Technology in the classroom

Technology in the Classroom

Integrating technologies into classrooms can be of great value to educators and students; especially in regard to learning about languages. However, the use of these techniques must overcome a wide range of obstacles to be overcome some limitations. Most of the modern technologies used in education can be relatively expensive and require that both the teachers as well as the students acquired additional skills to be proficient with developing systems. Furthermore, many educators are resistant to embracing new methods of class room education.

Some teachers are reluctant to developing these new technologies into their lesson plans. However, technology can be a valuable supplement to education and can allow students a range of different experience that they might not otherwise find. Furthermore, technology that is successful integrated into the classroom for language education can provide new opportunities to hear languages and experience different scenarios that the ordinary classroom setting. Not only can the use of technologies reduce some of the instructor's workload but also better prepare students to meet the challenges they will face in language development. The analysis will investigate different strategies that can help improve language development with the use of modern technologies.

Advantages of Technology in Education

The power of modern technology is has become so evident that the United Nations recently declared access to the internet a basic human right (Estes, 2011). Many countries around the world have already constructed or undergoing construction to provide broadband access to its populations. One of the most salient advantages to having access to broadband is that it allows individuals to participate in different learning opportunities that the internet provides. Although constructing the infrastructure only represents the initial phase of this platforms development, it shows both the importance of and the trajectory of the technology. The use of more technologically advanced classroom curriculums is becoming commonplace throughout the world.

There are special advantages embedded within technology that specifically apply to the language development educational experiences. The multimedia opportunities can often compliment a teacher's curriculum and offer the students new perspectives on different forms of information. This experience can be more dynamic than what textbooks can offer and students to experience different settings that provide insights to different cultural backgrounds. Whereas computer-assisted language learning (CALL) refers broadly to a wide range of applications (e.g., tutorials, drills, simulations, instructional games, tests, concordancers, etc.), network-based language teaching (NBLT) refers speci-cally to the pedagogical use of computers connected in either local or global networks, allowing one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many communication brought together with texts, media, and other speakers of the language (Kern, Waire, & Warschauer, 2008).

Many of these in computer enriched mediated contexts of student interaction can provide rich content and true-to-life language exchanges which are becoming more realistic all the time. Not only can students improve their listening ability with a wide variety of different voices, but also learn about the foreign culture in new ways. Grasping information through alternative channels can provide the students with a broader foundation of learning materials as well as foster information-sharing among students over great distances. In some situations, students can actually have a conversation with a speaker in a foreign country online through voice and video chat sessions. This type of communication can add a new dimension to the students educational experience.