Twelve weeks have past and I am inspired by research articles of published academics and forum discussions with my peers. There is so much to take in, I do worry about forgetting it all! But before I do, let me summarise the key ideas that resonate most strongly with me:
“One of the fundamentals of language learning is real communication and new technologies can certainly facilitate this essential aspect through, for example, videoconferencing, and blogging”, says Joe Dale from his article in The Guardian. And it is my desire to embrace emerging digital trends that sees me participating in an MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching. But where does one start?
Good language lessons have a firm grounding in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theory: providing comprehensible input (Krashen, 1982), being aware of the student’s affective filter (Krashen, 1985) and creating a comfortable environment to encourage student’s to take risks in their language production, which leads to negotiation of meaning (Gass 1997). In this way, teaching methodology should be rooted in learning theory, as, “…any activity, without adequate pedagogical planning – technologically enhanced or not – will produce unsatisfactory results with students, even if it’s attractive from a multimedia point of view…” (Blake 2008: 11).
But not all of us are digital natives (Prensky 2001). It is important, therefore, not to make assumptions about the technical competence of our students, but to provide training and support for all. Indeed, the ability to select and match the appropriate tool to your learners engenders digital wisdom (Prensky 2008). And my ambition is to one day be contextually confident (Kessler & Plakans, 2008) with technology in the classroom and reach a higher stage of normalisation (Bax, 2003).
According to Dreyfus (2001) the (physical) presence of a teacher, or guide, is needed in order to become proficient in some skill. However, research has proven that an online presence can also provide the conditions by which a student learns. As well as being a model in terms of language input and output, “…we, as teachers, have a great power to instil negative or positive feelings in our students towards the subject matter” (Victoria, classmate, Week 9 Forum Post). In this way, it is important for teachers to make an anxiety-free learning experience their top priority.
From distance learning to using social media in the classroom, there are many ways technology may be innovatively integrated into learning environments. “Tools like blogs, wikis, media-sharing applications, and social networking sites can support and encourage informal conversation, dialogue, collaborative content generation and knowledge sharing…” (McLoughlin and Lee, 2008). Similarly, visually rich, 3D Virtual Worlds also have affordances for education: avatars lower inhibition by “…becoming access points in constructing affiliations, socializing, communicating and working through various selves” (Taylor, 2010) and providing an immersive experience around which people can connect together” (Warburton 2009).
Looking back, then, at the three priorities I outlined in one of my earlier posts, it’s clear that my time management could be improved. Otherwise, I am pleased with all that I have learnt so far. I am developing the ability to express my view while being concise and to the point (-ish). And I very much look forward to the challenges the next semester brings.
References
Bax, S. (2003) “CALL – past, present and future” System 31, 1, 13-28
Blake, R.J, (2008) Brave New Digital Classroom: Technology and Foreign Language Learning. 1st ed. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press
Dreyfus, H (2001) On The Internet London: Routledge
Gass, S. (1997) Input, Interaction and the Second Language Learner. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assosciates
Krashen, S. (1982) Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition, Oxford: Pergamon Press
Krashen, S. (1985) The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications, Longman
McLoughlin C. and Lee. M (2008) Future Learning Landscapes: Transforming Pedagogy through Social Software. Innovate, 4, 5.
Prensky, Marc (2001) ‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants’, On the Horizon 9, 5, MCB University Press
Prensky,M. (2008), From Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom
Taylor, T.L. (2010) Living Digitally: Embodiment in Virtual Worlds. In Schroeder (Ed) The Social Life of EAvatars: Presence and Interaction in Shared Virtual Environments. London: Springer-Verlag
Warburton, S. (2009). Second Life in higher education: Assessing the potential for and the barriers to deploying virtual worlds in learning and teaching, British Journal of Educational Technology. 40 (3), 414-426.