Technology and English Language Learners

Brieana Kelly                                                                                                                         6/18/19

Current Issue #3

Article title: Helping ELL Students Speak Up

Author: Michael Hughes

Source & publication date: SmartBrief-June 11, 2019

Link to article: https://www.smartbrief.com/original/2019/06/helping-ell-students-speak

The article, “Helping ELL Students Speak Up,” is about giving ELL students the confidence to utilize the English language with the use of technology. Often ELL students are too shy to either read out loud or speak which limits their engagement in school. Technology is a way to “enhance creativity and information gathering” for students to improve their reading comprehension and use their voice. Using technology is also a way to encourage communication and collaboration amongst peers.

This article outlines the way they are able to utilize technology with ELL students in their school. The first thing it mentions is to get organized. For example, before having students participate in tech-based activities, have them think about a topic and organize their thoughts in something like a graphic organizer. The next step was to let the students explore their interests. This is something students can use technology to do, for example by using a digital library to do research. By getting to explore their own interests, the students are encouraged to speak up. There should also be a real effort put into incorporating technology that is going to engage students. A technology that the article mentions that encourages students to use their voice in Flipgrid “AppSmash.” Another aspect of successfully using technology to help ELL students is to provide them with a platform and structure for their voice. What this means is allowing the students to share their voices in a safe environment. For example, the author of the article uses Flipgrid which allows students to answer question via video and them to share those with their classmates. Since they are getting the opportunity to hear other students’ voices and aren’t just simply recording their own, it makes for a more comfortable environment to participate in. This is a way to not only build their confidence, but also to enhance their knowledge acquisition.

            This article talks about a very important topic in education, building confidence in ELL students to be active learners. I think technology is an amazing way for students to be able to grow comfortable in using their voices and to engage them more in learning. It is great that a wide variety of students are be given the opportunity to grow with the expansion of technology use in the classroom. Although I do not have much experience observing any ELL students in a classroom, I think this knowledge will definitely be useful when I have a classroom of my own. It is exciting to learn about and discover all the ways technology can be used in education to benefit all students.