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Technology in the ESL Classroom : Caveat Magister

Technology in the ESL Classroom : Caveat Magister. Joel Walsh MS Education , TESOL, City College of the City University of New York. Hi, I’m Joel…. Former ESL school teacher ( ages 12-15) in New York City public schools .

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Technology in the ESL Classroom : Caveat Magister

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  1. Technology in the ESL Classroom: Caveat Magister Joel Walsh MS Education, TESOL, City Collegeofthe City Universityof New York

  2. Hi, I’m Joel… • Former ESL schoolteacher (ages 12-15) in New York City publicschools. • Former English LanguageArtsteacher in aninternationalschool in Peru (ages 12-15) (studentswereprimarily English languagelearners) • Full disclosure:Founder, owner inglesporinternet.com, developingan app for ESL self-study (no planstoselltoschools).

  3. CaveatEmptor (“BuyerBeware”) ”Caveat Magister” (“TeacherBeware”)

  4. GuidingQuestions • How can I incorporatetechnologyintolessons? • How can I evaluatethe use oftechnology in education? • Howshould I evaluatetheclaimsmadebytechnologyvendors?

  5. In thispresentation… • A criticalevaluationofDuolingo, theleadinglanguagelearning software, in light oflanguagelearningstandards. • Ideas for uses oftechnology in the ESL classroomthatmeetlanguagelearningstandards, usingproveninstructionalmethods.

  6. What is Duolingo and why bother examining it? WhatisDuolingo and whybotherexaminingit?

  7. What is Duolingo and why bother examining it? Why pick onthis cute littlecartoonowl?

  8. What is Duolingo and why bother examining it? 800-lb gorillaoflanguagelearning software • $108,300,000 USD in investment (“funding”) sincefounding in 2011. • Privatefor-profitcompany, probablynotprofitable. Startingtoselltestingbutthe app is free.

  9. What is Duolingo and why bother examining it? 800-lb gorillaoflanguagelearning software • 859th mostvisitedwebsite in theworld, comparedwith busuu.com (17 989) and babbel.com (4 962) (source: Alexa.com). • Currentlythe no. 1 mostdownloaded app in the Apple app store in theeducationcategory (source:appannie.com)

  10. What is Duolingo and why bother examining it? • In the top 100-200 mostdownloaded apps in the Apple app store (source: appannie.com) • (amazingforaneducationalwebsiteor app) • In format, itisvery similar tootherlanguagelearningwebsites and apps such as babbel.com and busuu.com

  11. Duolingofrequentlyclaimsto be research-based (or at leastresearch-validated). Let’sevaluatethatclaim.

  12. WhatisDuolingo and whybotherexaminingit? No peer-reviewedevaluationsofDuolingo’seffectivenessforlearningontheirwebsite. A search in JSTOR (academicjournaldatabase) doesnotreturnanystudyexaminingDuolingo’spedagogicalvalue. ThestudiesthatDuolingoclaimsproveitseffectivenesswerepaidforbyDuolingoorevenconductedbythecompanyitself.

  13. WhatisDuolingo and whybotherexaminingit? Source: duolingo.com/research Onlytwoofthe “independent” studiesisofDuolingo’seffectiveness at languageteaching. Thesetwostudieswerebycomputerscientists and statisticians, notexperts in educationorappliedlinguistics. ThestudieswerepaidforbyDuolingo.

  14. WhatisDuolingo and whybotherexaminingit? In summary: Duolingo, a privatefor-profitcompanywithover $100 million USD in investment, thatfrequentlymakesquestionableclaims as toitseffectiveness, isnowheavily marketing its app toschools.

  15. WhatisDuolingo and whybotherexaminingit? Important: mypredictionisthatsinceDuolingois free, as thecostofcomputers comes down, itwillbecominghighlyappealingtoschoolswithfewresources. So evenifyouwork in a settingwithfewresources, payattention!

  16. WhatisDuolingo and whybotherexaminingit? Anyquestions so far?

  17. WhatIsDuolingoforSchools?

  18. Source: schools.duolingo.com

  19. Source: schools.duolingo.com

  20. Duolingoeven has itsownteachercertification and “Ambassador” programs. Source: schools.duolingo.com

  21. WhatIstheDuolingoLearningExperienceLike?

  22. TheDuolingo “SkillTree”Learnersmustfollowthepreplannedpath.You can “test out” of a level and there are a fewoptional modules.

  23. TheDuolingo “SkillTree”Whetheryourgoals are communicationfortourism, work, family, school, oranythingelseduolingo has mostlythesamecontentforyou (fewoptional modules).

  24. TheDuolingolearningexperience…A stronggrammar-translationfocus.

  25. Thesentencesused in Duolingo are pre-loaded. Theycannot be changedbytheteacherorstudent.Studentsstudyisolatedsentencesratherthanentiretexts.

  26. Duolingo uses

  27. Thelistening module is a dictationexercise.Thevoices in allDuolingo modules soundsynethsized (littleintonation).Thereseemto be no recordingsof human beings!

  28. Anyquestions so far?

  29. EvaluatingDuolingo:How can you, as an individual educator, evaluatetheclaimsof a for-profitcompanywithover $100 million USD in investment?

  30. THINK, PAIR, SHAREImagine yourschoolleadershipwantsyouto use Duolingo in theclassroom. How can you, as an individual educator, evaluate (and possibly dispute) theclaimsof a privatefor-profitcompanywithover $100 million USD in investment?(Youcan’tpayforyourownstudy.)

  31. HowtoevaluateDuolingo (and otherlanguagelearning software)?Myanswer: Thesamewayyou are supposedtoevaluateanylearningexperience:Byhowwellitalignswithacceptedlearningstandards.

  32. EvaluatingDuolingoagainst New York Statelearningframeworksfor English languagelearners.http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/4300B32F-0C98-4FBF-A881-9BA2716373F3/0/SpecificConsiderationsforTeachersofELLs_approvedv5.pdf

  33. How do you plan the learning outcomes to include both language objectives and content objectives?How do the planned activities build students’ reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills?How are the language objectives differentiated for the range of students’ language proficiency levels?

  34. Source: NYC Advance How do you plan the learning outcomes to include both language objectives and content objectives?How do the planned activities build students’ reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills?How are the language objectives differentiated for the range of students’ language proficiency levels?

  35. Evaluate a lesson based on Duolingo in terms of how it answers these three criteria for standards-based teaching for English language learners. Think, Pair, Share!

  36. THINK, PAIR, SHARE: Evaluate Duolingo in the classroom 1. Language objectives AND content objectives.2. Reading, writing, listening, AND speaking skills.3. Differentiated for language proficiency levels.

  37. Ideas forStandards-basedLessonsUsingTechnology in theClassroom.

  38. Technology in theClassroom: Myfavoritelanguagelearningtechnology.

  39. Technology in theClassroom: Myfavoritelanguagelearningtechnology.

  40. Youtubeoffers: 1. Authentic L2 materials. 2. Individualizationtostudents’ interests, needs, levels, and contentareas. 3. L1 support (translationsubtitles). 4. It’s free! 5. It’s a toolforlife-longlearning(never-ending, can be usedoutsidetheclassroom).

  41. Technology in theClassroom: Technologytosupportlife-longlearning.

  42. What are some technologies you could use in the classroom? THINK, PAIR, SHARE!

  43. Technology in theClassroom: Other ideas fortechnologytosupportlife-longlearning. Videos and video editing.Blogging and classroom websites.Social media, such as a class Twitter account.L2 content websites (such as news, sports).

  44. Even if the technology is unproven, you can trust that the lesson will be effective. Bestpractice: Incorporatetechnologyintoexisting, provenlessons and activities.

  45. Examplesofprovenlessons and activities. Class presentations.Student performances.Think, pair, share.Cloze exercises. (Example: Incorporate ______ into ___, proven lessons and ________.)

  46. THINK, PAIR, SHARE! Create a lesson idea that combines oneactivitywithonetechnology. Activities:Class presentationsStudent performancesThink, Pair, ShareCloze exercises. Technologies:YoutubePowerpointVideoBlogging and websites Social Media

  47. Now: EvaluateYourLesson Ideas 1. Language + content objectives.2. Build reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills.3. Differentiate for language proficiency levels.

  48. Key Ideas • Technologyvendorsmaymakeclaimsabouttheirproductsthat are highlyoptimistic. • Educationaltechnologyvendors’ claimsdeservegreaterscrutinyonthepartoftheeducationalcommunity and theresearchcommunity in particular. • Languagelearningstandards are relevanttothe use oftechnology in theclassroom. • There are manywaysto use technology in theclassroomthat do notrequirepurpose-made “educationaltechnologies.”

  49. Bestpractices Align the use of technology with learning objectives. Incorporate technology into existing proven lessons. Look for technologies that are flexible enough for differentiated instruction and teaching across content areas. Evaluate the claims of technology vendors critically.

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