How to Use Technology to Engage Your Students

How to Use Technology to Engage Spanish And French Students

Technology, yes or no?

We’ve come full circle—from “Let’s use technology for everything!” to “Maybe students need paper and pencil again.” I tend to favor handwriting for student production and practice. A study found more extensive brain connectivity when participants wrote by hand than when they typed.

That doesn’t mean technology has no place in my Spanish and French classes. I use it when it lets students do things pen and paper can’t: hear and respond to spoken language, move words around as they study grammar, add comments at pauses in a video, and create videos of their own. And, of course, to fight student boredom without having to do an exhausting song and dance.

9 Ways to Use Technology to Engage Students. Four high school students are typing on computers.

Are you missing out on the best classroom technology?

I used to have this gnawing fear that all the other teachers were using tons of awesome technology I knew nothing about to engage their students, while my poor kids were prying their eyelids open during my old-school presentations.

And there was some new technology out every week! I wondered when I would get the time to learn all the tricks they knew. Ever feel like that?

Most fears are unfounded, right? Well, as it turns out, this one wasn’t. I polled some of the best World Language teachers and found some way-cool technological tools that I will share with you in this newsletter. Maybe one or two of them will fit right into your repertoire of resources that will engage your students and make them eager to learn.

STUDENT PRODUCTION

1. Textivate

Textivate is a popular teacher tool. There are innumerable tasks you can perform with it, but I will mention just a few. Here is how I would use it:

Put your text (sentences or paragraphs, depending on the level) out of order and ask students to put them in a logical order.
Insert drawings and text and tell students to match the text to the proper drawing.
Insert nouns and text that describes the nouns (in the target language, of course, NEVER in English or the students’ language). Tell students to match the word with the description.
Use Cloze activities in the target language. Below is an example of a cloze activity.

(Since I didn’t want to pay the yearly $82 subscription just to explain how to use this tool, I asked ChatGPT to duplicate my original, blurry image. If there are errors, blame AI.)

Use the TTS (Text to Speech) feature and assign dictation.
Ask questions and have students fill in the answers. Add “speak” to the activity so students can hear the proper pronunciation.

Textivate would be great for homework assignments, too.

You can also access activities made by other teachers, although finding a relevant exercise might take far less time than creating your own.

2. Google Voice

Feeling like your students aren’t getting enough speaking assessments because of a lack of instructional time? Give a speaking assignment for homework and have students answer the question(s) or give a presentation on Google Voice.

The down side is that it is very time-consuming to correct. The up-side is that students see that you value that skill and therefore work to improve their speaking.

3. Quizlet Live

I use Quizlet often for homework but it has gotten even better. Quizlet Live is crazy-fun; students are completely engaged as they compete in class. You can create matching competitions using visuals and text (instead of translation-Agh!). Here’s one of mine (feel free to use it!): Quizlet La comida

I will let our guest bloggers, Minute-by-Minute Spanish and Super Señorita explain how to play.

4. SeeSaw: The Learning Journal

In order to use SeeSaw, you and your students must have Firefox or Google Chrome. It is a super way to document and organize students’ work so that you and parents can quickly access it, assess it, and see progress.

“Students show what they know usings videos, photos, drawings, PDFs, links” or imports from apps. (SEESAW)

5. Edpuzzle

… is way awesome! You can make any video into a lesson. You can record your own voice over the video and stop it at any time when you want the students to answer a comprehension question (which YOU write. See below) or interact with the content of the video.

Students will be unable to watch passively. As they listen to find answers, they will be acquiring language. Great for authentic language input. After the lesson, grade the answers and send the results to the students.

You can crop the video so that students see only the part relevant to your lesson and it’s super easy to do.

You can also monitor your students’ progress, see who is watching, and who needs help. (Again, I replaced the original blurry image with an AI (hopefully accurate) duplicate.

Below is a video of Jen Shaw demonstrating how she uses EdPuzzle to provide comprehensible input to her students.

6. Shadow Puppet

What a find! You can make your own videos with your photos and voice-over with your phone!

I experimented with it to see what it could do. It was easy to learn and quick to use. (I redid the video twice so you wouldn’t hear my dog snoring in the background but it still only took a few minutes.)

Here is the resulting video (You can use it if you like to teach the places or make your own.) Super easy!

7. Videos

The only comprehensible input better than actually talking to a native speaker is watching a movie with target-language subtitles AND overlayed visuals to aid in comprehension.

To demonstrate, I will give you a FREE video of the lesson on the expression,”Iba a + infinitivo”.

Click here to get the FREE Video and Activity: Iba + a + Infinitivo.

Or sign up here (Make sure to scroll down to the form): Best PowerPoints for Spanish and French

Remember, this video is not accessible to everyone, only followers and subscribers to my newsletter or blog so please do not share it with others.

As a bonus, you will also receive my monthly newsletter with freebies, teaching tips, and ideas.

Possible Follow-up Activity to the Video: After showing the video, divide the class into two groups. Students write ten sentences beginning with, “Iba a + infinitivo pero…”. Call on a student in Team A. That student says, (for example) “Iba a mandarte una carta pero…” Student waits 30 seconds and then calls on a student on Team B who must then complete the sentence in a way that makes sense. (for example: Iba a mandarte una carta pero no tenía un sello.) If the sentence makes sense, Team B gets a point. Then, Team B begins a sentence.

Here are some videos that have proven to be excellent comprehensible input for my Spanish One, Two, Three, and Four classes. They turned out super cute! Take a look: Sp anish Videos for Comprehensible Input

8. Lyrics Training

This site capitalizes on something students already love- music! It’s great for providing comprehensible input, authentic language, and listening practice. Wanna know how to use it? Click on the following link for a tutorial: How to Use Lyrics Training

9. ChatGPT for Speaking Practice: Give Students Conversation Practice at Their Level

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every Spanish or French student had a patient conversation partner available whenever they wanted to practice? AI makes that possible, but there’s a catch: it doesn’t always know what “Spanish 1” or “French 2” means in your classroom. Even when I asked ChatGPT to use beginner Spanish, it introduced words, verb tenses, and concepts my Spanish 1 students hadn’t learned. So, I grew wise. I wrote a more specific prompt and uploaded the exact food vocabulary and related phrases I wanted it to use and—voilà ! Success!

ChatGPT used only the vocabulary I provided, simple language, and the present tense. Here is the prompt I gave it:

Students only know the present tense and do NOT know stem-changing verbs such as ‘pedir’. Using this vocabulary, hold a conversation with me in simple Spanish. Speak audibly, and I will answer audibly.

I forgot to include instructions on how long the conversation should be. That would have helped because the dialogue was quite short.

Another misstep: Make sure to click the blue circle to the right of the microphone—NOT the microphone when you want to speak.

The goal is for students to spend more time using the language—and to understand enough of what they hear to keep the conversation going.

Students ages 13–17 need parental or guardian permission to use ChatGPT, and teachers should also check their school’s rules before assigning it.

Students may also use Gemini to practice speaking Spanish through Gemini Live, which allows a spoken, back-and-forth conversation. Gemini Live requires the mobile app and may not be available on every school account, so check whether your school has enabled it before assigning an activity. As with any AI speaking partner, students should expect occasional misunderstandings or incorrect corrections and check unfamiliar language with their teacher.

SPEAKABLE

If you want to give students instant feedback about their oral performance and an automated grade based on a rubric, use SPEAKABLE to provide conversation practice for your students, if your school subscribes. You can learn more about that here: How to automatically grade oral exams with Speakable.

I tried to do the same thing with SchoolAI, but found it difficult to produce a natural simulated conversation, as I had to keep clicking to hear my own voice.

Click the image to get the 122-slide PowerPoint on Infinitives
and Regular Verbs.

Free 122-slide PowerPoint on Spanish Verbs and Infinitives.

Now you have some new tools so you can use technology to engage your students.

Don’t forget to get your FREE Video and Activity: Iba + a + Infinitivo.

TO RECEIVE FREEBIES AND NOTIFICATIONS OF NEW PRODUCTS, CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK TO FOLLOW MY STORE: ANGIE TORRE

If you’d like to get more tips and free resources in your email, subscribe to my newsletter. Just click this link and scroll to the bottom to subscribe: Best PowerPoints for Spanish and French by Angie Torre. You’ll also get a F-R-E-E 122-slide PowerPoint on Spanish verbs and infinitives.