Learning by Doing
As language instructors, everything we do on a daily basis has the potential of becoming a teaching tool. For example, when we hear a song, we think of how we can use the lyrics for language teaching. When we prepare foods, we think of teaching foreign language command forms to our students. Everything around us provides a context for a language learning opportunity. The same thing applies to our use of technology. Whenever we use technology in its various forms (emails, essay writing, podcast listening, chats, social interaction, spreadsheets, etc.) there is almost always a potential application to our language teaching. This, again, is a type of "context" for language teaching because we are taking the environment around us and using that to help students make associations and links.
The following video provides an example of a way to use a DocCam in language teaching, but the idea only came while using the item in class. As you watch the video, think of similar experiences that you might have had.
It is in the using of technology that we get new ideas on how to create teaching opportunities. That is to say, we are looking at our teaching in the context of the environment that surrounds us.
In the following video Vince shares his experience of using Google Docs to help his students work together on a joint writing project. Notice that he did not begin the activity with the idea, but he saw the students struggling with group dynamics and divided responsibilities. His awareness of Google Docs provided him with a new way to help the students organize their task and share responsibilities.
Vince shares how he got the idea of how to use Google Docs in a class on literary analysis.
Duration: 01:43
Access to Technology
In this next video clip a student laments that the access to these types of computers and online materials is limited to institutions (like the University of Texas) that have the resources available.
This is an excellent observation and question. Recently a graduate student from U.T.'s MA program in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese returned to Brazil to teach high school students in rural areas. Those students don't even have books, let alone high speed internet access. What do we do in these situations?
In these situations, teachers must see how technology is used in the society and mirror that for teaching purposes. Perhaps, as suggested in the previous video clip, applications like blogs could be an extension of the course, but couldn't be part of the in-class activities.