Digital Tools for a Language Teaching Curriculum: Smartclass Guide

When I was studying to become a teacher at the age of 20, my biggest concern was classroom management. Of course, there were other aspects fighting to cause me the most trouble, like lesson planning or making grammar understandable. However, after 10 years of teaching, my challenge looked a lot different than my earlier career concerns. My most difficult challenge was maximizing speaking practice in my world language / second language acquisition class. The one thing I was supposed to teach them, communicating in German, turned out to be the hardest thing to organically achieve. Standing in front of the class, 30 sets of eyes staring at me, 90 minutes to get through my well-developed lesson plan … and who was doing most of the talking? Me! I knew I needed to change that, so searching for digital tools for language teaching curriculum became my focus. For three years, I scoured the internet, attended conventions, and sat in on lectures because I didn’t just want a solution… I wanted the best solution.

What is the SmartClass Language Teaching Platform?

I was beyond relieved when I found the SmartClass Language Teaching Platform. It became my one-stop shop language teaching solution. I could create my own activities using one of the 20+ activity templates, but I could also find activities from their curricula to assign to my students. (PS, this is not always the case - it is often one or the other, and I wanted the flexibility to add my own content as well). This meant that I could stop being so resourceful, pulling together 10 different free platforms. SmartClass could do it all in one simple solution. 

Now, I stay ahead of the curve because SmartClass is constantly adding features like their new AI-powered activity creation feature. This allows me more time for what is important and less time to research and try out other platforms. 

Why Modern Language Teaching Curriculum Demands AI-powered Tools

In my classroom, I saw traditional methods start to hit a wall when it came to time and individual attention. My choice to seek out a digital tool wasn’t just about keeping up with tech; it was about creating an environment where every one of my students actually had the chance to speak and improve. Fast forward to our current educational landscape, leveraging Digital Tools for Language Teaching Curriculum is no longer optional; it is becoming a standard that most schools and organizations have in order to stay competitive and effective. Rather than getting bogged down in administrative tasks, AI can do some of the heavy lifting for teachers. This leaves time for what matters most (especially in this day and age), authentic interactions with students and improvement in their ability to communicate.

Here me out! I believe, and it has also been proven, that AI-powered platforms like Smartclass solve the most common “pain points” in the language classroom. I still believe in certain traditional teaching methods, but if you are not leveraging AI, you are missing an opportunity to make your workload a little lighter.

• More Opportunities to Speak: In a typical class, a student may only speak for a minute or two in the target language. SmartClass has 6 different speaking activity templates for a student to interact with, like Conversation, Pronunciation, and different recording options. 4 of these templates are auto-graded by the system, and 2 of them give additional AI feedback to help students reflect and learn. Imagine letting your students have conversations, and you do not have to sit there listening to each one to give them feedback. If they can practice speaking, they will speak with more confidence when it comes time for you to grade them on it. We call this getting comfortable being uncomfortable. It is a true skill!

• Feedback Without the Wait: One of the biggest hurdles for learners is waiting days for a graded assignment to see what they got wrong and try to understand why. Multiply this assignment by 90+ students and teachers have hours of correcting on top of everything else they need to do. The SmartClass platform provides instant feedback on over half of the activity templates. This helps students reflect and correct in the moment to build their language skills and confidence faster.

• Solving the Time vs Creativity Gap: If you think it, you can create it. But the issue has never been the lack of creativity that a teacher has, but rather the lack of time. It seems like every second company is leveraging AI for educational purposes; however, then a teacher is right back to where they started. Using 10 different platforms to do all the tech things we need. Again, SmartClass for the win because they allow you to bulk create Vocabulary Builder activities by simply adding a vocabulary list.

• Learning That Fits: Education shouldn’t be confined to a desk. A truly effective classroom is one where students can practice and perfect their skills even outside of the classroom. This is very difficult when learning a foreign language for many reasons. SmartClass is a truly effective learning platform that is accessible on any device, anywhere, and gives students the flexibility to practice in the target language whenever they can. 
• Staying Ahead of the Curve: Schools need to offer more than just textbooks. By adopting modern tools that leverage AI, like SmartClass, teachers and administrators can use real-time data to see exactly where a class or a student is struggling. This will assist teachers in making the curriculum feel more responsive than rigid, without the teacher having to scour papers to understand where the students are struggling.

The AI Advantage: Key Features of SmartClass Language Teaching Curriculum

In order to pivot to the digital age, many publishers have gone through efforts to digitize their textbooks. However, this takes an outdated approach and forces it to fit in a world it was never meant to exist in. Then enters AI, where the world is a student’s oyster, and a teacher or parent is fearful for what the AI may expose the student to. Using a platform and curriculum whose sole mission is to focus on the way language students learn and teachers manage their workloads is transformational for a language program. The SmartClass Language Teaching Platform and Curriculum were built around this philosophy, using purposeful AI to create a more efficient and engaging learning environment without taking the teacher out of the equation. Created by teachers, for teachers, we educate all AI aspects to think, act, and protect a student while interacting with AI. Strict guidelines and parameters force the students to stay on task and not have access to anything other than language-related content.

• True Flexibility: Integrated Language Curricula: SmartClass has ready-to-use, integrated language curricula (English, Spanish, German, Arabic) that are easy for teachers to filter for content or supplement their existing materials. Finding activities that are meaningful for what students are currently learning is easy with our filter system. Just find the activity you want, and then copy and assign it to your class.

• AI Generation of Activities: As teachers, we know that the biggest barrier to innovation is often just a lack of time. With our AI Smart Activity Builder, teachers can quickly create vocabulary builder activities from any vocabulary list or topic in less than a minute. This is a game-changer for creating activities in any language, allowing teachers to generate auto-graded activities like pronunciation drills and word or sentence jumbles without doing the actual creation.

• AI Grading of Open Speech: Currently only offered in our SmartClass curricula, this is a powerful feature to have students’ open recordings be graded with educational feedback. Students receive immediate feedback on language skills like pronunciation and fluency, allowing them to practice in a private way as they perfect their productive language skills before being in front of their peers and teacher. This also saves the teachers hours of manual review, which lets them focus on higher-level student needs rather than repetitive correction of assignments.

• AI Translation of Instructions: SmartClass understands that learning a target language is not easy. Trying to understand instructions in the target language and then completing an activity is almost impossible. This is why activity instructions for SmartClass curricula can now be translated into a student’s native language. By eliminating comprehension roadblocks in the directions, students can focus purely on their assignment expectations. This also makes a more inclusive classroom for all students.
• AI Conversations: Gone are the days when students are too nervous to speak or they do not have a partner to practice with. These graded activities give every student their own private, non-judgmental practice partner. Available in 3 modes - Text, Text & Speech, and Speech only - these conversations simulate real-world scenarios like ordering at a restaurant or discussing family traditions and vacations so that students can build confidence around everyday topics to use their language when they get to class or out in the real world.

Implementation and Scalability: How SmartClass Works for Your School

One of the biggest concerns for any language department is how a new tool will actually fit into their daily routine and plan. SmartClass was designed to be as unobtrusive as possible, ensuring that the transition from a traditional classroom to a digital or blended learning environment is smooth for administrators, technicians, teachers, and students. (And they never stop listening to their customers to improve this!)

Conclusion

The future of language acquisition relies on adaptable teachers coupled with powerful, flexible Digital Tools for Language Teaching and Curriculum. The SmartClass Language Teaching Curriculum provides the most advanced language teaching solution available today.

Ready to transform your language department? Request a SmartClass demo today with one of our product experts to see the AI features in action. 

What one feature (AI Grading, Translation, Conversation, etc.) do you think would make the biggest difference in your students’ target language fluency?

FAQ

Q: Is the SmartClass Language Teaching Curriculum difficult to set up?

A: Not at all. Because SmartClass is a cloud-based platform, there’s no complex hardware installation or local server maintenance to worry about. You can access the entire Digital Tools for Language Teaching Curriculum directly through your web browser, making it easy to get your classes up and running in minutes. (However, if you are looking for a robust, installable language lab, Robotel has this to offer as well.)

Q: Can I use SmartClass to create activities in any language?

A: Absolutely. While we offer an extensive, ready-to-use curriculum for English, Spanish, German, and Arabic, the platform's 20+ customizable activity templates allow you to build lessons for any language. Whether you’re teaching Italian, Mandarin, or a heritage language, it serves as a universal language teaching solution.

Q: Does it fit with my existing lesson plans?

A: Yes, flexibility is at the core of the platform. You can use SmartClass as your primary, full curriculum or as a supplemental curriculum. It’s easy to pick and choose specific chapters or activities that align with your current textbook or syllabus if you will use this supplementally.

Common Questions About Digital Tools for Language Teaching

Q: What is the best language learning platform for schools?

A: Every school and student is different. There are a lot of platforms to choose from. However, if you are like me and want to focus on what really matters when learning a second language, then the SmartClass Language Teaching Platform and Curriculum is often cited as a top choice due to its combination of a comprehensive platform, AI features, ability for teacher-created activities, engaging template options, and integrated language curricula.

Q: How does AI improve a language teaching curriculum?

A: AI significantly improves the digital tools for language teaching curriculum by providing unbiased grading, personalized conversation practice, and freeing up teacher time via AI-generated and automated grading of activities.

Q: Does this solution support remote learning?

A: As a web-based, blended learning platform, SmartClass is perfectly suited for in-class, hybrid, and remote learning environments.