Digital literacy of teachers in your language school

Implementing new technologies in the learning process is always based around teachers. As a rule, teachers are the first obstacle to introduce cutting edge online solutions to education. It often happens that teachers can’t keep up with their students in terms of adopting new technologies. But those who do, get huge advantages in their job. 

 "I remember teaching English to corporate clients. I used to have five classes a day in different parts of the city. Could I prepare for 5 classes with all the commuting involved? Of course, not. Quality of my teaching was not 100%, but the language school still received profit from 5 classes a day. I had to find ways to synchronize groups, used the same coursebook and gave identical homework. If I had had an online platform like PushtoLearn for students’ homework and practice, I would have been more efficient in my teaching through controlling my students and directing the study process through the platform"

Myth 1. Technology is a cure for all teaching diseases

Technology can’t replace education. No innovation can be efficient if teachers don’t see its value and don’t know how to use it. Technologies can give students new opportunities and decrease the workload of teachers. But teachers remain in the center of education. Online platforms can’t replace human interaction, but they can reinforce it. IT solutions modify the role of teachers, give new information and automate routine tasks.

Myth 2. Technology interferes in the learning process

Technologies are just another form of delivering teaching methods. One more medium, which is more responsive and comfortable for a modern student. It is much faster to train vocabulary and grammar online, get instant test results and watch videos – via the online platform.

Myth 3. Technology turns students into zombies

Quite the opposite, technology turns students from passive recipients into active participants of the study process, who create, but not just receive information. IT platform in the learning process enables to gather statistics, provides instant test results and tracks students’ activities. Teacher are more informed and can better work with their students. 

Myth 4. It is simple – you give students new technologies and they can discover them by themselves

It is not enough to give students access to the online platform and hope, that they will begin studying actively on their own. Any technology must be implemented into the learning process. Teachers must also interact with the online platform controlling their students, assigning tasks and tracking progress and attendance. Online training platforms or any other online tools can’t guarantee maximum efficiency of education. 

Myth 5. Teachers don’t have time for new technologies

Teachers are really pressed for time. Learning to use new technologies takes time. But technologies are introduced to save teachers’ time, open new opportunities and automate routine tasks. Language teachers often see innovations as additional workload. That’s why school administration and methodologists must provide support and training for teachers with new technologies.