Final Written Assignment

1. Coronel, Ángel
Aplicaciones de la Informática Educativa a la Enseñanza del Inglés
INSPT – UTN 2010
1
UNIVERSIDAD
TECNOLOGICA NACIONAL
INSTITUTO NACIONAL SUPERIOR DEL PROFESORADO TÉCNICO
APLICACIONES DE LA INFORMÁTICA
EDUCATIVA A LA ENSEÑANZA DEL
INGLÉS
FINAL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT
STUDENT: Coronel, Ángel
TEACHER: Ledesma, Paula
ACADEMIC YEAR: 2010

2. Coronel, Ángel
Aplicaciones de la Informática Educativa a la Enseñanza del Inglés
INSPT – UTN 2010
2
ICT in English Teaching – Final Written Assignment
Mobile Technologies, Podcasting and Language Education
The teaching and learning of a foreign language has dramatically changed over
the last few years. It is commonly known that in the ELT field, the rapid growth
of the application of technology in the classroom seems to be unstoppable. This
commonly increasing new trend of teaching and learning appears to urge
teachers to become updated concerning ICT’s. It is the purpose of the present
essay to examine some of these new technologies, and discuss their
applications, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. To
achieve this, the basis for this work is Michael Tomas’ book: Handbook of
Research on Web 2.0 and Second Language Learning (Information Science
Reference, 2009). The new technologies to be presented here are to be found
on chapter XVIII, written by Hegelheimer, V. & O’ Bryan, A. These are: Mobile
technologies, Podcasting and Language Education.
The new tendency to teach and learn a foreign language described above
seems to be appealing to educators and students alike, due to its
characteristics, which are given by Hegelheimer & O’ Bryan (2009) in their
chapter of the book, such as: ease of use, rapid development opportunities,
interactivity and community-building (p. 332). Besides, the authors state that the
potential for mobile learning technologies is to reach students where they could
previously not be reached – outside the classroom (i.e. on the bus, while
shopping or working out) (p.345). For the readers to understand this better, a
definition of mobile technologies will be provided, so as to let all those who read
this work know what this essay will be about. Hegelheimer & O’ Bryan (2009)
define it as the term often given to hand held devices on which materials can be
accessed anytime, anywhere (p. 332). In order to narrow down the scope, the
above-cited authors also define Podcasting as the online publication of audio
and video files that users can download and subscribe to using a freely-
available podcasting program, such as iTunes (Apple, 2008) or Juice (The Juice
Team, 2005) (p. 332). With these two terms clearly defined, an in-depth
observation of them is what follows.

3. Coronel, Ángel
Aplicaciones de la Informática Educativa a la Enseñanza del Inglés
INSPT – UTN 2010
3
Even though the increasing popularity and availability of the above-mentioned
new technologies in the classroom appears to bring about numerous
advantages at the moment of learning a foreign language, some drawbacks are
present, as well. One of these is provided by Hegelheimer & O’ Bryan (2009),
who say that since podcasts can be easily created and accessed by users with
little knowledge of Web publishing, they have the potential to challenge the
traditional role of “knowledge holder” that is typically held by a formal instructor,
and transform the way knowledge is shared (p.332). Another disadvantage
posed by the author is that, as language podcasts are so diverse, learners can
subscribe to podcasts featuring as little one word a day, thus leaving little room
for progress (p.333). One final negative point mentioned by the authors has to
do with the possession of Mp3 and Mp4 players by the students, since this
seems to be crucial at the moment of profiting from podcasts (p.342).
Disadvantageous as Podcasts may seem, Hegelheimer & O’ Bryan (2009)
propose ways in which to make the best of them. Taking into consideration the
above-mentioned drawbacks, what the authors suggest is the following: Since
podcasts are free and cater for learners at different language proficiency levels,
a good way to go about them is to train learners – and educators, as well – to
choose each podcast according to their needs (p. 337). The abundance of
podcasts seems to be positive, since language educators and learners use
them for a number of reasons, including self-study purposes, language test
preparation, and integrating them into a language learning program
(Hegelheimer & O’ Bryan, 2009, p.334). Another positive aspect posed by the
authors is connected with the varied majors, interests, goals, and the aims of
the course, which is to help students acquire and practice academic listening
strategies (e.g. note-taking skills, listening for organizational cues in lectures,
etc.) that will benefit them throughout their time in academia (p.336). Finally,
concerning the owning of Mp3 and Mp4 players, the authors say that students
can be trained in downloading the podcasts onto their computers, and simply
listening to them there (Hegelheimer & O’ Bryan, 2009, p.342).

4. Coronel, Ángel
Aplicaciones de la Informática Educativa a la Enseñanza del Inglés
INSPT – UTN 2010
4
To conclude, as could be appreciated above, podcasts offer language learners
an opportunity to learn from traditional and non-traditional “teachers” and
interact with input on a variety of topics using different varieties of language
(e.g. dialects, registers) in a mobile format (Hegelheimer & O’ Bryan, 2009,
p.342). This could be seen as a way of transforming language learning, since
engaging learners in technologies they frequently use seems to be the key for
success. With this in mind, it is high time language educators changed their
mind as regards teaching a foreign language and started to immerse wholly into
the new trends (like the one presented here) to achieve successful language
learning.

5. Coronel, Ángel
Aplicaciones de la Informática Educativa a la Enseñanza del Inglés
INSPT – UTN 2010
5
Works Cited
Tomas, M (2009): Handbook of Research on Web 2.0 and Second Language
Learning (pp. 331-349). Information Science Reference.

6. Coronel, Ángel
Aplicaciones de la Informática Educativa a la Enseñanza del Inglés
INSPT – UTN 2010
6
THE FUTURE OF ICT’S IN THE CLASSROOM
After having been bombarded with so many new technological tools applicable
to educational settings over the last few years, I find it quite difficult to think of
what is to come next.
I must say that I agree with Sharma, P & Barrett, B (2007), who say in their
book Blended Learning: Using technology in and beyond the language
classroom that the number of computers, hand held devices and technologies in
general will continue to grow, schools will buy more electronic projectors, online
materials will proliferate, teachers will support their learner’s efforts with blogs
and wikis, and they also say that we can expect technologies to become
smaller, faster and cheaper (p.132).
Concerning what was just mentioned above, it is good to think that the impact of
technology in the classroom will have (if it is not doing so, already) such a
positive effect on teachers and learners. The questions of accessibility,
practicality and financial reachability seem to be crucial for this impact to be
effective, and I am positive this will be the case in the near future.
We must not forget that in order for this to happen, not only do we have to let
time go by until these new advances come to our lives, but we also need to start
training on how to go about them, and to keep up to date with what is to come.
If we, teachers, are able to do so, there is no doubt that technology will be here
to help us, teachers, as well as students, achieve effective learning.

7. Coronel, Ángel
Aplicaciones de la Informática Educativa a la Enseñanza del Inglés
INSPT – UTN 2010
7
Works cited
Sharma, P. & Barrett, B. (2007). Blended Learning: Using Technology in and
beyond the Language Classroom. Macmillan