Teachers who are not embracing the use of the
technology of today may be putting their ESOL students at a disadvantage.
Students have more access than ever before to a wonderful instructional tool
through the use of the ever-changing and improving technology that is available
today.
A major hold back may be the instructors themselves.
Shapiro (2014) shared that many teachers express excitement about technology
yet fail to implement such technology activities into their classrooms. She
states there seems to be a disconnect between understanding and implementation.
Shapiro (2014) states that instructors have shared they often feel
administrators will not support their use of technology, and she also expressed
that instructors are allowing technology to provide the instruction rather than
incorporating it for maximum learning benefit. The direct opposite could happen with
technology in that the instructors would be able to meet their students
individual learning requirements at their appropriate levels, which would a
allow for greater instructional student engagement during the class period.
We need to move beyond the 1980’s and 90’s with
technology. Today students are able to know within hours that major events have
happened around the world. They come to school equipped with technology, which
instructors need to empower the students to use technology to advance their
learning and not suppress the use of it. With the use of technology teachers
are able to provide their students with differentiated instruction providing a
possibly higher relevant learning experience for the students. One size fits
all no longer applies when it comes to learning, therefore instruction and the
tools we use to accomplish it need to adjust to meet the needs of our learners.
References:
Shapiro, J. (2014). The
blame game: Who’s really holding back innovation in schools-teachers or
administrators?, Slate. ASU Publishing
Salomon, G. (2016). It’s not just the tool but
the educational rationale that counts. In Educational Technology and
Polycontextual Bridging (pp. 149-161). Sense Publishers.
