Let Students Teach the Tools:
Empower Learners From Day One
By Brent Warner
Brent Warner recommends that rather than the teacher explaining how to use technology to their students, he provides a blueprint for how to have the students guide each other. Doing this puts “the work in our students’ hands, sparking some curiosity, allowing for autonomy, and developing communicative skills right off the bat.”
If there are five or six tools, then students can be separately grouped for each one. If there is as few as one, then each group can work with a different task within that tool. One student who is familiar with the technology can be placed in each group. A simple rubric, graded or ungraded, can guide the presentation to the class with each member of the group demonstrating one aspect of the tool. Sentence stems can help beginning students with their explanations. The author’s adaptable list includes:
- What the tool does
- How to use it
- Pro tips
- Common mistakes
Students’ presentations in this low-stakes activity can reveal gaps in what students know, and the teacher can immediately add necessary information. By using this method, Warner notes that “Without explicitly stating it, you’re building a class that respects the student and expects them to be the drivers of their work. They also get to know each other fairly quickly and they’re encouraged to go to each other for help, encouraging peer learning.”
In another TESOL blog, Brent Warner addresses the issue of students who are substituting dependence on AI for fully acquiring the language. As an alternative, he proposes that with correct use, AI can advance the learning process and help them appreciate the value of doing so. He writes that “Instead, we have an opportunity to help students see that the process of learning, fine-tuning, and better understanding the world through different cultures and ways of speaking and thinking is what makes humanity great.”