ict final written assignment

Coronel, Ángel Aplicaciones de la Informática Educativa a la Enseñanza del Inglés

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UNIVERSIDAD TECNOLO GICA NACIONAL

INSTITUTO NACIONAL SUPERIOR DEL PROFESORADO TÉCNICO

APLICACIONES DE LA INFORMÁTICA

EDUCATIVA A LA ENSEÑANZA DEL

INGLÉS

FINAL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

STUDENT: Coronel, Ángel

TEACHER: Ledesma, Paula

ACADEMIC YEAR: 2010


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ICT in English Teaching – Final Written Assignment

Mobile Technologies, Podcasting and Language Education

The teaching and learning of a foreign language has dramatically changed over

the last few years. It is commonly known that in the ELT field, the rapid growth

of the application of technology in the classroom seems to be unstoppable. This

commonly increasing new trend of teaching and learning appears to urge

teachers to become updated concerning ICT’s. It is the purpose of the present

essay to examine some of these new technologies, and discuss their

applications, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. To

achieve this, the basis for this work is Michael Tomas’ book: Handbook of

Research on Web 2.0 and Second Language Learning (Information Science

Reference, 2009). The new technologies to be presented here are to be found

on chapter XVIII, written by Hegelheimer, V. & O’ Bryan, A. These are: Mobile

technologies, Podcasting and Language Education.

The new tendency to teach and learn a foreign language described above

seems to be appealing to educators and students alike, due to its

characteristics, which are given by Hegelheimer & O’ Bryan (2009) in their

chapter of the book, such as: ease of use, rapid development opportunities,

interactivity and community-building (p. 332). Besides, the authors state that the

potential for mobile learning technologies is to reach students where they could

previously not be reached – outside the classroom (i.e. on the bus, while

shopping or working out) (p.345). For the readers to understand this better, a

definition of mobile technologies will be provided, so as to let all those who read

this work know what this essay will be about. Hegelheimer & O’ Bryan (2009)

define it as the term often given to hand held devices on which materials can be

accessed anytime, anywhere (p. 332). In order to narrow down the scope, the

above-cited authors also define Podcasting as the online publication of audio

and video files that users can download and subscribe to using a freely-

available podcasting program, such as iTunes (Apple, 2008) or Juice (The Juice

Team, 2005) (p. 332). With these two terms clearly defined, an in-depth

observation of them is what follows.


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Even though the increasing popularity and availability of the above-mentioned

new technologies in the classroom appears to bring about numerous

advantages at the moment of learning a foreign language, some drawbacks are

present, as well. One of these is provided by Hegelheimer & O’ Bryan (2009),

who say that since podcasts can be easily created and accessed by users with

little knowledge of Web publishing, they have the potential to challenge the

traditional role of “knowledge holder” that is typically held by a formal instructor,

and transform the way knowledge is shared (p.332). Another disadvantage

posed by the author is that, as language podcasts are so diverse, learners can

subscribe to podcasts featuring as little one word a day, thus leaving little room

for progress (p.333). One final negative point mentioned by the authors has to

do with the possession of Mp3 and Mp4 players by the students, since this

seems to be crucial at the moment of profiting from podcasts (p.342).

Disadvantageous as Podcasts may seem, Hegelheimer & O’ Bryan (2009)

propose ways in which to make the best of them. Taking into consideration the

above-mentioned drawbacks, what the authors suggest is the following: Since

podcasts are free and cater for learners at different language proficiency levels,

a good way to go about them is to train learners – and educators, as well – to

choose each podcast according to their needs (p. 337). The abundance of

podcasts seems to be positive, since language educators and learners use

them for a number of reasons, including self-study purposes, language test

preparation, and integrating them into a language learning program

(Hegelheimer & O’ Bryan, 2009, p.334). Another positive aspect posed by the

authors is connected with the varied majors, interests, goals, and the aims of

the course, which is to help students acquire and practice academic listening

strategies (e.g. note-taking skills, listening for organizational cues in lectures,

etc.) that will benefit them throughout their time in academia (p.336). Finally,

concerning the owning of Mp3 and Mp4 players, the authors say that students

can be trained in downloading the podcasts onto their computers, and simply

listening to them there (Hegelheimer & O’ Bryan, 2009, p.342).


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To conclude, as could be appreciated above, podcasts offer language learners

an opportunity to learn from traditional and non-traditional “teachers” and

interact with input on a variety of topics using different varieties of language

(e.g. dialects, registers) in a mobile format (Hegelheimer & O’ Bryan, 2009,

p.342). This could be seen as a way of transforming language learning, since

engaging learners in technologies they frequently use seems to be the key for

success. With this in mind, it is high time language educators changed their

mind as regards teaching a foreign language and started to immerse wholly into

the new trends (like the one presented here) to achieve successful language

learning.


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Works Cited

Tomas, M (2009): Handbook of Research on Web 2.0 and Second Language

Learning (pp. 331-349). Information Science Reference.


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THE FUTURE OF ICT’S IN THE CLASSROOM

After having been bombarded with so many new technological tools applicable

to educational settings over the last few years, I find it quite difficult to think of

what is to come next.

I must say that I agree with Sharma, P & Barrett, B (2007), who say in their

book Blended Learning: Using technology in and beyond the language

classroom that the number of computers, hand held devices and technologies in

general will continue to grow, schools will buy more electronic projectors, online

materials will proliferate, teachers will support their learner’s efforts with blogs

and wikis, and they also say that we can expect technologies to become

smaller, faster and cheaper (p.132).

Concerning what was just mentioned above, it is good to think that the impact of

technology in the classroom will have (if it is not doing so, already) such a

positive effect on teachers and learners. The questions of accessibility,

practicality and financial reachability seem to be crucial for this impact to be

effective, and I am positive this will be the case in the near future.

We must not forget that in order for this to happen, not only do we have to let

time go by until these new advances come to our lives, but we also need to start

training on how to go about them, and to keep up to date with what is to come.

If we, teachers, are able to do so, there is no doubt that technology will be here

to help us, teachers, as well as students, achieve effective learning.


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Works cited

Sharma, P. & Barrett, B. (2007). Blended Learning: Using Technology in and

beyond the Language Classroom. Macmillan