Education Reform: Language and Technology vs. STEM
As we get closer to the presidential election, organizations and individuals are once again appealing to officials for an education reform. Over the past few years there has been a push for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) programs. What about a push for language instruction?
Although a science and technology program is valuable, a program that integrates technology and language is equally important. Part of the problem with this type of language initiative though is that individuals within the discipline have split views. On one end are the traditionalists who are completely against incorporating technology into language pedagogy. On the other end of the spectrum are those so eager to test new technologies that in their haste end up poorly incorporating technology into the lesson plans. For example, I recently learned that a teacher created a class account on Pinterest and had the students post a picture and a paragraph about a famous Spanish monument on the site simply because Pinterest is currently the "hottest" tool in technology. Needless to say, the activity was a disaster because it was poorly integrated into the lesson. In a globally connected world, technology is a crucial element of language instruction but it requires careful thought and planning......more
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