This chapter, like the others in this textbook calls for the integration of technology education in pre-service teachers’ content and pedagogical courses. It is suggested that if teachers can see the usefulness of technology integration they would be more likely to incorporate it into their instruction. Another suggestion that I found interesting was the statement that the more a reflective an educator was the more likely it was that he/she would consciously integrate technology. I can see these two statements working together. If an educator spends time in reflection and conversations on their craft, they would see what technology has to offer their instruction and their students and be willing to include integration in their plans. Like any of the other content chapters, however, lack of training still can be an impediment.
The author of this chapter related TPCK in Foreign Language instruction to the same in Science and Mathematics. Like Science there was agreement that technology should “be used for activities that would otherwise be impossible to accomplish.” Since World Language curriculum includes cultural knowledge and appreciation access to museums and art galleries, through virtual tours, is vital for students to truly understand their language studies. Like Mathematics there was agreement that thinking imaginatively about how technology can support teaching and learning was more important than focusing on what applications and tools should be used. Social networking environments were highlighted as environments that cultivate cultural literacy. A variety of tools were suggested from emailing to blogs and wikis. Findings show that students’ reading, writing, and conversational skills benefit from real-time networking tools. Additionally, audio files, online dictionaries, interpretation sites and digitized stories help students reach benchmarks. Also mentioned were hypertext and hypermedia applications that support vocabulary acquisition and retention.
My youngest daughter is currently studying for the U.S.Border Patrol examination. ITunes Podcasts have been extremely helpful as she prepares for the language portion of the exam. Repeatedly listening to words spoken with correct accents has been another web benefit that she has been able to take advantage of.
Computer- assisted language learning (CALL) is being studied to see how teaching and learning is impacted and can be improved. If foreign language teachers can view TPCK as a framework for instruction then technology integration won’t feel like an additional burden but will instead support teaching and learning.
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Your presentations were very interesting. Unfortunately, despite brain research, foreign language study was cut back in last year's budget cycle. Now grade 2 no longer is involved in any foreign language study. I will share the about site with my daughter as a way that she can support her Spanish learning for her border patrol exam. It's coming up soon.
ReplyDeleteI had never really thought about ASL as a language. Pretty sad. I can see how these resources would be great to access if a hearing impaired student was mainstreamed in the classroom. I also thought that some of the sites- especially the Dinner Table site would be supportive for cultural understanding.
Yeah, the dinner table site was pretty fascinating. It was a little on the heavy side in terms of the content and conversation, but I can see where a dinner table conversation could be made littler kid friendly by talking more about the food and the day-to-day event type stuff that we all talk about at our dinner tables. It's too bad that languages are cut when times are tough. I don't teach foreign language, but I do find our language teachers to be invaluable and super smart. They're amazing.
ReplyDeleteCindy,
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the Foreign Language cuts at the elementary school. I, too, did not think of ASL as a language, and I just learned about Deaf Tube through Hattie. Your daughter is lucky to have the Internet and the vast array of resources to help her learn Spanish for her Border Patrol test. I wish iPods would have been available when I was learning French! Thank you for your assistance in class—now I know two ways to change the display settings on a Mac. Also, thank you for introduction to Xtranormal. This is a software my students will find engaging.