It is undoubtedly true that using technology as a supplementary source for teaching/helping students to better understand and practice what they have learned is helpful. There are many great reasons to use websites like Quia that give language learning exercises, and can even be paired up with textbook exercises! There are however some disadvantages to this supplementary learning site, some of which I have experienced myself.
Some of the types of learning exercises that websites offer are just like ones you would see in any language learning textbook. There are grammar exercises, vocabulary exercises, fill in the blanks, matching, etc. The problem that can tend to arise comes not so much with the exercises themselves, but with the self-grading that many of these websites come equipped with. Many of the websites will automatically correct what the student has done in the exercise, and although many people believe technology makes no mistakes, it doesn't allow for interpretation. The self-grading can be a great tool for exercises in which there is only one answer, however many activities, especially fill in the blanks, have more than one correct answer, and this is where the self-grading comes to be an issue.
From my own experiences and from observing other's, I have seen many times where these online websites have falsely graded an activity due to the fact that it does not allow for interpretation. An example of this, would be a grammatical exercise in which maybe the activity wants you to say an opposing sentence. For example, maybe the sentence will say something such as "Does she have a car?" As human beings, we know that there are many opposing sentences that one can create for this example, however many online websites have trouble with that concept. A student may answer "No, she has a motorcycle." If the exercise was expecting the answer to be "No, she has a bicycle.", it may mark the answer wrong and affect your grade. Although this seems like a very minor problem, for language learners, it not only affects their grades, but it is ingraining in their head that their very correct answer is wrong, and therefore directing them away from using a perfectly correct sentence.
An easy solution to this problem would be to just have the teacher grade the exercise and not go by the grade that the computer gives. Although this is a perfect and easy solution, many teachers do not understand the fact that the computer doesn't always grade fairly and therefore they rely solely on the websites to automatically grade the student's online work. This is where the problem arises. Teachers need to be aware that although technology is an excellent supplementary source for teaching foreign language, they cannot rely on it as the only source, and must always go over any "self-graded" work for themselves to check for any errors. As many people say in educational programs, "Teachers teach students not computer programs."
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Technology & Pedagogy
Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnTwojHiQN1OdHYzbWwzXzl5UFVVUEtpRk5zMGhVcEE&usp=sharing
I chose this particular lesson plan to work with because I really liked the idea that it involved so many different aspects! This lesson plan involves both the French language, and the French culture as well since it has to do with travel to Francophone countries. (French travel brochures, etc.) This lesson plan also includes the technology aspect as well since students will have to not only just research online to make the poster, but the poster they will make, is an online poster. This will allow them to work with the Internet, and also with brochure/poster making computer programs. The students will also be involved in video/audio listening/viewing for familiar words/phrases that they could use in their posters and presentations. I think that this lesson plan does a great job of filling in the gaps between the curriculum goals, teaching strategies and technology used. This lesson plan allowed for the teacher to have to teach the students vocabulary, as well as use technology as a supplementary source for the students to learn the essential vocab, and test their comprehension of it. As stated before, this lesson plan then allows the students to use the technology to present their online posters. The computer is essential to this project as the students need to watch/listen to videos online in order to learn more vocab and test their comprehension, and the computer is also needed for the oral part of the project which is the presentation.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Is Foreign Language Really Important?
We've all heard at one time or another the infamous "This is America, everyone should speak English." phrase. Or maybe you've even heard, "Everyone speaks English anyway." Often times in foreign language classrooms, students who do not show an interest in the subject will tend to say these types of statements in the classroom. I know in my high school Spanish class, I myself, was one of the biggest offenders of saying this time and time again! Going to Montclair, I was pretty upset that I had to take a foreign language, as I was a History major. I took French because all of the other classes I looked at were full. Montclair showed me something that my high school failed to do. Montclair showed me that foreign language was more important than I thought!
As I was going along with the two required semesters of French, I remember thinking to myself that this was a lot more interesting than my high school Spanish class, but still useless! I remember doing elementary level projects on Parisian landmarks which actually peaked my interest as I liked history, and France definitely has a colorful one! As my language skills in French progressed, I became more interested in actually trying to learn the language, and to this very day I cant figure out why it happened at Montclair and not at my high school, but what I do know is, I quickly learned that foreign language is more important than I thought!
Contrary to what many people may believe, foreign language education is way more than just learning how to say "Bonjour" or "Adios!" Let's look at our own language. For those of us native English speakers, many would say that although they can fluently speak the language, they don't understand how grammar works the way it does. Some of us even confuse parts of speech, and don't a pronoun from an adverb. By learning a foreign language, you have to start with the basics! By doing this, you are inevitably re-teaching yourself grammar! Although the grammar is in a foreign language, it is an excellent review for students to remind them of what pronouns, adverbs, and adjectives are, thus improving their grammar and sentence structure skills in English! Another benefit from learning a foreign language is for the cultural aspect. In a language class, often times the cultures of the countries that speak the languages are taught, as they should be! I learned so much from all the "elementary level" projects I described earlier! Although the projects were very easy, I had learned about different buildings I had never even heard of. Learning a language provides us with the opportunity to learn about different hand gestures, and norms of the people of the countries touched by the language! Learning about world culture is a great way to open up one's mind and even reduce stereotyping and racism! For those who cannot afford to travel to different countries and experience different cultures, foreign language classes are a great way for students to learn about world cultures.
As a future teacher, I am ready to share my own personal language learning stories with my students who may have the same preconceived ideas that I had about foreign language. I want to be able to show them that I was once in their place too, and thought that foreign language was a waste of time. I want to show them that I can relate to them, so that when I tell them why foreign language is in fact important, they will take my words more seriously than from someone who may just come off as overly passionate about their subject area. I want to SHOW them why I became so passionate about foreign language.
As I was going along with the two required semesters of French, I remember thinking to myself that this was a lot more interesting than my high school Spanish class, but still useless! I remember doing elementary level projects on Parisian landmarks which actually peaked my interest as I liked history, and France definitely has a colorful one! As my language skills in French progressed, I became more interested in actually trying to learn the language, and to this very day I cant figure out why it happened at Montclair and not at my high school, but what I do know is, I quickly learned that foreign language is more important than I thought!
Contrary to what many people may believe, foreign language education is way more than just learning how to say "Bonjour" or "Adios!" Let's look at our own language. For those of us native English speakers, many would say that although they can fluently speak the language, they don't understand how grammar works the way it does. Some of us even confuse parts of speech, and don't a pronoun from an adverb. By learning a foreign language, you have to start with the basics! By doing this, you are inevitably re-teaching yourself grammar! Although the grammar is in a foreign language, it is an excellent review for students to remind them of what pronouns, adverbs, and adjectives are, thus improving their grammar and sentence structure skills in English! Another benefit from learning a foreign language is for the cultural aspect. In a language class, often times the cultures of the countries that speak the languages are taught, as they should be! I learned so much from all the "elementary level" projects I described earlier! Although the projects were very easy, I had learned about different buildings I had never even heard of. Learning a language provides us with the opportunity to learn about different hand gestures, and norms of the people of the countries touched by the language! Learning about world culture is a great way to open up one's mind and even reduce stereotyping and racism! For those who cannot afford to travel to different countries and experience different cultures, foreign language classes are a great way for students to learn about world cultures.
As a future teacher, I am ready to share my own personal language learning stories with my students who may have the same preconceived ideas that I had about foreign language. I want to be able to show them that I was once in their place too, and thought that foreign language was a waste of time. I want to show them that I can relate to them, so that when I tell them why foreign language is in fact important, they will take my words more seriously than from someone who may just come off as overly passionate about their subject area. I want to SHOW them why I became so passionate about foreign language.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
History of Teaching in French Language
The technology of language labs open up a new world for language learners to practice both their listening and speaking skills in a foreign tongue.
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