Putting together a technology
inventory for foreign language instruction definitely took a lot of team work
and collaboration. Our group consisted of four Italian majors, one Spanish
major, and one ESL/Linguistics major and as a result we came up with a lot of
diverse technologies. Though we found to have a couple repetitions here and
there, language specific technologies enabled us to find technologies that
would be beneficial in our respective disciplines. I feel that overall we
reached an authentic and collaborative posting to Google Spreadsheets due to
the fact that we each researched applicable technologies individually and then
posted them to the document.
Moreover,
when it comes to the final inventory that emerged I was very impressed to see
all of the technologies that were brought to the table. I have learned about
many different technologies that I will be able to use in my future classroom through
my own research and through that of others. Though some technologies are
specific to certain languages, they can be easily adopted for use in an Italian
class room that will enhance student learning. On the whole, I believe that
each technology mentioned has its own specific and influential use in the
classroom that stretches far beyond entertainment into a realm of effective
learning.
Furthermore,
the technology inventory can prove to be beneficial in other courses in which I
am enrolled this semester especially READ 411 and CURR 314. In READ 411, a
course in language and literacy, students are required to complete a tutorial
experience for eight to ten hours with a high school student from their respective
field. One stage of this tutorial requires carefully thought out lesson plans
and I believe that the technologies provided in this inventory will greatly
supplement the lesson plans that I will create while tutoring my student. Additionally,
the inventory will prove helpful in CURR 314, a course in learning assessments
due to the fact that many of the technologies listed can serve as either formal
or informal assessments. Examples include Wimba Voiceboards, Online Workbooks,
Email, Discussion Forums, Pronunciation Tools, Social Networking Sites, Blogs,
Prezi, Virtual Environments, Language Learning Programs, and countless others. Ultimately,
I feel that this project has proved to be quite beneficial and influential due
to the fact that I am now more aware of the many technologies available to me
and I have learned ways in which to apply them effectively in various circumstances.
I agree with you Sara! I learned a lot of new and interesting things for my future lesson plans! Its also really good to look at ideas from other languages. They often have great ideas that can be adapted to the Italian language. There are a lot more resources for Spanish than Italian. I learned a lot of helpful things from a past Spanish Professor that I plan to use in my future classroom!:)
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Sara and Emanuela because this inventory gave me many great ideas to use in the future. Gathering a collaborative inventory helps broaden my ideas and gives me an opportunity to think outside the box by looking at other peoples ideas.
DeleteSara, I agree with you that although our group had some technologies specific to certain languages, they definitely can be modified for use in Italian. For example, Juliana had posted in the spreadsheet that for students to study Spanish, she can utilize Spanish radio, tv, etc. This same concept can be applied in Italian through the use of the RAI tv station which talks about Italian news, etc. as well as listening to Italian radio stations online to help students learn.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to you being able to use these technologies in your READ 411 class , you are very lucky you can use them in your final project and throughout the class. For our class, it is not required for our student to be in HS or from our field of study so for me, these technologies wont work in the process but I wish they did because it would have been good to incorporate them into a lesson in the same way I would be doing if I was a teacher.