Integrating Technology in Teaching and Learning Process
Technology Language Learning
Final test Paper
Laranti Salaz
Nawan Riyan Zufar
Syaifurrohman
This paper focus on various lesson plan that be used in the classroom. There, technology integrated in every activities in the lesson plan to support both teacher and students in teaching and learning process.
Integrating Technology in Teaching and Learning Process
The world of education and schools is changing rapidly. This is due to meet the diverse of learners with the need of globalization that learning technology is a crucial element of education in twenty-first century. Today’s pupils learn and work with technology. They are habitually close to technology and it touches in every part of their life. Every day they close to technology such as personal computer, smart phone, television etc. All of it can build the good surrounding if only they can manage the use of technology integrated to learning, then this becomes the challenge for teacher to build that good surrounding for students by collaborating the students skills and the availability of nowadays technology. In the classroom, technology becomes the tools to support and develop teaching and learning activities. (Papert, 1993) states that certain uses of powerful computational technology and computational ideas can provide children with new possibilities for learning, thinking, and growing emotionally as well as cognitively. It means that technology can help teacher transferring the lesson, in line with the developing students’ skill.
Technology can be used in a whole part of the teaching and learning activities. For teacher, it is used for preparing the lesson plan, giving explanation by having presentations or games, completing assessments, giving projects for students etc. An effective teaching will motivate students to learn and procurement achievements can be reached by holding technology in the classroom. Otherwise, there are still some issues in education field such as the skill of teacher and students who will use technology to support the activities should be well-trained and the management of the school should support the use of technology which means provide the tools such as computers and the connection to internet etc. Underlining the need of teacher and students who should master the use of technology means the requirement must be completed. Despite of having those issues, technology that integrated in the teaching and learning activities will have a lot of contribution for school and particularly for pupils. As (Gillespie, 2006) said that recent study into the impact of technology on teaching and learning indicates positive relationship between pupils’ attainment and use of technology in the most subject and in most phases. This shows how technology can help teacher developing the lesson effectively.
Those beneficial of using technology in teaching and learning also support by Wiske, M.S; Franz, K.R & Breit, Lisa (2005) statement which state that using technology in teaching could construct the students’ beginning interest and new knowledge. Based on their statement it was the first important thing which can persuade the students to be active in doing the performance which is constructed by teacher through the new technology. Tabler (2006) state that knowledge is actively constructed by the learner itself, it is not passively received from outside. He also state that the technology can support the students in constructing their knowledge. Technology can construct the variety of phenomenon which attract the students to be active and creative in facing them. Some of these ideas are unstable; others are more deeply rooted and well developed, through technology teacher could choose the appropriate assessment which can encourage the students’ ability in solving and do the assessment. It can be called as the constructed of technology which support the teaching and learning process.
Learning as well is how knowledge builds up rather than acquiring knowledge. Duffy & Cunningham (1996) state the tenets of constructivism such as learning is an active process of constructing knowledge and the instruction is a process that involves supporting that construction rather than of communicating knowledge. In line with that, the use of technology will let students build up their knowledge and understanding through students-center learning environment. These activities that lies in the lesson plans will shows integrated technology in the learning activities.
The first lesson plan shows that technology help teacher provides the recording story. The focus of the lesson are listening and writing. Hence, recording stories are played to train students getting the main ideas, specifics information and taking notes of the different stories which are folktales from different places in Indonesia. The use of technology becomes necessary because it helps teacher to simplify the lesson, save times and easy to make. Then, the different method by having recording story will make students more focus to listen the story rather than reading directly. One of the objective of the lesson is understanding the narrative texts which is various folktales from Indonesia, in line with that constructivism theory states that the learners construct their knowledge through their interaction with the physical world, collaboratively in the social setting and in a cultural and linguistic environment. The recording stories provides the stories that can be learn for students getting the good moral values, build the knowledge that related to their real life.
Technology help teacher provides the explanation of the text by having slide presentation. Recently, teacher tends to have explanation by having visual aid such as PPT (power point explanation) which showed in the second lesson plan of recount text and Prezi in the third lesson plan of analytical exposition. Slides of presentation itself help teacher to focus on the topic explanation and avoid the other things that is not in the range of the topics. Slide presentation can also provide pictures, sounds, or movies means that students will have visualize of the topics and it usually more effective than having an oral explanation without having slides or visualize things. In line with constructivism theory that states knowledge is represented in the brain as conceptual structure but it is possible to model and describe these in some details. Teacher builds the concept of the students by having those models such as pictures and details of explanation in the slides presentation.
The fourth lesson plan shows the use of technology provides students with video. The content of videos is dialogue of conversation that shows the satisfaction and dissatisfaction of expression. This is important to make clear about the expression, then videos will very helpful because students can directly see and learn, so they can practice it later by themselves. In the lesson plan also ask students to have online learning in talkenglish.com. The goal is to build the interest of the students in learning because it provides some sounds of expressions and students can just play and learn from it. That site also can help students who want to have individual learning in their home.
The fifth and the last lesson plan show the utilization of technology which using the power point for conducting game. It is one of the advantages of using the hyperlink in the slide of power point. Other word, power point beside it is tended in explaining the material. It can also used to conduct game, it is supported by hyperlink media of power point. The material which provided by using PPT game is Simple Past Tense. Other interesting slide which can attract the students’ interest to follow the teachers’ explanation is Prezi. Using of Prezi slide can help the students feel enjoyed when they are paying attention to the teachers’ explanation.
The last lesson plan is using social media as the learning media. The material of this lesson plan is Past Continuous Tense. The assessment which given by teacher is the students have to make pictures which express Past Continuous Tense. The next they have to upload it in group Facebook account. Actually using the social media is the simple and effective media for learning, because the students always use it almost every day. Teacher can observe the students contribution of the group. The students will feel enjoyed, implicitly they also learn by surfing on Facebook.
Actually technology is the effective media of teaching and learning. It is supported by many activities which can be constructed in using technology. Students will be more active and creative by using technology. The lesson plans which have been mentioned above have used the technology as the teaching and learning media. But it does not mean that the technology always gives the good effect for the students. The clarification of the using technology in those lesson plans, sometimes have the weakness. Actually the weakness which can be showed from the lesson plans is the unpredictable of technology itself.
Teachers will be difficult in implementing the activity in those lesson plans, perhaps it can be successful but it needs much of time and struggle of the teachers. The weakness of those lesson plans can be decreased by the good preparation before conduct the activities in those lesson plans. Other weakness of using much of technology in teaching class is the unpredictable error of the technology itself. The teachers really have to make sure if the students work properly when teaching and learning is providing. Perhaps teachers need extra carefulness to teach by using technology.
Technology as the media support teaching and learning activities in the classroom can have two sides. Sometimes, it becomes something good but it can be something bad if the user can not use it effectively. As the teacher who have the control directing the classroom, wisely consider the priority of the students. All of the things that have been prepared in lesson plan should be run well with or without technology. Again, the one who have the control is teacher and he/she can not be changed with anything because basicly technology is just a tool to support students in their learning process.
References :
Baker, E.; McGaw, B. & Peterson, P. (2007). Constructivism and Learning. Oxford: Elsevier.
Baker, E.; McGaw, B. & Peterson, P. (2007). International Encyclopedia of Education. (3rd Edition). Oxford: Elsevier.
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Gillespie, H. (2006) Unlocking Learning and Teaching with ICT : identifying and overcoming barriers. David Fulton Publishers : Great Britain.
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Papert, S. (1980) Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. Basic Book, New York; Perseus, Cambridge, MA.
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