Edtech for Language Learning: A Teacher's Guide

What Edtech apps and programs do I use for my online language learning sessions?

My learners are oriented right at the beginning of any online class on what these apps and programs are, how they work, and how I am going to use them in my online learning sessions.

I send this graphic organizer to all my learners via WhatsApp, Moddle, and email before we start our class. I engage my learners through an interactive conversation and walk them through the graphic organizer as a group. We talk about what they already know about them and how they use them.

NOTE: PLEASE TAP THE PIC, TURN YOUR PHONE TO LANDSCAPE, AND SEE HOW IT WOULD LOOK TO YOUR LEARNERS.

My learners need to be familiarized with these apps or programs because I need them to be able to collaborate with them during their online language learning experience and to learn how to use them effectively for their self-directed language learning experience.

As part of any Teacher Training course that I teach, I require every teacher to create a similar graphic organizer and explain it in detail to me. Teachers need to know (and justify) what technology tools they need to successfully implement their online classes. This is part of TPACK - and I think that all teachers must be able to answer the question "What's your TPACK?"

1. Zoom is the place we meet. It is only our meeting room, and they need to know how to use the functions of Zoom to effectively participate in our online learning class.

2. Moodle is a learning management system aka LMS. This is where I upload news, tasks, share work, and any other information that is related to our online learning experience. Moodle is the platform I will place the overview (syllabus) of the class. In many cases, I negotiate the syllabus with my learners and upload the syllabus in small chunks. Moodle is also the tool I use to collect learner analytics (user behavior) that can help me get to know my learners better.

3. WhatsApp is what we use for our just-in-time communication platform. There are many times when I need to reach students to inform them of any changes in the schedule or content of our online learning class. WhatsApp also acts as a way for students to interact with one another in real time. Many students might have questions that other students can answer for them, and this avoids any unnecessary meetings with me that could be settled between the learners themselves.

4. Dictionary.com and thesaurus.com are particularly important tools for vocabulary building. I always ask students to please download this app to their smartphone, so that during a class they can look up either the definition of a word or the synonyms and antonyms for a word themselves.

5. Grammarly is a program to use when writing is involved. Learners need to know how to help themselves when doing a writing task and to learn how to check their grammar and spelling. Grammarly fulfills this function very well.

6. Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are multi-purpose social media platforms to use during an online learning experience for the promotion of skills training. I do not require my students to show me their private Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn accounts. There are many fake Twitter, fake Facebook, and fake LinkedIn sites to use where students can go to for learning purposes. We use these fake apps for many of the tasks that will take place during the language learning experience.

7. Copilot is the new wonder kid on the block and is extremely useful for language learning. Teaching students how to use Copilot is important and should be part of any online learning experience as well as face-to-face language learning experiences.

8. YouTube is one of the best online teachers to date. Using YouTube for language learning is a fantastic way to integrate listening with visuals to support any topic that's being covered during a language learning experience. YouTube videos are also a terrific way to introduce topics and instructional videos that I prepare for my students.

9. Mentimeter - it is a practical tool to use for taking polls and doing formative assessments at intervals during the language learning experience. I simply create a poll, send the link to the students and they fill it out. I'm able to quickly determine where my students are at in the language learning experience.

10. Google Drive is a dummy-proof replacement for an LMS. It is also a terrific way to visualize and document the learning as it is happening. Students should have a Google account. It is particularly important to inform them that when using Google Drive, they must be logged into Google first before getting to their Google Drive. When students miss a class and need to review what was done, they can always go to Google Drive and catch up. If they have any further questions they can always go to WhatsApp and ask the other participants for answers to questions they might have about tasks or assignments.

11. Wikipedia is a site to use for reading and further investigation into a topic that is being covered. Although there are many academics out there who do not like Wikipedia, it is still an important tool to be used in the language learning experience because of its translation function, and the function to create pdfs from what learners are reading. Many learners like to have something they can write on and mark on to improve their understanding of a topic. Wikipedia fulfills all these learner needs.

12. Deepl is the app to have as an accompaniment to a dictionary or thesaurus. Unlike a dictionary, Deepl goes one step further and works with context. Context is sometimes where learners can get lost, so they need an Edtech helper to support them. Understanding how to use a word or phrase and seeing it in their mother language is what language learners need to support their reading and writing skills.

13. Voice recorder which is found on all smartphones is an important tool for learners to integrate into their language learning experience. They must learn how to use the Voice recorder effectively because it will be needed for many of the tasks that will be assigned during my online classes. It is also great to use a voice recorder in connection to WhatsApp. I require all my learners to actively participate in the online class by choosing one student to review what we did in class and to detail the homework assignment or task for the next class. All this is done by a voice recorder.

14. PowerPoint is an extremely useful tool for language learning and is an integral part of how I teach and assign tasks. It is very imperative to teach students how to use PowerPoint effectively because it will also be part of how they turn in their assignments and how their final projects will be assessed.

15. Pecha Kucha is a tool I use for all my learners who are at B2+ to C2 language levels. Once they have mastered PowerPoint it's time to speed up the learning, condense learning, and challenge my students to work with time management. Pecha Kucha is the perfect tool for all the above-mentioned. Find out what Pecha Kucha is and how to use it by googling the term Pecha Kucha or going to YouTube to see actual Pecha Kucha presentations.

16. Google Translate is a tool I recommend to my learners because it's a quick way of just translating something for a basic understanding of some topics or vocabulary. It is also an important part of writing essays. I recommend to my students NOT to use it for long translations – but it is a helpful tool to use for short or small translations.

17. Miro is a visual way to do interactive dialogues with students, brainstorming, decision-making, problem-solving, and design thinking. It's a great way to interact with students and to assign tasks where Miro will be used as a tool for interaction.

You can make your own Edtech helper graphic facilitator by simply downloading the logos of the apps or programs you're using in your online classes. Use PowerPoint to create the visual you see here in this post.

I simply reflected on what was important to tell my students at the beginning of the class. I want them to have success.

It took me about one hour to create the visual you see. It has proven to be immensely helpful and removes many of the questions that students might have which could interfere with the success they want to have. The graphic facilitator also helps them to achieve their personal learning goals.

Integrating Technology into your classroom practices

Dr Ron Morrain - Integrating Technology into your classroom practices

NOTE: This text was created with AI (Artificial Intelligence) using the Dictate function of Word Doc.

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