ESL Blogs

Training to become an English teacher for what seems like the better part of your youth is something that many prospective young people attempt to do. After all, it’s good to feel like you are influencing young minds to go down a path of learning English and self-discovery and make a living out of it.
What happens today, however, is that teaching English in itself has transformed under the pressure of technology. Whether you are a home-schooled individual or a longtime teacher, you have felt the surge of technology on your own shoulders and practice. How can we make technology our English teacher without losing sight of what really matters – the knowledge that comes out of it?

Discovery & Adoption
Whether you are still writing English essay papers or teaching professionally, technology is everywhere around you. We find it on our smartphones, laptops, desktop computers and tablets without stopping to think what these devices are doing for us.
Discovering that technology can be used as a means of self-development and teach others is something that rarely occurs on its own. That is why giving yourself an adoption period and trying out a couple of online language courses, how-to video guides or even educational applications can give you a better idea of what you are dealing with.
Many students and teachers alike can agree that technology can be used in a positive and influential way to learn new things and not just consume mass media messages or check your Facebook news feed every now and then.

Empowering through technology
You don’t need professional testimonials to realize what technology can do for you on a daily basis when it comes to learning. There is a multitude of benefits and applications that you can apply no matter what side of the classroom you are sitting on:
•  Technology provides an incentive towards individual learning and exploration without fear of raising a hand.
•  It can improve retention of information with anyone who implements it and uses applications and online tools.
•  Using tech can also boost teamwork through online interaction and problem-solving while still retaining a strong individualistic spirit.
•  It gives teachers and mentors an empirical data source for evaluation and further development since it can precisely track student progress.
•  Using technology instead of notebooks and study notes provides an incentive towards the clean environment.

Using online learning sources
What makes many people skeptical about including any sort of technology into their learning process is the fact that most of the courses and materials are paid for, often on a monthly basis. While using essay paper help and similar writing sites can impose a certain monetary question, most of what you can learn online and use personal devices is free.
For example, YouTube and personal blogs are full of guides on how to learn skills like getting the best review for your English writing, learning how to read or interpret. While technology won’t be able to teach you basics of firefighting, woodcutting or similar practical skills that require physical involvement, many academic subjects and skill-sets can be acquired online and free of any charge.
However, getting officially certified as an expert in some particular field will require more or less monetary involvement on your part. This is still cheaper than attending college and something that many people will opt for instead.

Drawing the technological line
Note how technology can make your everyday learning and teaching easier and more accessible. However, using technology is such an extensive way has its drawbacks, and you should be careful when considering the level of technological involvement you want to commit to.
•  It can often be difficult to focus on learning while you are online – a number of distractions on offer can make even the most determined learners procrastinate.
•  Technology can make you anti-social and awkward to communicate with. This is something that should be carefully considered by already reserved people.
•  While using a writing service once in a while is considered okay, note that technology encourages you to think outside the box and use any means to pass your tests and academia – even cheat without anyone knowing.
•  Many course providers and websites are not as legitimate as they seem. This can prove troublesome for people without experience in how to spot fake and unreliable information online.
Knowing where to draw the line for yourself and use some of the more analog learning options is sometimes a good idea. Never commit to a fully digitalized learning experience no matter how attractive it seems on paper.

Conclusion
The conclusion you draw from reading about the benefits and applications of technology in learning is purely subjective. Some people will react better to using tablets and similar devices in their learning and teaching while others will still prefer a more traditional route.
Regardless of your final decision, you should consider all options at your disposal before making the final call. Nothing is stopping you from mixing both and adjusting the balance on the fly.