What can I use in my classroom?

It's been known that there is an aging gap between teachers that, little by little, has been reduced. The fact of having more and more new teachers who are, most of them, part of the new generations, has guaranteed the interaction among students and teachers to be more familiar and, in regards to technological gadgets, easier.
However, for the ones who, even when they are young, do not have a wide spectrum on this matter, or the ones who consider that being updated results a bit difficult due to their lack of understanding in regards to technology, there is always an option. The emergence of multiple gadgets seem to be easy to deal with.
In the next article, that you are invited to have a look at, there are several devices  which are presented with enough clarity for you to know when and how to use them. In case that you find them completely new, please let us know your impressions on them and how likely you are to use them in your class.
For the ones that are already known, such as cameras or smart tablets, feel welcome to tell us how your experience has been while using them.

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/8-high-tech-gadgets-that-are-making-classrooms-sma/

Now that you have had a look at the article, please let us know your thoughts regarding to the usefulness of using those devices in or out the classroom to carry out your teaching practice 

Flipped classrooms for teaching a language

Hello guys. Welcome to a new post on English learning and technology.

Today we are discussing a bit about flipped classrooms, which is an approach that has been recently used to teach several subjects and topics. It's been also known as the "inverting a classroom" approach whose main purpose is to seize in-person time that students have with their teachers inside the classroom. Since students are given some material to work on, such as readings, videos, recordings, among others, they are expected to come to the classroom to wider their knowledge on the topic they were getting acquainted with. Besides of that they can also come up with several questions, doubts or comments that will be really helpful to expand a bit their understanding.

To continue with, and according to Bergmann & Sams, once that a teacher decides to flip their classroom, there are multiple options and alternatives to do it. However, even though there may be different alternatives, they must aim to the same purpose: To give students the most relevant role on their learning process and to get the teacher to play as a guide or a coach who is standing by their students' learning.

Some strategies that can be used in order to flip classrooms and that are suggested on the web page of the University of Washington are:
"brief question-and-answer sessions, discussion integrated into the lecture, impromptu writing assignments, hands-on activities and experiential learning events. As you think of integrating active learning strategies into your course, consider ways to set clear expectations, design effective evaluation strategies and provide helpful feedback." http://www.washington.edu/teaching/teaching-resources/engaging-students-in-learning/promoting-student-engagement-through-active-learning/ . As it can be seen in these tips, students' expectations must be properly set since the very beginning of the courses, and, besides of that, there must also be an evaluation criteria, clearly defined by the teacher in which students can also know what the contents will be evaluated like.

Have you guys ever tried to flip your classroom by the means of providing your students with some material to work with in their houses or by their own?
What about using technology as a way to enhance this approach to be more succesfull? Do you command your students to watch on-line videos or to listen to some podcast by their own in order to have them discussing them in the classrom?
What other questions do you think might be food for thought regarding flipped classroom?

Please, be free to comment either your answers or your questions or, even better, both of them.

Thanks for visiting!

Is internet good or bad?

Are you an Internet lover, or an addict? Do you spend, or waste your time on-line? Did your parents tell you that Internet was a tool only for your free time and for your leisure? Let's figure out how useful can Internet be according to the use that you give to it.

Check this article to get an idea on this interesting topic and then leave us your comments: To your concern, is internet a useful tool to be used nowadays and, especially, in the classroom when it comes to language teaching?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english/ep-180426

Getting acquainted with tech terminology

Welcome to this blog where we are going to take a look at some implications that technology has in foreign language learning process.
First off, you are welcome to get familiar with some terminology related to technology. Let's watch this short video to start with it!

Now that you have watched it, tell us: Are you a digital native or inmigrant? Has the tech revolution affected you in anyway? Do you have a cutting edge device in which you were watching the previous video?Are you a cyber addict?

Share your comments with our community! Don´t be afraid of being immerse in the digital age.