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Perhaps the first consideration is the instructional purpose of the lesson, and how the technology will enhance that purpose or help students to achieve the goals and objectives of the lesson.

Technology, as mentioned earlier, has the power to increase student knowledge and skills in various content areas. Yet another consideration that must be taken into account when working with English learners is how the technology is increasing academic language knowledge and skills. It is critical, then, that teachers take into account not only the content goals and objectives for the lesson, but also the language goals and objectives as well as the linguistic demand of the tasks students will need to accomplish in the classroom.

English learners need additional instructional supports or scaffolds, including providing students with necessary background knowledge that other students may possess, using graphic organizers, pictures/visuals, demonstrations and realia, and providing redundant information and differentiated instruction based on students' language proficiency level. When researching various technology tools, it is critical that we investigate how the tool addresses these principles.