ICT in the classroom - why bother?!

Is it worth the effort?

Before exploring this, please answer my extremely simple survey.

Imagine it's your birthday and you have two packages to open.  Don't think too deeply about this question....

Which would you be more excited about?

Package A                                                                                 Package B

                                  

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Survey Results

Thank you to everyone who took part in my survey.  I had 22 responses and here are the results:

I have to admit, I'm rather surprised at these results and really intrigued to know the reason for your choice.  I opted for Package A, because, for me, it promises something special inside, as whoever wrapped it up took time and effort to do so.  What informed your choice? 

My thinking was tied up with theories that assume that all 21st century learners are interested in, motivated by and experts at using digital technology.  (see my earlier post of Heidi Hayes Jacob's talk).  These theories are underpinned by the assumption that technology in the classroom excites and engages students.  Package A could represent a digitally-rich lesson, making use of different tools to present and play with language.  Package B is the session which does not make use of technology.  Does that make the content any less valuable?  Does it mean that 21st century students will not be stimulated or fully engaged?  As you can see from the results of the survey and the comments that have been posted, a large percentage are wary of ostentation.  It brings Shakespeare to mind:

All that glitters is not gold

This means that not everything that is shiny and superficially attractive is valuable.  Shakespeare demonstrated this in 1596 in The Merchant of Venice. It resonates today with my thoughts on ICT in the classroom. It cannot be used in isolation, but needs to be aligned to learning objectives.  Lessons of true value aim to accommodate all preferred styles of learning by following the teaching and learning cycle:  identifying needs, planning, implementing, assessing, evaluating.  All domains of learning need to be satisfied; cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills) and affective (emotional).  If digital tools can assist in achieving this, then they are adding true value to the teaching and learning experience.  However, the "wow" factor does not need to be present in a lesson in order to motivate the students and promote learning.  It's structure that makes a lesson great, not 'pizazz'! 

Meet my gremlin

Scepticism

This is my main barrier to accepting new digital tools.  As I review the tools we are introduced to throughout the MA/ICT course, I'm going to allow my sceptical voice to have a say, but try to ensure that it doesn't dominate.  I hope that this will open up discussion with my peers.  This was very useful yesterday, when I couldn't see the point of Glogster.  Discussing this with someone who had used the tool to good effect really helped to convince me that it could also be incorporated into my practice.  Far too often my critical thinking turns into criticism, and wonder whether this has something to do with the digital divide, with age putting me on the wrong side of this phenomenon.  Warschauer (2004) focuses on the global, economic divide between the "haves" and the "have nots", but Hargitti's study (2002) refers to a second-level digital divide, identifying age as being negatively associated with ICT skills.  However, digital competence is not just about basic hardware and applications skills (procedure), it also consists of having an understanding of how to use appropriate tools to communicate within a digital context.  From a teaching perspective, it's not just about presenting information, but providing effective strategies for learners to find the answers for themselves. A teacher needs to use technology not just to assist language learning (CALL approach) but to provide an environment or context in which language exists and is used.

Making Changes

Dinosaur No More

I've been teaching ELT since 2002 and over the years have accumulated a significant amount of paper:

My groaning resource shelf!

Does my ELT resource shelf need to go?  These resources have been collected over 12 years and I'm questioning whether they continue to have any relevance in the digital world.  Getting rid of these is going to be hard - they've served me well over the years.  When I was a CELTA trainee I was shown how to use photos and pictures to elicit response and bring out language and I would spend hours browsing magazines to pull out suitable images.  Thankfully, I've been able to ditch all of these dog-eared pictures, thanks to the vast image bank on the Internet.  It's so easy to find stimulating visual resources that also fit into the Equality & Diversity agenda.
The question is....
...will the digital tools and resources that we are about to be introduced to enable me to replace these old resources?  It will be nice to clear the shelf and get rid of clutter, but can all of these be replaced in a way that ADDS VALUE to my lessons?  My techno-sceptic self thinks not.