Using technology as a learning tool

When learning a new language it is important to follow a few steps: start with a basic vocabulary, learn the most used verbs and make some sentences using everything that has been learned until that moment. But once this is done the learner is somehow stuck as to improve his knowledge he now has to use what he has learned in a real life situation. One of the first things we learn is to introduce ourselves and start a basic conversation with someone but it is difficult to go deeper into a subject as a more specific vocabulary might not have been covered by the lessons.

Videos are a possible solution to this problem as by using them a user can either learn more by hearing some discussion on an a specific topic or practice speaking with someone else. Also, the interactivity offered by our application, makes the user (learner) more active allowing him to rate, give suggestions or ask questions. This social aspect is a key point in our application as the content offered by the crowd and their activity define the strength of the system. These aspects where discussed in an educational conference presenting some of the benefits of technology (in this case videos) in education. The article [1] written by  Marcy P. Driscoll in 2002 highlights four aspects:

• Learning occurs in context
• Learning is active
• Learning is social
• Learning is reflective

Learning in context:

It can be more motivating to learn and practice when the user can chose the topic. One might be more interested in a specific vocabulary rather than another and being able to hear how it can be used in a real conversation can be much more helpful through the learning process.

Learning is active:

As the service relies on the content provided by the crowd, it is important that users stay active to keep the system going. In our application users are pushed to participate by rating, commenting and posting videos. The content provided by the community is part of the learning and teaching process.

Learning is social:

Being social is a key aspect nowadays, especially when learning, as working in groups can be more effective. Users can share their knowledge or simply exchange ideas to be more productive. In our application users can receive feedbacks on their videos on how to improve their pronunciation or vocabulary. Users can ask questions related to a video and receive answers from the community. Being a crowd source based application the content is provided by the community making the social part the most important aspect of it.

Learning is reflective:

Through the learning process it is important to receive feedbacks and have the possibility to discuss with others. It can open people’s mind and give the possibility to exchange ideas so to see things from a different perspective. This important aspect is covered by the commenting system of our application which can be used to ask questions, but also to give feedbacks and exchange opinions.

To conclude, as the article points out, “Technology by itself does not guarantee learning”, but using it in an intelligent way and by providing the right tools it can be very helpful as a learning system.

[1] How People Learn (and What Technology Might Have To Do with It). ERIC Digest.