Just 20 years ago, cell phones, internet, laptops and digital cameras, to list a few, were restricted to scientists and the science fiction world. Today, these technologies have gained public acceptance and it is almost impossible to imagine our lives without them!

It is clear that, in today’s Digital Era, students must learn how to use technology to live, learn and work successfully. As teachers, we hear the call to provide our students with the skills and access to technology they require as citizens of the information and communication age we live in. As a consequence, we have ended up adding one more duty to our list: “The development and use of new educational technologies in our classrooms.” We are constantly exploring ways of incorporating these into our lessons, especially Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and I am sure we have all heard the term “e-Learning” as a way of enhancing the learning process. Schools and teachers feel the pressure to get technology and networked, but, do we really know what this is all for? It is not enough to think how many desktops or laptops should be brought into the classroom or how we can train teachers to use them. We need to ask ourselves broader questions before embarking ourselves into the fast changing and amazing world of technology!

• Have we thoroughly thought about the impact and consequences of using technology with our students?
• How does its use change our learning environments?
• How can we use technology to support our students’ educational experiences?

Have taken the time to answer these questions, or are we just following the “Technology Rush” because everyone is talking about it?

Technology and learning

It has been said that, under the right conditions, technology can:

• enrich the learning of basic skills
• motivate students in learning
• link the classroom experience with the “real life” world
• make people more productive
• intensify teaching

All this sounds very good, but what does “under the right conditions” mean? Isn’t it a little scary?

E-learning in the EFL classroom

E-learning claims to offer students a higher control over their learning by incorporating a full range of visual, auditory and kinaesthetic principles into their experiences, improving their retention of concepts and activities. The latest technology in this area is the use of a computer and an interactive whiteboard. The software is connected to the teacher’s computer and students use a wireless keyboard, a mouse and electronic voting devices to project images and texts on to the whiteboard. Suddenly, a non-threatening environment is created and everyone feels encouraged to participate. This active participation has a positive impact on students’ ability to learn, to retain knowledge and to achieve goals.

Now that the principles behind today’s technology boom in education are stated, we can focus on the “how to do it” part of the discussion:

What is effective practice in learning?

As teachers, our ultimate goals are:

• to engage learners in their learning process
• to encourage independent learning skills
• to develop learners’ skills and knowledge
• to motivate further learning
• to provide feedback

But for effective learning to happen, the learning environment has to provide:

• the right resources
• the right mix of teaching delivery
• the right context
• the right learners
• the right level of support

With all these ideas in our minds, I would like to finish highlighting the importance of the fundamental principles of teaching and learning, regardless of technology. The bottom line of the discussion is learning and not technology. Teachers should, if they can, use technology in their classrooms to make students’ learning experiences easier and more fun to achieve. As specialists in the art of teaching and learning, we must preserve the need of human and social contact between teachers and students and students themselves; stressing the importance of visual and verbal communication, as well as speaking and listening as “key” life skills for success, so that we may never think these could be replaced by technology or any of its forms.

So, how do you plan to use the technologies available, which ones should you use, when and with whom?... Good luck!

Analida Anguizola Inchausti