Reflection on Digital Youth Portraits.

           While watching the digital youth portraits, the first thing that came to my mind was the difference of the learning opportunities of my generation and that of those teenagers. I realized both the noticeable progress of the technology and its power in the learning process. It has already become the inseparable part of both their learning process and their life in general, and they have the opportunity to learn in a very communicative and interactive environment. One of the striking things in those videos was that the children know exactly for what they use the digital technologies, such as social media, networks, digital videos and games, mobile technologies, computers, etc. For example, they can use them to create their own websites, or heroes for games, etc., thus using all their efforts, problem solving skills, creativity, imagination, etc.

           The stories about the digital youth portraits teach us a lot about the modern technologies, which automatically makes us think about the ways of using them in the TEFL-related fields.

           The videos show that children are very self-organized. In teams they become powerful, and they can search, learn from each other, help each other, analyze, and create by themselves. They only need some guidance and monitoring. They don’t just search, but they want to use what they search for, and they want to be creative. And all this is done through the digital world of technologies. The technologies provide a combination of texts, the visual and the oral, which leads to meaningful learning. One of the teenagers mentioned that the virtual community, where they communicate, is their second life, and it serves as a platform for them to learn social skills, and, of course, future work skills. So, they know how the technologies are going to help them in their future work, which is, of course, very creditable. I also want to mention about the educational games, which give the children problem solving skills. They do not just click, but they also use their mind and make things their own way.Finally, technology is more than a tool. It is the essential component of everyday life.
          As TEFL professionals in Armenia, we should try to integrate new technologies in the teaching and learning process as much as we can, because they really make the learning process meaningful and real. I think that we can do that, because we have a lot of educational centers which are provided with new technologies. We, as teachers, should guide the learners to discover the world of digital technologies and the ways it helps their learning.