On April 5, 2014, the Association of Language Teachers of Orange, Ulster, Dutchess, and Surrounding Counties (ALOUD) hosted its annual conference at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. At this conference, I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Kevin Gaugler, Associate Professor of Spanish at Marist College, speak about technology in the language classroom, as well as discuss the implementation of 21st Century skills in the classroom. His presentation focused on various technological tools that language educators can use to create authentic and engaging lessons.
One free tool he recommended was Google Voice (Google.com/voice). This was useful to have the students practice speaking or to give speaking assessments. Another site was Talk Abroad (Talkabroad.com). This allows students to communicate with a native speaker in the target language in a half-hour conversation. The sole downside to this tool is that it is $10 per conversation. However, it allows students to practice speaking in a way that is meaningful, purposeful, and can most certainly give them a thorough learning experience. My favorite tool that Dr. Gaugler introduced was School Shape Language Lab (http://schoolshape.com/language-lab). It begins with a blank canvas, and then the educator can add activities (i.e. listening, speaking exercises) to develop a lesson in the language lab. One great feature about this is the educator's ability to create groups within the class to differentiate learning, so that one group of students may be working on one activity while another group may be working on another one that perhaps is at a different level or has different content, etc. Other tools he mentioned were bowdoin.edu for grammar, Readlang.com for helping students with reading, acceso.ku.edu for resources on the Hispanic and Spanish cultures, and Duolingo.com for general help with learning a language.
In addition to his presentation, Dr. Gaugler's students from his course at Marist College called "Spanish in a Digital Age" presented the 21st Century skills that are emphasized by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), which can be found at the following link: http://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/21stCenturySkillsMap/p21_worldlanguagesmap.pdf.
Each presentation focused on one skill, and how educators can develop their students' learning as well as their own personal learning inside and outside of the classroom. Such tools that were mentioned to assist in the development of the 21st Century skills included Weebly, EXCL spreadsheets, Twitter, Google News, and more. What was most significant to take away from these presentations was the accessibility each of us has to a great amount of resources. Not only can these tools help students reach their full potential, but they can also help educators be learners as well. Technology allows individuals to further their learning in an efficient and engaging way. However, most importantly, it gives all types of learners the opportunity to take charge of their own education in an unlimited amount of ways.
Inspired by Dr. Kevin Gaugler's presentation, titled "By, Buy, Bye the Book," at the ALOUD Conference at Marist College, 2014
One free tool he recommended was Google Voice (Google.com/voice). This was useful to have the students practice speaking or to give speaking assessments. Another site was Talk Abroad (Talkabroad.com). This allows students to communicate with a native speaker in the target language in a half-hour conversation. The sole downside to this tool is that it is $10 per conversation. However, it allows students to practice speaking in a way that is meaningful, purposeful, and can most certainly give them a thorough learning experience. My favorite tool that Dr. Gaugler introduced was School Shape Language Lab (http://schoolshape.com/language-lab). It begins with a blank canvas, and then the educator can add activities (i.e. listening, speaking exercises) to develop a lesson in the language lab. One great feature about this is the educator's ability to create groups within the class to differentiate learning, so that one group of students may be working on one activity while another group may be working on another one that perhaps is at a different level or has different content, etc. Other tools he mentioned were bowdoin.edu for grammar, Readlang.com for helping students with reading, acceso.ku.edu for resources on the Hispanic and Spanish cultures, and Duolingo.com for general help with learning a language.
In addition to his presentation, Dr. Gaugler's students from his course at Marist College called "Spanish in a Digital Age" presented the 21st Century skills that are emphasized by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), which can be found at the following link: http://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/21stCenturySkillsMap/p21_worldlanguagesmap.pdf.
Each presentation focused on one skill, and how educators can develop their students' learning as well as their own personal learning inside and outside of the classroom. Such tools that were mentioned to assist in the development of the 21st Century skills included Weebly, EXCL spreadsheets, Twitter, Google News, and more. What was most significant to take away from these presentations was the accessibility each of us has to a great amount of resources. Not only can these tools help students reach their full potential, but they can also help educators be learners as well. Technology allows individuals to further their learning in an efficient and engaging way. However, most importantly, it gives all types of learners the opportunity to take charge of their own education in an unlimited amount of ways.
Inspired by Dr. Kevin Gaugler's presentation, titled "By, Buy, Bye the Book," at the ALOUD Conference at Marist College, 2014