Technology at the service of Language, Culture and Teaching

Hi guys!

This week I want to share with you a topic that is too much related to us.

The use of the Internet and other emerging technologies in language teaching offers teachers a very effective tool to reach the modern student population by communicating with their language, the digital language.

Technology can relieve students' anxiety and adapt their learning style to authentic online materials. Why?

Modern technology has the power to produce authentic materials of languages ​​and cultures that are immediately accessible to students in the classroom. The use of technology can also play an important role in stimulating the acquisition of the second language because students electronically increase contact with the vast choice of authentic materials existing on the various websites on the web. Learning with digital sounds that the Internet incorporates can facilitate the acquisition of a foreign language and a foreign culture through listening and visual activity. Language teaching affects students' learning, but also their subconscious acquisition of the language and passive learning of language and culture. Passive learning is acquired mainly through listening, but also through vision.

Thus the conscious and more proactive cognitive effort of the student encourages him to strategically evaluate and distribute his own learning methods in a deliberate way and choosing what the student likes, then material according to his own tastes.

I want to emphasize that principals and administrators who come into the classroom to evaluate teachers want to see students active and engaged in their learning. The implementation of active learning techniques creates opportunities for students to show and exploit their talents along with their different learning styles. Indeed, deeper learning occurs when it is social, active, contextual, engaging for the learner. Such learning maximizes knowledge of one's skills and results in an understanding of authentic material digitally. Visual, auditory and tactile (manipulative) method.

Usually, and almost always, vocabulary in English language textbooks is often presented as a list of words to be memorized and used in the context of grammar exercises. Websites with their active links, with images, sounds and texts, are very interactive and consequently more engaging in active and passive learning. Online technologies can be used as powerful tools for language and culture education because with their integrated communication tools such as email, chat and group discussions you can create effective learning environments making learning more social and enjoyable, involving students in direct experiences. Therefore, the Internet is a very useful tool for teaching the language and the cultural contents of the language by involving students with authentic materials within the reach of a simple "click".

In addition, the technology allows students to engage in activities that require higher-order skills such as analysis, synthesis, evaluation and application by fostering self-reflection, self-evaluation, collaboration and problem-solving. group. In addition, students are able to control and own their learning.

Thank you for your time!🎯🤞Ⓜ

Chicken coop classes and old technologies: the problems of the school today.

 Hi!

I hope you are doing well.

First I want to say a few words about one of this week presentations.

This was another week full of emotions. Two of my friends had their presentation,.Elona and Redjona.  They had done a great job and they were great teachers considering even the fact that both of them had internet connection problems. However, they made it.

This week I want to share with you an interesting topic, online classes .

The schools of tomorrow? They are online schools.

The Albanian school today for many is a bit in crisis and consequently in recent years it has not been able to produce students who are actually prepared for the university or for the world of work. There are those who blame today's youth, technology and the lack of pulse on the part of their parents, but the reality according to experts is quite different. Students today, it is proven, are on the internet and on new technologies, while teachers can be said to snub the whole digital world, at least for what concerns the teachings. A real shame because it could instead be the right key to communicate with the new youth and to give new hope to the school of the future.

Today's children, from an early age, are grappling with the world of information technology and digital technologies. Even if learning through these channels up to ten years ago seemed impossible, today it is a reality and teachers should probably update themselves. In short, the digital revolution can no longer be ignored and is also supported by government officials .

Online schools: the schools of the future.

In light of what has been said, it is easy to understand, on the contrary, how natural the success of telematic schools is today. Even if it may seem difficult, impossible, tiring to some to think of attending a school via the web, to the new generations this does not seem so at all. Indeed, in many cases online school is just the right solution for some kids. Where there are socialization difficulties, health problems, sporting commitments, this solution becomes even indispensable. Necessity due to impediment or desire to start a school that looks to the future, it does not matter: what matters is to train and obtain valid results, recognized as those that the telematic or online school is giving.

Technological innovation and school renewal are necessary if we want to deliver a good school to future generations, who will have to compete with a Europe where, on the other hand, many are already being trained on the internet. Training in telematic schools is innovative above all because it deals with schools sewn like a tailored suit on the student. The ringing of the bell, the division by classes, the numerous votes throughout the year without making heads or tails out of it , are something out of date.

Online school overcomes the problems of today's school

Thanks to the online school it is possible to overcome problems that today are very burdensome in the traditional school. First of all, the bitter problem of the chicken coop classes. The student finds his own schedules, based on his needs or simply based on his productivity and level of attention. Of course, to self-manage it takes organizational spirit and a great desire to do, but usually these are skills that are not lacking in those who enroll in online schools and, in any case, also in normal traditional schools.

The home environment and the tranquility of teaching that follows the rhythms of one's learning skills do the rest. In no "classical" school can this be said. If you already know a part of the teaching you are not forced to dwell on it, but if there are difficulties, things are re-explained and repeated without any problem. The school's goal is not just to provide information, but to prepare students to pass exams: a big difference.

I Hope  you enjoy my post.

See you next week. Ⓜ😊

Did I do well?

Hi, again my fellows!

This is has been an intensive week for me because I presented my project. 

Well, I still have mixed feelings when I mention the presentation day. I don't want to scare no one but that day the chances to get nervous are high.

Basically, I put the technological knowledge into practice.  

However, it is more than that. It is a real teaching experience. 

And despite the fact I was nervous, it was a great feeling to be in the position of a teacher. You get so involved and you don't think about anything else. 

There was just me and the students. 

Now let me reflect a bit on the multimedia elements I used in my presentation.

I taught you the listening skill and of course, multimedia is the best thing to help teachers to cover this lesson. 

As our subject is on how to apply multimedia technology in second language teaching, I will show you the way how I put this theory into practice. To be honest, it took me a while to think in details about that, but I think in the end it was worth the time.

First of all, I started with the interactive Powerpoint and I tried to make use of many features of interactive PowerPoint by applying many of them. 

Secondly, I made use of an audio recording since it was a listening lesson plan. And even though it looked like it had technical problems, its speed was on purpose to make things a little bit harder for students.

Another element or medium I used was Quizlet. Quizlet is a helpful mean to explain vocabulary and have students to study new words after the lesson.

The last but not least, I have used ProProfs. With ProProfs I created the exercises and it is an easy medium to use by me and by my students as well.

In my opinion, this app helps you a lot if you want to make your own exercises without taking them by someone else.

To sum up, all these media helped me with my first lesson, and as the weeks pass there are everyday new technological elements that we encounter by our friends' presentations, which can be used in our future classes or in other presentations. By posting our own technological sources we can help each other in getting a clear idea of what other ones to use, do not hesitate to do that.

Thank you for reading it, I hope it was useful. 😊Ⓜ

Toward the End...

 Reflection....

Hello! Welcome again.

Dear fellows, we are going toward the end of our journey in this subject.

The upcoming weeks are the final steps to achieve our main goals. 

Almost after one week,  is my turn to present or deliver that lesson we have as our final project. 

Of course, we are working on that, I mean my partner and me, but we are a little bit confused about some things. Since we have to teach listening skills to our "students" we are having some difficulties finding some interesting games. We have already created the exercises and we are also working on the interactive Powerpoint. 

I am enjoying the time while I am working on this project, but I don't know why I am feeling worried. 

Maybe it is because I think that together with my colleague we are not going to perform well and this will be reflected in our final grade. Let's face it, we are all worried about our final mark.

My colleagues will be my students in this case, and I find this a little bit strange because they will have to put themselves in the role of 8th-grade pupils. Besides, they have a kind of a central role, they should be attentive and cooperative all the time. I really hope, I will have their support. They as will assess my work as well, and I am not worried about this, they will only do their job. 

However, let's take only the positive side of all this experience. It will serve me, in fact, all of us as an experience in teaching and under abnormal circumstances. So we are preparing to teach not only in a physical class but also in an online class. 

"IT IS GOOD TO HAVE AN END TO JOURNEY TOWARD

BUT  IT IS THE JOURNEY THAT MATTERS IN THE END" 

ERNEST HEMINGWAY!

Apps and Programs used to create a Project

 Hiii Again

It seems like we are meeting everyday through these blog posts.

This week topic is almost the same as that of the last week, apps or programs that we can use to create a project.

I am going to start with BookWidget.com.

I found this website very fantastic regarding the creation of WebQuest and different exercises. 

With BookWidgets, we can make over 40 different types of exercises, right inside the familiar Google Classroom environment or stand-alone. Whether it's small exercises to supplement a textbook, complete lessons or elaborate WebQuests, with BookWidgets we finally have the tools you need to provide a tailored learning experience. Combine sources, text, video, quizzes and interactive widgets to let students learn and practice at their own pace. Track the work and evolution of your students over time. Student work is automatically graded, but we can, of course, override where needed, for instance, to account for dyslexic students. When you're done, you return the graded work, including your feedback with a click. The grades automatically make their way into the grade book.

How does it actually work?

When you first log in to BookWidgets you’ll be taken to your home page where you can quickly access any of the widgets (aka pieces of interactive content) you’ve created to send out to your students.  One of the things I love about BookWidgets is that you’ll find well-crafted support videos built into every section of the app, so if you run into any trouble with anything, there’s always a short video to help you along.

After you select the widget you want to use you’ll be walked through a series of prompts that will help you construct the widget.  Everything is incredibly straightforward and easy to understand.  There’s no coding or programming of any kind, which is often the case for the creation of interactive content.  It’s nice to see how simple the BookWidgets team has made this process so that any teacher, regardless of their comfort level, could create widgets in a relatively short amount of time for their students.

Once you’ve finished creating your Widget, you can send it out to your students with a link (similar to a YouTube video) which you can also share through an LMS or social media.

Students who receive the link will be able to complete the activity, regardless of the type of device they’re using.  You can also choose to share the link with other teachers so that they can customize or reuse the widget that you’ve created, which is an excellent feature.

On one side, I really like that students don’t have to have accounts to submit anything.  On the other side, I think this style of submission opens the door for some classroom management issues to consider.  One nice thing is that the teacher can “hardwire” their email into the widget, so students won’t have to worry about typing it in every time. Teachers can also “hardwire” student information so students can select their information from a dropdown list. Coming later this year, BookWidgets will also be adding the option for student accounts as well, just in case you would like to go with that option.

After students submit their work, you’ll be able to see a breakdown of everything they’ve done.  If it’s an activity where you’ve defined correct answers (e.g. a quiz) you’ll be able to see detailed analytics on student performance as well.

 In the end, BookWidgets is an excellent service for any teacher or curriculum developer that wants to create interactive content in an enormous variety of formats.  The system is easy to use, the widgets can be completed on tablet, Chromebook, or PC, and you can get detailed analytics on student performance.

Knomadix is another interactive platform that teachers can use.

Knomadix can be used for all core content delivery or as a supplement for specific grade levels and subject areas.

The Knomadix platform offers teachers the following features: 

• design and develop custom, interactive content that models smart worksheets, a geometry tool box, smart flashcards, smart diagramming and mapping exercises, interactive language aids and learning activities, and smart multimedia assessments.  
• gives teachers the ability to distribute a learning activity to a group of students or individual students. 
• provides multiple mobile apps that allow students to receive the content distributed by the teacher and consume the content inside Knomadix mobile apps. 
• captures several pieces of data from the student interaction, which includes both final assessment data as well as intermediate process steps, and stores it for further aggregation and reporting. 
• provides teachers with easy-to-use reports and tools to provide an evaluation of student progress and early intervention. 
  

Bookry

Bookry is a complimentary service for iBooks Author that lets you add amazing widgets to your books and interact with readers.

As an author you can benefit from other great features like free templates, widget analytics and push updates. As a reader, you have easy access to all the data you’ve entered into your multi-touch interactive books.

You must create an account to use their widgets. You can use all of their widgets for free but the widgets will be branded with the Bookry logo. If you want to remove it there is a cost to do so. They also are an educational option too.

They have a number of nice widgets in their collection and promise to add more regularly. There are a few that I know will be useful for educators.

For example the Interactive Timeline, a Scientific and BMI Calculator, YouTube and Vimeo video embedders, Word Search, Google Maps, Sketchpad, Match and Slider Puzzle games and more.

The widgets are pretty simple to download and use. You must create a book on their site to hold your widgets. The widgets will be downloaded to that book.  If you want to use the widget a number of times. You will have to download that widget and format for each occurrence in the book. All your widgets for your project will be stored there.  If you change/update something in your widget, it will make that change in your book where ever it is.  

To sum up,all these are pretty cool platforms. However, BookWidgets is what I like most. 

Thankssss

Technology Tools for Students To Know

 Welcome Again 

Today I am going to address two other issues regarding technology in education.

1. What technology tools are important for your students to know how to use?

2. What technology tools will best enhance your students project work and presentation?

Until now, we have learned and talked about the technology tools that teachers can use to enhance teaching. Students must know how to use these tools too, otherwise, the teaching and learning process would be incomplete.  

There are many interesting tools that students can make use of depending on what they might need. 

Nowadays teenagers but not only are surrounded by technology, they know how to use different apps and tools. However, it is important that they know how to use tools that serve the learning process. 

1. What technology tools are important for your students to know how to use?

Undoubtedly all the learning tools are important and very useful. However, I will distinguish some of them only.

Blog

A blog is a personal online journal that is again and again updated and intended to share with others. Blogs inspire students to clearly express their ideas. Most blogs also have a commenting feature, so that people can respond to one another's thoughts. Blogs also address the need to increase and expand various aspects of social learning. From my point of view, blogs are an effective means of gaining insight into students' activities and provide a way to share the knowledge and materials collected.

Wikis

Another tool is Wikis. I like Wikis for a couple of reasons. 

Technical skills involved in the use of wikis are low and most teachers have no difficulty in using the wiki platform.  With only a few steps, it is easy to create wiki pages. Regarding content organization, the wiki task helps develop their organizational skills. Besides, wikis facilitate collaborative learning.

Google Drive

Google Drive is simply a cloud-based storage option that gives us the ability to keep our photos, emails, and other files on their server.

But having extra storage is just the beginning.

Google Drive also comes with a suite of office tools :

Docs  Google’s word processor comparable to Microsoft Word

Sheets, Google’s version of Excel

Slides, the Google answer to PowerPoint

We can even share these documents and make edits in real-time so collaborating between teachers and students has never been easier.

2. What technology tools will best enhance your students' project work and presentation of the results?

I want to mention and highlight Prezi.

Prezi can be compared to Powerpoint, but the later is considered to be a little bit outdated.

Prezi is more appropriate for young people, students in our case. 

• Prezi presentation has zoom in and zoom out function which is very easy to navigate. If you are discussing a particular topic, simply zoom in your canvas with the information that you want to give emphasis.

• It is quick and easy to insert images, audio, and video. Photos can be inserted at any angle you desired. Users can zoom, rotate, resize, or edit a certain object.

• Presentations can be embedded into a webpage or blog.

• It allows user to customize their design pages by making them look like a real newspaper or a magazine article.

• Since it is a web-based software, working in any computer with an internet connection and Flash is easy.

• It is compatible with almost all web browsers and modern computers.

• It contains frames that allow users to group multiple presentation media into a single presentation.  

 As for the other tools their usage depends on the type of project and topic. 

Now  I want to share with you another website, that I find very useful and interesting for teachers. Below you will find the link to it as well.

BookWidgets

BookWidgets allows teachers to create a ton of different types of interactive content. Examples of each type of widget are available to use as a template to start out, and a tutorial walks you through the steps. There are 40 different widgets you can create that can be shared through a link, a QR code, an email, and Google Classroom. Simple assessments you can integrate include exit slips, quizzes, and worksheets. Kids can practice and review skills with flashcards, puzzles, or games such as hangman or bingo. Create a blended/flipped learning approach with personalized materials that can be easily assigned through your Google Classroom. When creating quizzes, select from over 30 types of questions for all content areas. Include answers in the setup so that quizzes can be self-grading and students can gain instant feedback. Differentiate digitally by creating versions of one worksheet and assigning it to groups of students in Google Classroom. The WebQuest widget is especially useful for a blended approach; within the widget, you can embed instructional videos, games, and quizzes.

https://www.bookwidgets.com/ 

Even though I have mentioned only some of them here, this doesn't mean that the other tools are less important. 

To conclude, whether technology is integrated during class time or after school hours, students are given more opportunities to interact with instructors, collaborate with peers and engage themselves in the learning process. Specific technology examples that have been shown to enhance student engagement include web-conferencing software, blogs, wikis, social networking sites and digital games.

Thanks! I hope you find this post interesting.🤭Ⓜ

 COOPERATIVE LEARNING: 

WHEN EDUCATION IS A TEAM GAME

Hi, everyone, welcome back to my blog. This week I am going to share with you some interesting information related to COOPERATIVE LEARNING.

Many research experiences show how competencies and life skills can be improved by working in study groups through forms of cooperative learning. To overcome obstacles, relying on team play may be the right move. A rule that is certainly also valid at school. 

Studies show that results are improved significantly in the study and workgroups in which forms of cooperative learning are used.  Cooperative learning, with its flexibility characteristics, is well suited to respond to specific needs and local contexts. Thanks to a pact on mutual trust, people learn from each other, developing opportunities for growth and new educational tools. Everyone is responsible not only for their own learning but also for that of the other members of the group. 

Characteristics of the cooperative learning group

It is not enough to bring together several people to create a group of cooperative learning.

·    There are precise organizational practices to be followed so that we can speak of cooperative learning and among these we can highlight:

·        the composition of the group based on the criterion of the heterogeneity of personal characteristics and skills possessed

·         the active involvement of all participants

·         a real positive interdependence between group members

·         the commitment of the children to ensure mutual help

·         the sense of responsibility expressed with a view to a common goal

·     leadership distributed on the components who therefore assume different management roles based on situations and objectives

In cooperative learning, the student has the opportunity to experiment in a learning space in which, thanks to mutual collaboration, it is easier to develop strategic and transversal skills, links between contents and insights. 

Advantages of COOPERATIVE LEARNING

The positive impact of cooperative learning on learning outcomes is therefore reflected at different levels:

           motivation to learn

the development of self-esteem

the achievement of operational skills

the enhancement of communication skills and working together

the development of empathic capacity, self-control and self-regulation

The advantages affect both the individual components and the group as a whole: 

• Each member contributes to the learning dynamics of the group to achieve common results. By doing so, they raise awareness of their positive role in the community
• The skills, abilities and knowledge possessed at an individual level are expressed for the benefit of the group, which therefore always acquires new ones
• Comparison with others helps develop critical, creative and divergent thinking and facilitates the production of innovative ideas
•  Exchange and dialogue activate positive interdependencies, a spontaneous passage of behaviours and practices based on emulation between group members aimed at developing their own well-being and that of others and overcoming conflicts

• Cooperation between group members leads individuals to greater responsibility and to proactively and dynamically transform the classic student-tutor-teacher relationship
• The bidirectional, group and individual assessment for each component constantly exercised on the results achieved, and the systematic use of feedback on the progress of the relationship activates improvement strategies and corrective educational actions

Cooperative Learning in distance learning 

It is no coincidence that in this last school year of educational challenges and closed schools,  the cooperative model has been a tool used by many teachers to overcome the difficulties of distance learning and maintain a good relationship between pupils. An entire network of relationships between parents, teachers, tutors, school directors, institutions, associations and volunteers came into play. Everyone has worked hard to make an educational experiment born out of an emergency work.

Personally speaking, I didn't like group work at all, even now I have my own doubts. I have always liked to work alone, to be in charge of all the work that has to be done. However, I must admit that when I have worked in groups everything has gone well and I have had so much fun. 

Considering all of these, in societies like ours that are affected by rapid technological, social and cultural evolution, cooperative learning can be a strategic ally of the School. To go deeper,  when pupils work in groups life seems much better.

Thank you for your time, happy holidays!😊Ⓜ

Theory of Multiple, Intelligences 21st- Century Skills, ABCD OBJECTIVES.....

🎯This week post will focus on several topics related to teaching and learning, such as multiple intelligences, 21st-century skills, and ABCD objectives.

Theory of Multiple Intelligences

This theory was developed by psychologist Howard Gardner. He proposed that people have different(nine) kinds of intelligence that reflect different ways of interacting with the world. While a person might be particularly strong in a specific area, such as musical intelligence, he or she most likely possesses a range of abilities. For example, an individual might be strong in verbal, musical, and naturalistic intelligence. 

Typography of nine intelligences.

 1. Linguistic Intelligence: the capacity to use language to express what is on your mind and to understand other people. These individuals are typically very good at writing stories, memorizing information, and reading

2. Logical/Mathematical Intelligence: people who are strong in logical-mathematical intelligence are good at reasoning, recognizing patterns, and logically analyzing problems. 

3. Musical Rhythmic Intelligence: : the capacity to think in music; to be able to hear patterns, recognize them, and perhaps manipulate them. People who possess have a strong appreciation for music and are often good at musical composition and performance.

4. Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence: those who have high bodily-kinesthetic intelligence are said to be good at body movement, performing actions, and physical control.

5. Visual/Spatial Intelligence: people who are strong in visual-spatial intelligence are good at visualizing things. These individuals are often good with directions as well as maps, charts, videos, and pictures.

6. Naturalist Intelligence: individuals who are high in this type of intelligence are more in tune with nature and are often interested in nurturing, exploring the environment, and learning about other species. 

7. Intrapersonal Intelligence: individuals who are strong in intrapersonal intelligence are good at being aware of their own emotional states, feelings, and motivations. 

8. Interpersonal Intelligence: those who have strong interpersonal intelligence are good at understanding and interacting with other people. These individuals are skilled at assessing the emotions, motivations, desires, and intentions of those around them.

9. Existential Intelligence: the ability and the proclivity to pose (and ponder) questions about life, death, and ultimate realities. 

Importance in teaching

Teachers must understand that children excel in different areas and they will learn at different paces through different paths. Teachers must give children the opportunity to participate in learning that will enable them to excel. With these multiple intelligences in mind, teachers need to use varied strategies to teach children in all subject via their strongest domain of intelligence.  Each student has his or her way of process information in terms of how they learn and how they retain the knowledge. The majority of students learn and understand a particular concept through traditional lecture. I think students learn best when the teacher adopts various instruction techniques. Some students learn best when they can reflect on the things they have learned. They learn by listening, brainstorming and sharing ideas with others. On the other hand, some students learn best through conceptual learning and logical thinking. Some students need to be actively involved in their own learning by practising hands-on problem-solving.  In other words, not every person learns best from a single teaching approach.

My Intelligences

Firstly, I found the idea that there are different types of intelligence very appealing.  Secondly, I strongly believe in this theory because I find myself in two or three of them. Well, the intelligence that describes me best is existential. Since I  was a kid I used to ponder and tackle deep questions about human existence, such as the meaning of life, why we die, is there life after death, how did we get here. Another intelligence that describes me is intrapersonal, I have always been the person who understands his own feelings and thoughts. Last but not least is interpersonal intelligence. Who knows me for sure will say that I am good at communicating and that I understand others feelings and motives. However, mentioning only these does not mean that I don't have the other intelligences, but these three are prominent in me. 

21st Century Skills

We live in a rapidly changing world, and to meet this world expectations we must use 21st-century skills. 

The present-day generation is getting smarter day by day. Most parents and teachers find themselves at a loss when faced with bold and intelligent questions from students. With technology and social media taking our society by storm, kids of all age groups today are much more informed on various aspects of life than ever before. They are inquisitive and intelligent. 

However, are teachers focusing on building their learners skills and abilities that are important nowadays? 

Teachers play a significant role in helping students develop 21st-century skills by applying methods that increase students’ capabilities. They should use innovative strategies and modern learning technologies that help integrate cognitive and social skills with content knowledge as well as increase student participation in the learning environment in order to promote skills.

Among these skills are :

Problem-solving is a skill

Lateral thinking skills 

Analytic thinking: 

Presentation skills

Communication skills

Today, teachers should give students the opportunity to engage in various activities such as projects, problems, design and research-based learning that promote cooperative learning.In these activities, students work together which increases their participation, achievement and motivation to learn. Consequently, collaborative learning allows students to contribute different degrees of prior knowledge, abilities. 

Teachers must inspire students to develop a love of learning. By igniting a passion and a hunger to learn, educators will be setting students upon a path of lifelong learning and develop all the skills required for a successful future. 

ABCD OBJECTIVES

Objectives are critical to effective instruction; they help tutors plan the strategies and activities they
will use, including the materials and resources to support learning. It is essential that the objective be clear and describe the intended learning outcome. Objectives can communicate to learners what is expected of them—but only if they are shared with learners in a way, learners can understand.

Each letter in ABCD stands for a different part of our learning objective. These different parts answer four questions about our objective: who, what, how, and how well. 

Thus,ABCD stands for: audience,behavior ,condition,degree.

To summarize the above, we see that teaching and learning in the 21st century requires more than some basic skills and abilities. It's no longer enough to know things. Teachers need to be up-to-date on the latest in technology they should also be a facilitator, contributor and an integrator. 

Many thanks for your time!😊🤭Ⓜ

TECHNOLOGY and TEACHING

 To my colleagues...

Hello&Welcome to my first blog post!

I am Meglina Murrizi!

Today I want to share with you my first impressions about the subject we are having this semester, Technology in EFL. 

This is a new subject, but I am not unfamiliar with technology and the different forms it consists of.

  I have been using technology mostly for fun and for research about my assignments and I consider myself good enough at using it. For example, when Microsoft Teams was initially presented to us I was on track, but many of my colleagues had many problems using it because it seemed too complicated.  However, I have to admit that when the professor introduced us to the subject I was a little bit confused. 

Technology in EFL aims to develop our skills in integrating technology in teaching English. Therefore, I understand that it is more about presenting us with different apps or technology forms that we can use while we teach English.  This subject helps future teachers to become more aware of the role of technology in the classroom. 

There is no doubt that in western countries technology is already a pillar of teaching, but here in Albania, we are a bit far from that. Teachers in our country still follow those traditional forms of teaching and last year during the country's first lockdown many problems were encountered. Teachers and students had difficulties even in the utilisation of simple applications. Thus, I really hope this subject will give us some good basis for using technology in this context.  

Why is Technology Important in teaching? 

 Technology is a facilitating tool of education from which teachers and students get plenty of benefits. As language teachers, we need to learn how to take advantage of the technology and how to integrate it into our teaching skills. Computers, smartphones, tablets provide powerful opportunities to learn a foreign language. As the use of these tools is increasingly common among students, teachers need to equip themselves with today’s technology. On the internet are plenty of videos of native speakers, so it easy to hear the language in an authentic situation. For instance, pronunciation though the teacher is not a native speaker can be taught to learners with ease using a smartphone.  Besides, teachers can achieve great things in a short time with the help of new technology. The introduction of innovative technologies in the traditional educational process allows teachers and students to improve traditional forms and methods. If we introduce technology to our students we may get a great deal of satisfaction when they accomplish better.  

In a nutshell, technology highly contributes to the teaching and learning process. Technology should be utilized by teachers more than ever as the students in this century are somehow technology and internet addicts. Technological devices like computers and especially smartphones are parts of their daily lifestyle.  

So, let's see how this it's going to end.