Philosophy of Teaching with Technology

Philosophy of Teaching with Technology

Technology is a ubiquitous feature of our daily lives, more so now than ever before.  Teaching English in different contexts will require the use of technology in many and various ways.  Younger learners may be highly fluent with technology, and may expect to use it in the classroom.  Teaching English online through various different mediums is also becoming more popular.  On the other end of the spectrum, certain teaching environments may have limited or no access to computers or other technologies that could assist the language learning process.  Developing effective pedagogical practices will help teachers in both environments, and will help them develop sound activities incorporate technology for the purposes of language learning.

The most important consideration in combining technology with language learning is to ensure that the use of technology supports the language learning goals of any particular class.  Technology should never be incorporated simply for the "wow" factor, but should support language learning activities.  For instance, I have incorporated the use of mini-voice recorders in my Listening and Speaking classes.  Tasks have involved replaying and listening to students' own voices, analyzing their own speech for pronunciation or other language features, encouraging language output and production, and assessing general comprehensibility.  The tasks developed to support language learning goals should incorporate technology that also serves those goals.  Developing tasks for the sake of using new or trendy technologies is not justifiable.

The technology chosen should be relatively straightforward to learn and apply, both for the teacher and the learners.  As DuBravac (2013) states, "students should be able to focus on the language learning activities without having to troubleshoot the software" (p. 27).  It may be beneficial to choose software or technological applications that students are already familiar with and can negotiate with confidence, so that extra time is not spent teaching the technology, rather than the language.  However, teachers should not expect technology to work all the time, and must have a back-up plan to deal with breakdowns or snafus that are beyond the teacher's control.  Additionally, when using new software or applications, the teacher should carefully structure the instruction, and incorporate thorough scaffolding and practice for the technological tools being utilized. Teachers also need to "realize and communicate to students that technical problems are not a reflection of students' poor linguistic skills," (Hampel, 2006).  

The learners' needs and background should also be taken into consideration.  In teaching English for vocational purposes, students may need to develop not only knowledge of different technologies, but the language used to talk about them.  For instance, English learners hoping to work in secretarial positions will need to operate and discuss different computer applications than will English language learners studying to become air traffic controllers.  In English for Academic Purposes settings--or other programs where students advance through different levels of instruction--the technology used should be standardized as much as possible across the different levels of instruction so that students and teachers can focus on the language being learned, rather than on negotiating the technology.

When designing tasks and activities, teachers need to realize that the medium of communication will change the nature of the communication.  Task design should reflect this, and teachers may need to plan in extra time to discuss the pragmatics of communicating through new mediums.  Hampel points out that utilizing audio-conferencing tools without a visual component reduced the amount of communication and interaction between participants, as they could not rely on body language or other visual cues to determine when to take turns.  Teachers can set up rules or expectations for turn-taking in these situations, and enforce these with their students.  Teachers may also need training when using synchronous or asynchronous CMC to become effective conversational moderators and guide their students to effective output and production.  Students may also approach different mediums with different goals than their teachers.  For instance, students utilizing blogging tools may see the blog as a medium for self-expression, rather than as a medium to interact with their peers or negotiate meaning as their teachers intend.  When designing tasks, teachers need to take these things into account and adjust for them.

Different student and teacher populations will have different levels of familiarity and comfort with technology.  These need to be considered when designing tasks incorporating technology for language teaching purposes.  Both teachers and students need the proper training to utilize technology, but teachers also need training to understand how different mediums change communication, and for assessing which technological applications can be adapted for different educational purposes, or for teaching the different skills.  Finally, technology cannot replace good teaching practices, but should supplement them.