Jurnalul meu

This is my blog.

duminică, octombrie 29, 2006

Website Evaluation

I found particularly interesting the website Encyclopedia of Educational Technology (http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/wikis/index.htm) which is a project of the Department of Educational Technology at San Diego State University. This is a collection of short articles on a variety of topics dealing with instructional design, education and training. Here are some of the main categories under which the articles are grouped: cognition and learning, analysis, design, eLearning, learning strategies etc.
The EET addresses students and other individuals interested in these topics. Its authors are graduate students, professors and volunteer contributors. This website also contains an extensive bibliography containing numerous external links. Being hosted by an university, it doesn't contain any advertisement, and although it's not clear when it was last updated, it has a clear design and organization which facilitate its use.

Search Engines

My googling for search engines led me to choosing the following three:
SearchMash (http://www.searchmash.com/), a search engine operated by Google Inc.,
Dogpile (http://www.dogpile.com/) which, according to their policy, combines the sponsored, clearly identified, with non-sponsored web search results, depending on the typed search keys, and
Snap (http://www.snap.com/?source=google&campaign=snap&user_keyword) which wants to offer an alternative to the leading search engines, by introducing a few useful features like: results preview, anticipating one's intent, direct interactivity with the search results, and faster speed.
Although some search results were similar when typing "wikis education" in all three search engine, I think the best results were provided when using SearchMash. All first 5 results contained both search keys: "wikis" and "education" and all the websites found contained relevant information according to the search topic/words: Educause, a magazine that deals with the latest developments and trends in information technology and its' application in higher education, an Enciclopedia of Educational Technology which is a very informative site of the Educational Technology Department at San Diego State University, a website with resources about blogs, wikis, podcasting and their use in the classroom, an entry to the wikipedia, and a webpage with interesting resources in German, English and French about wikis, even though this site has last been updated in October 17, 2004.

sâmbătă, octombrie 21, 2006

Learning styles

In the chapter Classroom Practice: Enhancing and Extending Learning Styles Through Computers, Karen Yeok-Hwa Ngeow discusses three principles regarding learning styles, and after that, presents some suggestions on how to apply, when planning and designing activities, these principles that are meant to facilitate learning as well as teaching. According to Ngeow, these three principles are:
"Principle 1: Learners who are more conscious of their learning styles make better use of learning opportunities. [...]
Principle 2: Learners learn better when they are provided with learning opportunities that enhance and extend their learning preferences. [...]
Principle 3: Learners work better with new learning styles when they are given guided opportunities to practice them." (pp. 302-303)
Most of the chapter, though, focuses on suggestions and practical activities on how to apply these principles. The author argues that, in order to enhance students' learning, not only the teacher, but also the students themselves should become aware of their own learning styles. These are differenciated and discussed in the article according to the "multiple intelligences " theory of Gardner, cited by Ngeow (p. 306). Therefore a great emphasize is given to presenting how software can be integrated and used for different learning styles.
I found interesting how in most of the proposed activities, not only students are they allowed to accomplish tasks according to their favorite learning style, but they also need, as part of the activity, to reflect and give feedback on which task/activity they found most comfortable with and suited for their prefered learning style. This article is one of my favorites, not only because it's clear, but also because it offers a lot of practical ideas, not just plain theory and research, on how to help students identify their learning style and activities which address each of them. I also agree with my colleagues in saying that, even though the softwares suggested might be outdated, the rationale behind their use and the MI theory still remain valid. The only two issues I see in applying them are strictly pragmatic in nature: how easy/difficult would be to purchase and/or implement these softwares in schools with low financial possibilities and how can teachers fit such time consuming, although very instructive, activities in syllabi filled with new material to cover each lesson and in which the assesment methods are mainly grammar based. Unfortunately, such cases exist and teachers need to make sure students are, first of all, prepared for quizes and exams.

duminică, octombrie 15, 2006

Professional Development Resources

EUROCALL (http://www.eurocall-languages.org/)
I chose to review the European Association for Computer Assisted Language learning website, because I'm European :) and, with the knowledge accumulated in our CALL class, I can go back now at topics I didn't know anything about when living in Europe and make myself an opinion about the development and use (in the European context) of technology in language learning.
EUROCALL is a relatively young association (it was founded in 1993), which addresses and includes language teaching professionals not only from all over Europe, but also Canada, Australia, States etc. This organization has as one of its main goals to encourage research, development and practice relating to the use of technology for language learning.
The site of this organization is quite easy to browse and contains useful information about its goals, books and software reviews, a section dedicated to special interest groups (Natural Language Processing and Corpus CALL) and a pretty extensive resources section which includes an events' calendar, bibliography and courses offered in Europe and The United States, everything organized in different areas related to CALL. I also found useful the organization's journal, ReCALL Journal, and the fact that some issues, even if they are older ones, are available online, free of charge even for non members.
I think this is a good website to refer to frequently (I might even consider joining the organization in the future), because it contains CALL projects and events in the States while keeping me updated about what is happening in Europe for this matter and this will be useful if /when I'll decide to move back to Europe and work as a language teacher there.

duminică, octombrie 08, 2006

Software/Website Evaluation#3

RaiClick (http://www.raiclicktv.it) addresses to all those interested in media, and in particular in the Italian political and cultural life. This is a section of the Rai (the Italian National broadcasting) Website and contains archives as well as the latest edition(s) of the news broadcasted on the three available channels(TG1, TG2 and TG3), as well as all kinds of Tv series (commedies, thriller, historical etc), talkshows and music shows, sports, cartoons and instructional shows for kids, culture and travelling shows.
The website doesn't include external documents (maybe this is one aspect that could be improved in this website), but I think it's interesting to the target audience because it's easy to browse through (the information being presented in distinct categories), it has a clear layout and it also contains a guide to the programs and gives the possibility to subscribe to a newsletter. The video and audio files are of good quality and easy to access (mainly requering Windows Media Player).
Being a content based, this website doesn't provide practice or assessment to Italian learners. Some programs though are provided with written scripts, if these can be considered a form of feedback. This website could be used with intermediate and advanced level students especially, as it provides a good source of authentic texts- of course it requires from the teacher a lot of work in carefully choosing the material and setting the tasks. I already used it when introducing some cultural aspects related to various topics as music or national holidays, as well as for listening comprehension exercises.

Authentic tasks

In their article Text and task authenticity in the EFL classroom, William Guariento and John Morley address the issue of material and task authenticity. The former- including written and spoken text- is important because it helps students apply in real life situations the knowledge they acquired in the classroom, while not only maintaining, but also increasing their motivation for language learning (Guariento and Morley: 347). The latter- task authenticity- is classified into four categories, according to different factors that are taken as referents for determining the authenticity: authentic tasks leading to a real communicative situation, authentic tasks that prepare the learners for real life target tasks (i.e. renting an appartment), authentic tasks in terms of the degree of student-student and student-teacher interaction it leads to and last but not least, authentic tasks based on the level of engagement it produces in learners.
As for the use of authentic texts, rather than editing the text in order to make it more accessible and predictable for beginning learners - as the authors of this article suggest- I tend to agree more with other research trends that opt instead for the editing of tasks, making them appropriate for the learners' level, while leaving the text intact, therefore authentic, also because a broader context would help the learner in creating meaning while dealing with authentic language. Of course, I understand that especially in the case of lower level learners, the editing of tasks required by obvious necessities might conclude into less authentic tasks- as the authors of the article discuss. But I think it's very important to expose students to authentic texts starting from the very first level(s).
Regarding the authentic tasks, I think Steve has brought up interesting questions: were do we draw the line between authentic and unauthentic tasks and who should decide when a task is authentic for the students, the teachers or the students themselves? In my opinion, if we think of authentic tasks as activities leading to communicative situations that replicate real life, there are cases when students are not familiar with some culture aspects related even to very general topics like shopping or buying tickets (in Italy, for example, you need to validate your ticket when you get on the bus or the train, otherwise even if you have the ticket with you and show it to the train conductor, it's not considered valid). So, in cases like these, I think that the teacher's help is not only needed, but also necessary. As for who decides if a task is authentic or not, in my opinion, there shouldn't be absolute answers like only the teacher or only the students (we saw the same case when we talked about the right mix in interaction). I think a good teacher tries to know her/his students well enough in order to be able to say what's meaningful to her/his students (according to their L2 level and interests) and knows when to intervene in order to add that specific detail or cultural information etc., in order to make the tasks authentic. I also agree with Guariento and Morley when they say that it's up to the teacher to decide the "right mix" of the four categories of authentic tasks- discussed in the article-, or which one is more appropriate in a given circumstance.

duminică, octombrie 01, 2006

Software/Website Evaluation#2

The section dedicated to Italian (http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/) on the BBC Languages site has a reach content regarding instructional material for learning Italian, by anyone interested in this language. It has a very clear layout and it is relatively easy to browse. The website contains quizes so that one can test her/his level of Italian in general, after which those interested are offered the possibility to browse for courses suited to their level. There also quizes and games for testing more specificaly the level of knowledge in listening comprehension (strategies and tips are provided for improving) or some cultural topics.
The three online courses offered on this site address the beginner's level. For more advanced Italian learners, the BBC Languages site offers an audio guide to Italian slang, organized by different topic categories like: food, family, drinking etc., Italian for business and links to outside resources containing scripts of traveling TV programs. The beginner courses are generally organized based on a language functions syllabus, contain grammar explanations in English, bilingual vocabulary lists, dialogues with audio files, so that students can listen to at their own pace and practice pronunciation, as well as activities for practicing grammar and vocabulary.
But I liked best one course in particular, "Italian steps", because I found it the most complete and interactive. "Italian steps" is organized in topics and contains real life situations presented through short videos shot in Italy and which offer the basis for pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar lessons and exercises that offer instant feed back to students. There are also activities meant to improve the speaking and writing skills, as well as a cultural reading in English at the end of each lesson. The student has also the possibility to check fast her/his overall level of Italian language through an activity that involves listening comprehension and translation, as well as to keep track of her/his progress by noting in a blog coments on particular language issues she/he met throughout the lessons, so that she/he can easily go back and review.
The BBC Language website gives also learners of Italian (or other foreign languages) the opportunity to share in a forum ideas about foreign languages related topics or their experiences with foreign languages.
The strengh of this site, as well as of the Italian courses offered here, is the authenticity of the internal and external material and resources which are focused on everyday life culture, travelling and mass media. Some might find it limitative though, as it lacks other authentic materials like literary texts, for example, but I guess this is normal, being a language website hosted by BBC. Regarding the language courses, I wish they offered more practice to students and maybe the possibility to record their own pronunciation in audio files, so that they can compare it with the original recordings and keep track of their progress.