Why bringing tech into language and literature study isn’t just necessary, it’s long overdue.
It is often said that technology, whilst being able to assist with procedural and logistical aspects of school life, has little value within the subject areas themselves.
Take algorithm-based services like Turnitin that scan for plagiarism, or Google Cloud submission and editing functions: both useful, but neither bringing any real innovation to the subject delivery itself. It is the technology that can improve our delivery of the subject in the first place that we should be searching for.
Thinking of technology as useful in terms of convenience has made us complacent. We need to change the what it is students get from different subjects by bringing in technology that improves the lesson experience itself.
As an English teacher I have long advocated for the introduction of more technology in language study. There is an undeniable void for it to fill, as well as an eager and savvy cohort of students waiting to adopt it. What’s been lacking is the right approach and a model for implementation.
Now, that is beginning to change.
It starts by identifying simple needs. For example, in literature exercises,we normally need to show the passages on screens for students to see as we analyse and annotate together. However, when focusing on certain areas that require more detailed discussion we must have either planned such a thing in a set of slides (which actually reduces the teachers ability to appropriately respond to student issues in real time) or else write the words on the board, isolating them from everything else.
Interactive touch-screens and desktops allow for zooming in and out in the same way one would perform the function on a smart phone. Text doesn’t appear artificially removed from the larger passage in which it sits, and the teacher gains greater flexibility and control over lesson discussions that slides would not allow.
So there’s one. Are there more…
Subjects like literature are heavy consumers of paper. It’s in their nature. Written responses, even if they are drafts, must be legible, meaning they can’t be scrawled on draft paper as with other subjects. Languages’ apparent dependence on paper is actually a real grumble of mine, and something I had been waiting for some time to address.
When the chance came for a paperless alternative, I leapt at it! Our paper-like tablet is remarkable (excuse the pun): it has reduced paper use in my tutorials to 0 and has been positively received by students and parents alike. And although some my have thought that the change over would take time, this has not been the case.
And don’t even get me started on Kindles! Not only is every book backed up, meaning that loss or damage is no longer an issue, but they have word tracking functions and vocabulary training built in. These things are literally made to aid language and literature study. We actually believe so much in them that we purchased a fleet of them and loan them out to both our under 15 students and our IELTS learners to increase their exposure to written English through reading and in a way that we can guide and control.
Changes like this show that subjects like literature can benefit from technology.
Many educators claim that the teaching of languages exists in a realm entirely of its own, where it is impossible to bring in technological advances as the study itself does not require it. This just isn’t true. It’s time that we brought literature the subject into the same century that the students taking it live for the benefit of all.
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Simon John
Cicero Group Limited
