Students’ conceptions on technological resources in Spanish class

Abstract

This study aimed to understand what students of Spanish as a foreign language regard as technological resources, and what conceptions they have on these technologies in the educational setting. The research participants were six students of a public language center, between 17 and 22 years old, who attended high school or higher education, and used digital technologies in their everyday life. The construction of information was carried out through a questionnaire for association and evocation of words, and attribution of meanings to the most important word. The information was qualitatively analyzed through semantic analysis to investigate the students’ conceptions. The analysis shows that the participants have a wide and diverse perception on technological resources in the classroom, encompassing the older technologies such as stereo and television, as well as the most contemporary technologies such as computer, multimedia projector and internet. For the participants, educational technologies can be described as facilitators, innovators, interactive, intrinsic to class, instrumental, fun and motivating.