While collaborative learning exercises may still be on the rise in other disciplines, many foreign language classrooms are already composed entirely of social experiences. While numerous theories could be raised supporting this transition, it is perhaps already intuitive that a discipline centered on teaching communication would orient itself around social experiences. So far, no reader of this document has disputed that a typical American introductory foreign language classroom either should be or already is filled with social activities. (Leave a comment below explaining why if you dispute this).

For many students, however, the classroom is only a part of their foreign language learning experience. The far greater challenge is bringing the benefits of a socially oriented curriculum to their homework assignments. As the lives of youth today become increasingly hyper-connected and hyper-social, it becomes even more illogical that they should complete foreign language homework assignments in quiet, isolated spaces.

Numerous attempts have been put forth to take advantage of the hyper-connected media in youth's lives. While some attempts to simply put traditional curricular materials on a screen fail entirely to take advantages of the social possibilities of new media, other models are emerging which do. We now simply need to take advantage of already existing materials to further expand the range of available curricular activities.

Continue to Extending Social Media for the Foreign Language Classroom