Smartphones as an Educational Tool in the Language Classroom

I never thought that smartphones could be used as a tool in a classroom; however, I started having a job and instead of using it for pure entertaining, as it was supposed to be, I started using my smartphone to take notes, record conversations, look for information through the internet and making it my main way of communication between my classmates. I marveled at the different applications I had at the palm of my hand.  Who would have thought that a technology trend would become in such a useful educational tool for me?

I bought my first smartphone because it was an ongoing trend everybody was talking about and almost everybody had one. No long after that, I started working as a teacher in a local school, which made my time almost nonexistent. Little by little, I started realizing there was more to my smartphone than just catching up with friends. Since I had data service, I had instant access to the internet, hence, to any resource that the World Wide Web could provide me. Also, I had my email set up in it and that made my communications faster both at work and at college.

The beauty of smartphones relies on their applications. The first app I ever used in a classroom was the camera; it saved me from losing information while actually paying attention to presentations made by my classmates. After that, apps were my best friends. I would do several activities with them, such as: record speech practices, tape plays, translate words I did not know and edit last minute papers. This helped me to realize that years ago I would have spent time writing several pages and while doing so, I would have missed what was explained by my classmates or my teacher. Also the recording app made it easy for me to increase my knowledge as well as improving my pronunciation  These apps were really helpful for me as a language student because phonetics and practice are key factors for me to improve my language development. This has helped me to refocus my opinion on smartphones due to the fact that a single device can hold many features that once were considered expensive and they should be carried all in a bag; now they are all free and easy to bring anywhere I go. 

What makes smartphones a useful tool is how practical they can be. You can have a memory drive, a mini computer, a media player and a library all in one; your very own Swiss Army knife. As a student and a teacher, these features came in handy as a learning and educational device.

Smartphones are considered babies in relation to communication technology. They have just been developed in less than a decade and have changed the world’s way of doing day-by-day activities. Personally, they have changed the way I take care of my learning process. Specifically, by recording me and listening to what is that I am doing wrong or by taking pictures of information that I would not have been able to retain. This is significant for me because, as language student because I have been able to master those little flaws that could once stop me from becoming the professional I have ambitioned to be.  Smartphones are an incredible tool in a language classroom and I cannot wait for the improvements and assets that technology will bring to them and therefore, to me.