Software Evaluation
ESL 5073-Spring 2010
Rosetta Stone Arabic Level One
I. General Description: Rosetta Stone for Arabic Level One
www.rosettastone.com
Includes Levels one, two, and three
Age range: 12-adult
Activities include interactive word matching to pictures, memorizing vocabulary, working on pronunciation, becoming familiar with alphabet, and memorizing phrases.
II. Evaluation: The speed of the program is fairly fast and fluid, unless you run into a kink where you are not sure what to do; then it is difficult to proceed. The reliability of the operation of the program was very high. I had no problems with reliability. Screen management was very good, except for one instance when I was unsure how to work the program and I could not continue. I had to navigate to the bottom of the screen and skip ahead to continue. Exploitation of computer potential was very good. The program uses photos and sound very well. They will move the photos so that you cannot remember which photo you have used, making guessing more difficult. Speech recognition worked very well. I think with Arabic program they are more forgiving with your pronunciation than with Spanish making it easier to move ahead. Either that or my Arabic pronunciation is better than my Spanish!
III. Activities (Procedure): I believe the activities could be considered Communicative. The whole idea of the drills is to build on what you have heard in earlier slides to answer the current slide. You build on what you have heard before and also use intuition to try and figure out what is being said now. I feel this program is very intuitive, and if you don’t try too hard, just going with the flow you will learn better. Vocabulary and pictures are being presented to you and also words and phrases in the Arabic alphabet. It would be impossible to know exactly what is being said or written. But the information does build on itself.
IV. Teacher Fit: I believe that Rosetta Stone for Arabic Level one would work well in conjunction with a structured class. It could be used during lab time, and supplement lab activities for listening and speaking. The Communicative nature of the program would work well in a classroom environment, and the teacher could build on the methods used in the program. For example, the fact that the material builds on itself in the program in order to understand vocabulary could be used as a method in the classroom: the teacher could use the same method in her teaching.
V. Learner Fit (Design): The Linguistic level of the program is high. I believe using the program in conjunction with a formal class would be helpful. Response handling went fairly smoothly except for one activity where I was unsure of what to do and had trouble moving forward. Adapting to learner differences could be a problem as even level one seemed fairly advanced. I think students with very structured learning styles may have difficulty with Rosetta Stone Arabic level one because of the intuitive nature of the program. The learning strategy of the program is definitely visual/graphic and sound oriented.
VI. In my opinion, the program could be very helpful in learning Arabic, but as a supplement to a class. I intend to use this program in the future to learn Arabic and Spanish. I would recommend Rosetta Stone to other people.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Reading Prompt Twelve
Reading Prompt #12
Our Final Reading Prompt!
*Ockey, G. J. (2009). Developments and Challenges in the Use of
Computer-Based Testing for Assessing Second Language Ability.
Modern Language Journal, 93(Focus Issue), 836-847.
*Cummins, P. W. & Davesne, C. L. (2009). Using Electronic Portfolios
for Second Language Assessment. Modern Language Journal, 93(Focus
Issue), 848-867.
Ockey argues that Computer based testing has failed to realize its anticipated potential. Describe and discuss on his reasons for his view, and tell why you either agree or disagree with him.
Cummins & Davesne offer an alternative to CBT with electronic portfolios. Comment on some of the ideas from this article that you'd be interested in trying out in your own classroom.
One of the problems with Computer based testing is the fact that people can take the test, such as the GRE, and then post the questions and answers for others to see. This invalidates the test. One solution would be to widen the bank of questions for the test, making it more difficult to cheat. But then the question of whether or not everyone is really getting the same test comes into question. I think that computer based testing has its problems, but I think with some trial and error they can be worked out.
I would be interested in using eportfolios in my classroom. They sort of remind me of a blog with more self analysis of ones languauge ability. I think eportfolios are a good tool for the language classroom. They help students see their progress throughout the semester.
Our Final Reading Prompt!
*Ockey, G. J. (2009). Developments and Challenges in the Use of
Computer-Based Testing for Assessing Second Language Ability.
Modern Language Journal, 93(Focus Issue), 836-847.
*Cummins, P. W. & Davesne, C. L. (2009). Using Electronic Portfolios
for Second Language Assessment. Modern Language Journal, 93(Focus
Issue), 848-867.
Ockey argues that Computer based testing has failed to realize its anticipated potential. Describe and discuss on his reasons for his view, and tell why you either agree or disagree with him.
Cummins & Davesne offer an alternative to CBT with electronic portfolios. Comment on some of the ideas from this article that you'd be interested in trying out in your own classroom.
One of the problems with Computer based testing is the fact that people can take the test, such as the GRE, and then post the questions and answers for others to see. This invalidates the test. One solution would be to widen the bank of questions for the test, making it more difficult to cheat. But then the question of whether or not everyone is really getting the same test comes into question. I think that computer based testing has its problems, but I think with some trial and error they can be worked out.
I would be interested in using eportfolios in my classroom. They sort of remind me of a blog with more self analysis of ones languauge ability. I think eportfolios are a good tool for the language classroom. They help students see their progress throughout the semester.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Reading Response Eleven
Share an idea of two about how you could use the ideas from Richardson with ESL students.
What is the "digital divide?' And why do Warschauer et al argue that this term may longer be applicable. What are the issues they found regarding differences in technology use with ELLs and other low socioeconomic students. What are some ways you could address this in your own schools or programs?
Richardson states in chapter six, "the collaborative construction of knowledge by those willing to contribute is redefining the ways we think about teaching and learning at every level."(Richardson p.85) By using social bookmarking in our classrooms, he says, we can "rethink the way we and our students treat the information we find." (Richardson p.91) By using sites such as Diigo we can organize the information we find on the Read/Write Web and share it collaboratively with our students. Creating a "community of researchers". (Richardson p.91) I like the idea of using Diigo in my classroom and sharing "post its" and comments on the sites we are sharing. Also, it is a great way to copy the information on a site even after the site has been taken down.
Warschauer's study showed that there are differences in the ways that computer technology is being used in low SES schools as compared to high SES schools. The high SES schools seem to be teaching their students more critical thinking skills when using computers and internet for their school work than low SES schools. For example, in one low SES classroom the students were using the web to search for sites for a project, but they weren't interpreting and synthesyzing the information they found. These skills were being taught in the high SES schools. It seems to me, that the teachers in the low SES schools had the technology they just were not teaching the higher level skills to the kids. It was not so much that there was technological divide as a skilled teacher divide. Maybe the teachers in the low SES schools were not as competent or experienced as other teachers. This problem could be solved by teacher training and just more experienced teachers in the use of technology. I think a way this could be addressed in a teaching program is to educate teachers on the uses of technology with outside training. Also, teaching more CALL classes in university programs for teachers; so teachers know all the uses and benefits of technology.
What is the "digital divide?' And why do Warschauer et al argue that this term may longer be applicable. What are the issues they found regarding differences in technology use with ELLs and other low socioeconomic students. What are some ways you could address this in your own schools or programs?
Richardson states in chapter six, "the collaborative construction of knowledge by those willing to contribute is redefining the ways we think about teaching and learning at every level."(Richardson p.85) By using social bookmarking in our classrooms, he says, we can "rethink the way we and our students treat the information we find." (Richardson p.91) By using sites such as Diigo we can organize the information we find on the Read/Write Web and share it collaboratively with our students. Creating a "community of researchers". (Richardson p.91) I like the idea of using Diigo in my classroom and sharing "post its" and comments on the sites we are sharing. Also, it is a great way to copy the information on a site even after the site has been taken down.
Warschauer's study showed that there are differences in the ways that computer technology is being used in low SES schools as compared to high SES schools. The high SES schools seem to be teaching their students more critical thinking skills when using computers and internet for their school work than low SES schools. For example, in one low SES classroom the students were using the web to search for sites for a project, but they weren't interpreting and synthesyzing the information they found. These skills were being taught in the high SES schools. It seems to me, that the teachers in the low SES schools had the technology they just were not teaching the higher level skills to the kids. It was not so much that there was technological divide as a skilled teacher divide. Maybe the teachers in the low SES schools were not as competent or experienced as other teachers. This problem could be solved by teacher training and just more experienced teachers in the use of technology. I think a way this could be addressed in a teaching program is to educate teachers on the uses of technology with outside training. Also, teaching more CALL classes in university programs for teachers; so teachers know all the uses and benefits of technology.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Reading Response Ten
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Reading Prompt #10
*RICHARDSON Ch. 7. Fun with Flickr: Creating, Publishing, and Using Images Online
*BLACKBOARD - Kern, R. (2006). Perspectives on technology in learning and teaching languages. TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 183-210.
After reading Richardson, what ideas do you have for using images and programs such as Flickr in the language learning classroom?
Kern gives a broad overview of issues in CALL, with specific examples from three areas and implications for teaching and research. Select and share your own thoughts and opinions on one or more issues that Kern raises.
I think Flickr would be a fun way to study vocabulary in the ESL classroom. Students could take pictures, and together, the students and teacher could label the pictures focusing on certain vocabulary. I also like Fliction where students pick a photo(or series of photos) and write a story about it. This would work well with using creative writing as a tool in the classroom to teach English.
Kern raises many issues in his article about the CALL classroom. I thought that Chapelle's work on CALL theories was interesting. For example, she thought that it was important to "ground CALL in instructed SLA theories" and she recommended the interactionist approach to SLA. She thought it would place CALL "on more solid grounding relative to other areas of applied linguistics." (Kern)I think Kern and Chapelle raise an important point here, and that CALL is made more useful in the classroom by pairing it with SLA theory.
I also thought it was interesting that CMC was called computer mediated colonization, and that CALL can be considered a western tool that imposes western values on other cultures. But Ess who called CMC western colonization also said that we can use CALL to find a middle ground where there is a "global connectivity" finding "local cultural identities".
I believe CALL is a very wonderful tool, really, for teaching ESL. It is always changing and growing, and it's uses are endless.
Reading Prompt #10
*RICHARDSON Ch. 7. Fun with Flickr: Creating, Publishing, and Using Images Online
*BLACKBOARD - Kern, R. (2006). Perspectives on technology in learning and teaching languages. TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 183-210.
After reading Richardson, what ideas do you have for using images and programs such as Flickr in the language learning classroom?
Kern gives a broad overview of issues in CALL, with specific examples from three areas and implications for teaching and research. Select and share your own thoughts and opinions on one or more issues that Kern raises.
I think Flickr would be a fun way to study vocabulary in the ESL classroom. Students could take pictures, and together, the students and teacher could label the pictures focusing on certain vocabulary. I also like Fliction where students pick a photo(or series of photos) and write a story about it. This would work well with using creative writing as a tool in the classroom to teach English.
Kern raises many issues in his article about the CALL classroom. I thought that Chapelle's work on CALL theories was interesting. For example, she thought that it was important to "ground CALL in instructed SLA theories" and she recommended the interactionist approach to SLA. She thought it would place CALL "on more solid grounding relative to other areas of applied linguistics." (Kern)I think Kern and Chapelle raise an important point here, and that CALL is made more useful in the classroom by pairing it with SLA theory.
I also thought it was interesting that CMC was called computer mediated colonization, and that CALL can be considered a western tool that imposes western values on other cultures. But Ess who called CMC western colonization also said that we can use CALL to find a middle ground where there is a "global connectivity" finding "local cultural identities".
I believe CALL is a very wonderful tool, really, for teaching ESL. It is always changing and growing, and it's uses are endless.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Reading Response Nine
Reading Prompt #9
BLACKBOARD - Barbierie, F. (2005). What is Corpus Linguistics?
Essential Teacher (Compleat Links).
BLACKBOARD - Conrad, S. (2000). Will Corpus Linguistics
Revolutionize Grammar Teaching in the 21st Century? TESOL Quarterly, 34(3), 548-560.
What is Corpus Linguistics? And why are some language teachers so excited about it? What applications can you envision for your current or future classroom?
"Corpus Linguistics, the empirical study of language relying on computer assisted techniques to anaglyze large, principle databases of naturally occurring language." (Conrad p. 548) An example of Corpus Linguistics is a concordancer. The advantage to Corpus Linguistics in teaching grammar is that, as a teacher, you can show your students how grammar is used as a natural occurance in spoken language, because how we speak the language is often different from how we would write it. Also, language is used differently in different written settings; such as newspaper writing, novel writing, or academic writing. By using Corpus Linguistics we can see how grammar and language are used in the spoken form. I believe this broadens the use of grammatical forms for our students, and they won't be bound to learning just the way grammar is used in it's written form. As a teacher, Corpus Linguistics and Concordancers give us a great advantage. We can illustrate to our students the many uses of grammar in the spoken language. We can also compare for them written uses and spoken uses. This may be helpful for them academically.
BLACKBOARD - Barbierie, F. (2005). What is Corpus Linguistics?
Essential Teacher (Compleat Links).
BLACKBOARD - Conrad, S. (2000). Will Corpus Linguistics
Revolutionize Grammar Teaching in the 21st Century? TESOL Quarterly, 34(3), 548-560.
What is Corpus Linguistics? And why are some language teachers so excited about it? What applications can you envision for your current or future classroom?
"Corpus Linguistics, the empirical study of language relying on computer assisted techniques to anaglyze large, principle databases of naturally occurring language." (Conrad p. 548) An example of Corpus Linguistics is a concordancer. The advantage to Corpus Linguistics in teaching grammar is that, as a teacher, you can show your students how grammar is used as a natural occurance in spoken language, because how we speak the language is often different from how we would write it. Also, language is used differently in different written settings; such as newspaper writing, novel writing, or academic writing. By using Corpus Linguistics we can see how grammar and language are used in the spoken form. I believe this broadens the use of grammatical forms for our students, and they won't be bound to learning just the way grammar is used in it's written form. As a teacher, Corpus Linguistics and Concordancers give us a great advantage. We can illustrate to our students the many uses of grammar in the spoken language. We can also compare for them written uses and spoken uses. This may be helpful for them academically.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Reading Response Eight
Reading Prompt #8
*Levy – Ch. 4 Computer Mediated Communication
*BLACKBOARD – Sauro, S. (2009). Computer-Mediated Corrective Feedback and the Development of L2 Grammar. Language Learning & Technology, 13(1), 96-120.
What are some of the technologies used for CMC? What are some of the promising features of CMC for language learning. Comment on any of your uses of these technologies, in particular if you have used any of them for language learning or practice purposes. Finally, comment on the findings of Dr. Sauro's research, and what the implications may be for future practice.
Email, chat, Moo's, conferencing,and mailing lists are examples of CMC or Computer Mediated Communication. My favorite of these are email and chat. Emailing someone who is a native speaker of your target language is a good way of practicing literacy. The book states that, "perhaps the most commonly cited advantages of e-mail as a learning tool are taht it provides access to authentic langauge and serves as a means of learning more about the target culture." (Levy p.86) All this in your own time without the worries of meeting for class.
Chat is done in real time. It is probably a more difficult medium to deal with, but has many advantages. "Because of the real-time interaction of chat in which participants negotiate meaning by modifying the input and output and responding to feedback, meaning by modifying the input and output and responding to feedback." (Levy p.89)
Both mediums are great tools for second language learning.
*Levy – Ch. 4 Computer Mediated Communication
*BLACKBOARD – Sauro, S. (2009). Computer-Mediated Corrective Feedback and the Development of L2 Grammar. Language Learning & Technology, 13(1), 96-120.
What are some of the technologies used for CMC? What are some of the promising features of CMC for language learning. Comment on any of your uses of these technologies, in particular if you have used any of them for language learning or practice purposes. Finally, comment on the findings of Dr. Sauro's research, and what the implications may be for future practice.
Email, chat, Moo's, conferencing,and mailing lists are examples of CMC or Computer Mediated Communication. My favorite of these are email and chat. Emailing someone who is a native speaker of your target language is a good way of practicing literacy. The book states that, "perhaps the most commonly cited advantages of e-mail as a learning tool are taht it provides access to authentic langauge and serves as a means of learning more about the target culture." (Levy p.86) All this in your own time without the worries of meeting for class.
Chat is done in real time. It is probably a more difficult medium to deal with, but has many advantages. "Because of the real-time interaction of chat in which participants negotiate meaning by modifying the input and output and responding to feedback, meaning by modifying the input and output and responding to feedback." (Levy p.89)
Both mediums are great tools for second language learning.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Response Seven
Reading Prompt #7
*LEVY – Ch. 7 Practice
*BLACKBOARD - Grgurović, M. & Hegelheimer, V. (2007). Help Options and Multimedia Listening: Students' Use of Subtitles and the Transcript. Language Learning & Technology, 11(1), 45-66. What did Grgurović & Hegelheimer find with regards to using subtitles and transcripts to help ESL students develop listening skills in English? What are some of the implications for instruction?
From your reading of Levy, comment on one or more of the issues related to the practice dimension of CALL what you would want to take into consideration for your own classroom.
The article is a study of the use of subtitles and transcripts when using multi-media materials in the classroom; for the use of teachers using CALL materials and for the software designers who design them. The participants were 18 ESL college students in an Academic English Listening class. The students were divided into two groups: higher intermediate and lower intermediate. The conclusion to the study showed that students used subtitles more than transcripts. “The higher proficiency group also used subtitles more frequently and for longer amounts of time than the lower proficiency group although both groups exhibited very similar behavior on the transcript.” (Grgurovic and Hegelheimer, p. 61)
I believe this study was very effective. They looked at other studies using Multimedia Listening and Help options before they conducted their study. This gave them a framework to start from, and they were able to design their study without some of the problems the other studies faced. For example, Pujola’s study was unable to draw any concrete conclusions because of the idiosyncratic behavior of his participants. The study can also prove helpful for ESL CALL instructors in designing their curriculum, as well as software designers.
I would take into consideration the outcome of this study when designing curriculum for my own classroom. Although I have no teaching experience to draw from, the conclusion of the study and my growing knowledge of CALL materials, I believe the use of Multimedia Listening and Help options are invaluable for a Listening class. I would also use the conclusion of the study as a guide in learning a second language myself; incorporating the use of subtitles in my multimedia studies.
The article generates ideas such as how to look at other studies when coming up with a study of one’s own, how to incorporate multimedia listening into your classroom to teach listening and proficiency, and to guide students into using the help option. Most of all, the article outlined the effectiveness of subtitles in the classroom when teaching listening.
In Levy, his description of Listening through the use of technology showed that when students used annotations and sound bites of the passage to decipher a passage, they were able translate the passage. With more options to use annotations the learners had a higher opinion of the exercise. Those with fewer annotations or none at all, had a lower opinion of the activity.
*LEVY – Ch. 7 Practice
*BLACKBOARD - Grgurović, M. & Hegelheimer, V. (2007). Help Options and Multimedia Listening: Students' Use of Subtitles and the Transcript. Language Learning & Technology, 11(1), 45-66. What did Grgurović & Hegelheimer find with regards to using subtitles and transcripts to help ESL students develop listening skills in English? What are some of the implications for instruction?
From your reading of Levy, comment on one or more of the issues related to the practice dimension of CALL what you would want to take into consideration for your own classroom.
The article is a study of the use of subtitles and transcripts when using multi-media materials in the classroom; for the use of teachers using CALL materials and for the software designers who design them. The participants were 18 ESL college students in an Academic English Listening class. The students were divided into two groups: higher intermediate and lower intermediate. The conclusion to the study showed that students used subtitles more than transcripts. “The higher proficiency group also used subtitles more frequently and for longer amounts of time than the lower proficiency group although both groups exhibited very similar behavior on the transcript.” (Grgurovic and Hegelheimer, p. 61)
I believe this study was very effective. They looked at other studies using Multimedia Listening and Help options before they conducted their study. This gave them a framework to start from, and they were able to design their study without some of the problems the other studies faced. For example, Pujola’s study was unable to draw any concrete conclusions because of the idiosyncratic behavior of his participants. The study can also prove helpful for ESL CALL instructors in designing their curriculum, as well as software designers.
I would take into consideration the outcome of this study when designing curriculum for my own classroom. Although I have no teaching experience to draw from, the conclusion of the study and my growing knowledge of CALL materials, I believe the use of Multimedia Listening and Help options are invaluable for a Listening class. I would also use the conclusion of the study as a guide in learning a second language myself; incorporating the use of subtitles in my multimedia studies.
The article generates ideas such as how to look at other studies when coming up with a study of one’s own, how to incorporate multimedia listening into your classroom to teach listening and proficiency, and to guide students into using the help option. Most of all, the article outlined the effectiveness of subtitles in the classroom when teaching listening.
In Levy, his description of Listening through the use of technology showed that when students used annotations and sound bites of the passage to decipher a passage, they were able translate the passage. With more options to use annotations the learners had a higher opinion of the exercise. Those with fewer annotations or none at all, had a lower opinion of the activity.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Reading Response Five
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Reading Prompt #5
•RICHARDSON Ch. 8. Podcasting, Video and Screencasting, Live Streaming: Multimedia Publishing for the Masses
•BLACKBOARD - McQuillan, J. (2006). iPods in Education: The Potential for Language Acquisition
•BLACKBOARD – Stansbury, M. (2009). iPods help ESL Students Achieve Success. eSchool News (May 11).
Do you have an iPod or another type of .mp3 player? If so, have you used it or anything other than listening to your own music, such as downloading and listening to podcasts? Note some of the points McQuillan made about how podcasting can support second language learning. Which of the ideas from the readings would you be interested in trying out in your own classroom?
I have an iPod, but I have never listened to a podcast. Although, now I am interested in doing so. I really liked the article about Poli, and how she used iPods in her classroom. I can see a real advantage in using iPods in the classroom. I liked how she created exercises using music for all different levels of students.
McQuillan's article on using iPods for second language acquisition was very interesting. He talked about comprehensible input being an important aspect of second language acquisition. He also talked about a state of flow. Here are some of McQuillan's suggestions for teaching a second language,
"• Slowing the rate of speech
• Providing contextual support for language
• Using vocabulary appropriate to the student’s level
• Building on the student’s existing background knowledge
• Fostering a comfortable environment
• Encouraging identification with people who speak the target language
• Creating a topic-driven rather than a grammar-based syllabus"
I thought these were good ideas to foster second language acquisition. Some of these points can be supported with the use of an iPod, for example, "providing contextual support for language, and building on the student's existing background knowledge".
Besides using iPods in the classroom, I liked the idea of using podcasts, and am excited about creating on for our blogs. This is something I would really like to incorporate in my own personal blog, as well. Over all, I really enjoyed the readings for tonight's class.
Reading Prompt #5
•RICHARDSON Ch. 8. Podcasting, Video and Screencasting, Live Streaming: Multimedia Publishing for the Masses
•BLACKBOARD - McQuillan, J. (2006). iPods in Education: The Potential for Language Acquisition
•BLACKBOARD – Stansbury, M. (2009). iPods help ESL Students Achieve Success. eSchool News (May 11).
Do you have an iPod or another type of .mp3 player? If so, have you used it or anything other than listening to your own music, such as downloading and listening to podcasts? Note some of the points McQuillan made about how podcasting can support second language learning. Which of the ideas from the readings would you be interested in trying out in your own classroom?
I have an iPod, but I have never listened to a podcast. Although, now I am interested in doing so. I really liked the article about Poli, and how she used iPods in her classroom. I can see a real advantage in using iPods in the classroom. I liked how she created exercises using music for all different levels of students.
McQuillan's article on using iPods for second language acquisition was very interesting. He talked about comprehensible input being an important aspect of second language acquisition. He also talked about a state of flow. Here are some of McQuillan's suggestions for teaching a second language,
"• Slowing the rate of speech
• Providing contextual support for language
• Using vocabulary appropriate to the student’s level
• Building on the student’s existing background knowledge
• Fostering a comfortable environment
• Encouraging identification with people who speak the target language
• Creating a topic-driven rather than a grammar-based syllabus"
I thought these were good ideas to foster second language acquisition. Some of these points can be supported with the use of an iPod, for example, "providing contextual support for language, and building on the student's existing background knowledge".
Besides using iPods in the classroom, I liked the idea of using podcasts, and am excited about creating on for our blogs. This is something I would really like to incorporate in my own personal blog, as well. Over all, I really enjoyed the readings for tonight's class.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Reading Response Four
Reading Prompt #4
* LEVY – Ch. 2. Design
* RICHARDSON Ch. 5. RSS: The New Killer App for Educators
Comment one one or two issues raised by Levy and Stockwell CALL educators must think about when it comes to the design of CALL products. Then, comment on what types of RSS feeds you might be interested in using with students or following yourself.
"The point where one begins in design is critical. Whether it is a theory, pedagogical model, course or syllabus, task, exercise, language skill, technology, or some kind of mix, the whole design unfolds from that point on." (Call Dimensions, Levy p.12)
The idea of language teachers being designers is an exciting one. It means that we can design our classes as creatively as we like. Using technology as a design tool is also very cool. I like what the book says about including the students in our design process so that they will have a chance to see the technology the way that we do.(p.14) I think that goes back to the article by Soares about her blogging experience with her class. The more time she gave in class for the students to blog the more they took part in the project. I think including students in the design of the class blog or of their individual blogs will enhance the learning experience. This leads into using RSS feeds. Rss feeds are a tool for the classroom that is valuable to teacher and students. The teacher is able to include all her student's blogs on her RSS feed enabling her to look at them and respond to them. Giving your students an RSS feed to use when doing research for a project not only ensures safety for young students while surfing the web, it allows students to have a 24/7 news feed to a particular subject.
* LEVY – Ch. 2. Design
* RICHARDSON Ch. 5. RSS: The New Killer App for Educators
Comment one one or two issues raised by Levy and Stockwell CALL educators must think about when it comes to the design of CALL products. Then, comment on what types of RSS feeds you might be interested in using with students or following yourself.
"The point where one begins in design is critical. Whether it is a theory, pedagogical model, course or syllabus, task, exercise, language skill, technology, or some kind of mix, the whole design unfolds from that point on." (Call Dimensions, Levy p.12)
The idea of language teachers being designers is an exciting one. It means that we can design our classes as creatively as we like. Using technology as a design tool is also very cool. I like what the book says about including the students in our design process so that they will have a chance to see the technology the way that we do.(p.14) I think that goes back to the article by Soares about her blogging experience with her class. The more time she gave in class for the students to blog the more they took part in the project. I think including students in the design of the class blog or of their individual blogs will enhance the learning experience. This leads into using RSS feeds. Rss feeds are a tool for the classroom that is valuable to teacher and students. The teacher is able to include all her student's blogs on her RSS feed enabling her to look at them and respond to them. Giving your students an RSS feed to use when doing research for a project not only ensures safety for young students while surfing the web, it allows students to have a 24/7 news feed to a particular subject.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
reading response three
Reading Prompt #3
*LEVY – Ch. 8. Technology
*BLACKBOARD - Soares, D. d.A. (2008). Understanding class blogs as a tool for language development. Language Teaching Research, 12(4), 517–533.
What challenges did Soares face when using blogs with her ESL students, and what lessons did she learn? How does she feel about using blogs with students in the future? Levy describes several types of technologies Choose one of them and describe how you might want to use it (or have used it), and discuss some of considerations that need to be taken when using this technology with ESL students
I thought the Soares article was very eye opening. It showed how students may be resistant to using blogs in the classroom, especially if the work is to be done at home. I think when she started to include blogging activities during class time it helped the students take part more in the blog. Her survey of other ESL teacher's using blogs was also helpful. The article is a valuable resource for ESL teacher's wanting to include blogging in their classroom.
I thought that Speech Recognition and Pronunciation-Training Technology from the Levy book could be a helpful tool in the classroom. I wonder if it is similar to what is used in the Rosetta Stone software? Because when using this software, if you do not pronounce something correctly, you have to keep saying it over until the computer reckognizes the correct pronunciation.
From reading chapter eight in Levy I have some difficulty in understanding the descriptions of some of the technology. I need to see it demonstrated in class to have a full understanding of it.
*LEVY – Ch. 8. Technology
*BLACKBOARD - Soares, D. d.A. (2008). Understanding class blogs as a tool for language development. Language Teaching Research, 12(4), 517–533.
What challenges did Soares face when using blogs with her ESL students, and what lessons did she learn? How does she feel about using blogs with students in the future? Levy describes several types of technologies Choose one of them and describe how you might want to use it (or have used it), and discuss some of considerations that need to be taken when using this technology with ESL students
I thought the Soares article was very eye opening. It showed how students may be resistant to using blogs in the classroom, especially if the work is to be done at home. I think when she started to include blogging activities during class time it helped the students take part more in the blog. Her survey of other ESL teacher's using blogs was also helpful. The article is a valuable resource for ESL teacher's wanting to include blogging in their classroom.
I thought that Speech Recognition and Pronunciation-Training Technology from the Levy book could be a helpful tool in the classroom. I wonder if it is similar to what is used in the Rosetta Stone software? Because when using this software, if you do not pronounce something correctly, you have to keep saying it over until the computer reckognizes the correct pronunciation.
From reading chapter eight in Levy I have some difficulty in understanding the descriptions of some of the technology. I need to see it demonstrated in class to have a full understanding of it.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
reading response two
Prompt #2
*BLACKBOARD – Egbert, J. (2005). CALL Essentials: Principals and Practices in CALL Classrooms.—Ch. 1. Introduction: Principles of CALL.
*RICHARDSON Ch. 3. Weblogs: Getting Started
Egbert describes the optimal conditions for classroom language learning. Discuss how blogs and blogging can be a tool for achieving these conditions with ELL students. Finally, describe your own experience creating your blog this week. What topic or topics do you plan to blog about?
I think blogging is a great tool for ELL students. It gives them a chance to experiment with the language in another setting other than the classroom, and to interact with each other. I think it would be good to always give the student a question to guide their blogging with, depending on what is going on in class. The student could also share with their class mates pictures and facts about their home countries. Blogging has endless possibilities in the ESL classroom.
I have really enjoyed creating my new ESL blog. It was great to learn how to add pictures and links to my blog. I added links to my ESL blog early in the week about writing, and I really enjoyed doing that! I think I would like to blog about using writing and journaling as a tool in the ESL classroom, since this is an interest of mine. But I don't want to limit myself to that. I think my blog will evolve as the class progresses, and it will be a great record of the class, and all that I will learn this semester.
*BLACKBOARD – Egbert, J. (2005). CALL Essentials: Principals and Practices in CALL Classrooms.—Ch. 1. Introduction: Principles of CALL.
*RICHARDSON Ch. 3. Weblogs: Getting Started
Egbert describes the optimal conditions for classroom language learning. Discuss how blogs and blogging can be a tool for achieving these conditions with ELL students. Finally, describe your own experience creating your blog this week. What topic or topics do you plan to blog about?
I think blogging is a great tool for ELL students. It gives them a chance to experiment with the language in another setting other than the classroom, and to interact with each other. I think it would be good to always give the student a question to guide their blogging with, depending on what is going on in class. The student could also share with their class mates pictures and facts about their home countries. Blogging has endless possibilities in the ESL classroom.
I have really enjoyed creating my new ESL blog. It was great to learn how to add pictures and links to my blog. I added links to my ESL blog early in the week about writing, and I really enjoyed doing that! I think I would like to blog about using writing and journaling as a tool in the ESL classroom, since this is an interest of mine. But I don't want to limit myself to that. I think my blog will evolve as the class progresses, and it will be a great record of the class, and all that I will learn this semester.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Suzanne's ESL Blog
Welcome to Pensive Puppy's ESL Blog for Computer Assisted Language Learning ESL 5073-Spring 2010
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