How to Teach Languages Using Digital Tools

Teaching languages in today’s digital age presents a challenge for educators, as keeping up with evolving digital skills is essential to maintaining student motivation and engagement. Technology in language learning empowers students to take an active role, fostering communication and collaboration with their peers. A wide range of digital tools can support language learning by introducing new topics, reinforcing prior knowledge, and personalizing lessons.
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The new edition of the course “Teaching languages in the digital era: the best apps, web platforms and ICT solutions for learning languages​” took place in Palermo from 23/03/2025 to 29/03/2025. The participants came from all across Europe with Finja from KGS Bad Münder in Germany, Arne and Margrethe from Eikeli videregående skole in Norway, Birgit and Mirjam from Gymnasium Edenkoben in Germany, Johnny from GO! CVO Antwerpen in Belgium, Edyta from IES Eduardo Linares, and Nuria from EOI Teruel in Spain. 

​This course allowed the participants to engage in a great number of practical activities and to experience these tools first-hand. For instance, they discovered how to create collaborative digital platforms to share with students. Other interesting tools participants learned were web platforms dedicated to the creation of interactive presentations about languages to outline and recap the contents of the lesson, pose questions and monitor students’ attention in the classroom. Flashcards, for example, can be useful for increasing students’ vocabulary and spelling skills. The group competed in live quizzes while learning how to create interactive quizzes by using web applications. They also delved into platforms that can be useful for creating worksheets to assess students digitally.

During the course we delved into the importance of Artificial Intelligence in education. This includes understanding how AI can enhance learning experiences by personalizing content, and providing data-driven insights. Participants discussed, examined, and learned how to use AI tools that can support teaching. The group practiced crafting precise and contextually appropriate prompts to maximize the utility of generative AI inside the classroom.
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Furthermore, we explored AI-powered tools, showcasing how they can serve a variety of purposes: preparing multimedia content, introducing a new subject or summarizing a previous one, creating vocabulary lists and worksheets, generating rubrics,  providing feedback, generating questions from a video, and enhancing collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking among students. Additionally, we highlighted tools that allow teachers to launch dedicated rooms where students can safely explore AI, as well as platforms that allow students to play live in teams to enhance collaboration among students and benefit from gamified learning experiences.

​Learning languages can be a big challenge, however by using the right tools and incorporating technology into the classroom there is no doubt that this can increase motivation, attention, engagement and learning skills while transforming a simple lesson into an immersive experience.

Discover more about this course here.