Running Header: USING TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM FOR LANGUAGE

LEARNING

Using Technology in the Classroom for Language Learning

Nina Gill

California State University Monterey Bay

IST522 Instructional Design

Professor Dr. Jeanne Farrington

December 11, 2017

USING TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................3

Analysis......................................................................................................................................... 4

Needs Assessment...........................................................................................................................4

Learner Analysis………………………………………………………………………………….7

Context Analysis………………………………………………………………………………....9

Design ........................................................................................................................... ………...10

Learning Objectives …………………………………………………………………………….10

Test Instruments ...........................................................................................................................10

Delivery System and Media Decisions........................................................................................ 11

Instructional Strategies and Activities...........................................................................................12

Agenda .................................................................................................................................. ..…12

Development and Implementation ................................................................................................13

List of Major Deliverables.................................................................................................... ……13

Development Plan ........................................................................................................................14

Implementation Plan...................................................................................... .…………………14

Evaluation ....................................................................................................................................14

Formative Evaluation......... ………………………………………………………………….….14

Summative Evaluation ................................................................................................................. 14

References .....................................................................................................................................15

Appendix A………………………………………………………………………………………16

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This instructional design project will be used to help most of the language instructors at the

Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Centre (DLIFLC) to improve their technical skills,

so they are able to use UCAT (Universal Design Assessment Tool) in the classroom. DLIFLC is

one of the finest Institutions in the United States of America where military soldiers from all

branches are trained to learn a foreign language. DLIFLC gives culturally based foreign language

training, and has language instructors with different sociocultural backgrounds, skill sets and

educational level, as there are around twenty-four languages taught to soldiers and instructors are

from over twenty-four countries. The goal of DLIFLC is to make these soldiers proficient linguists

who have sociocultural linguistic competence in speaking, reading and listening skills.

DLIFLC is focused to incorporate technology in the classrooms, to make teaching more

interactive and student centered. The curriculum support department has developed UCAT, which

consists of modules with various activities for students, this is now being used mostly for

homework and to some extent in the classrooms by many language schools within the DLIFLC.

Since most of the language instructors including myself are Baby Boomers or from Generation X

most of them are not tech savvy, to use this tool effectively in the classroom. The stakeholders are

the DLIFLC faculty members, mangers, heads of the schools, the students and the Department of

Defense. Initially from every language school an instructor was selected to be trained for UCAT,

who would further train the remaining faculty members. The trainings were rushed with only a

couple of instructors using UCAT for homework and it there was no uniformity in its usage. The

ethical consideration is that the course meets the needs of the learners. The perceived constraint is

getting permission from DLIFLC management to conduct the research in different schools and

then implementation of the training in a timely manner. The plan is to implement the training in

July 2018. Final evaluation will be done once the training is completed and teachers start using

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UCAT in the classroom. The course will be instructor led in a classroom with power point

presentation and handouts. At the end of the training quizzes will be given to check what the

learners have learned.

Analysis

Needs Assessment

An interview was conducted and instructors were asked whether they are using

UCAT in the classroom for instruction. The instructors also talked about some advantages and

disadvantages of using UCAT and what are some factors limiting the use of this tool in classroom

instruction. The Multi-Language School at Defense Language Institute would like to use UCAT

in the classrooms for language learning to make language learning more interactive and

meaningful. Defense Language Institute is promoting the use of technology for military linguists’

DLI wide in every language school. The main focus is implementing the usage of UCAT by

instructors in class so students can learn vocabulary, grammar, transcription, listening and reading

comprehension by using a variety of interactive activities.

Currently, students are using UCAT to preview vocabulary and grammar and this is given

as homework by most instructors. Instructors feel that UCAT is time consuming and tedious to use

in the classroom, so they prefer to follow the traditional curriculum. The Defense Language

Institute has invested a large number of taxpayers dollars and manpower in developing this tool

which is not being used in its entirety.

Some faculty members are still struggling to use their new MacBook’s issued by DLI

management. Most of them are not familiar with the apps Handbrake and GIMP which are used to

develop activities in various UCAT modules. The training initially given to the instructors was not

sufficient for most instructors and many faculty members felt that it was rushed. Lack of

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motivation is certainly there; instructors don’t see the benefit of using technology in language

learning and avoid using it, as most of them want to adhere to the traditional old style of teaching.

A relevant article that I researched for my project, which also reveals that many

organizations ignore the fact that there might be a number of employees in their organization who

shy away from technology. This is a valuable study that talks about usefulness of online resources

in the decision-making process by publicly elected school board leaders. The study participants

were 164 elected school board trustees sampled from a population of 330 English –Language

public school trustees across Ontario, Canada. As their decisions have a huge impact on the lives

of millions of students studying in public schools throughout Ontario, Canada and also how

billions of tax dollars are being used once these decisions are made.

It is important for these decision makers to have reliable sources and data available to make

these important decisions. This study not only investigates what resources these individuals are

using and could be used but also reveals the several barriers that are encountered by many of them

in acquiring the data. A very pertinent point mentioned in the study was that many of the trustees

stated, the huge amount of time spent in order to use online resources and also making sure about

their trustworthiness. Many teachers at DLIFLC face the same issues to access online resources

and create activities that can be used online time is a main issue.

Another very important point discovered was how comfortable the trustees were using

technology and what resources were available to them. Inability to use social media, clipping

services and Google Scholar for research by some trustees was also an important finding which

makes it noteworthy for any organization not to take for granted that all employees are tech savvy.

Another problem worth mentioning is that once a training is given to introduce a new

technology tool it is not monitored weather the instructors can actually apply that in the classroom.

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And if the tool is not used what is the reason behind. No evaluations were done to assess the

success of any training given. Any feedback given is also ignored most of the time, therefore it

appears that a lot of tax bearer dollars are being wasted. This problem can be resolved and dealt

with proper planning and effective training.

The instructors need to be motivated by making them aware of the fact that students, who

are the end users of this technological tool are the millennials, and they are spending most of their

time using technology. It would be an excellent idea to introduce something which is a big part of

their lives into their classrooms and get them excited to learn. Instructors also need to let go of

their traditional teacher-centered classroom teaching and adopt a new methodology to promote

learner-centered interactive classroom teaching.

Instructors should also be provided more hands-on training to acutually learn how to use

different apps used in developing activities in UCAT and they should have enough time so they

can actually start developing their own activities, that would benefit and enhance language learning

for the students.

Once instructors complete the UCAT training the mangers should make sure that

instructors are given some extra time to develop activities for UCAT modules. Besides this every

instructor irrespective of the fact that how efficient they are in using technology, they should be

given the opportunity to be trained to use newer technology tools and have the support of the

management. Managers should also provide time to the teachers for professional development and

encourage them to implement what they learn in the classroom.

Main organizational goal of the DLIFLC is to incorporate current technology in language

learning, for students to become proficient in second language acquisition in speaking, reading and

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listening skills. The main learner goal is to acquire the technological skill set to develop interactive

activities for language learners, so they are totally engaged in classroom activities.

Learner Analysis

An interview was conducted in which twenty teachers were asked if they were using UCAT

in the classroom, 90% of the teachers were not using it for classwork, but 100% of the teachers

were using the modules created by the curriculum department for homework. 80% of the teachers

said that they needed refresher training to create their own activities and then implement them in

the classroom. Another important issue that came up and 100% of the teachers who were

interviewed brought up that they needed extra time to create activities for UCAT, 80% of the

teachers did not know how to use the apps that are required to create activities in the UCAT.

Eight teachers agreed to do the survey that showed that 75% of the instructors wanted to

have a refresher training, 88% of the teachers agreed that they need extra time to create activities

for UCAT. Three program managers were also interviewed and all three agreed that a refresher

training would help the instructors to use UCAT in the classroom. It is very important that the

leadership recognizes the problem and are able to come up with a solution to rectify the problem.

A very relevant research article that emphasizes the role of leadership in the incorporation

of technology in online courses discusses current practices, recommendations and

implementations of online services for students and emphasizes the role of active leadership and

their planning to retain students in an online course. The authors are Tabitha Bailey and Abbie

Brown. Tabitha Bailey is an e-Learning Student Support Coordinator for Stanly Community

College. She designs and implements training for student centered support and process for online

and hybrid students. Abbie Brown is a Professor at East Carolina University teaching in

Instructional Technology Program.

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The article emphasizes the need of readily available support to students who are studying

online, be it in the form teacher feedback, availability of material, answering common problems,

providing other resources like online library access and exam taking. If there is no proper support

system for students they tend to dropout. To retain students, they need to have a sense of

community and belonging. On line services are provided by means of learning management,

systems, websites, student portals and social media.

In order to run an efficient on line program great leadership which is upper level

administrative support, along with dedicated faculty and staff are key elements. On- line education

is not easy for the learner and even more difficult task for the provider, if it is not developed

properly chances are that the program will not retain students. This article is very relevant to my

research which is to implement technology in The Defense Language Institute we need a more

efficient support system at the highest level.

It is also important not to assume that young teachers who are natives to technology will

be the first ones to implement technology in the classroom. As in this research article, the authors

examine the use of technology in the classroom by digital native student teachers. They discuss

the barriers that teachers encounter while using technology in class. It is a common belief that

teachers who are Baby Boomers and Generation X have a conservative approach towards the

integration of technology in classroom, with digital generation student teachers, joining the

teaching profession it is assumed that this problem will be eliminated, but this study shows that

this is necessarily not the situation. Furthermore, the article talks about the external and internal

barriers that digital generation student teachers face while incorporating technology in the

classroom. The study also shows we cannot take it for granted as the digital generation moves into

teaching they would start integrating new technology into classroom.

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It is very interesting to read about the internal barriers which are self-efficacy, risk taking,

attitudes and beliefs. Self-efficacy plays an important role in the motivation level and performance

of a teacher and it is not necessary that a tech savvy teacher will be willing to take risks in class

while incorporating technology in class. This research is helpful for my research as it reveals that

no matter what skills the teachers have there is always a need of technical support and training

required by the teachers to keep up with the fast-paced technological environment. Especially for

teachers who are not natives of the digital era which are majority of the teachers in DLI.

Incorporating technology for language learning has a big downside in the Defense Language

Institute Monterey, the reason being most instructors are Baby Boomers and Generation X and

are intimidated by incorporating technology in classroom. Although with the digital generation

mobile learning has taken a place in linguistics but research shows that it has a negative effect on

the writing skill especially with grammar and spelling. (Computer-Mediated Communication for

Linguistics and Literacy, chapter 9, 2010). Many professors especially at Defense Language

Institute for see the disadvantages of ICT in language learning and hesitate to use it.

Instructors that require training are currently teaching Urdu and Indonesian Languages,

mostly using old traditional methods of teaching a language. They have prior knowledge of this

topic and some of them have been given some training for UCAT. On the day of the training the

instructors should bring their fully charged MacBook’s along with their chargers.

Context Analysis

The first source for this information would be a survey emailed to the teachers regarding

any technology issues with their MacBook’s. Availability of the internet and server issues which

happens frequently at the DLI will also be questioned in the survey.

Through observation we can check if the smart board is working and there are no server

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issues and all instructors have fully charged MacBook’s. Training will be done in building 607 in

the Corpus Hall which is in the Defense Language Institution Monterey California. Training

sessions will be divided in groups of five so that instructors get more hands on and one on one

instructions.

Design

Learning Objectives

Declarative Objectives

 From memory, the DLI instructors Will be able to state at least three advantages and

disadvantages encountered while using UCAT (Universal Curriculum Assessment Tool)

in the classroom with 100% accuracy.

 From memory, the DLI instructors will be able to recall the steps involved in developing

the Categorization activity in the UCAT module with 100% accuracy.

Procedural Objectives

 Given a handout the DLI instructors will be able to create the Categorization activity in

UCAT for the classroom with 100% accuracy.

 Given a rubric the DLI instructors will be able to evaluate their performance on how well

they did, in creating the Categorization activity in UCAT according to Standards set by the

curriculum department their scores should be within an 80% match to those of their UCAT

trainer.

Test Instruments

Declarative Test Items

1. Which of the following is the main issue when using UCAT in the classroom? Choose the best
answer.

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a. Website down

b. Teacher readiness

c. Student readiness

d. Laptop not functioning

2. Write five steps that are required to create the activities in the UCAT module.

Procedural Test Items

1. The UCAT trainer has the DLI faculty to create the Categorization activity. The trainer
checks if the faculty member has followed all the given steps on the handout.

CATEGORIZATION
2. Insert each item as a category
3. The answers are ITEMS under the category
4. Don’t forget that correct answers are in green CHECKMARK
5. DISTRACTORS have a red X and can go under any category

HANDS ON EXERCISE
Insert a CATEGORIZATION component and leave the INSTRUCTION blank.
Use the following content given to build a CATEGORIZATION task.

Category Animal Plant Distractor

cow fern moon
dog rose
bear lily
tree

Given the rubric by the UCAT trainer the UML faculty evaluates how accurately they

have made the activities and if all tabs work properly. They will score themselves according to

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the rubric.

On the rubric ten being the highest score if the faculty member does all the steps correctly in the

hands-on activity.

Media and Delivery System Decisions

The training will be instructor led in the classroom and the activities that the UML faculty

develops will be online. The reason being many UML faculty members are not tech savvy and

they need the trainer to guide them through the training step by step. Many teachers want the trainer

to explain more than just the information which is in the handout or online in order to get a better

understanding of how to create the activities in the UCAT.

Handouts will be used, as faculty members can go back and use them as reference whenever

required. The instructors need the handout which will help them to learn better and they will be

more productive. Smart Board will also be used, the trainer will demonstrate for the faculty

members how each step is done to create the activities.

Instructional Strategies and Activities

Agenda

1. Introduction (5min)

A. What is the training about

B. Why this information is being presented

2. Advantages and disadvantages of using UCAT in class (10 min)

A. Write three advantages and disadvantages of using UCAT in the classroom. (5 min)

3. Read the steps to create the activity in the UCAT and practice. (15min)

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4. Watch the demonstration and create the Categorization activity. (15 min)

5. According to the rubric evaluate yourself and check how accurately you created the

activity. (10 min)

6. Summary (5 min)

Major Teaching /Learning Activities

Agenda Item (Teaching/Learning Activity)

 The DLI faculty will watch a Presentation on what are the advantages and disadvantages

of using UCAT in the classroom.

 The DLI faculty members will read the steps from the handout that they need to know to

create the UCAT activities.

 The DLI faculty members will create activities in the UCAT after watching a

demonstration by the trainer.

 The DLI faculty members will read the rubric and evaluate the accuracy if the activities

they developed in the UCAT module.

Development and Implementation

List of Major Deliverables

• PowerPoint slide presentations for each of the sections

• Two interactive videos created from the PowerPoint slides with a script

• Quiz questions for each of the interactive videos

• Handouts

• Rubric to grade the activity

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• Two videos created from the PowerPoint slides with a script

• Feedback questions on the course

Development Plan

The training will be approximately seven hours long. It will take a week to

complete the training for instructors who are novice in technology may be a little more. The cost

is minimal as far as money is concerned. The major constraint is the time needed for me to create

the course and the time needed for the instructors to complete the course. The general timeline for

this project will be approximately six months to create the course. Implementation will take place

in July of 2018.

Implementation Plan

To implement this instructional design module, the instructor needs to be comfortable

with computers, smart board, MacBook and accessing the Internet, a rubric will be provided for

the activities and the final evaluation. The instructor should possess at least bachelor’s degree in

language related teaching. Only one instructor can be trained on the UCAT to give the training.

Evaluation

Formative Evaluation

The most appropriate method of evaluating and improving instruction is to look at the

success rate of the formative assessments throughout the course. If they are not learning, then we

need to look at the design and make possible changes. I would need to analyze the data and the

feedback of the course to discover where we can improve on the design. Each section will have a

formative evaluation to give me feedback on the success of the instructors learning. I will evaluate

the results and consider the changes needed.

Summative Evaluation

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The summative evaluation of the teachers’ learning will be given at the end of the training,

I will not be conducting transfer, payoff, or ROI evaluations for this course. The last thing the

teachers will do in the course is the formative feedback evaluation of the lessons.

References

Bodomo, A. (2010). Computer-mediated communication for linguistics and literacy: technology

and natural language education. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

Retrieved 2010.

Kay, R. and Carruthers, L. (2017). Examining school board leaders’ use of online

resources to inform decision making. Canadian Journal of learning and Technology, 43,

2-25.

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1137649.pdf . Retrieved 2017.

Li, L., Worch, E., Zhou, Y., & Aguiton, R. How and Why Digital Generation Teachers

Use Technology in the Classroom: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Study.

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning,9(2).

doi:10.20429/ijsotl.2015.090209. Retrieved 2015

Piskurich, G. M. (2015). Rapid instructional design: Learning ID fast and right (3rd ed.).

Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Appendices

Appendix A

SURVEY

UCAT is an effective tool for language teaching in the class room?

7 responses

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Strongly agree

Agree 42.9%

UCAT is time efficient for students to use in the classroom.

7 responses

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree 42.9%

To implement UCAT in the classroom all teachers need refresher trainings on how to use it.

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8 responses

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree 75%

Teachers need extra time to create activities for students in UCAT besides regular teaching hours.

8 responses

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree 88%

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