These modules focused on exhibiting the multitude of applications that digital tools have to offer instructors within their ventures to teach students new languages. They were filled with ingenious ways to apply technologies that are not often thought about. The ideas that were covered in the DMLL modules are connected in a few distinct ways, such as the integration of digital tasks (online video games, YouTube, etc.) and utilizing that for data reflection, consideration between formative and summative assessment creation, and equitable grading practices around important tests. DMLL and its classroom application has been an immense curiosity of mine, but having curated information on its seemingly infinite possibilities further grew the intrigue.

I think the most fascinating idea that was brought up during the DMLL modules was the inclusion of fanfiction writing into a course. Higher-scoring writing assessments would be achieved by catering to students’ interest in their writing practices (Buczek-Zawiła, 2021). Connecting this back to Language Teaching Studies (LTS) coursework, we would be able to see this with the Pearson test that we covered in LT 530:  Research Methods for Applied Linguistics (more on this in section 5).

Another idea that was immensely intriguing was introduced by Mark Rober (2020), coined as the “Super Mario effect”. This idea is that there is a visible difference in attempts at a problem when there are no negative consequences for taking risks versus having a consequence. The video covers an online test wherein participants were trying to code a car to drive around. There were two groups: one had the inclusion of arbitrary points, and the other had no points but a positive message when they failed instead. The simple act of taking away points when a failure happened saw a massive increase in participants giving up. I think that this is immensely applicable to our classroom assessments. What would be the point of mounds of small formative quizzes that, on the backend (for the teachers) are helpful pieces of information but, at face value, make students feel incompetent and lose motivation to continue? This is a philosophy that I will employ in my own classroom. 

There are two things upon reflecting on the DMLL modules and my application that I am curious about exploring further. First, how to effectively encourage students in the classroom to utilize the DMLL tools. Further, how does an instructor incorporate the DMLL elements into a curriculum creation? Would this aspect need approval from an administrator or some department head? I feel that these questions would be easily asked in a department meeting and then self-assessed in how to effectively implement them. I will be testing this hypothesis in April of 2024 during my first lecturer position at Tokyo International University.

The second question is how could I efficiently develop my own DMLL tools if there is not an appropriate one for my use? Would the development processes fall under a research grant if I needed funds to construct the program or software from the ground up? To answer these questions, I am concluding that there may be others out there also in need of a similar tool, so I may be able to find online teaching communities with funding or resources that I am not familiar with. I believe that there are some grants or funds available for aspiring instructors that may aid in this situation. However, I will need to do further research.