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What is technology? According to the
Merriam-Webster dictionary, it is the use of science to invent useful things or
to solve problems. It seems to be a pretty obvious definition, but people do
not usually think about how far we have come technologically-wise. A long time
ago, books were the newest technology invented by humankind, a means to
perpetuate knowledge. We may have far more complex technology nowadays, but the
objective is still the same: create, develop and, finally, pass long
knowledge. Very similarly, Education has also
had these same objectives. Undoubtedly,
education and technology have historically walked alongside aiming evolution,
and educators cannot help but accept that technology is much needed in
classrooms throughout the world in order to conform Education to what students’
needs. For the educators teaching English as a second language, technology
comes as an ally in the task of shifting the paradigm of Education from
content-based and grammatical to developing skills beyond language acquirement.
Using
technology in classrooms will make English language learning meaningful. As
known, language is better acquired when it has real use, when it is more than
just adding value to a curriculum. Isabella Villas-Boas (2014), when talking
about complexity theory, points out that language acquirement and development
are two different objectives. Nowadays, we do not want our students to simply
acquire language that will only be replicated inside the controlled environment
of a classroom. We want our students to be able to develop language, which
means that students should develop real language abilities in real time
(Villas-Boas, 2014). And what does technology have to do with that? Simply put,
the world individuals live in is a technological world. We do not only have
access to technology, we depend on it; whether it is a computer, a smart phone,
a kindle, or even the GPS in a car, we just cannot live without gadgets
anymore. Most people are really well adapted to at least computers and
smartphones, and it is hard to imagine life without them. Education is bound to
embrace this new world we are living in. In order to reach out to our students,
to develop language, we must use the (technological) world around us.
We do not want our students to just consume all the
world has given them, we want them to be a part of it, transforming it. As
Carla Arena (2014) points out, it is important that us teachers empower our
students with agency, and technology can be of great use to this endeavor. Once
again, we are not teaching language so that our students may just replicate the
knowledge absorbed in classroom. We need our students to be able to make real
use of what we are teaching them. We want them to be able to access
information, to look for what they need, to use the necessary tools to develop
and improve language. Moreover, we want them to produce not only language, but
knowledge. Hopefully, they will be a part of the change in this world.
Some might say that bringing technology into a
classroom is a difficult task, for not every teacher is a tech-literate.
Although that might seem a big obstacle, one should remember the difference
between language acquirement and development once again. In a language
development paradigm, teaching language is not a one-directional path, but a
bi-directional one (Villas-Boas, 2014). In this context, apart from us pouring
knowledge into our students' head, or maybe even learning from them, knowledge
will be produced alongside by both teachers and students. Of course some
planning is required, but most importantly we must be open to technology and
all that it has to teach us. After all, if we aim at empowering our students
with agency, we must be agents ourselves. Recognizing our limits and stretching
our boundaries is not such a hard task once you see the results. It may take
some work, but learning new technological skills will improve your classes in
many ways.
Education and, therefore, English
teaching have come a long way since traditional methods that only aim at
teaching students how to pronounce, write and understand this language, for now
it is understood that educating is about empowerment, agency and development of
numerous skills and abilities. It is really important that teachers evolve
their understanding of education, that we empower our students to participate
in this globalized world revolutionized by information and technology. The word
development is a key to this new era of language learning. As educators, we are
mediators, and we must mediate students' agency and language learning in a
meaningful way. It is clear that meaningfulness will not be reached if
technology is not a part of our daily work. Moreover, creating an appropriate
environment in the classroom, as suggested in this essay, will provide growth
for both teachers and students together. We may be able to put a price in
technology and its gadgets, but the possibilities created by them is priceless
to education.
References:
Arena, C (2014). O digital para uma
pedagogia do empoderamento e ação. http://carlaarena.com/pedagogia_do_empoderamento_e_acao/
Villas-Boas, I (2014). On language development and affordances.
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