“I want them to learn the language, but I need to also prepare them for whatever it is that they’re going to do later on in life,” Poth says. “There are so many tools out there that we can use to help students build these 21st century skills that they need and employers want.”
When she started using more technology in her language classroom, Poth discovered other benefits she hadn’t expected. Students became more engaged with the class material, and the projects they worked on improved their involvement with the lessons.
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Classroom Tech Increases Student Engagement in Learning a Language
Poth takes many tech-savvy approaches to learning in her language classes. She highlights the engagement and social-emotional benefits of game-based learning platforms, which elevate the material beyond conjugating verbs on the board in front of the class.
“Especially in the past year, they were able to go into a breakout room and play a game together and feel connected or be part of a team — even though they were not in the same physical space — and they knew that they were actually engaging in something at the same time with somebody else,” Poth says.
Using the technology at their disposal to choose the way they want to engage with the class materials during virtual and in-person classes creates a meaningful learning environment for students. They are able to process and retain the material in a way that makes sense to them, making it easier to apply it later.
This immerses Poth’s foreign language students in the language and provides an additional benefit that she, as the teacher, hadn’t foreseen.
“Looking at the use of translators, or having these awesome books and textbooks and workbooks, but knowing that the answers are all on the internet, what do you do? You have to find ways around it,” she says. “Tech is not always the answer because we know it doesn’t always work, but it can facilitate something or enhance it.”