Responses to Chapters 6 and 11

Chapter 6
I would much rather prefer working in a classroom with more digital technology.  There is such a wide variety of digital resources available for classrooms and they are all useful in so many ways.  For instance, my french teacher in my high school had a Smartboard in his classroom.  It was a very useful tool for both him and us as students because we were all able to write on it and our work wouldn't be lost as on a chalkboard or dry erase board.  He would then put what we wrote online and we could access it and look over what we practiced or worked on that day.  We also did many worksheets together on it.  Repetition is very important in any class, but especially in a foreign language, so being able to save these sources was very beneficial.  Another useful technology I would utilize is e-books.  As an English teacher, I would have my students read many different books.  Instead of making them carry them to and from school, I could just download them on e-books and use them in the classroom.  That way my students would always have them to discuss and quote in class.  Mini-laptops would be an amazing resource for teaching my students how to improve their writing skills without having to travel to a computer lab.  There are so many other great options available for teachers discussed in Chapter 6 as well that I would love to be able to use in my own classes!

Chapter 11
One traditional audio technology I would be able to use in my classroom would be talking books.  As an English teacher, I will probably have to teach some Shakespeare.  However, just reading Shakespeare is never effective as it is meant to be performed or, in the least, heard.  For my students, I could have them listen to a recording of a Shakespeare play and as they listen, have them write down what they believe is going on to ensure they are understanding the play as well as answer questions I give them.
An emerging audio technology I would use could be digital media players.  If there is a recording of a performance of a Shakespeare play that I have on my computer, I could put it on digital media players for my classroom.  My students could listen to them at their own pace and answer questions about them.  That way, I could judge fairly easily who understand the play and who is struggling a bit more than others and be able to work with them individually.
A useful traditional visual technology for my class would be VHSs.  We could watch movies of the books we read.  In my own experience, my class was always more excited about watching movies.  This ensures that the students understand what they are reading by also applying it to what they see in the movies.  I could even show them documentaries about the periods of time when the works were written so they can gain insight into what the author and audience of the time were feeling.
Finally, an emerging visual technology that I could utilize would be a compressed video teleconferencing system.  In order to make this effective, I could host a meeting between my class and the author of the books we are reading (that is, if they are still alive!).  My students could have an in-depth questions-and-answer-type discussion with the author.  This would not only be insightful but also very interesting.  Instead of the author being a two-dimensional picture on the back of their book, they would be able to see them in real-life, making them more "lifelike" to the students.  It would engage them more in the readings and also be enlightening for me as a teacher!