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.