Well, the topics of this week have been quite interesting and have
spurred much conversation within the DTLT forum while concurrently jolting the
jammed gears of my mind into action. To begin, we were asked to ponder whether
language teachers are at the forefront of those implementing technology into
our profession and to identify a range of drivers that make technology
implementation necessary. After a short moment of thought I quickly concluded
that though I aspire one day to stand in the front ranks of some progressive
movement, I currently would place myself near the back of the procession with
the old grumbly grey hairs who moan and groan about the demise of ancient
practices and bemoan their technologically superior, efficient successors.
Now, in defense of my character and dedication to professionalism, I
must shake off some of the blame and say that my stagnant pedagogy is heavily
influenced by the severe lack of structure and resources in my current place of
work, but being cognizant of these challenges and my defunct technological
skills makes it all the more necessary that I devise a way to incorporate technology
into my lessons. What I find quite interesting, or perhaps a more appropriate expression
would be peculiar, is the fact that what drives the necessity of technological
tools is the lack of any in my working climate. As I have mentioned on the Week
2 forum, my school is located far from the
city center out in the windswept, undeveloped desert. Other than a feeble Wi-Fi
signal, there is a severe lack of integrated technology in our school. There
are Ipads but their use is restricted to the library, which, naturally is,
"under construction" and will open soon, inshallah.
In an attempt to be creative and overcome
these developing country obstacles, I encourage students to use their
blackberries and other fancy phones as dictionaries since adolescent boys have
a chronically severe aversion to touching books...even in the classroom believe
it or not. Rather than have students write spelling words and lesson related
notes on paper, I encourage them to type them and save them as memos on their
mobiles or personal computers. This has been mildly successful, especially for
the boys who have not mastered letter formation for the English alphabet and
struggle to write more than a few sentences before becoming exasperated. Typing
notes on the phone also serves as an organizational process that we hope will
become habit with our boys as they struggle to keep up with papers, pens, and
subject books and do not carry back packs or messenger bags to school.
Upon further
reflection, it is my opinion that in the minds of some children a dictionary
and pencil are perceived as high energy requiring, inefficient tools that pale
in comparison to the tech tools available today and though there are plenty of
people (myself included) that will point out the fundamental skills developed
from using a pencil, searching for words in a dictionary and reading a book, as
an educator I must first do what is best for the students learning style and I
must also find a way to function effectively regardless of the challenges
presented in this environment. In short, I am obliged to take actions that
address the reality of the situation here and perhaps it is the students who
are the drivers of technology!
