New Stage Technology

“Contrary to popular belief, people don’t always like new things,” or so asserts an American Theatre publication article, entitled “New Stage Technology Changes the Game Behind the Scenes, and in the Classroom” (http://www.americantheatre.org/2014/01/15/new-stage-technology-changes-the-behind-the-scenes-routine/).  As a teacher of Theatre, I find technology, both on and off stage, to be incredibly beneficial, and, sometimes, a bit daunting.  The sound board, wireless microphones, moving lights, lighting software, and more require students to learn the basic function of each, and then really become experts of all aspects of each task.  While the concepts are not “new,” the way each task is performed is ever evolving.  I found it interesting when John Huntington mentioned that the number of stage hands is about the same now as it was in the past.  He says, “You need the same number of bodies (as decades ago)….the skills have changed.”  As a teacher, I have to try and keep up with technology, in order to  better prepare students for a possible future in technical theatre.  This is difficult, because it is very costly, and something new is always being developed.

The article goes fairly deep into the potential complexity of mastering all technical aspects of Theatre (not for the casual hobbyist!), and underscores the idea that this is how we experience life- in a multimedia, interactive environment.  In short, computers and technology help us control what happens on the stage, and how it appears.  

In a high school setting, a very practical, and more easily-understood application of technology is with social media.  Social media help create buzz for marketing purposes,  create awareness of your theatre program, and share your art. So, while people may not always like "new" things, it is the way that live theatre better mimics real life, and more closely represents how viewers are used to experiencing messages.

Technology in the Classroom for ELL Students

The article I chose to reflect on is about how to use technology in an ELL classroom. http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/preparing-ells-be-21st-century-learners

The author starts out with a story about an ELL teacher who struggled to get students to keep up on computer-based assignments. It turned out that many of them were falling behind or simply gave up because they had never used a computer before and had no idea what to do with the instructions they were given. As you might guess, the best answer to the teacher's problem was to teach ELL students how to use computers and other electronic devices before even assigning anything technology-based.

The best way to teach ELL students how to use technology is to have them practice during class, make simple step-by-step instructions, illustrating the instructions (or providing screen shots), presenting the information in small chunks, and making the lessons practical for their immediate lives. To finish, each task should have a short exercise where the students practice what they have just learned.

Later on, the author discusses various specific points about teaching technology to ELL students, like providing them with handouts with instructions for technology-based assignments (to ensure they don't miss anything you might have said verbally), and have students pair up or get in groups to learn and practice (since many students learn socially).

I think the author makes a good point by saying that students need to learn about technology hands-on and then practice several times right away. When learning a language, students need to practice the language how it would be used, otherwise there's no point in learning it - they would just forget it or not know when or how to use certain terms or phrases. Making tasks/lessons simple and chunked is also important because there is only so much information they can learn at a time, and simplifying it means they will master it quickly and be able to move on to the next task.

What I think is funny, however, is that these teaching strategies are not really new. When teaching students anything they have no familiarity with, they need information to be chunked and practice to be hands-on so the information sticks with them and they don't feel overwhelmed. The author also discusses finding out how much the students know about technology before learning it, which is essentially access prior knowledge, and differentiating instruction. There are so many strategies that apply to students of all grade levels and abilities, it's just a matter of adapting them to new material.

Technology in the Spanish classroom

The website that I chose comes from the following link: http://www.santillanausa.com/spanish-classroom/3-ways-to-use-technology-in-the-foreign-language-classroom-free-resources-for-spanish-teachers.html

Because I teach Spanish, I chose an article about how to use technology in a Spanish classroom. In Spanish, we do not just teach a language. We also teach aspects of culture, music and accents from all over the world in Spanish-speaking countries. If we added more technology into classes, we would be able to provide more authentic examples for students.

With the implementation of audio, students would be able to hear songs, poems, literature, interviews, etc in the target language, in different accents. This will help students so that they will be able to understand people from different countries. Students could also have the opportunity to skype or video chat with people from other countries.  They could practice communicating in the target language along with comprehention.

Other useful resources are things like online activities. I have used sites such as kahoot and quizlet to practice vocabulary and grammar points in Spanish. I use google classroom to post short quizzes or assignments for students. This allows the cutback on paper and students have the opportunity to get almost instant feedback or comment on other people's posts. The final use for technology in a Spanish class is being able to access ebooks. This is great! Many times, ebooks allow the reader to pass over uncommon words and it provides the reader with a definition. This also saves us from printing so many sheets.

The article chosen for the blog can be found at the following web address: http://blog.capterra.com/gym-classes-go-digital-how-tech-changes-physical-education/.

What I really enjoyed about this article is that I was able to take away how PE educators can take away from the modern world of technology and apply it to lesson plans in the classroom.  Growing up, it was indicated that video games are setting a standard that kids are becoming lazy and non active.

With todays technology and use of mapping of the human body, video game systems are able to pick up body movement and are also able to give feedback.  Games such as Dance Dance Revolution, and systems such as the Nintendo Wii involve movement of the body which in turn results in physical activity.  The use of technology though does not stop there though.  With many main steam video devices available to all via internet students can visually see what and how mechanics of a physically ability work.

Besides videos student can watch, they are now able to access their own records by simply wearing modern and technology enhanced watches.  Pedometers and trackers are of great use, and now many watches are engineered to obtain physical activity and how the body is processing progress and offers quick feedback on the activity at hand.

With such technology, only those who are mentally able to understand it is it best suited for.  To ask a group of elementary students to track such facts may seem unfeasible.  But for middle school and high school students, in which the culture and socials trend is shifting these sort of devices may be best suited.