79 The Importance of Digital Literacy Digital literacy is an important objective from the very start. You want students to begin the journey towards digital literacy at the same time that they are beginning their language learning journey. One of the strategies I use is to reinforce classroom English lessons with a computer-based exercise. For instance, if we’ve been concentrating on the names of parts of the body during the week, I might look for a similar exercise within learningchocolate.com. In a basic exercise, the student may be shown the picture of, let’s say, a foot, and they will hear the phrase “This is my foot” followed by selections for Yes or No. In other more advanced exercises, the student will match graphic images of body parts – the leg, the foot, the head – with their names in English. The exercise may allow them to click on either the graphic or the printed name to hear the name pronounced before they complete a match. I remember a 65-year-old man in my class who, in the beginning, couldn’t do basic tasks like writing his name. Later in the term, we were doing a learningchocolate.com exercise in which you first see images depicting various types of weather – sunny, cloudy, windy, snowy, etc. – together with the spoken pronunciation of each word. In a follow-up exercise, you are asked to match the spoken name of each type of weather with the corresponding image. He got all of them correct. We were both so pleased to see all the green checks he had received for correctly matching all of the written and spoken words. The learningchocolate.com site has many such exercises that increasing levels of difficulty. I find it a great way to build vocabulary. What I like most about this work is the interaction with the students. Every day you’re, working with people. You’re trying to help them so that at the end of the day you feel like it has been time well spent. It’s not a desk job. You’re working with people and making a difference in their lives. They respond in such a positive and genuine way. The vast majority are just so lovely. Together, we have created a level of comfort and familiarity that they take with them as they continue their learning journey. Technology Standards and Performance Indicators Here are some key ways in which Natalina’s teaching methods demonstrate how NLS’s standards for technology-enhanced language teaching and learning can be incorporated into TESOL instruction. Standard 3: Technology-enhanced pedagogy. Thoughtfully integrate technology in your teaching, informed by exemplary practice and relevant theory and research. • Natalina was an early advocate of teaching digital skills in tandem with language skills. At the Willis Language Training Centre, students were required to use a desktop computer to prepare and edit a résumé as part of their job skills development. • As language-learning technology advanced, Natalina took courses and conducted personal research to learn as much as possible about new apps, websites, and strategies for making the most of blended learning. • When Natalina began to teach Foundation Level courses at the Ottawa Catholic School Board, she built on her students’ use of Smartphones for personal communications by introducing exercises that required them to use their phones to search online for answers to prompting questions. Developing Smartphone skills paved the way for using more challenging laptop computers to access online learning resources from platforms such as EduLinc and Avenue. CC-BY-NC-SA 2025 New Language Solutions Avenue Instructor Standards for Technology-Enhanced Language Learning, version 1.2
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