“Just shoot me.” This was my response just the other day to the news that next semester the ESL department I teach for is going to be adopting a new textbook for the level I teach even though we’ve used our current textbook for just one semester.
One of the aspects of teaching that is not my favorite even though I know it’s necessary is just this, the thought of adopting a new course textbook. For a teacher it’s either a fantastic chance to be creative with new material or something short of a major life crisis. Sitting and contemplating for hours about how to make a new textbook work is, as we all know, simply a part of the teaching profession. Once a plan for implementing the new textbook is laid out, it’s only a matter of piloting it in an actual class. While piloting the text, kinks are worked out, and post-pilot, the decision of whether to treasure it or trash it has to be made. This is no different for educational technology. When new technology is introduced, instructors may want to integrate it into their instruction, but a multitude of complications can arise.
Problem 1. Finding Level-Appropriate Videos Lectures
One of the most significant issues in regards to finding and integrating technology into the academic ESL classroom is the availability of accurate and level appropriate grammar and writing instruction videos. In advanced level ESL composition courses, grammar and writing instruction usually needs to focus on making writers aware of the more subtle elements of academic writing such as pronoun clarity, the use of cleft sentences, cohesion, and the known-new contract. If an instructor looks to Youtube as a source for freely available videos the information provided is sometimes inaccurate. If the instructor persuses Teachertube, the videos are often professionally produced and accurate but not level appropriate for the college level ESL student.
One source that an instructor can find video sources to meet the needs of college ESL writing students is Khan Academy. Khan academy provides a wide array of videos for ESL instruction including materials for lower level and advanced, academic level ESL. In addition to the already-made videos of Khan Academy, instructors may opt to create their own instructional videos designed for the specific needs of their student population. Video creation tools such as Camtasia, Screencast-O-Matic, and Snagit allow instructors to create their own videos and publish them to Youtube or simply send their students their video lessons.
Problem 2. Addressing Plagiarism from Online Sources
Plagiarism is a challenge that faces colleges and universities across globe. In the United States and other countries where there has been an influx of international students entering the higher education system, this problem is most noticeable. In an article discussing the ever-growing problem of plagiarism in the U.K., Brendan O’Malley (2016) reports that at Staffordshire University, international students who constitute only five percent of the total student population comprised over half of the reported incidences of academic dishonesty. This is not to say that international students are the only perpetrators of academic dishonesty; however, it is most noticeable in this student population. This phenomena has been attributed to many factors but most particularly the idea that notions of intellectual property vary from culture to culture. That being said, this issue is exacerbated by the ease of access to the Internet and other advances in digital technology. The Internet along with other programs and devices including text messaging and online essay writing services have play major roles in many cases of academic dishonesty.
Vigilance on the part of instructors, student peers, and academic departments is probably still the best defense against academic dishonesty that is facilitated by technology. However, technology itself can be used to prevent and identify instances of plagiarism and cheating. For example, online resources such as ESL blogger, Larry Ferlazzo’s, The Best Online Resources to Teach about Plagiarism provide extensive lesson materials for teaching students how to avoid plagiarism. Most colleges and universities also have their own plagiarism resource pages for their students. Lycoming University has even created a free online plagiarism identification game in which students try to find and dispatch plagiarism goblins. As for the identification of plagiarism, instructors can use a simple Google search by typing a piece of text thought to have been plagiarized in the search field with quotation marks around it. If in fact the text has been lifted from an online source, the Google search is frequently successful in finding it. In addition, most instructors can utilize Turn-It-In.com for a more thorough originality check. Many institutions have accounts for all faculty so this is a convenient way to address suspected plagiarism.
Problem 3. Selecting Appropriate Apps to Support ESL Instruction
With the multitude of apps being developed for anything and everything, instructors have the monumental task of determining which apps are educationally sound and which apps are . . . “in-app-propriate”. ESL is no different. Apps created to support ELLs range in quality from “the new standard” to “uhhhhh . . . ”. In addition to the sometimes questionable quality of some apps, the issue of utilizing a selected app in a variety of ways in order to make implementation worthwhile is one that instructors should all consider.
References
O’Malley, Brendan. (2016). Cheating by international students rampant at British
universities, says newspaper. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved
from http://chronicle.com/article/Cheating-by-International/234904
Robyler, M. D. (2016). Integrating educational technology into teaching. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson.
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