5th January 2016

Post to your blog your ideas about your software choices in relation to your discipline area and which part of the curriculum you will focus on.

Teaching English to speakers of other languages is my discipline area.  I've just read Ch. 10 "Teaching & learning with technology in the foreign and second language instruction" in Roblyer & Doering (2014).  As they point out on page 325, the overall challenge for ESL (or ELL) teachers is to not only select the most appropriate technologies to use in the classroom, but also the most effective way to apply them to help address the needs of students from very diverse backgrounds, often with differing needs.  Teachers also need to take into account whether English is the second or third language for the learner and also the level of literacy in L1 (first language). 

There has been an explosion in online technologies in language learning over the last decade so there is quite a mine field to navigate when choosing which technolgies to focus on.  Professional development is essential to introduce teachers to relevant new technolgoical resources which are available and to show them how to use them properly and appropriately, this can be informal in collaboration with other teachers (which is most often the case) or in formal settings organised by the school or organisation, or training sessions / workshops delivered elsewhere.  Lack of funds and time are constraints, however, I think it is the responsbility of the school or organisation to allow teachers the time to undertake professional development and to pay for it, if necessary (e.g. by paying for a replacement teacher).  In my department I ensure some of the budget is spent on this, however the budget has been shrinking so it is becoming more and more difficult, therefore more often than not the onus is on teachers to seek out new technologies and learn how to use them in their own time.  Teachers teaching on the same level usually collaborate and show each other new technologies they have discovered, we often have informal workshops after class where teachers demonstrate a technology they have been using recently in class.

Following are some software choices I have chosen in relation to my discipline area.  These choices are applicable to the curriculum of the course Certificate III English for Further Study (EFS) which is an advanced English language course designed to prepare students to study in mainstream vocational courses, or at university. 

• Microsoft Word - essential to present written work, the spell check, thesaurus and tranlsation features are very useful to ESL students.  A requirement in the curriculum for EFS is to present a written report and essay in academic format, I think this is the best and most wide-spread word processing application.  Some time is spent in class learning how to use it.
• Google Translator (http://translate.google.com)  - this can be downloaded as an App on mobile devices, this is very handy as ESL students are constanly coming across new vocabulary, the electronic dictionaries students used to use were cumbersome and often inaccurate, while not fool-proof Google translator is a vast improvement and time saver.  In a monolingual Chinese classroom in my section the teacher has this App open and projected on a screen with the data projector so new vocabulary can be checked as a class activity, they also practice the pronunciation of new words as they come up.
• Prezi (www.prezi.com) - online presentation software, far more flexible and interactive than Microsoft Powerpoint.  A requirement in the curriculum for EFS is to give oral presentations and also to use presentation software.  Prezi provides great support to the students when delivering an oral presentation, they are familiar with the platform as the course is taught using this application.  Presentations in Prezi can be made public and access given to other users to comment etc., (rather like a blog).
• Google blogger (www.blogger.com) -  journal writing has always been an important component in English language learning, it is usually private between the student and the teacher so the student can feel free to express their feelings on a variety of topics and issues relevant to them.  Teachers correct spelling and grammar with a correction code and students re-write the entry with corrections.  This has proven to be an effective way for students to improve their writing skills, blogs are an electronic version of the hand-written journal and have some auto-correct features (such as spell check), however the teacher can still make notes with the correction code (inserting symbols to denote a missing word, or incorrect word order for example).  Specific blogs can also be set up for a unit of work so students can share information with each other (like in this course).