Final Reflection: Assessment

So this week we talked about assessment; we compared pen and paper tests versus computer-based tests. We also read about multiple different types of tests like aptitude tests, placement tests, etc. It seems that computers are better for stable conditions, every test every time will have the same instructions, posed the same way as well as the same time limit and the same format, this can very when teachers write and or proctor tests. Computers are also able to figure out the test-takers level and only give questions that are in that students level, so none of the questions are too hard or too easy and the student potentially will have to answer less questions.
On the other hand, one major criticism with computer tests is that many students from different parts of the world are not familiar with taking tests on a computer and this could mean that they get a worse score just because they are unable to navigate the test effectively. To fix this students either ned to be trained beforehand, like through tutorials, or they should be offered the choice to do a pen and paper version of the test if they feel uncomfortable with a computer version. Additionally, many times there are technical problems with taking tests on the computer. When I took my Spanish placement test in order to study abroad I was unable to play the audio in the listening section of the test. Due to this I was unable to correctly answer any of the following questions and unfortunately no one I contacted was able to help me or allow me to retake that part of the exam. I just failed that section and was placed into a Spanish section that ended up being too easy for me. Another technical problem I have come in contact with is that fact that I use a Mac. Not all software is compatible with both a mac and a PC this is a problem because then I can't successfully finish a test or I have to try and find a different computer for that test. These problems all must be taken into consideration when deciding whether to give students a computer test or a traditional test.

Week 12 Reflection

For this weeks reflection I am going to write about teaching culture through CALL (since this is what the week was about). CALL can be used in many different ways to teach different cultures to students. It is also important to keep in consideration that the material you decide to use in the classroom does not give an essentialist view of culture, but that it gives a varied perspective and makes the students aware that not everyone from the target culture acts the same way just like in the culture they are from.
With those thoughts in mind one can use authentic materials form the internet, like news articles about or from the target culture, Youtube videos that describe some aspect of the target culture, online articles, etc. Another way the use CALL in order to expose the students to the target culture is through CMC. CMC like Skype, email, Google chat, etc. allows students to have direct contact with people from the target culture and allows them to ask questions and get a natives views from inside the culture in order to get a better all around view of the target culture and see how that culture differs and is similar to their own culture.
It is important that students are taught to think critically about the material they study and about the target culture that they have learned about so that they are able to realize that the culture is a fluid thing and is different for everyone in the target culture. One way to get this through to the students is to have them talk about their own culture as well and compare their own culture and their own views with that of the target culture and the views that they are exposed to through the class.
Culture is very important when learning a language because the language itself shows a lot about the culture that speaks it. It is impossible to separate culture and language completely so it is important that students learn both within a language classroom in order to learn how to function within that culture and to learn how to be proficient in the L2.

Activity to Teach Culture Through CALL

For this activity my partner and I decided to use Youtube videos because they can be interesting for students and they are easily accessible. We decided that our students would be intermediate level high school students and the videos that we would show in class shouldn't be more than a few minutes long so that we didn't inundate our students with too much language at once. Once we had the video we wanted (there are many to choose from on Youtube, we chose one called "christmas in the U.S.") that talked about one aspect of American culture, we picked a segment of it to show to the class. Then during class time we would play the video with instructions for students to take notes on the video. The notes would focus on what the differences and similarities there are between the American culture and the students own culture, as well as just whatever the student found interesting or unusual or something that they weren't expecting. In small groups (2-3) the students then discuss the content, how it is similar to their own culture, how it is different, what is interesting, etc.This allows them to think critically about what they have just seen and practice their speaking skills at the same time.

Finally, as a whole class have them discuss their thoughts and views. Every group shares their ideas. Teacher can ask some questions/have questions prepared if they want to to help students think critically about what they viewed and realize that not everybody in that culture will follow exactly what the video showed  for a non-essentialist view of American culture. 

This activity can be adapted to fit teaching any culture as well as can be added to to make a longer lesson (like a pre-listening activity where students share the stereotypes they are aware of from/about the culture they are going to learn about). For homework the students can write up what they have learned from the video and how it differs and is similar to their own culture.

Week 11 Reflection

This last week was a bit hectic for me all around and now thinking back on it I don't remember it in too much detail. I do remember that I was intrigued by the phase idea of lesson planning when we talked about it on monday. I think that putting a long project in phases can help break up what my seem like an impossible task for the students and a lot of work for the teacher. I like how Elola and Oskoz wrote some examples of phased activities into their article because it gives a good starting point for any teacher who may want to try this kind of approach in their own classrooms. The phases can help students not feel overwhelmed by a larger class project than they are used to and it also eases them in to using the technology and gets them familiar with how they will use the technology before they  have to use it on their own. I would use this kind of lesson planning in my future classes if I wanted a long and more in-depth project created by my students because I feel like this type of planning would help me handle the students early confusion more adeptly as well as help the students cover the large amounts of material they would need to be familiar with to complete their own assignments.

Materials Development #2

Overview

This lesson is designed for a class of upper-intermediate to advanced learners English. This class in mind contains between 14 and 20 students who are all international students at a University in their English language program. The class overall is an integrative skills class that focuses on all four major skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking) over the course of the semester with this specific lesson focusing on speaking and listening skills, but integrating some writing skills in too. The students come from a wide range of L1’s so the use of the students native languages by the teacher rarely, if ever, occurs. English is the language spoken for all aspects of the class from instructions to class discussions.

The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to podcasts and interviews in podcasts. The students need to learn about podcasts because eventually in the course they will be creating a podcast of their own by interviewing and recording a person who is in a field that interests them. This lesson is the second phase of this multiple phase task. The phases in this lesson are based on the phases from Elola and Oskoz (2011). This lesson will expose the students to the type of technology they will be using later on in the course and also provides examples of what they will be doing for their own projects. 

This lesson focuses on listening and speaking skills in order to target both fluency and accuracy in student speech. By listening to podcasts the students get a feel for what they will need to sound and act like in their own future podcasts. Additionally, listening helps build their listening comprehension skills of authentic material that is for native speakers. By discussing the podcasts the students are speaking in the class and developing fluency which will help them in their own podcasts when interviewing because they are learning the vocabulary needed for interviews as well as becoming familiar with the words by using them multiple times. Finally, using podcasts and interviews keeps the students interested and motivated because they are able to bring their own interests into the classroom and center their final project around what they would like to know more about. This helps the students to participate more and feel more involved and autonomous in their language learning.

Lesson Plan

Level/Course Name: High-Intermediate ELL’s in a University English Program (15 students from various L1 backgrounds)

Lesson Written by: Haley Winters

Lesson Objectives: 

• Students will become familiar with podcasts
• Students will be able to identify podcasts and what makes an interview
• Identify what makes an interview interesting and vocab needed for interviews

This lesson includes (check those that apply):

• Individual work
• Whole class discussion
• Comprehensible input
• Links to past learning
• Listening, speaking, and some writing skills

Pre-lesson Inventory:

• Things to bring to class: List for podcasts, podcast clips needed
• Equipment: Need a computer in the class
• HW to assign: Listen to a podcast on the list on their own time and be ready to discuss next class

3 mins: 

• Take roll
• Review class agenda  

Warm-up Activity (10 min.):  

Teacher and students review interviews from the last class. The question is ‘What makes an interview?’ Class talks about questions, answers, interviewer, interviewee, etc. Teacher reviews the different types of interviews they have seen so far: video interviews, newspaper interviews, radio interviews, news vs. sports vs. celebrity interviews.

Transition: Today we are going to look at a new tool used to give interviews and record them: Podcasts

Pre-listening Activity ( 15 min.): 

Teacher gives some information on podcasts and lets the students know that they will be using podcasts in the future for their next project and giving interviews based on their own interests. While listening to the next podcast clips the students need to keep in mind what interests them and how the participants in the podcasts go about asking questions and talking about the information they have received. Next the teacher will go over the vocabulary needed for the students to understand the following podcast clips. The teacher will write the vocabulary on the board and ask the students if they are familiar with any of the words and then together they will all go over the definitions so that the students have time to write them down and can ask for clarification before going on to the clips for the listening activity.

Transition: the teacher explains that now the students are going to listen to the two podcast clips and they need to pay attention in order to use what they learn later in the semester. 

Listening Activity ( 15 min.):

Interview with Frank Forencich clip; from 50 interviews podcast (5 min)

Interview with Kathryn Mobley clip; from NPR podcast (5 min)

First clip is about a book and the authors life, second clip is about money and business. The teacher can play these clips from Itunes for the students. Before listening to the clips the students are instructed to take notes on what makes the interview interesting or uninteresting and just what they liked and didn’t like about each of the interviews and why.  Once they have listened to the clips the teacher gives them another 5 minutes to finish writing down their thoughts and collecting their notes. 

Transition: The teacher now transitions the students to a discussion. She gets them in to small groups (3 people) and tells them that now we will discuss these clips.

Post-Listening Activity ( 20 min):

Once the teacher has split the class into groups of three she instructs them to discuss their notes with each other. See if they have any similar notes. Did the students in their group like the same things, were they interested by the same parts of the clips, if yes/no then why. Once they have had time to discuss their own thoughts in their groups then the teacher will bring the discussion back to the whole class. As a class the teacher will ask what interested them and what they liked. The teacher will write down these things on the board so that everyone can see the list and can think about these things for their future podcasts. This discussion will help them to start to think about their interests and how they will want to set up their own podcasts. It is the transition to the next phase of this semester project and next they will learn how to use the technology needed to create their own podcast.

Homework (5 mins): 

For homework the students will be given a list of websites that have podcasts that the students can listen to on their own time. These podcasts all involve interviews and for homework the students need to listen to one or more of these podcasts and be ready to discuss these during the next class.

 

Back-up activity (variable-time activity): 

If there is for some reason extra time then the teacher can have the students start thinking about their own interests and writing down ideas for what kind of topic they would like to do for their own interview. They can share these thoughts with classmates and start seeing who has similar interests so they can pair up later to do their own podcast interview.

Assessment: 

Teacher will know if students have understood the activities by their participation in the class discussion and how on task they are during the class period.

Interview Podcast List

BBC The Interview: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/interview 

NPR Music Interviews: http://www.npr.org/sections/music-interviews/

NPR Interviews: http://www.npr.org/sections/interviews/ 

The Good, the Bad, and the Joblo Movie Podcast: Celebrity Interviews

http://www.joblo.com/movie-podcasts/ 

50 Interviews Podcast: http://authors.podbean.com/ 

Podcasting

This weeks reflection is about podcasting. It will be short because I am gong to integrate podcasting into my Materials Development #2 assignment and don't want to talk too much about it. There are a few things that i want to say though. Before this last week I had no idea just how popular and how many podcasts there actually are out there. I have used Itunes for more than six years and up until now I have never looked at Podcast section of the Itunes store, even though I knew they were there. Since this  class I have now found out that Itunes has the largest selection of podcasts anywhere out there and that there are multitudes of topics that podcasts cover. Another trick I learned is that if you change the country of origin of your Itunes account you can get all the podcasts in the language from that country. I now listen to a few Spanish podcasts to keep up on my Spanish listening skills as well as a few in English that are just interesting. I believe that using podcasts in class can be beneficial and motivating because students can listen to both podcasts that are there to help them learn English as well as podcasts originally for native English speakers that students are interested in. They can be fun, interesting, and exciting for students.

Reflection on Test #2

For this weeks reflection I wanted to reflect on the material that we talked about for the second test of the class. We wrote on Asynchronous CMC, Synchronous CMC, and corpora used for language learning purposes. These have all been discussed before so I will likely make this reflection a rather short one.
First of all I believe that all three resources above can be used in a language learning classroom and can be very effective when done properly. They would all take time though to implement because students must be thoroughly taught how to use the software/website before they can complete any activity/task/project. Also each resource have different advantages and disadvantages:

• For ACMC the benefits are that the students would have time to formulate their thoughts into coherent passages before sending them to anyone else which allows for greater focus on forms and accuracy. ACMC is also good for more input and output for the students and can provide a more informal register for them to practice their L2 like in a blog or through email. 
• For SCMC on the other hand students must have to think on their feet so to speak. This is beneficial when practicing real life situations and conversations and will force the students to focus on negotiating meaning with the other participants as well as thinking quickly in the L2. This also provides more input and output opportunities than a traditional classroom through Skype or an Instant messenger.
• Corpora can be beneficial especially within the realm of reading and writing. A corpus can show learners how the language is really used by showing them real-life data collected by researchers. This can help students learn strategies like inferring meaning from context because they are able to search for words with their collocates. Also, one can be a good resource to use instead of or in addition to a dictionary which can sometimes be confusing and hard to understand if a word has multiple meanings and the corpus can help clarify the definition. Lastly, corpora can be used when teachers are teaching different registers to their students and showing how academic prose and conversation differ, for example, or what parts of speech most commonly occur in a specific register.

These benefits are just a few of the benefits that students can get from these resources. Teachers should definitely research the different options out there to help spruce up their class material and provide the students with access to the L2 in different ways. As long as the teacher keeps in mind the possible difficulties that could arise with using any of the resources above they should be successful in implementing the technology into the classroom and facilitating learning through its use.

Reflection Week 8

listen to ‘Reflection Week 8’ on Audioboo

Reflection 3/4

This last week we talked and read a lot about the use of synchronous and asynchronous CMC in a TBLT learning environment. After reading the chapter in Dubravac and the article I have come to believe that it is definitely possible to integrate both types of CMC in a task-based classroom. On the other hand, I don't believe that it is necessary to use CMC in the classroom nor do I believe that integrating CMC into every activity benefits the students. The discussion board for this class makes it clear that both asynchronous CMC and synchronous CMC can be used in tasks for the students to use, as well as, the differences between the two types of CMC and what types of activity each one can be used to benefit the students. Since this has already been discussed in depth on the discussion board I will not say much about it here. Instead I will point out what I believe the pitfalls are to using too much technology in the task-based classroom are.

I think that there are many disadvantages to using technology in a classroom and sometimes they outweigh the advantages for the students. The teacher must first have access to the technology and have the use of a computer lab or every student must have their own personal computer. This presents a problem because it is still unrealistic to assume that all of your students have their own personal laptop that they are able to bring to class, especially if they are young learners. Then if they don't have their own the teacher has to have access to a computer lab. Computer labs have their own problems associated with them because they are usually full of security settings that make it hard to use some software. Also, the students would probably have to install the software onto each computer for the day which can pose problems when the installation process doesn't go like you think it should and it takes up class time. Additionally, the computers could be outdated and unable to run some of the newer software that the teacher may want the students to use. Once these potential problems have been addressed then the teacher still has to be able to walk the students through the software/site itself. This can be troublesome if students haven't had much experience with computers or this type of software on the computer. Also, the computers may crop up with errors or not be able to play any videos or be able to record the students voice because of the lack of a microphone/videorecorder. All of these issues can take up valuable class time, frustrate the students and cause the objectives of the task to never be met. These problems are just some of the many that can arise while using technology and this makes it hard to advocate the use of technology all the time in the classroom. I believe the best way to implement CMC and other technological resources for tasks in the classroom in moderation and only after the teacher has thoroughly explored the technology and believes that the benefits outweigh any potential problems that could arise.

Another Reflection Another Week

Due to the snow day this week I don't feel like I have too much to reflect on this time around. We looked at different corpora which are always interesting tools, but we didn't talk about the readings much this week. When working with the COCA corpus I always seem to run into some sort of difficulty. Either the website is going too slow or not working at all, or my search brings up too many hits so they can't display my results or I can't figure out what to put into the search engine to find what I want to find. I feel that with more use of the corpus and a more detailed look at my options I could probably figure out what I am doing wrong and finally use the site correctly, but I feel that the individual use of a corpus is not designed for beginning learners, or young learners. I feel that trying to let either of these groups use a corpus to get an activity done by themselves would result in mass confusion and more problems than answers. Because of this  have decided that I will never use a corpus-based activity or task with those two groups of learners.

With that being said, I do believe that a corpus is a useful tool for the older and more advanced students of English. The use of concordance data can really help students learn about practical and accurate uses of the language as well as show them the differences between genres (spoken, written, academic, informal, etc.). This can be especially helpful for students who want to learn English for a specific purpose. If they want to learn English for academic reasons than looking at the data in the corpus for the academic genre can help, while students who want to become a fluent speaker can look at the conversation genre data. Additionally, I believe that a corpus can help build learner strategies in the students which can help them further their academic goals as well as their English proficiency.

I have created an activity below that explains one of the ways in which a corpus can be used with learners. It is similar to the activity we did in class except that it ties the use of the corpus to relevant vocabulary and previous knowledge that the students have gained during the previous classes. This lesson shows that corpora can be used effectively in the classroom, but one must be careful how and with what students the corpus is used.

Materials Development #1

Level/Course Name: High-Intermediate ELL’s in a University English Program (15 students from various L1 backgrounds)

Lesson Written by: Haley Winters

Lesson Objectives: 

• Students will become familiar with a new reading strategy
• Students will be able to reinforce word meanings they already know
• Identify unfamiliar vocabulary in a text
• infer meaning of unfamiliar words with the use of the COCA corpus

This lesson includes (check those that apply):

• Individual work
• Whole class discussion
• Comprehensible input
• Links to past learning
• Guided and independent practice
• Reading, writing and speaking skills

Pre-lesson Inventory:

• Things to bring to class: Handouts for reading activity and instructions for COCA post-reading assignment
• Equipment: Need to request to be in the computer lab
• HW to assign: FInish post-listening activity if couldn’t finish during class

3 mins: 

• Take roll
• Review class agenda  

Warm-up Activity (10 min.):  

Teacher brings in two words unknown to the students and plugs them into the COCA corpus to show how to use the corpus and find the concordances with these words. The teacher asks the students to try and guess the meanings of these two words based on the concordances they see in the corpus. Afterwards the teacher gives them a full definition of the words and they briefly talk about how close (or far away) their guesses were and some strategies for using the corpus later.

Transition: the teacher tells the students they will be using the corpus later to learn more vocabulary related to Soul Surfer and could they please take out their copies of the book.

Pre-reading Activity ( 10 min.):

The students have just finished reading the book Soul Surfer and for the pre-reading the teacher asks the students to discuss what happens in the last chapters  (since they last talked about the book) and how they would feel if they had been bitten by a shark. Would they go back into the ocean? why or why not? This gets the students thinking about the book and how they feel about what happened to the girl in the book.

Transition: the teacher explains that now the students are going to read about Bethany Hamilton’s feelings about what happened to her from an interview she gave with a person form the New York Times. 

Reading Activity ( 15-20 min.):

The teacher hands out the first handout which is an article from the New York Times in which the girl from Soul Surfer is being interviewed and they are talking about the movie that is going to be coming out based on her book/life. The students are asked to read the article and underline at least 5 unknown/unfamiliar words, or words they are familiar with but can’t quite remember their meaning. They are going to be using these words in the post-reading activity.

Transition: The teacher makes sure the students have finished reading the article and asks them to now open the corpus on their computers and he/she hands out the instructions for the next activity. 

Post-Reading Activity ( 20-25 min./rest of class):

For the first 15-20 min. the students will take the five (or more) words that they underlined and plug them into the COCA corpus. They will investigate the concordance data for each of these words and try to infer their meaning from the data. With this information they must type up their words, the inferred definition of the words and five sentences from the concordance data for each word to support their definition. If students don’t have enough time to type and print up their assignment they can finish it for homework. For the last 5-10 min. the teacher asks the students which words they found difficult, the teacher will write down the most commonly reoccurring difficult words on the board and then the teacher will explain more clearly what these words mean to the whole class.

Homework (5 mins): 

If the students were unable to finish the post-reading activity than they need to complete it for homework and bring it to the next class to turn in.  

Back-up activity (variable-time activity): 

 If the corpus is down/not working than the teacher will instead start playing the Soul Surfer  DVD that he/she has brought to class as a backup activity and the students will work with the corpus on another day.

Assessment: 

Students must type their list of difficult vocabulary words, write an inferred meaning for each, and include 5 sentences from the concordance that support their inferred meaning.This will help the teacher figure out if the students followed the directions, explored the vocabulary words and used critical thinking to connect the concordance results to a working definition.

Tools: 

The article found at the below link (a printed copy for each student):

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/sports/03seconds.html

Also instructions for the post-reading activity:

Soul Surfer Concordancing Assignment

1. Choose at least five unfamiliar words, or words you are familiar with but can not remember the meaning from the New York Times article. 

2. You will be using these words and plugging them into the COCA corpus. 

3. You will examine the concordance data for each word and deduct the meaning from context. 

Final assignment to turn in: 

1. Type your personal list of difficult vocabulary words.

2.  Write an inferred meaning for each word, and include 5 sentences from the concordance to support your definition.

3. Print out this assignment and turn it in at the end of class. 

(If you do not complete it in-class, this will be homework)

The last thing needed is access to the COCA corpus at:
www.americancorpus.org/

Overview:

         This lesson is designed for a class of upper-intermediate to advanced learners English. This class in mind contains between 14 and 20 students who are all international students at a University in their English language program. The class overall is an integrative skills class that focuses on all four major skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking) over the course of the semester with this specific lesson focusing on reading and writing skills, but integrating some speaking skills in too. The students come from a wide range of L1’s so the use of the students native languages by the teacher rarely, if ever, occurs. English is the language spoken for all aspects of the class from instructions to class discussions.

The purpose of this lesson is to help the students develop specific reading strategies as well as build relevant vocabulary and past lesson knowledge. The students h

ave just previously read the biographical story Soul Surfer and this lesson brings in the knowledge the students gleaned from this book in order to continue building vocabulary and reading skills. From this starting point the students will critically think and discuss topics from the book in the pre-reading activity and then read an interview that is between a New York Times writer and Bethany Hamilton (the girl the book is about). From this article the students will find new vocabulary to learn and use the COCA corpus to infer the meaning of these new words. 

The use of the corpus allows students to build their knowledge on how English words are used in context, as well as, teach them a good reading strategy of figuring out what an unfamiliar word means from only it’s context. This helps students learn how to rely on just the text they are reading and not always need to check a dictionary which can interrupt the flow of the reading and discourage students. This is also a valuable strategy when no dictionary is available or when students are practicing extensive reading because it can take too long to look up every unknown word and many times the context provides good clues as to the meaning of the unfamiliar word.

Reflection of Another Week in CALL

This week I have had a lot of ideas and thoughts flit through my mind about CALL activities. I have only limited teaching experience myself and sometimes I find it hard to see how an activity might work in a classroom and/or what problems my future students might have with them. I have also been looking at the websites we have been using in the classroom and trying to decide what I think about them and how I might integrate them into a future class. 

This Monday we worked with two different websites: Socrative and Grockit. These two sites have very differing purposes and probably would not be used in the same classroom on the same day. Socrative is a website that the teacher would mainly use and the students would only interact with while taking quizzes or playing the space race game. I think this site is helpful for a teacher to use because he/she can easily get the results from test sent to them after the quiz and the space races can be fun and motivating for the students. I would caution any teacher using the site though not to just use it for comprehension quizzes or make it the sole way to test the students in the classroom because I don't think you would get a very good idea of what each student has learned nor would you be incorporating different learning styles of your students into the classroom. Another problem is that you would have to make sure that each student has a smart phone/tablet/computer in the classroom and that they bring it on the day of the test. The students would have to make sure that their electronics are charged enough and reliable enough not to crash in the middle of the quiz or turn off due to low battery. I believe that many classrooms will have some students who do not have any usable electronics so in that case the teacher would be unable to use Socrative or would have to bring extra electronics to the classroom which would be expensive and there is always the possibility of them getting broken or stolen.

Grockit on the other hand has a few more uses and I believe can lead to other activities. Grockit uses youtube videos to teach students. The teacher can add questions to a video and send the link to the students who then can watch it and answer the questions. Or the students in groups could find a video and ask questions for other's in class to answer as a sort of task or project the teacher gives them. The questions can be anything you want them to be, but it seems like they will mostly end up being comprehension questions about the video because otherwise you wouldn't need to ask the questions during the video. I believe this is a good site to use as a beginning activity that could lead to a more in-depth discussion of a topic or another task that uses some of the information they learned in the video. On the other hand, as a stand-alone activity I don't think it is all that worth it to use because it is very basic and only lends itself to listening comprehension of the videos and wouldn't be very productive for a class by itself.

Upon these reflections, I have started thinking about my future classes, where in the world I might want to teach and the technology that may be available. There are many unknowns at this point so it is good to be able to be introduced to so many of the resources before I actually start teaching so that I have a lot to draw on when I teach a class of my own. 

Grockit Activity

https://grockit.com/answers/v/yt.mALkCGVA2BU.public

 When you click on this link it brings you to a Grockit page that is a video about how to speak with a Scottish accent. This video includes some questions that students can answer and it is a relatively short video so it wouldn't take up much class time. I believe that this video and activity would work well in an intermediate/advanced pronunciation class because it draws attention to different aspects of pronunciation and different ways that English speakers can say the same thing. Not only is it useful for students to be introduced to other accents and ways of speaking, but this video is also interesting and fun and I think that the students would stay engaged watching a video like this which also gives them listening practice. There are many other videos like this on youtube and this one activity could lead to other activities and student presentations on different English accents around the world. This could also lead to relevant cultural information for the students so I believe an activity like this could lead to many other tasks and activities that can be beneficial for an EFL classroom.

Philosophy of Teaching with the use of Technology

Teaching with technology is not an option anymore it is a reality. Students use the internet to turn in assignments, check their grades, write papers, do research, etc. and teaches update grades online, look at assignments through email, give presentations using powerpoint and projectors, etc.  IT is impossible to avoid using technology in the classroom just as it is impossible for students to learn a second language without ever hearing it. Their are many theories of SLA that can be used in the classroom and the web now offers us tools that can be combined with these theories so that our students have multiple resources to learn the L2.

Their have not been many empirical studies done in the CALL field that have a theoretical base in SLA, but these two fields are important to keep together because SLA theories can inform the use of CALL technologies. If a teacher focuses solely on the technology he/she wants to use in the classroom than it may not actually benefit the students in any way. The technology chosen for a classroom needs to first be analyzed using the framework for the class. If the technology does not support the goals and objectives of the classroom than it will not benefit the students to use it during that class. There is very little reason to use a listening lab on the internet in a classroom devoted to reading and writing no matter how cool the teacher thinks the website is or how fun the students might find the activity. The technology used must always fit into the curriculum and must be used in a way that it helps the students achieve the goals and objectives of the class.

After deciding which technological resources to use in the classroom the teacher must become very familiar with these resources before having the students use them. The teacher must be able to give very detailed instructions to the students before they use the software/website so that the students don't get hung up on the technological aspect of the site and instead can use it for it's language learning potential. The teacher must be able to provide multiple websites if there is a chance that the website will crash or be updating when the students need to use it. If the teacher isn't well-versed in the technology they should not use it because it will just cause frustrations for the students and for the teacher and little to no learning will actually be accomplished.

Once the teacher has met the above criteria with regards to the technology he/she will use in the classroom than the technology will become a great resource for the students. They will be able to accomplish the goals and objectives set out for them by the teacher as well as have fun completing the activities they are supposed to do. Technology is a great way to expose students to multiple uses of the target langauge. They can get access to native speaker recordings, authentic written material, websites where they can practice their writing, places to record their own speaking, and environments that promote interaction with other students and even native speakers of the target language directly. Technology should be used in the classroom, but it must be used correctly and successfully in order for the students to further their L2 knowledge.

Activity using Vuvox

This activity can be done in class or as homework. After the students complete their drawings they can compare them with other students and the teacher could even have them describe their own bedrooms to other students or the whole class. This is a good activity because it gets the students listening for a purpose. After the activity the students will have accomplished something and I believe this is more motivating for the students than just listening or just listening and answering comprehension questions.

Here is my groups advice for new graduate students and what they should do to have a social life in Flagstaff :-)

Digital Storytelling

This last week we looked at multiple sources that can be used for digital storytelling in the classroom and for supplemental activities outside of the classroom. I was surprised to see just how many resources are out there and how differing those resources were. Digital storytelling covers creating digital books with just word, no sounds; creating digital books with writing and sounds; small movie stories that use bubbles with words as the people you have chosen move or speak, these can either allow no sound or sound; also this includes collages of pictures that one can add video or background stories to, some collages move on their own and others you must move manually.
When working with the website Vuvox I realized some of the problems that students could have with this digital storytelling. The website was fairly easy to understand at first glance, but once I started creating my collage it became more confusing. I was unable to figure out how to embed video to play throughout the collage and was only able to put video at a specific point that the viewer would have to click on to see at a specific point in the collage. I also found it difficult to upload the video because it kept telling me there was an error, yet I couldn't figure out what the error was. Finally I was able to find the right type of video file to upload, but then when the collage was published it wouldn't play. This took too long to figure out to make it easy for students to use in the classroom and I feel there would be multiple problems if they used it outside the classroom as well.
Another issue with many of these sites is that you have to register to use the site and sometimes you have to pay for some of the different varieties of videos you can use on the websites. By having to register you have to memorize another password and if students have to use multiple sites then this can get frustrating and hard to remember all of the usernames and passwords. If students work in partners like we did in class than we either had to make register together and each know the usernames and passwords or we registered separate and had to figure out how to share the work with another member. This can get confusing in a classroom and students may have problems using the sites or remembering their login information.
On the other hand, digital storytelling can be very fun, motivating and beneficial for students to use. It is a unique activity that students will be engaged in and learn new skills by using. Teachers just must thoroughly investigate a website before using it in the classroom, as well as give the students lots of explanations and walkthroughs so they are easily able to use the website and finish the activity on time.

Digital Storytelling

This is Randy and my's attempt to make a digital story about trips we've taken with pictures from the trips that we liked.

The Breadth of CALL

My first two weeks of classes have already past by and my knowledge of CALL has already grown exponentially. Before entering this class I had never really thought deeply about what types of resources constitute as CALL and what resources don't. When I thought about CALL I always just thought about the internet and how different websites could aide in language learning. I never considered Powerpoint presentations or Facebook as CALL resources.
After these last two weeks I have realized that CALL incorporates many more resources than I had originally thought. CALL includes anything electronic that aides in language learning whether that is a social networking site or software that helps students present their information to the class. This has shown me that CALL resources can help students with many different skills that are essential for their language learning. Their are websites that help students with the basic four skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Then there are also resources that help students learn different strategies to help make their time in the classroom more effective as well as resources that allow them to collaborate with their classmates or native speakers outside of the classroom. Some websites teach the students cultural content while they learn the language and some of them help the students just manage their assignments outside of the class. These resources all help the students with their language learning, yet, there are also resources to help teachers create lesson plans, manage their classrooms, provide supplementary material, and connect with other teachers to get advice and collaborate.
All of the types of resources explained above don't even cover all of the resources that are out there for students and teachers to use. One of the problems with the amount of information and different websites out there is because it can be hard to figure out which resources are good and helpful and which ones aren't worth using. This is why it is essential for a teacher to thoroughly evaluate any website or resource that they want to use in their classroom. The nice thing is that there are even resources out there to help teachers effectively evaluate the software or resources that they are going to use.
All of this information is overwhelming at first. I feel that this class will help me sort through the different resources and figure out what I might want to use in my classroom in the future. It is just nice to know that there are so many helpful resources out there for teachers and students to draw upon and it's great to start learning about them before I start my teaching career.

Evaluating "English Daily"

The website called 'English Daily' is a free online resource that allows learners to practice their reading and writing skills. The website has multiple sections that allow the students to read about different topics in English. Most passages are short and a question and answer section follows which tests the learners knowledge about what they just read. There is a section however that provides longer passages in English.  That section is called Comprehension which allows the learner to read a more extensive passage and answer comprehension questions at the end of it. The link to the website is http://www.englishdaily626.com/.  There are many different criteria with which a website can be judged. The criteria that I believe is useful in order to evaluate a language learning website for reading and writing skills are:

• ease of use and accessibility for teachers and learners
• amount of content that is beneficial
• variation of activities and motivating factors
• degree of interaction (communicative language teaching principles)
• improvement over non-technology/traditional means

This website is easy to use and is accessible to both teachers and learners. Teachers can use the materials to supplement their own textbook and teach them certain idioms or popular phrases in English. Learners can use the website to possibly find topics that interest them to read about as well as test their ability to comprehend passages by answering the questions at the end. The only problem with the websites ease of use is the ads that the website puts everywhere. These ads can make it hard to figure out where to click and what is part of the website and what is part of the ads.

The content provided by the website is varied and interesting which can be beneficial for students motivation for reading as well as allow them to learn more about the English language. The shorter passages would only be beneficial for the beginning learners while the longer passages could be used for a range of learners depending on the level of the vocabulary presented in the text. I believe the fact that the website shows different idioms and expressions that are common in English will allow the students to learn phrases that they wouldn't normally learn in the classroom. 

On the other hand, there is little to no variation in the activities that the website offers. They are all generally comprehension questions with a few open-ended questions added in here and there. Another problem with the activities is that the answers are given on the same page so students would just have to scroll down in order to cheat themselves out of the benefits of the activities. As for motivating factors I believe the website would get very boring very fast if no other activities are supplemented to the ones provided. Students would lose interest fairly quickly by repeating the same activities passage after passage.

There is no chance for interaction between students or between teachers and students while the are using the website. It is a website that one has to do by themselves unless the teacher prints out the activities and brings them to class in which case the students would be able to interact and talk about their answers and the passages together and with the teacher as well.

This website has a few improvements over traditional means of providing material. One improvement is that there is a lot of material all in one place. A teacher would have to buy multiple books or provide many many articles in order to provide the same material for the students that this one site has to offer. For this reason alone it makes it a good resource. On the other hand the teacher will still need to provide various activities and supplement the information provided on the site because it does not have the variation that students need to keep motivated and progress in their language learning endeavors. 

After looking at the criteria and how it applies to this website is it easy to see that this resource has both negatives and positives. It would be a good supplementary item to a class to help students progress in their reading and writing, but it is not a resource that can be used on its own as the only material for a lesson or a class.

Introduction to CALL

        I am a first year MA TESL student with a background in Linguistics and Spanish. I have had some experience teaching English as a second language, but this experience has been limited. I have studied many aspects of teaching second languages, yet, computer applications to language learning (CALL) is very new to me. The only place that I have had direct experience with CALL has been in my own experiences as a student in a second language classroom. My teachers used a program called Quia.com and on this site I had to take test that were all about rote memorization and fill in the blanks, with little opportunity for spontaneous or creative language use.
       In my undergraduate studies I focused on many areas of second language learning including pronunciation, reading comprehension, speaking skills, etc. but I only have heard about CALL in passing. None of the lectures in any of my previous classes have more than glanced over the areas of CALL and because of this I have a very limited understanding of what CALL involves and how it is best utilized in the classroom.
       Since my experience and knowledge with regards to CALL is very limited I am interested in many different facets of CALL for this course. I would like to learn different ways CALL can be used in the classroom and what resources are out there for teachers and students to make use of.  I am also interested in learning how to use CALL in ways that are more creative than I have seen it used in my past second language classes. I would like to invest time figuring out how to use CALL for more than just drills and fill in the blank type questions since they give the students little opportunity to express themselves.
      An area of interest of mine is second language reading comprehension. There are many factors that influence a students reading comprehension like the ability to use glosses while reading a text or not. I want to learn about how CALL can help students reading comprehension. Computers can provide instant definitions and much faster help than many textbooks or teachers and I believe that this can aid in a students reading comprehension by creating a less stressful environment since students would have more resources at their disposal while they read.  This can make them more comfortable with the task of reading in a second language. Reading is so important for the students to be able to improve their proficiency in the L2 so being more comfortable can help keep the students motivated to read as well.