Week 2 started with Joe Dale’s article in The Guardian about langauges and education technology

One of the questions that is brought up in the article is how to keep up with the plethora of tools available today. It is easy to feel overwhelmed. Indeed, I’ve started a Popplet to note the tools we will primarily use throughout the duration of this course, just to keep track. My approach is to find a set of core apps or websites that satisfy my needs (one for video, one for audio, one for presentations etc.) and then swap them out when a new, better version is developed. Another idea is to sign up to a professional’s website/blog and follow their recommendations. The article mentions #MFLTwitterati, and, having circumvented Twitter up until now, I think it is the perfect time to join the club.

Please note that Twitter is blocked in China, and without a strong VPN, is basically inaccessible. This is something I have had to think about when wanting to make online materials available to my China-based students. Here, I use Youku instead of YouTube. And instead of Twitter, Weibo is the tool of choice. Such adjustments are necessary based on geo-political influences, and driven by the platform and users linguistic limitations.

I think that tools are only as good as the person operating them. So the teacher is key to making tools ‘work’. Indeed, I believe that is what I am doing now, my further education training. As I want to be abreast with the most modern of techniques and technology, I am pursuing this Masters course. It is my hope that this will enable me to deliver the most engaging and pedagogically-sound, technologically-enhanced language lessons. On the other hand, I actually think the humble chat that occurs spontaneously in the staffroom is the most powerful ‘tool’ for the free transfer of information relating to any aspect of teaching, for it is here that I have learnt the most.

Side note: I must admit to not having done much research into the use of digital technology beyond the language classroom. I am unsure to what extent it is being used with other school subjects, so want to look into that more in the future.

Are language teachers leading the way with education technology? | Teacher Network | The Guardian. 2014. Are language teachers leading the way with education technology? | Teacher Network | The Guardian. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/may/16/language-teachers-technology-social-media. [Accessed 05 October 2014].