Vandréia Sehnem http://www. pinterest.com/vandreias/esl/ ESC 529 ‘Technology integration assignment For this assignment, I chose to work with the Pinterest website. I decided to work with this technology due to the fact that I was recently introduced to it and 1 found it very interesting and helpful. I also thought it would be a great tool to facilitate ESL (English as a Second Language) leamers’ language acquisition process. The topic that my technology focuses on is vocabulary acquisition; developing ESL students’ vocabulary and academic language is an important aspect which can develop and excel their writing and speaking skills. The Pinterest webpage which I worked on is meant to be used with adult high-intermediate level ESL students (My area of expertise is TESOL for adults). In order to find the right information to include in Pinterest I thought of myself'as a second language learner and how important itis o learn new vocabulary and to be able to contrast different ‘word meanings with clear examples. The literacy skills to be developed with Pinterest are ESL’s reading and writing abilities. By reading and comparing the data which is presented on the ‘webpage the leamers may be able to improve their vocabulary and consequently write using an expanded group of words. One of the features of Pinterest that I believe to be effective for the ESL leamers’ literacy development is the possibility to work with visual texts (pictures, charts, and quotes) which arepresented clearly and objectively on the webpage. Another feature is the possibility for the students to share their knowledge with their classmates by commenting on the teacher’s prompts. 1 believe that using Pinterest with the students can be a helpful way to keep the leaners motivated and excited to find useful hints to ease their second language learning process, at the same time that they can share their ideas and experiences with their classmates. One of the main features of the website is the use of images. The first thing one sees on the website are pictures and charts which in the field of second language are enriched with relevant information, yet they are not overloaded with written texts. In addition, as Pinterest users the students will have an open door to explore a huge variety of topies in their own area of interest, which could be a great way to keep them active and reading in the second language that they are leaming. Compared to a classroom without the use of technology the use of Pinterest may increase their interest in searching for assorted vocabulary and useful data in their second language acquisition process. Looking at my final technology project I can see that the webpage is very clear and my ‘own experience with it would allow me to easily demonstrate the tool to the students. It has not been too long since I was first introduced to Pinterest, but I have taken big advantage of its easiness to access and navigate the various possibilities in the webpage; Pinterest is very accessible and does not demand that one has excellent technological skills to be able to use it successfully. There is much valuable explicit information to be attained through the website. While developing this activity I was able to see that there is a tremendous amount of valuable data that the students can easily access through the internet, yet they do not always have the skills to select the relevant information that they need to improve their knowledge. As teachers ‘we have to be guides and expose the students to useful technologies and tools to facilitate and enrich their knowledge.http://www pinterest.com/ ° 11/172014 10:36 AM