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Katie Vater- Teaching with Technology |
Home Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese |
Teaching with Technology PhilosophyAs a student of foreign language for many years, I have been exposed to a variety of different teaching styles. The bulk of those styles have not been principally focused on communication, but rather on learning language for its own sake. The language was not presented in class as a means to communicate, but rather saw communication as the way to achieve perfect grammar and form. It was easy to forget that this language was a living thing used by millions of people around the world to communicate with one another. Through the use of technology, students can, in a variety of different ways, better interact with their target language and see it in action. Technological developments in recent years have allowed both students and instructors access to new resources which can surely help enhance the learning experience if properly employed in the classroom. An immersion experience was key to my language learning because it helped me put the living language into perspective. Clearly, no classroom experience that we as instructors can provide for students can do that which an immersion experience does as they learn language. However, my goal as an instructor is to try as much as possible to recreate, in the small span of my class time with them, a kind of immersion environment with a strong focus on communication. Technology can help to create that experience. In classrooms equipped with the Internet, students and instructors can have rapid access to Spanish-speaking news and movie clips, songs, and other multi-media and hear the language used and spoken as it would be among native speakers, not altered for the classroom setting, providing them with more realistic input. I see the role of the instructor of foreign language as that of a guide. The instructor is there to provide students with the information and show them how to use it, but ultimately to let the students work with that language on their own. One way that the instructor can introduce the content of a lesson is through the use of Power Point. Images throughout the Power Point can help those students who are more visual learners link words with pictures in their minds. By linking a new term with an image, the instructor can prevent translation to the native language and provide a more direct learning experience. By having the slideshow prepared before arriving at the classroom, less of the instructor’s time must be spent writing on the chalkboard and more time can be spent directly communicating with students. Embedded links to the aforementioned Internet resources can also provide quick access to them during a lesson without having to waste time searching on the Internet. However, just as not all students respond well to traditional instruction, there may be some students in a classroom who do not work well with technology. It is also the goal of any instructor in a student-centered classroom to recognize different learning styles and work to accommodate the students. It is for this reason that that the technology that the instructor chooses to employ in his or her classroom must be adaptable, selected carefully, and used as a supplement to teaching rather than a crutch.
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The Pennsylvania State University. Copyright 2008. Email me: kjv125@psu.edu |