I am posting a link to a cultural presentation that I made for a Portuguese class I am taking this semster to laud the power of technology. Of course, up until now, my blogs have all been written from the point of view of an foreign language instructor, but this presentation is my homage to the power of technology from the perspective of a student:
A cultura portuguesa
This presentation shows not only the power of authoring tools such as Microsoft Power Point, but the amazing power of the Google network (which includes blogger.com) since it is all edited and published through Google Docs. My only complaint: the online google version doesn't support the amazing font I chose when creating it with Power Point.
But yeah, technology rocks!!
31 January 2008
30 January 2008
The Language Lab disaster
Today was our first visit to the Language Lab in the Spanish II class that I am teaching, and (even before going) I was preparing myself to write a big fat blog complaint about what a disaster it was. As it turns out, however, I had my first fully successful experience, although I have to admit that for me, the Language Lab remains a touchy subject.
In general, even though it is intended to give the students real-life practice with the language, the Lab always ends up being a complete failure, and there are oodles of reasons why this happens: the audio doesn't work, the video doesn't work, the students don't work (i.e. they use the computers to visit facebook or myspace instead of actually trying to learn the language). The conjunto of all my previous experiences in the Lab have really made me think about how true it is that the use of technology must be grounded in sound theory and methodology in order to be effective in a language classroom, just like we read in the articles from this past week. But for me, a central issue surrounding the efficacy of technology--and the efficacy of any teaching method actually--is that it's clearly very difficult to translate theory into practice.
While in the Lab, I also started to reflect on how important it is that technology be in working order. Since we are dealing with tools that can most often not self-correct, we can involuntarily run into serious difficulties when those tools malfunction, because we are then left without a plan-B. For example, when the audio or video refuses to work in the Language Lab (as it SO often does), the students who are at the stations with the problems are essentially left out of the class activities and the attention of the instructor turns from guiding the class through a sequence of exercises to becoming Tech Support. So actually, even if activities are theoretically and pedagogically sound, it may be that they are completely ineffective due to complications with the technology itself.
Based on all of this, and after considering my past experiences with the Lab, it seems to me that the real issue at hand when talking about technology is not only how to use it effectively, but how to incorporate it into the classroom in a way that we aren't left empty-handed if it fails on us. We are after all, not dealing with artificial intelligence. Unlike what a few of the articles we read last week attempted to explain, I don't believe that we are trying to replace the instructor, rather that we are trying to enhance the cultural and linguistic experiences of the students, and unfortunately, if we're lacking either sound theory or sound technology, it becomes remarkably difficult to obtain that goal. And of course, if we are dealing with students who don't have the personal desire or motivation, well.....
That's another issue altogether.
In general, even though it is intended to give the students real-life practice with the language, the Lab always ends up being a complete failure, and there are oodles of reasons why this happens: the audio doesn't work, the video doesn't work, the students don't work (i.e. they use the computers to visit facebook or myspace instead of actually trying to learn the language). The conjunto of all my previous experiences in the Lab have really made me think about how true it is that the use of technology must be grounded in sound theory and methodology in order to be effective in a language classroom, just like we read in the articles from this past week. But for me, a central issue surrounding the efficacy of technology--and the efficacy of any teaching method actually--is that it's clearly very difficult to translate theory into practice.
While in the Lab, I also started to reflect on how important it is that technology be in working order. Since we are dealing with tools that can most often not self-correct, we can involuntarily run into serious difficulties when those tools malfunction, because we are then left without a plan-B. For example, when the audio or video refuses to work in the Language Lab (as it SO often does), the students who are at the stations with the problems are essentially left out of the class activities and the attention of the instructor turns from guiding the class through a sequence of exercises to becoming Tech Support. So actually, even if activities are theoretically and pedagogically sound, it may be that they are completely ineffective due to complications with the technology itself.
Based on all of this, and after considering my past experiences with the Lab, it seems to me that the real issue at hand when talking about technology is not only how to use it effectively, but how to incorporate it into the classroom in a way that we aren't left empty-handed if it fails on us. We are after all, not dealing with artificial intelligence. Unlike what a few of the articles we read last week attempted to explain, I don't believe that we are trying to replace the instructor, rather that we are trying to enhance the cultural and linguistic experiences of the students, and unfortunately, if we're lacking either sound theory or sound technology, it becomes remarkably difficult to obtain that goal. And of course, if we are dealing with students who don't have the personal desire or motivation, well.....
That's another issue altogether.
28 January 2008
Technology and Me
I'm Moniqua and I'm just now getting ready to finish my MA (and embark on the long road to a PhD) in Hispanic Linguistics. My main areas of interest are all in SLA, and specifically in the areas of pedagogy and bilingual education. I love teaching and I love learning about how to be a better teacher, so I have to admit that I'm pretty excited about this Technology class.
As far as my relationship with technology, I consider myself a pretty tech-savvy person. I have a full working knowledge of most technological tools, and I have worked in the past with programs ranging from IMovie to Photoshop to Dreamweaver, among many others. I can write and edit HTML (please visit my personal homepage), and I have basic scripting knowledge. I can use Power Point, and I'm not sure if it's the luddite in me or not, but I refuse to use it. I absolutely abhor Power Point, well, maybe I should say that I absolutely abhor the use of Power Point to avoid actually teaching. Right, that's better.
Although I consider myself to be well-rounded technologically, I have to admit that there are many things that I have yet to implement in the classroom. I often use the internet to bring cultural topics into the classroom (youtube, Storyplace Digital, etc.) but I find it difficult to effectively use technology in other ways. Cultural topics are so interesting to the students that it makes it easy to use technology. I guess in some ways I feel as if a Power Point or a video or a listening exercise will just give the students another excuse to zone out.
I am very interested in what I can learn in this class. I have many ideas on projects I would like to carry out and research I would like to conduct in this area, so I'm hoping that the articles and discussions can point me in the right direction. Please don't miss out on the poll question at the bottom of the page...I'm interested in seeing what the general opinion is.
Hasta la próxima....
As far as my relationship with technology, I consider myself a pretty tech-savvy person. I have a full working knowledge of most technological tools, and I have worked in the past with programs ranging from IMovie to Photoshop to Dreamweaver, among many others. I can write and edit HTML (please visit my personal homepage), and I have basic scripting knowledge. I can use Power Point, and I'm not sure if it's the luddite in me or not, but I refuse to use it. I absolutely abhor Power Point, well, maybe I should say that I absolutely abhor the use of Power Point to avoid actually teaching. Right, that's better.
Although I consider myself to be well-rounded technologically, I have to admit that there are many things that I have yet to implement in the classroom. I often use the internet to bring cultural topics into the classroom (youtube, Storyplace Digital, etc.) but I find it difficult to effectively use technology in other ways. Cultural topics are so interesting to the students that it makes it easy to use technology. I guess in some ways I feel as if a Power Point or a video or a listening exercise will just give the students another excuse to zone out.
I am very interested in what I can learn in this class. I have many ideas on projects I would like to carry out and research I would like to conduct in this area, so I'm hoping that the articles and discussions can point me in the right direction. Please don't miss out on the poll question at the bottom of the page...I'm interested in seeing what the general opinion is.
Hasta la próxima....
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