Analysis Of Ell To Go By Jennifer Denmski

Technology is constantly evolving, especially in the education realm. One of the devices that are starting to be widely used in the classroom is an iPad or tablet. In the article “ELL to Go” by Jennifer Demski, the article covers how the use of devices in the classroom and outside of the classroom boosts ELL’s learning. Being and ELL endorsement I found this article very intriguing and helpful when planning for the future.

The article starts out by comparing two schools that proposed an initiative to propose the use iPods and iPads for ELL’s. In a classroom in Illinois the use of iPads in the classroom helped the school diminish cliques because ELL’s could easily access the dictionary and other tools to help them converse with the students

Instead of being embarrassed to talk or forget what word they want to say, they simply could take out their iPod and look up the word. Also, this encourages self-guided learning because when they are reading a book the ELL can click on the unfamiliar word and instantly get a definition. Also, the iPad or iPod helps the student beyond written word. Everything on the iPad is constantly assessing the students especially in speaking, listening, and writing. The students are getting all the learning domains on one device. Furthermore, the article notes that to have the iPad or iPod be a successful program for ELLs it is key to pick the right apps. They listed some apps that were successful and how much the app cost. Some apps of the apps included: Dictionary.com Dictionary and Thesaurus, which allows the students to look up words without and internet connection and it does not cost anything. Another app is the Kindle e-Reader there are over 810,000 books available which work on both the iPod and iPad and is also free. Voice Memo is also available on the iPod, which can help students record their voice and be able to listen to it again.

For me personally, I can see technology as being a good and bad thing. Technology can be useful only to a certain extent. I do not want kids to enveloped by technology. I am personally scared for the future that society will rely too heavily on technology for simple tasks and possibly “dumb” down society; however, after reading this article I can see how technology could be useful in the classroom especially for ELL