e-help Seminar 11 ICT in ESL education
Toulouse 17-19 February 2005
The guiding principle in my teaching is that
teachers should seek to empower students with the
necessary skills to take control of their own
learning (i.e., the "tricks" of successful
language learning), and, at the same time, emulate
the behaviors they expect their students to acquire.
I strongly believe that the main goal in my teaching
and project activities is that students can learn to
function outside of the sheltered classroom
environment, shifting the burden of learning from
the teacher to the student.
I also believe that teachers should take charge of
their own individual development as teachers,
researchers, mentors.
What I have done with ICT that has
improved the quality of teaching/learning?
1 Background
1.1 1997 teaching journals
1.1.1 e.g. Tillyer, A. (1997) “The InfiNET Possibilities: English
Teachers on the Internet.” Forum 35.1, pp. 16-25.
my philosophy
The guiding principle in my teaching is that teachers should seek to
empower students with the necessary skills to take control of their own
learning (i.e., the "tricks" of successful language learning),
and, at the same time, emulate the behaviors they expect their students
to acquire.
I strongly believe that the main goal in my teaching and project
activities is that students can learn to function outside of the
sheltered classroom environment, shifting the burden of learning from
the teacher to the student.
I also believe that teachers should take charge of their own individual
development as teachers, researchers, mentors.
1.2 a scheme founded by the Ministry of Education
1.3 to meet the requirements of communicative methodology and the
project-based approach
1.3.1 Quotes
"The principal goal of education is to create people who are
capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations
have done."--Piaget
“Technology itself is not the curriculum. Technology is a key that
opens opportunities for students to learn in the classroom. It is a way
in which we can bridge what in the past have been large gorges that have
separated students from opportunity.”
"The future belongs to those who give the next generation reason to
hope." ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
2 Theory and Practice
2.1 interactionist approach originally derived from Krashen’s (1985)
Input Hypothesis.
2.2 both ESL and EFL, language exposure is artificial, limited, and
anxiety often arises.
2.3 acquisition will occur when the input provided to learners is
comprehensible, interesting and relevant, not grammatically sequenced,
provided in abundant quantity, and in such a way as to promote
self-confidence and self-direction, while arousing little or no anxiety.
2.4 wanted to encourage students to use English for pleasure outside
class, and thought if I taught them the basics of e-mail and netsurfing,
they would be likely to continue these activities during their free
time.
2.5 I wanted students to be exposed to a range of English, wider than
they usually encounter in their daily lives in Hungary.
2.6 History of CALL
2.6.1 behaviorist CALL
repetitive language drills, referred to as drill-and-practice
computer was viewed as a mechanical tutor which never grew tired or
judgmental and allowed students to work at an individual pace
2.6.2 communicative CALL
computer-based activities should focus more on using forms than on the
forms themselves
encourage students to generate original utterances rather than just
manipulate prefabricated language
stressed that learning was a process of discovery, expression, and
development
2.6.3 integrative CALL
shift from cognitive view of communicative teaching to a more social or
socio-cognitive view
greater emphasis on language use in authentic social contexts
led to perspective which seeks to integrate various skills
integrate technology more fully into the language learning
students learn to use a variety of technological tools as an ongoing
process of language learning and use
3 What I would like to be able to do in future with ICT?
See a good example of making use of oral history: education.html
3.1 planting the roots of CALL by training the future teachers in areas
where schools are still waiting for CALL to arrive
3.2 blogs, wikis, mobile phones, online courses, MOOS, VLEs
3.3 According to Stephen Bax computers will be: "an integral part
of learning and teaching" "... an integral part of every
lesson, like a pen or a book. Teachers and students will use them
without fear or inhibition, and equally without an exaggerated respect
for what they can do. They will not be the center of any lesson but they
will play a part in almost all. They will be completely integrated into
all other aspects of classroom life, alongside course books, teachers
and notepads. They will almost go unnoticed."
3.4 Things to be done: - need for software and hardware - easy access to
the technology - 'top-down decision to use computers' - provision of
support (lots of support) - technical support should be aware of EFL
methodology - personalization of technology (learners are comfortable
with it / sense of ownership) - teachers should be "PC and Internet
empowered" - training for teachers - involvement of teaching staff
in decisions of implementation - some help with suitable material for
integrating CALL into teaching (or teachers setting up their own virtual
environments
3.5 "PEOPLE TRAVEL TO WONDER AT THE HEIGHT OF MOUNTAINS, AT THE
HUGE WAVES OF THE SEA, AT THE LONG COURSES OF RIVERS, AT THE VAST
COMPASS OF THE OCEAN, AT THE CIRCULAR MOTION OF THE STARS; AND THEY PASS
BY THEMSELVES WITHOUT WONDERING." --ST. AUGUSTINE Now we have a
powerful tool to make a difference in the world and we can get our
students to discover their main potentials: they can communicate,
collaborate, do research, share thoughts and feelings, furthermore we
can make them more open-minded, getting them not only to tolerate but to
even marvel at the multi-cultured and multi-ethnic Europe.
3.5.1 "All education springs from some image of the future. If the
image of the future held by society is grossly innaccurate, its
education system will betray its youth." ~ Alvin Toffler
4 Internet projects
4.1 engage students in authentic, real world tasks
4.2 Students generally work in co-operative groups
4.3 requires specific content knowledge and skills, and typically raises
problems to be solved
4.4 may vary widely in scope and time frame, and the end products also
vary according to the technology level.
4.5 research their topic, design their product and create a plan for
project management. They then begin the project, solve problems and deal
with issues that arise in production, and finish their product,
reflecting on and evaluating their work
4.6 entire process is meant to be authentic, mirroring real-life
activities and utilizing students’ own ideas and approaches
5 Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning
5.1 harnesses the main potential of the medium: that students can share
thoughts and views on topics they are interested in, collaborate with
partner classes focusing on a particular theme, and create online
databases
5.2 Telecollaboration, or tasks completed in groups via the Internet,
enables teachers and students to establish connections with other online
citizens and engage in activities using the FL. Telecollaborational
projects include e.g. keypal exchange projects and live chats.
For any one-topic group discussion, use the QuickTopic free bulletin
boards instead of just email! Your messages will be in a private central
place, and each of your friends can opt to participate by email or just
use the web forum. That's because QuickTopic's super-easy single-topic
web bulletin boards are also fully email-enabled: you can get and post
messages via email. Use it on your web site too.
InstantWebquest is a web based software for creating WebQuests in a
short time. When you use InstantWebQuest, you will not need any of
writing HTML code or using any web editor software. InstantWebQuest
creates all the necessary files and puts them into the server free.
Hosting is FREE!
It's the easiest way to save and share important things you see on the
Web. With Backflip's organization and powerful search, you'll never lose
anything interesting again. You can use it from any computer. And it's
totally free.
There are dozens of free e-mail services, but Gaggle.Net is the only
service designed specifically for classroom use. The biggest difference
is that the teacher is in charge. The system automatically monitors
message content. If a suspicious message is detected, it is sent to the
teacher for review. The teacher decides whether to send the message on
to the intended recipient. The monitoring controls can also be turned
off or customized by the teacher at any time.
Noodle Tools http://www.noodletools.com/
NoodleTools is a suite of interactive tools designed to aid students and
professionals with their online research. From selecting a search engine
and finding some relevant sources, to citing those sources in MLA or APA
style, NoodleTools makes online research easier.
Filamentality http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/
Filamentality is a fill-in-the-blank tool that guides you through
picking a topic, searching the Web, gathering good Internet links, and
turning them into learning activities. It combines the
"filament" of the Web with a learner's "mentality".
Support is built-in through Mentality Tips that guide you along the way.
In the end, you'll create a Web-based activity you can share with others
even if you don't know anything about HTML, Web servers, or all that
www-dot stuff.
Click Answers (downloadable tool) http://www.answers.com/
Search engines are terrific when you've got a complex request; if you
are trying to recall, say, the name of a Victorian Scottish woolen
bonnet*, there's probably a page out there that you can dig up. But if
you need to know what pie in the sky means, when Benjamin Franklin was
born, or whether Aeschylating is a cromulent word, a search engine isn't
your best bet. You need a FREE one stop reference tool. This is
certainly a great tool to download.
[/URL]http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/oralhist/ohhome.html http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/education.html
(scroll down on the landing page and you will find an overview of
teaching Oral Histories, A Brief Guide to Developing Student Oral
History Projects with Interviewing tips and more, and Lesson Plans and
Activities that use Oral Histories.
