Digital Natives in Standby: Integration of EdTech and Positive Psychology in the English class

Abstract

People are currently surrounded by technology from birth. The emergence of digital applications and devices has changed the daily lives of the most recent generations, which has had a direct impact on the teaching-learning process. Therefore, the latest generations of new teachers exhibit a high degree of digital competence, which can be taken advantage of in the English classrooms when fostering students’ digital skills and performance. This Final Degree Project (FDP) focuses on a number of recent and relevant digital applications that primary English teachers can employ in their attempt to introduce Education Technology (EdTech) in their lessons. The suggestion this FDP provides builds off the framework of positive psychology (PP) and on an acknowledgement of the shortcomings of the current educational system which aims to strike a healthy balance between the stimuli and emotions that students experience. This FDP suggests a plausible implementation of an innovative project combining the advantages of embracing technology in the classroom with those of integrating positive psychology carried out by means of digital applications. Finally, with the use of digital apps and the incorporation of positive psychology into English lessons, it is expected that students’ digital and English competencies will improve by taking advantage of all the learning opportunities that new technological resources offer.