The Future of Education

Cognitive skills, including short and long term memory, auditory and visual processing skills, logic and reason, and speed of processing information, all play an important role in the acquisition of a new language. Students need to appropriately receive, process, retain, and activate elements of the new language in the correct order and within the optimum time to be able to understand, respond, and engage in foreign language discourse. If one cognitive skill is weak, students can struggle to successfully engage in real life conversation in another language.

Heavy focus on written text, exercises in learning through isolation and rote drills may build a strong foundation in vocabulary and language structure, but they do not help students build a level of confidence in engaging in conversation.

We propose to present innovative approaches to enhancing cognitive learning strategies. We will show the ability of new and emerging technologies to create simulated environments for students to engage, within a group or individually, to strengthen cognitive skills pertaining to conversational abilities and to bridge the gap between learning and confidently speaking another language.

We will demonstrate how teachers can leverage innovative advancements in education technology to increase student motivation and retention with immediate results. An added benefit of these enhanced teaching and learning methodologies is an increase in student engagement, creating a more fun and effective learning environment and a drastic reduction in the level of drop-off rates, creating a long-term productive and efficient solution for both teachers and students.