Task 3: Reflection on challenges of use of technology in Practicum 2 - Paula Zambrana Ponce

Task 3: Reflection on challenges of use of technology in Practicum 2 

During my Practicum 2, the use of technology was thoroughly present in my lesson plans. Notwithstanding, there were some difficulties while implementing these tools throughout the sessions. Although technology was highly available for students, as they had Chromebooks and whiteboards, students were not used to technology as an educational tool. On the contrary, they were used to the traditional approach of using workbooks and notebooks. For this reason, one of the challenges presented throughout Practicum 2 was the lack of students' experience with these types of technologies, especially while using tools such as Mentimeter or Quizziz. Moreover, classroom management was difficult at times, especially in one of the groups while doing one specific activity; students had to record themselves and upload it on Padlet, but the recording process denoted multiple hardships, as students got too distracted with their peers to work.

In addition, another difficulty faced during Practicum 2 was the creation of engaging and dynamic activities. The topic students were reviewing (music vocabulary and Past Simple tense) was not as captivating as other topics, and students were highly demotivated. Thus, finding relevant activities that were not repetitive in terms of content was one of the main difficulties faced. Finally, choosing the type of technology and the ideal website was a challenge as well; students could not log in or create any type of account to participate due to the high school's guidelines, so many websites could not be used, and only those apps where students could enter anonymously could be used.