Image by George W. Hart
Technology Integration in a Chinese Classroom
I feel very fortunate working at a one-on-one laptop school at which each of my high school students uses his/her own laptop in the class. In my class, computer is not only a tool for word processing or checking the online dictionaries. I will use this post to summarize how I integrate technology in my classes and its effectiveness by using the SAMR Model.
Listening: Once the students enter the classroom, there are always Chinese songs from Youtube or videos from Growing Up with Chinese to reinforce the content they have been learning or of their interests. The constant stimuli, I believe, help to improve pronunciation and tones. I also use videos created by the students from this year or previous years for listening comprehension activities. I would think this is a Augmentation in the SAMR Model.
Speaking: In addition to the oral activities in the class, students constantly use Audacity to record their speaking assignments. After recording their audio files are uploaded to their Google Folders. Whenever possible, I try to have face to face individual interactions with each students in each class but the lack of time is an issue. The recording and uploading functions have given me the time to carefully listen to each student’s speaking and to give them feedbacks in the following class. I would think this is a Modification in the SAMR Model.
Reading: In August 2012 when I started teaching high school Chinese, I used to create Google Document from text book materials or to find online texts then asked the students to use Vocabulary List Generators from Purple Culture to analyze the texts. It was a very power tool at that time because the students could easily paste any Chinese text to the Vocabulary List Generators which generate pronunciation and definition of all the words so they can study on their own before I review the text with them.
In November 2012, I discovered a tool that is even more effective – Zhongwen: A Chinese-English Popup Dictionary which is a Google Chrome extension. What makes it so powerful and effective? One can just move the cursor to any Chinese character, word, phrase, and it automatically shows the definition and pinyin. Using this free tool all my students can read any online materials such as news or short essays to expand their vocabulary with very little help from me.
Two months ago I learned about the MDBG Chinese Reader which is the most effective tool I have come across so far for analyzing texts. It is an offline dictionary and translation device. When putting the cursor to a character, a word, or a phrase, not only definition and pinyin appear, but it also has audio. This audio function helps tremendously for those who are still trying to speak with correct tones. However, MDBG Chinese Reader is not a free device.
Another tool that I often use for reading activities is The Chinese Reading World by The University of Iowa Chinese Program. Its well designed reading materials and activities are organized by proficiency levels.
The integration of the tools mentioned above have changed how they learn and what they learn. I would think this is a Redefinition in the SAMR Model.
Writing: When learning Chinese, to hand write the characters is a must. However, how to use word-processing is also crucial because most forms of communication are now online. Each student in my classes has a Google Folder. All of their word-processing writings are done in Google Document and saved in their folders. I use Google Document comments to give them feedbacks and to insert links for areas they need to improve. These links take them to the Grammar Points Folder that I created in Google Drive. The grammar points are the most frequent grammatical errors the students made. They can access the links I created to improve their writings and grammar on their own anytime anywhere. The combination of using comments and links has proven very effective from seeing the progress of their writings. I would think this is a Modification in the SAMR Model.
Assessment: Please refer to my previous post The Role of Technology in Differentiated Instruction about how I use technology for assessment.
What is my plan for further improvement? I will constantly look for and try ways and tools to engage the learners. As for now, there is an immediate area I want to improve upon – to create more visual materials to teach Chinese culture. As a Chinese teacher, I believe learning the culture is as important as learning the language. I have been using videos from LearnChineseNow , Off the Great Wall and Confucius Institute Online for cultural awareness during.
One thing I discovered recently is my students enjoy watching the presentations that I prepared from my Coetail assignments such as the PechaKucha about China’s One Child Policy and the Zen Presentation about The Four Most Important Colors in Chinese Culture. Perhaps they like the fact that I am learning and have to do homework as well? The tools and concepts I learned in Course Three about the role of Visual Literacy in an effective instruction and that I need to use it more to engage my learners.