What does technology in education means to me? by Rifka Cook

[Pages:1]What does technology in education means to me? by Rifka Cook Since 1997, in Venezuela, I started to work with technology in my teaching. My dissertation to obtain my degree as a Magister in Linguistics was "How using movies in Spanish class develop the main four skills of Spanish language: reading, writing, listening and speaking." After my dissertation, I got more and more involve in all the innovations that the technology offers in the education field. I was just fascinated by the tools that this new world offered me to be successful in my teaching, and I try to share this enthusiasm with my students and my colleagues.

Since I came to the USA, I continued with this love for the technology. Teaching a second language is not easy, especially if the group is a competitive one. As a teacher of foreign languages, I am always researching new ways to encourage my students to participate and develop a willingness to learn a new language without knowing they are learning it. This presentation plans to show how I used "Clickers" in Israel with different groups of students and teachers of foreign languages, such as: English, Spanish, Arabic and Hebrew. Also, in this presentation, I will answer the two main questions that showed up during these groups interactions: Does the clicker help me to develop the four principal language skills: read, write, listen and speak? What kind of questions do I need to give in order to find out if the students understand the song, movie, and written text I gave them to work with?

Six years ago, I learned about the new tool, the "Audience Response System" known also as "Clickers". Since then, I have tried to improve more and more my teaching and to share with colleagues my experiences, not only here in the States but also in Israel, as I did these past two quarters (winter and spring 2010). I use clickers in my Spanish classes, and in Israel I showed how you can use this system also in Hebrew.

By using clickers in class, I open the doors to motivate and engage the students in new knowledge, to help them to develop confidence and cultural understanding in the L2 Classroom while inspiring them to enter the new world they have in front by themselves and being ready to learn more beyond the classrooms walls. I try to finish each class by putting the students "at the bottom of a mountain", and let them know that I wanted them to climb it to the top, so they would be able to see the marvelous world that they have in front of their eyes. "Dear students, if you do not climb, or at least try to climb the mountain with all your soul and with all of your strengths, you will not be able to see the great things you can do and learn by yourself. Remember, I, the teacher, just put you at the beginning, it is your decision to continue on your own or not".

Having the opportunity to attend and present papers at several Turning Technologies User Conferences, I learn more and more about this great tool, which helps the students with the theoretical, grammar and cultural topics I teach. Some of the questions for which I use the clickers help my students to inquire and brainstorm, so that they can create new questions for their classmates.

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