Challenge 1
Evaluating Tools and Resources

This week, my group decided to develop a checklist for tools that can be used for listening skills.
We came up with six criteria and they are:

1. Content appropriacy
2. Authenticity
3. Accessibility
4. Representativeness
5. Adaptability
6. Motivational/Engaging

I have looked at a website dedicated for language teaching, englishcentral.com. Based on the six criteria, here is my evaluation for EnglishCentral.

For the first criterion, content appropriacy, this site has a lot to offer. Since there are hundreds of different topics to choose from, it is quite easy to find a topic that you are interested in. Also, since the site is developed for teaching purposes, all the content is appropriate for younger learners. They are on daily topics such as travel, education, sports, food etc. Therefore, it would be appropriate for learners for all ages and purposes.

All the materials the site provides are authentic. They are all real life videos collected from different online sources or TV shows. Thus, it is appropriate for our second criterion, authenticity.

Users do need to sign up for an account using an email address. So this is a little bit extra work for students. Still, with your username and password you have unlimited access to the majority of the materials. For more personalized lessons, students might need to get the premium account. Yet, overall, this website is easy to use and access.

For representativeness, we wanted to look at the coverage of different accents the source offers. This site has many different videos and they mostly belong to Americans. There are some videos in British accent but it is mainly American. So, it does not represent all different accents of English, but still provides different variations.

In terms of adaptability, this site can be used individually or can easily be applied to class. They have explanations and instructions for all activities so students would know how to use this source even on their own.

Lastly, I find it motivational because materials are authentic and learners get to see the celebrities or other important people they possibly know and they can practice by using their speeches. Thus, this will be motivational for them.

Overall, based on our criteria. I find EnglishCentral appropriate although it does not really represent a wide range of accents.

Week 2
Types of CALL tools and evaluating

This week, we talked about different types of tools available for teachers and students and how to evaluate them.

There are some softwares or website prepared specifically for language teaching. Softwares such as Rosetta Stone can  be purchased and they can be used as a whole class or individually. On the other hand, websites are usually free and they provide lots of different activities. Still, there are some websites where users need to pay to use the 'premium' features. Livemocha or EnglishCentral are some of these.

There are also some other tools not specifically for language teaching but teaching in general. These are good to prepare flashcards, quizzes or for other testing purposes.

And there are many others that can be applied to language teaching. Using different web tools to prepare presentations, exposure through online newspapers and video channels can be used.

While using these tools, we need to evaluate their appropriateness for our needs and purposes. There are several checklists that can be used for this. So before using a tool, it is important to spend some time in order to find out if we want to use that tool or not. In my next post, I will be evaluating a tool using a checklist I have prepared with some other teachers.

Hello!

My name is Turkan. I was born and raised in Turkey. Now, I am working on my MA in TESL and this is my last semester (hopefully)!

I have been teaching English and Turkish as a second/foreign language for several years. I think technology has great things to offer and as a language teacher I have tried to make use of it as much as I can. I took two classes one called "Internet for Educators" and another one called "Video Games as Sites for Learning". In these classes, I learned how to use many different tools. For instance, I have used igoogle, delicious and different wiki tools such as PBworks, Wetpaint and Google sites to create webpages. I also learned how to integrate VoiceThread into my teaching.

In addition, I am interested in the use of virtual worlds for teaching. I have been using Second Life for language teaching. I used it in my Turkish and English language classes and developed several tasks to be done in Second Life. Here is a picture of my avatar! :)

I believe that the efficient use of computers depends on the instructor's creativity as well as her/his knowledge. Therefore, it is important to know what is available and how they have been used previously. I believe that this course will introduce me with new concepts and tools. 

It will also be useful to read academic papers on various CALL topics which I have not done a lot so far.

Overall, this is an area I am really interested in so I am excited about this course!