DO YOU THINK TECHNOLOGIES (e.g., VIDEOS, COMPUTERS, ETC. ) SHOULD PLAY A CENTRAL OR A PERIPHERAL ROLE IN SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING? WHY?

 

 Yes, I do. I think technologies in general have come to our lives to facilitate our teaching as well as   to help us as teachers to lead our students and make the learning process easier and funnier for them. Furthermore, the teaching process has become a bit less monotonous and boring for our students because they are nowadays more exposed to technology, which is such a great outcome when teachers do love what they feel.

Nowadays, students are more exposed to technology, so we should take advantage of such fact and use technology as a tool in order to make our teaching methods different and more interesting

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 I think using technology is truly useful and effective whenever we teachers develop any topic with any level of students. Nevertheless, using technology (radio, television, VCR, computers) has been revolutionary in the overall context of human interaction. For instance, there are some people who complain about the internet because they consider it is a bit of a waste to use it. In addition, there are some teachers who still complain about using technology because they might not be able to aim technology towards education. Such teachers do not see that technical capabilities may be implemented for pedagogical purposes of the second language teaching. 

Technologies should play a central role in second language teaching and learning because students need to feel motivated in every single class, so a teacher needs to use variety of activities and ways to teach in order that the students enjoy their learning process instead of getting bored. Technological resources such videos and podcasts are such an amazing aid for both teachers and students´ learning. I have noticed in my classes that when I have used such aids like the ones mentioned previously, my students have shown an active and positive attitude and they have been more willing to participate and get involved in every activity.

Also, on the Internet it is easier to find different practices for different levels as well as it is easier to find warm ups, songs, and games focused towards the learning process.

If teachers want to succeed in their classes, they should begin including new technology when planning their lessons. That surely will empower their classes and also will make them feel satisfied at the end of it. They will get awesome outcomes.

Don Knezek, the CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, compares education without technology to the medical profession without technology.
“If in 1970 you had knee surgery, you got a huge scar,” he says. “Now, if you have knee surgery you have two little dots.”
According to him, technology is helping teachers to expand beyond linear, text-based learning and to engage students who learn best in other ways. Its role in schools has evolved from a contained “computer class” into a versatile learning tool that could change how we demonstrate concepts, assign projects and assess progress.
Despite these opportunities, adoption of technology by schools is still anything but ubiquitous. Knezek says that U.S. schools are still asking if they should incorporate more technology, while other countries are asking how. But in the following eight areas, technology has shown its potential for improving education.


TECHNOLOGY IS SUCH AN ENORMOUS RESOURCE FOR IMPROVING OUR STUDENTS´ LEARNING AND OUR OWN TEACHING AND LEARNING.