Technology is being used more and more in English classes every day. Schools use internet videos, songs, short quizzes as a warm-up at the beginning of a class. Students read online news, they make projects using all kinds of digital tools, they learn through online websites, they have online homework, among others. But why do we need technology to help us learn? What is the reason behind it?

 

The reason is that nowadays children learn better when the concepts/knowledge are presented in different ways; not only having a written text or explanation but also having images, interaction and so on. We learn in a multi-modal way. Technology and its applications are changing the way we learn. The Cisco company carried out an investigation  into multimedia learning through media called Multimodal Learning Through Media: What the Research Says (2008) and they found that: “Students retain more verbal information- textual or oral- when educators supplement it with visual examples.”

 

All these technologies have revolutionized the learning process, creating new trends in education. As Daniel Newman explains in the Forbes magazine, gamification is a new trend in education. Gamification consists of using a game as a base for learning. Gamification has been successful because it has a narrative, a story that students can understand and empathize with, thereby enjoying what they are learning. Moreover, they have an immediate feedback, they can see their evolution while playing, control what they are doing and so on. Students are far more motivated, they are more open to failure because they see that it does not matter if you fail, you can just try again.

For instance we have Kahoot (https://kahoot.com/) which is a very interactive tool that motivates students through quick questions and answer. This tool gives you opportunity to  do it as many times as you like, having the same rewards as your classmates.

 

Furthermore, gamification is not only for children, but also for teachers. A lot of tools are for classroom management strategies such as in classdojo (https://www.classdojo.com/es-es/).  

 

In addition, flipped classroom is also a new trend in education. This methodology consists of doing the learning the other way round, instead of learning new content at school, they learn by doing it at home as homework though videos, websites and so on. The objective of this methodology is to consolidate what they have learnt at home, in the classroom.  

With this methodology students can learn at their own pace, the learning is more centred on the student and most importantly of all, the teacher can make sure they have understood and assimilated the concepts.  

Some tools that can help you apply flipped classroom are on the one hand, InsertLearning (ttps://insertlearning.com/) which allows you to create interactive lessons at any time and anywhere. It is not an application or an online website, it is an extension that you add to your browser, in this case it has to be Google Chrome. The only thing that the teacher and students need is a Google account.

This tool lets you add what you want to any website. For instance, next to a paragraph of a website you can add a question (simple or multiple choice), you can add a video, you can create a debate and highlight the most interesting parts of the text. You can send these websites to the whole class or to a small group, depending on the situation.

 

On the other hand, Canva (https://www.canva.com/) is an online website for creating all kinds of posters, mind maps, images, tickets, booklets, among others.

It is a very useful tool, not only for students, but also for teachers. You can base presentations on your Canva poster, you can summarize class content in a booklet, etc. Teachers, for instance, can create scaffolding using posters.

It is a tool that provides you with many different templates from which you can gleen ideas.

 

Virtual worlds is also a new trend in education. The possibility to live real life experiences creates the opportunity for students to apply their knowledge and develop, not only English skills, but also other skills such as digital skills and, in fact, any other subject. With virtual worlds students can understand what they are learning better because they can see it, being very useful for higher thinking skills.

Some virtual reality tools are CoSpaces Edu (https://cospaces.io/edu/) which is a website that permits you to create any virtual situation or place. It is a platform that teachers and students can use. Furthermore, zSpace (https://zspace.com/technology/) is another tool with which you can live virtual experiences, alone or with your classmates, examine objects (a leaf, an animal…).

 

What’s more, there is a tendency to combine technology with face-to-face learning, this is called blended learning. Hannah Oakham (2016) defines it in this way:

“It’s a hybrid teaching methodology, making technology and e-learning a more integral part of the classroom experience. It’s more than having computers in classrooms; it’s about combining e-learning, traditional teaching methods, and independent study to create an entirely new learning environment for students. It replaces purely face-to-face teaching with independent online learning on the student’s own time, giving the individual more control over when, where, and how they study.”

 

Blended learning is ideal for all learning styles because teachers can adapt the activities to their own necessities in an enjoyable way.

Some tools you can use for blended learning are Edpuzzle (https://edpuzzle.com/) which is an online website that lets you create interactive videos. Students, as well as teachers, can edit them and post questions in a written or oral format. These videos can be your own videos or previously uploaded videos. In addition, you can also draw in the video so as to then ask questions (simple answers, multiple choice questions…).

You can control different things: how many times students watch a video, if they are answering your questions correctly, etc.  

Besides this, Flipgrid (https://flipgrid.com/) is an application based, above all, on oral comprehension and expression. Any teacher or student can create a topic of debate,using a video. You can also link a website to your video, not in a written format, but oral. Students can write in this video, they can upload emojis or anything they want.

There is also the possibility to answer one specific video.

 

Other trends in education are cloud-based technology, STEAM (Science, technology, engineering and maths) and social networks.

 

All these trends favour the motivation of children, help them to construct their knowledge, to be more active and reflect more on what they are doing. These new trends help children to understand and assimilate all the knowledge. They are in the centre of the learning; they share and create experiences, they are able to work cooperatively and learn from each other and share. All of these are learning facilities. This is the reason why technology is fundamental for students with more difficulties.

 

In general terms digital competence is ideal for working on all areas (music, maths, science, social sciences), but language competence and digital competence are always being learnt when using technology. In addition, it gives you the possibility to work school subjects separately, or introduce other subjects jointly, thereby working in a transdisciplinary way.

 

In general, education is constantly changing and improving. All of these technologies are ideal and work very well, but there are some inconveniences for its use. Schools and families need computers and connection to internet and not all of them can afford it. Then, from the experience of the different practicums I have done, I have observed that school computers have a lot of problems (they are very slow, the connection is not good), so if we want to take advantage of technology, a lot more investment is needed.

In addition, another thing that can be dangerous is the overuse of a lot of tools. It is better to use one or two tools at a time, because more can be too much for children to manage.

Another challenge is for teachers to find the best tool out of the multitude that exist and to make sure that children are taking real advantage of them, knowing for example when students are playing or learning through play. Finally, teachers have to know what best to use depending on the content they want children to learn, but it is even more important to know the reason why you are using it.

 

WEBGRAPHY

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Oakman, H. (2016). Blended learning - the new normal. Retrieved from https://edtechnology.co.uk/Article/blended-learning-the-new-normal

 

Newman, D. (2017). Top 6 Digital Transformation Trends In Education. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2017/07/18/top-6-digital-transformation-trends-in-education/#1190ed242a9a

 

Korbey, H. (2017). Will Virtual Reality Drive Deeper Learning? Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/virtual-reality-drive-deeper-learning-holly-korbey

 

Kaplanis, D. (2013). 5 Benefits Of The Blended Learning Approach. Retrieved from https://www.talentlms.com/blog/5-reasons-why-blended-learning-works/

 

L, D. (2016). Gamification in Education. Retrieved from https://www.learning-theories.com/gamification-in-education.html

 

Anderson, K. (2017). 6 Reasons Why Blended Learning Is Becoming a Trend. Retrieved from https://www.pulselearning.com/blog/6-reasons-blended-learning-becoming-trend/

 

Weir, L. (2008). Research Review: Multimodal Learning Through Media. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/multimodal-learning-teaching-methods-media

Santiago, R. What is the Flipped Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.theflippedclassroom.es/what-is-innovacion-educativa/