests. PLE has many advantages and one of the most important features of it, is that it enables learners be in a lifelong learning  process. PLE could be anywhere, learners don't need a school or educational institution to get the information from. Users can simply get the information they are interested in through searching on line.Examples of PLE are iBook, youtube, google, etc.

While LMS is a tool designed purposely to facilitate a net enabled class to be understood by both teachers and learners. It provides a comprehensive set of tools for educators to manage learning resources, administrative functions, assessments, and grading. Users of LMS connect to each other by the school or college to share information, so it can be done in educational institutes only. And this is the drawback of the Learning Management System. The data stays there when learners leave that educational environment or the institution. Examples of LMS are moodle, dasaran.am,etc. www.educause.edu.
As an ESL/EFL teacher I think both systems are important in educating individuals. Nowadays teaching learning processes demand modern tools and systems to engage the learners and help them be creative and active learners. Twenty first century learners need technology and media inside the educational institutes and out of them. As Dr. Madyarov mentioned in our class discussion  today, many Armenian high school students prefer to drop schools and have private tutors which is something the ministry of education should worry about, because as I said before learners need both tools. PLE and LMS should be equally used by the learners to develop their skills  throughout their life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAOuDcC6DwM.

 

Online and distance learning

Many years ago, a new obligation for teachers aroused in my country, the obligation was from the ministry of education demanding teachers to have a master degree in order to continue teaching. Thousands of teachers were married, have kids and many other responsibilities, even for the unmarried ones, was hard to work and attend college at the same time.  So e-learning became very popular and convenient. I think even e-learning could be a perfect opportunity for language learning.

According to the two articles that I have read online learners can choose and participate in the programs that meet their needs, they have the flexibility of access, the possibility of developing their own skills, the opportunity of self-direction and become more independent language learners. Of course distance learning differs from face-to-face classroom learning in many areas, especially the language learning. So learners should be aware of many things in order to be successful learners.  E-learning is more isolated, so learners should have high motivation, and they don’t have the opportunity of immediate feedback and clarification. So distance learner should be independent learners because the teachers are not there moment by moment to monitor them and give assistance whenever needed. So teachers in distance learning are less available, and here rises the role of good educators of e-learning programs. The second article I have read is a research on the success of distance and online learning that cannot exist without having good educator tutors who help learners and provide guidance, feedback, assessment, support and motivation. The collaborative study involving the Open University UK and Massey University, New Zealand was on distance language tutors and Hurd, Beaven and Ortega(2001) based on their experience in foreign language teaching at the Open University in the UK, argue that distance learners should have strategic competence and reflective approach. So the emphasis of the two articles is basically on the distance learners and on the distance tutors. 
http://alison.com/subjects/27/Languages 

Both the distance learners and the tutors should have certain characteristics in order to have a successful distance course and successful learners, because there are many challenges that face the learners and the educators.

Open Educational Resources

 

 

Open Educational Resources (OER) provide free access to different kinds of educational materials to all those who wants to use these materials. This movement started in 2001and it meets the needs of all those who are interested in knowledge. The most interesting aspect of this kind of learning is that users of OER share ideas and communicate with people who all have common interests in different parts of the world.

It meets the needs of twenty first century learners and educators who can have access to the information they are interested in whenever and wherever they want. The choice of the information depends on each individual. The learners can also talk to people around the world about their problems in a social context.

As an ESL teacher and as a student of a master’s degree program I totally support the idea of using the internet and especially EOR, because it makes my life easier. I seek knowledge and I always want to be updated to all the new methods and activities of teaching English as a foreign language, so searching on line helped me a lot in the past and it helps me now while I am doing my research projects at the TEFL program. Unfortunately I don’t have much time as before to search for new activities and methods, but I am using the internet in teaching and in my education as I said before. I really like the idea of blogging and the idea of using moodle as a medium of communication between our instructors and peers. I wish I had more time to check my blogs more often and be more active on line. Another important great educational resource for me as a student is the online library, Papazian library of the American University of Armenia which makes thousands of students lives easier.

OER have many advantages plus to the ones that I have personally experienced, when I have read the article I really had great ideas of how to use OER in teaching high school students and even graduate and undergraduate students. Here is a site for free robotic telescopes  (http://faulkes-telescope.com/). I really liked this project for astronomer students, that provides them training and where students and expert astronomers can work collaboratively. I this website you can find reports of small but meaningful contributions of student astronomers. The use of OER in higher education is not only in astronomy, history and science but it is also very effective in Arts, Humanities and in many other majors. We just need qualified teachers and educators with wide horizons to be able to apply the technology in classes.

 

 

MALL

OR

Mobile- Assisted Language Learning

How can we use mobile devices in ESL/EFL classes? Or how can we as ESL/EFL teachers use them in teaching? What are the mobile devices?

Mobiles mean all the devices that one can carry and use them easily. But how can we use these devices in teaching and learning?

I think the idea of using mobile devices like ipads, iphones, ipod, mp3 player and so many others is incredible, because students can use them inside and outside the classroom very practically and I personally experienced that with a group of learners who were tweeting every day for almost two months. They didn’t tweet only for the class but they even started to chat using English in everyday contexts. They were all excited and whenever I forget to check their tweets they ask me to do so to be sure of their correct use of English. I totally agree with the ideas of the article “Twenty ideas for using mobile phones in the language classroom” by Hayo Reinders that those devices facilitates authentic communication among the second language learners, and they practice their language anytime and anywhere.

Here are some examples of how to use those devices for different kinds of activities in EFL/ESL classes, students can take notes, do some short writing like text messaging, listening, speaking, voice chatting, reading, blogging, surfing, tweeting and many others. The only thing that I didn’t know before our class discussion was producing flashcards which I really liked.

Of course using MALL has its own negative sides depends on the age of the second language learners, because students might use the devices for other purposes rather than completing the task and specially the young learners and the teens. However, no one can deny the advantages of using the mobile devices in ESL teaching and their addition of fun and joy to the learning process while practicing.  

 

Second life

I liked the idea of using virtual world in teaching especially for teaching history, chemistry and science. Students can be in the virtual world and experience the incidents happened in the past and by experiencing and living in the virtual world they can learn by interacting in real world but the real world of the past, which is something can’t be in traditional history class.

I think we can use it in language teaching too, but I think after our class discussion I will have clearer view about how to use it in teaching a foreign language. I am not sure about how we can make sure that students are interacting with native speakers. If they can interact with native speakers that would be a great opportunity for them to learn the language in a very communicative environment which is something traditional classrooms cannot offer. I think that travelling abroad to learn a language is expensive and unpractical and not everyone can do it, so by using the virtual world learners will get the chance to travel to the country they want and use the target language in a meaningful environment. The article that I have read mentioned that the learners’ fluency has improved and they gained confidence. Malvern and Graham (2008) said that French foreign language exam in UK schools are graded on knowledge of only 1000 words in French. But the research claims that the users of the second life produce more than 2000 words which is something great but can learners develop a variety of vocabulary words? I am not sure; they may develop certain vocabulary words important for their interaction so I think all this will be clear after my discussion with peers and our instructor. I wish I can observe classes that these technologies are used in teaching so I have the chance to learn more about the use of technology in teaching English as a second language.  

 

  

Using video games in teaching

I am not sure whether the video games are good educational tools or not, may be because I have never seen a good educational video game yet, except a few ones I saw on edutopia videos. I agree that traditional schools and traditional ways of teaching should be abandoned, but having innovative schools does not mean teaching by video games. This could be by having experienced and creative teachers who love teaching and it can also be by having well equipped schools that help teachers use their creativity to help students become producers and explorers and not just consumers. For example, having science labs at schools help students experience what in the science book and I think it is more helpful than the video games. I remember myself when I was a junior high school student, every time I was looking forward for the lab classes where we used to dissect animals, go to the yard of the school to plant seeds and see different kinds of trees with their different stems and leaves, go to the rivers and forests to see their habitats. I think all this help students more and they enjoy their time while learning I do not like the idea of having students sit by a computer and play games for long hours. Some scientific topics might be taught by video games but not all, especially the ones that we can take students to the nature or real life settings where they can discover the world by themselves. I am one of the teachers who experienced the bad attitude of many young students at schools who were watching and playing this “pokemon” games. Students on recess were imitating the pokemon characters hitting each other kicking and fighting violently. I assure you that those students who were not playing video games but were reading books and playing sports were healthier and they had more balanced characters than those who were playing video games for hours. Those even did not know how to share classroom objects, they were not good in group works and pair works. I don’t agree that video games are the only tools that teach students problem solving skills. Puzzles, interactive games, playing in the sand in one corner of the school, taking students to field trips, having different jobs room where students can play with the objects of those jobs and being a shop keeper or a doctor help students more than playing a video game where there is no interaction with a being of his age. Many computer games took so many morals from our children and as educators we should be careful in choosing the proper video games where there is no racism or wars.   

ESL Teachers’ Video production

The hardest homework I have ever had! The words can’t express how frustrated and exhausted I am. I didn’t get the meaning of doing all these as a teacher. I am an ESL teacher and not a video producer, plus I am not interested at all in producing videos. My sister and I dedicated too much time to shoot and when we wanted to import the recordings from the cassette, it didn’t work simply because the cable and the computer device didn’t match. The computer device is more recent one, while the cable is a bit older although they both are from the same company. And because of this problem we used one of our earlier videos for the homework. And this is so discouraging. I really want to know what is the point of doing all this in a masters’ degree program of teaching English as a foreign language. I am here to learn about the effective ways of teaching English as a foreign language and to know the recent methods used around the world. And this video production is really time-consuming for me as a teacher, and I am sure I will never use it.

Plus why to produce a video if there are thousands of videos on line and if I couldn’t find a proper one for my class I can ask a video producer to do it. Almost all the technologies that Dr. Madyarov presented in the Technology class were great and can be used in teaching, but this one I do not think that it is a good idea for teachers to produce or ask their students to do. I prefer to spend hours looking for great activities for my students to let them interact meaningfully than spending days trying to be a video producer. I am sure even if I ask the students to produce a video they will not be able to do it. Plus not all the students might have all the good technological devices to complete the homework. Although the technical part was not that hard, but still I am against the idea of teachers producing videos. I can use my creativity in creating interesting activities for my students, where they even can use their own creativity to complete a task. And it is not necessary for my students or for me to be video producers or know all these information about the video production.  

Using Digital Videos

“ The ability to render one’s world as changeable and oneself as an agent able to direct that change is integrally linked to acts of self-representation through writing”. (As in Hull, 2003)

I agree with the idea that the definition of text must be changed and expand to have multiple forms of writing, for example the digital writing which is another way of communication is a great way to encourage students write, especially the ones who struggle with writing. I liked the idea of using digital videos in empowering students writing, which I think it does not just improve their writing but they also gain self-confidence, self-esteem and they can communicate in a positive environment. Studies in the area of multiliteracies show that students bring with them new skills to school which they don’t use in the classroom. So why don’t we use their interest in the digital media into the classroom setting, where they work with the technology to improve their academic achievement.   

Harste (2003) pointed out that “writing begins in voice. If you can get students to write what is on their minds, the rest may not take care of itself, but you will have come a long way toward creating a potentially great literacy program”. Students using digital videos will write to extended audience. And they may share their stories with their family members, friends and even on social communication media, which will encourage them write using the digital video. But students should develop critical media literacy skills to create their own meanings and design their own writing text which is so different from the traditional writing one. 

 

 

 

The use of wiki in EFl\ESL classrooms

Although wiki-based writing has a great educational potential, yet there are many reasons that make me as an EFL\ESL teacher hesitate to use it in my classroom. The idea of students having a shared document, where they can work collaboratively is great, but when students edit or make changes to each others’ paragraphs it may arise some problems especially with certain cultural background students. It is true that wiki-based writing enables learners collaborate on a shared text and make changes to that document, but they need instructional support in order to have a meaningful piece of writing and not end up having too many different paragraphs or stories as it happened with our group. Wiki-based writing requires increased coordination efforts, and students should focus on the completion of the text as one unity. It should be group work where students agree on what to do and how to do it. Coordination between the group members is optimal in wiki-based writing and the teacher should divide roles to each student, so the writing texts become a learning process and not a reason for competition. The role of the teacher is to engage students to work on the text as one unity in order to have a high text quality.

Although the results of the research that I have read showed that students started to write better texts and they improved their revision behavior, but I’m still not sure how it’s going to work in my EFL\ESL classrooms and whether it is useful or not. Because if the text didn’t end up as one coherent and meaningful piece of writing, I think it doesn’t worth of writing it. But if the teacher gives enough instructional support and divides the task on the group members and the students don’t have problems of someone else deleting what they wrote and editing it, it might work. 

 

Podcasting in ESl/EFL classrooms

It is a good idea to use podcasts in language teaching in general but I don’t think it is a good idea to use it in the classroom. Students can listen to podcasts and develop aural skills outside the classroom instead of reading. They can work on their listening and speaking skills when they are not in class by creating materials of their interests. And there are so many second language learners who are obsessed to develop their listening and speaking skills outside the classroom and sometimes it is hard to find a native speaker to practice the language.  So it will be a great opportunity for them to create audio and practice it meaningfully at home. Especially, not always the movies and talk shows on the TV are appropriate for the proficiency level of the second language learners and they cannot help them develop their second language.  But on the contrary it may cause some frustration and demotivation if they couldn’t understand due to the cultural differences. So podcasting can empower students by giving them opportunities to create and publish for a real audience and it also focuses on students’ oral and aural skills outside the classroom helping them to be better speakers and listeners. But all the activities written in the EsLEFl podcasting activities article, ESL teachers can do the same without using the podcasts. For example, students can role play while the teacher checks on them and podcasting could be as homework. I agree with Christofer Shamberg that kids now are consumers and creators of digital media and all these blogging and micro blogging can help students to be creative and learn how to use the technology effectively but I didn’t like the idea of using podcasts in the classroom. Even the research of the University of South Carolina by Lara Ducate and Lara Lomicka couldn’t prove any improvement in the ESL learners’ pronunciation after using the podcasts. It is true that the number of the students in the research was not enough and we cannot generalize the results but I still believe that it’s not a good idea to use it in the classroom. Podcasting could be used in English dominant schools in language lab classes and I think it would be perfect. Where the students practice meaningfully the form of the language for the whole session. But it is hard to use it in Language centers.

Using Blogging and micro blogging in ESL Classrooms

 

As an ESL teacher I would definitely like to implement both blogging and micro blogging in my teaching. Although I still have some technical concerns, but I liked the idea of blogging because it is different from other traditional types of writings and I think the young students will like it. Especially the ones who like using the technological devices and know how to use it. I think students will like the idea of using blogs in their language learning, because it will motivate them to write. Especially when they know that there are so many people who will see their blogs and read them. As will Richardson says students have real audience and the teacher is not the only one who will read their writing. By blogging students will communicate in more formal language, while by Twitter students will improve communicative skills in the target language but in more informal language. By twitting students can post short messages either on the computer or on their cell phones, which is easy for the students who have busy life. As it is mentioned in “Twitter and Language Learning: Training Communicative and Cultural Competence” communicative competence is consists of four components: grammatical, sociolingual, discourse, and strategic competence. By using twitter students can practice more informal language in order to express their ideas in friendlier environment. And it will help them handle communicative breakdowns by using a dictionary when they don’t know the meaning of a word in the target language. And this will help them improve their problem solving skills. In Twitter, students might interact with native speakers of English which will improve their English and their cultural awareness.

In my point of view, both blogging and micro blogging should be used as complementary to what has taught in the classroom and they shouldn’t be the only way of learning a language. They do provide language learners an authentic environment where learners practice the target language and by practicing I think the real learning happens. And it is great that by blogging or Twitting students can share their experiences and reflect on their classroom learning.

As an ESL/EFL teacher I would like to use Twitter and Blogging in my ESL/EFL classrooms. But I think there are two important aspects that any teacher must take in to consideration. The setting and the proficiency level of the learners. For example, if I am teaching in a language center I prefer to use twitter, because it is easier and less time consuming. While if I am teaching in an English dominant school I can ask students to write a summary of one of the Language Arts stories or write a reflection on that story by using the blogs. And instead of writing in their journals they will write in a more communicative place. While from learners of a language center I might ask to tweet short sentences once a day, of what they are doing in order to practice using the present continuous tense. 

 
 

Digital youth portrait

The best thing I liked in the stories of the children is to see how all these talented children are involved in the learning process. I especially liked Cameron the child who uses the green screen to make videos. He uses his love of technology in the learning process. And gives us a great example of how to use the students’ passion in order to motivate them to learn better. He helped his teacher to make the lesson more exciting and interesting and other students learned to use the green screen technology too. So the teacher is not the only one who teaches the learners but sometimes the students teach us too, so the learning goes both ways. All the stories taught me that these children have developed skills in “learning how to learn” by using their love and passion towards technology devices. And as a TEFL professional I realized that the learners learn better when they are interested in what they are learning. And they learn the best if the content relates to their own experiences, knowledge and interests. Another thing I realized is that learners have different styles and strategies and as TEFL professionals we must take that into consideration in developing our curriculum.

I think that the most amazing flattener is the Netscape. I liked the Netscape because it’s a great communication medium that made the Internet accessible to everyone. It creates a rich environment for learning especially the self-learning. For example the creation of the software and the internet millions of learners around the world had the opportunity to learn by themselves and even communicate to share their knowledge. So the Netscape really flattened the world by providing the education requirements of millions of learners all over the world.

The connection that I find between The Hole in the wall project and the other two sources is the use of Technology in educating the nations all over the world. The convergent of technology allowed so many countries to become part of the globalization. Another connection I find in them all is the self-learning of the learners by using the technology. And how to encourage the generations to develop nonstop learning process throughout their life time.