The Relative Advantage of Technology in Language Arts

Using technology in the classroom is easier in some disciplines than others. In the math and science areas, because of the practicality and the learned skills, technology tends to be easier to integrate. And this isn’t necessarily a fault of creators of useful apps or websites. No app creator or instructional designer has a grudge against certain disciplines. It’s just that those disciplines lend themselves to more objective answers and hard facts. Disciplines like Language Arts are harder to deduce to yes/no, right/wrong answers because of their subjective nature. Therefore, apps and technology for Language Arts are more specialized or emphasize newer instructional strategies. The relative advantage of using technology in Language Arts is that students can learn the content while also developing the necessary skills to help them succeed at the next level.

Vocabulary has always been an integral part of the Language Arts curriculum. I’m confident that everyone reading this at one point in their K-12 career experienced the same method of teaching. It went something like this:

1. Monday – Get the new words. They were either written on the board by the teacher and you had to copy them down. Or they were the next “unit” in a book. Once you wrote the words down, grab a dictionary from the bookshelf full of dictionaries and encyclopedias and copy the definition. Bonus points if your dictionary had half of the original sleeve still on it.
2. Tuesday and Wednesday – forget all about your vocab words
3. Thursday – Teacher would check for definitions and words. Then there was there review for the quiz the next day.
4. Friday (pre quiz) – forget about the quiz and cram all those definitions into your short term memory while walking to class.
5. Friday (post quiz) – immediately forget all of the words.
   

And then repeat.

Now, there are some great apps and websites that allow for students not only to learn the words, but remember them long after the quiz is done. Dr. Robert Marzano developed six steps to teach vocabulary: explain, restate, show, engage, discuss, and play (as cited in “6 Ways”). One of the websites that helps achieve all six of these steps is Membean. Membean give students a set number of words each week (as directed by the teacher). They see the word in various different ways: As cartoons, in videos, with definitions, in word clouds, with synonyms and antonyms, in interactive games, etc. They are also formatively assessed throughout. They are then assigned to complete a weekly quiz (or as decided by the teacher) to assess their learning. This newer tool takes advantage of new technology and allows for students to learn vocabulary and retain it.

Another crucial 21st century skill that Language Arts can help develop is discussion. Much like the vocabulary story, I could take you back to the days of discussion in your high school classroom. A teacher stands in front, asks questions about he text, and everyone sits in silence waiting for the awkwardness to stop. Or waiting for that one talkative or smart peer to chime in. Sadly, that might still be reflective of current classrooms across the US. Modern technology gives Language Arts instructors an advantage in teaching students collaborative reading. Collaborative reading helps readers to “share ideas and consider alternative perspectives on the reading topic” (Roblyer and Hughes, 2019, p. 345). While this skill was still the goal of the old school and ineffective teacher-led discussion of days past, modern technology makes this much more effective. Using collaborative tools like Flipgrid allows for each student to have a voice. In fact, Flipgrid’s tag line is “Empower Every Voice.” It enables and empowers every student to contribute to a discussion and to share their opinions, beliefs, and perspectives without the fear of talking in a classroom. Their voices are heard, and communities are built. Apps like Flipgrid give Language Arts teachers a relative advantage in that students can, as Roblyer and Hughes (2019) say, “analyze the text, offer their own personal response, and engage in online dialogue with peers” (p. 345).

So while it may be hard at first to find technology to integrate into the Language Arts classroom, with a little digging some resources can be found that empower educators to help create authentic discussion, foster collaboration, and build communities in their classrooms.

“InClass.” Arizon K12 Center, https://www.azk12.org/homeroom/2016/06/15/6-ways-to-expand-students-vocabulary-with-technology/.

Roblyer, M. D., and Joan E. Hughes. Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching: Transforming Learning across Disciplines. Pearson Education, Inc., 2019.