The technology in modern classrooms. An experience before and after of knowing about TPACK.

   When we had to prepare the activities, we already had in mind the types of activities we wanted to use. Bearing in mind the connectivity in the institution, we considered only using the cell phone for students to do the tasks. They all could do both of them. One of the activities consisted of having students to watch a video and write what they saw. The other one requires students to match the written word with a picture. After preparing and presenting the activities, we were told about the framework of TPACK and there are some issues to analyse.

   First of all, TPACK is an innovative structure created by Punya Mishra and Matthew J. Koehler that aims to integrate technology in the classroom. We can combine technology and the content and pedagogy of our classrooms, as suggested in the picture above.  According to Mishra and Koehler (2009), TPACK should guide curriculum development and teacher education. In the picture, it is possible to identify the three overlaps that are necessary for effective teaching: Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Technological Content Knowledge and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge. “The interaction of these bodies of knowledge, both theoretically and in practice, produces the types of flexible knowledge needed to successfully integrate technology use into teaching.” (Mishra and Koehler, 2009)

  Teaching with technology is a demanding task nowadays considering the challenges that the new technologies presents to the educators. (Mishra and Koehler, 2009) As there are too many innovations and advances and not so much training about it, most teachers see something that they like or consider interesting and they automatically want to implement it in some lessons. Consequently, they forget about the content (Content Knowledge) and how to teach them according to the needs and abilities of the learners (Pedagogical Knowledge).

   Even though the activities were well selected for the level of the students, they were too short and perhaps too simple.  They did not present a challenge for the students. Moreover, the activities could have been completed without the use of the technology. Although we wanted to present something different, we could have thought more motivating and interesting activities.

References:

> Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education. Michigan State University.

Building a Samr ladder.

   According to Ruben Puentedura (2014) the samr model describes technology integration through four level defined as “Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition”. He separates these four forms into two groups. He considers Substitution and Augmentation as part of Enhancement, and Modification and Redefinition as part of a Transformation.

  The idea is to transform the learning experiences so that the result is a higher level of achievement from the part of the students.

First of all, he tries to explain that Substitution, considered the first stage of this process, is some kind the same way teachers generally work but by using computers. If we think about this, we can say that we followed this first process because we used a common activity but with cellphones.

   Secondly, the Augmentation stage adds some improvement, a more functional change to the old activities. So taking this into account we did not do a real improvement in the activities presented. It would be the same if we made the same activities in a sheet of paper. It might be needed more innovative exercises. As a third stage, Modification is mentioned as the one that allows you to significantly redesign the task.

Finally, Redefinition is when the technology implemented allows for the creation of new tasks that were previously inconceivable.

  We can conclude that the activities planned did not specifically follow these patterns, they were simple and could be done without the use of technology. Although the matching activity is not an innovative idea because it is something that students are accustomed to do, the video that showed the different parts of the house could have been recreated and reused in other ways in order to exploit it. Thinking in these four processes gives the idea to use technology to move beyond the traditional ways of teaching and not only implement it to be more “innovative”.

Reference: 
> Ruben R. Puentedura (2014) SAMR and TPCK: A Hands-On Approach to Classroom Practice. 

The inclusion of ICT in the English Classroom.

     Have you ever thought how much time do you spend with the cell phone, the computer or any other technological device? Imagine waste that same time for learning purposes. You may not agree with us but there is numerous ways of including the different technologies in a lesson.

     Nowadays, adolescents consume quite a lot of their spare time chatting with their friends, sharing photos and videos in the social medias, exhibiting their personal lives, relationships and interests. This means that they are aware of the technological environment and the various advances that this implies. (Prensky, 2001)

     The occasion we have in mind remotes to a year ago, when we observed a lesson in a second year of a state secondary school. Students spent most of the time using their cell phone and not paying attention to us. Later we realised that there was a problem of motivation and interest from both the students and the teacher. Another thing is that teachers in general are not well informed about how to innovate their lessons with the inclusion of technological tools in the English classroom.

Although we have always seen that technological resources are used for presenting new topics or revising contents that have been already taught (Prensky, (2001), in this video they are used for another purpose. Through this video, the teacher presents herself and gives a clear introduction of what are the goals for this particular course. Besides, it is explained how the course will be developed and the specific aims.

The emphasis here is on the use of both pedagogy and technology that can be seen together as part of a lesson plan.

    Something we cannot deny is the fact that the impact of Information Communications Technology (ICT) changes the teaching-learning processes. If we are prepared enough, we can take great advantages of this. (Dussel, Quevedo. 2010) Last but not least, students will become involved and engaged in the lesson with dynamic activities and tasks. The implementation of this will help students in the process of learning as they can use the devices to look for special information, extra material, or valuable sources for work. (Prensky, 2001)

Reference: 

> Dussel, I & Quevedo L.A. (2010) Educación y nuevas tecnologías: los desafíos pedagógicos ante el mundo digital. Argentina. Fundación Santillana
> Prensky, M. (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. MCB University Press.

Why teachers should design their own materials?

   

Key words when designing our own materials.

   Although many teachers prefer to use exclusively the coursebook in their lessons, nowadays we have access to a wonderful digital world in which we have the possibility to create our own material. As with everything, it may have advantages and disadvantages but it is crucial to understand how important designing material is.

    Designing materials gives the teacher the chance to contextualize their materials to the group and needs of students. By creating our own way of working, we can give out personal touch to our teaching. (Block, 1991) Students may feel more engaged and motivated if they think that we are interested in their lessons. What’s more, we do not only produce one skill at a time, integration is the key factor in order to give learners the opportunity to integrate all the skills. (Bell and Gower, 1998)

    It happened to us when we were in charge of a group of adolescents who used to work with copies from a book. We decided to try something different. We planned some activities based on a well-known song. They immediately engaged and got involved in the tasks. It was such a satisfying experience.

   Even though it could demand some time, the teacher should bear in mind that the materials may be authentic and attractive. (Harmer, 1998) Moreover, they should contain appropriate instructions with concise, clear and efficient steps for students to have better experiences. 

     What can be seen in the picture is a combination of key words and concepts that every educator should bear in mind when designing their own materials. Some of them have already been explained in this article. Every one of them should be given equal importance in order to engage and motivate students. 

   To conclude, we think that the designing of material is a crucial factor in terms of language learning as students are not motivated enough. The teacher needs to be aware of the difficulties of the students in order to offer various activities to enrich the learning experience.

Reference:

> Bell, J. & Gower, R. (1998) Materials Development in Language Teaching. (pp. 116-129). Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.

> Block, D. (1991) Some thoughts on DIY materials design. ELT journal, 211-217.

> Harmer, J. (1998) How to Teach English. Harlow, Essex. Pearson Educational Ltd.