Using Technology for Increasing Students’ Engagement, Collaboration & Digital Literacy in the Foreign Language Classroom
Discuss with a partner: What effective technology-based tools do you use for increasing your students’ engagement, collaboration, interaction & multiple literacies in your classroom? Then, discuss with a partner the following quote.
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Technology will never replace great teachers, but technology in the hands of great teachers is transformational.
George Couros
Technology will never replace great teachers, but technology in the hands of great teachers is transformational.George Couros
Let’s begin with the end in mind. Backward design, right? To quote Professor Sonia Shiri, Middle East Language Programs Coordinator and Director of the Arabic Flagship Program at the University of Arizona, “We, teachers, want tools that empower learners to participate in communities of practice that require multiple literacies. We want tools to develop intercultural communicative competence (knowledge, attitudes and skills)”.
With that being said, let’s divide tools according to our goals.
Socrative has always been my favorite tool since 2015. I define Socrative as “a student response formative assessment system (SRFAS) that can be used for engagement, collaboration, effectiveness and increasing students’ Digital Literacy”.
It is also defined according to the Socrative website as “a student response system that empowers teachers to engage their classrooms through a series of educational exercises via smartphones, laptops, and tablets”.
Go to www.socrative.com (or download the app “Socrative Student”)
Click on (Student Login)
Room Name:
- MOHAMEDANSARY
- ANSARY401
Write your real name.
Answer the questions at your pace.
So, Socrative is a free tool for formative assessment as you can trace the development of your students throughout the semester or even the whole academic year. Simply put, Socrative can be used to check for understanding. It proves that educators can visualize their students’ understanding.
The following figures show a point of the students’ survey on the use of this tool.
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Why Socrative rather than any other tech tool? What are the Benefits / Pedagogical Implications?
I found out ten reasons why educators should use Socrative rather than any other tool.
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Let me conclude my thoughts and observations about Socrative with these testimonials from some of my students and colleagues who attended my previous workshops:
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One of the widely spread tools that can be used for increasing students’ engagement, interaction & digital literacy in and out of the classroom nowadays is the flexible, simple, diverse, engaging, global and free tool “Kahoot”. There is a very interactive Kahoot twitter account: @getkahoot . I recommend following it to be updated with new ideas and integrative free games from Kahoot. Thousands of Kahoots are available on https://twitter.com/GetKahoot for free. To my surprise, many students in my classes already know Kahoot and used it in their middle and high schools. You can also download your students’ reports as shown below and trace their development. The following figure is a report of one of my Kahoots in one of my workshops for k-16 educators.
My Kahoot Page
Many new features have been added recently to Kahoot such as “Jumble”. It proves to be interactive and engaging in the classroom. Also, with the challenge feature of the Kahoot App, Kahoots can be assigned as homework and for revision and reinforcement. Here is my full tutorial of how to create your own Jumbles on Kahoot. https://bit.ly/2MLHuwv and this is a link of my full tutorial of how to use Kahoot in the Arabic Language classrooms. https://bit.ly/2wGTy7k. Medium: Arabic.
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If you want to flip your classroom with videos, then nothing is better than EdPuzzle. It is an amazing tool that allows students to watch videos and engage with them as they watch and answer questions that check their comprehension. They cannot skip a question and keep watching. They have to answer to be able to continue. I consider this tool one of the top tech tools as it lets me save the time of the class for other activities instead of wasting the class time in watching. Also, students receive immediate feedback whether they are correct or not. If not, they have an explanation of why they are wrong. Therefore, EdPuzzle is a great enhancement tool for watching videos at home in an interactive way and for receiving immediate feedback. It is one of the best free assessment- centered tools that allow teachers to create very engaging videos. Teachers can embed open ended questions or multiple-choice questions. Finally, EdPuzzle is the best tool for a flipped learning that provides immediate feedback in an interactive and engaging environment.
A screenshot of our account.
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According to Wikipedia, Google Voice provides a U.S. telephone number, chosen by the user from available numbers in selected area codes, free of charge to each user account. Calls to this number are forwarded to telephone numbers that each user must configure in the account web portal. Teachers can use this bi-modal tool for developing their students’ speaking and texting. I always use this simple tool for the warm-up at the beginning of the class. I give my students a specific question and ask them to call my Google Voice number and leave me a voice message and then a text message in the target language.
Why do I ask my students to use Google Voice?
1- Our students should get trained to speak over the phone using the target language.
2- For a warm-up, Google voice saves time as all students leave me a voice message at the same time.
3- All students have an equal opportunity to speak and leave a voice message.
4- I listen to each and every one and text him/her back (when I have the time) in the target language commenting on his/her message.
5- I get notified by email when a student leaves a voice message. I can text him/her back using my Gmail account or my Google voice app on my phone.
6- Students are encouraged to speak on the sentence level/paragraph level as they are encouraged to use the whole 3 minutes of the voice message.
The benefits of using Google Voice in the classroom, I have come up with the following points:
This method is very interactive and engaging. It increases the students’ motivation. Students become connected with their teachers. Teachers trace the development of their students as all voice messages are saved on their Google accounts. (Formative Assessment). Students gain the role of participants in the community of practice (social network and friends that use this technology). Google Voice fosters students’ autonomy and agency.
As mentioned above, there are six convincing reasons to use Google Voice in your classes. But you might ask about the benefits of using this free tool. Let me mention five crystal clear points as a response to this question:
1- This method is very interactive and engaging. It increases the students’ motivation.
2- Students become connected with their teachers.
3- Teachers trace the development of their students as all voice messages are saved on their Google accounts.
4- Students gain the role of participants in the community of practice (social network and friends that use this technology).
5- Google Voice fasters students’ autonomy and agency.
With that being said, let me assign an activity for you. Create a Google Voice account for free. Invite your friends to leave you a message and text you. See how it works before trying it with your students.
Now, I want you to leave a voice message to my Google Voice number:
Introduce yourself and tell me what it means to be a Fulbrighter.
Voice Message Duration: 3 minutes Max.
424-256-6903
Without Formative Assessment it’s like teaching in the dark, right?
Formative assessment puts students at the center of learning.
It is about giving feedback to students. It helps us to decide where our students need to go and how to go there. We look into what’s inside our students’ brains and then we adjust our instructions. It helps students set goals and become engaged in learning. It allows students to practice and be corrected during the learning process without worrying about grades. To serve this purpose, the above-mentioned tools can help us achieve this goal.
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Top tech tools for integrating culture into the language classroom:
This is a huge project by the Berkeley Language Center, University of California. The language center defines this project as follows:
“As its name implies, the BLC Library of Foreign Language Film Clips (LFLFC) is a tagged, structured collection of clips from foreign language films.”
Here is another way the center defines the project: The Berkeley Language Center Library of Foreign Language Film Clips (BLCFLFC) is a collection of foreign film clips designed for instructional purpose. Instructors can select film clips, annotate, add comments and transcript, and then add the clips to the lesson. LFLFC currently holds 1715 films and 16,757 film clips. The collection includes films in 52 languages. Instructor can use keywords to find either individual clip or complete film.
Then, share your thoughts and observations with a partner.
Any self-reflections?
Can you Imagine? Films in 52 languages? All educators can use this huge cultural data base but first you have to apply for an account. Once you are approved, you can use this amazing free cultural resource. I rely on it for integrating culture in my classroom. Other tech tools such as YouTube and Vimeo can also serve the same purpose.
On the right-hand side, check the available languages so far.
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You can also try this new website:
Top tech tools for self-reflection, self-expression & creativity
This is a very interactive tool for engagement, interaction and collaboration in and out of the classroom. It gives students the chance to express themselves creatively with self-confidence as they can perform the task the teacher assigns at their pace. They can redo the recording if they are not happy with it. That’s why I always receive a very positive feedback about this web-based cloud software/ platform.
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Top Tech Tools for creating digital flashcards
Here is my last top tech tool that I would like to share with you. According to Wikipedia, “Quizlet is a mobile and web-based study application that allows students to study information via learning tools and games”. So, as you see, it is a memorization tool. It is the modern version of the paper flash cards. It is free but if you want to record your own flashcards and send them to your students, you should upgrade your membership.
Conclusion:
In this short presentation, I wanted to shed light on the top tech tools that I rely on in my classes on a daily basis. I encourage you to try them and you will notice in a short period of time how effective these tools are. They will change your vision and philosophy of how you teach and how you trace the development of your students in a very interactive and engaging way.
With my son Aly A. Ansary and President of the University of Arizona, Dr. Robert C. Robbins.
★☆★ Mohamed A. Ansary ★☆★
Lecturer of Arabic & ACTFL Certified OPI Tester
School of Middle Eastern & North African Studies
The University of Arizona
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