Week 7: Reading/Writing Skill Building Websites

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Based on: Using Internet Based Children's Literature to Teach EFL by Larry Mikulecky

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Using the Internet in ESL Writing Instruction by Jarek Krajka

Teaching Reading and Writting Using Internet

Both readings begin with to situations one presents the problem of accessing to a sufficient range of simple literature in English in a form interest and language ability levels for children and young learners; on the other hand, the second article explores the issue of the use of internet as teaching aid while teaching students during writing genres. 
Something I learned from the first  article and that every teacher should know was that extensive reading using the variety of literature available on the internet can improve vocabulary, grammar, writing, reading and comprehension. In my classes What surprised me in this article was the scales presented by the author ¨Student should know at least 99- 95% a  of the vocabulary for mastery levels in L1 reading of English.

The second article in addition to explore the issues of the internet when teaching writing, propose how to use internet by some techniques for writing genres such as notice and an advertisement, a description of a festivalor ceremony, a description of a book film or play, a newspaper report, anopinion essay and a description of a place. Cooperative learning can enhance inonline classes and it promotes effective instructions of thinking skills and creativity.Email is the most use online source as instructional tool for writing activities,also emails improve the ELF learning writing abilities. Something that made mewant to read more about was when the author starts to presser ideas forteaching writing genres with help of the internet.

Week 6 Oral /Aural Skill Building Websites

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Based on: The employment of CALL in Teaching Second/Foreign Language Speaking Skill by Julia Gong

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Using Original Video and Sound Effects to Teach English by Shahla Yassaei

My favorite quote from the article was “computers accompanying software package and networks can be used in number of ways to assist language learning” I think that teachers can have the best computers of the world but they need more than hardware they need special software and network connection in order to have computer assisted learning. The article presents how computer can assist to teach language skills because they can stimulate motivate and allow communication. Being assisted by CALL during language learning covers the mechanical and meaningful aspects. Something that made me want to read more about was when the author presents two side of CALL “Every coin has two sides”. The disadvantages are very similar to the ones teachers face this days, but CALL will continue improving.

The second article mentioned that radio programs, television shows, newspapers and video-based activities are interesting and meaningful because they are context materials. Also, something I learned from this article and that every teacher should know was that there are a high variety of audio visual techniques which can help to developing abstract topics like grammar.  Videos allow teachers to plan a special interactive lesson, for students, videos provided with a meaningful audiovisual stimulus. Using a video to present a grammar topic (modals) was developed in different stages where the author described how the video was reordered, created , transferred , integrated in the lesson and  presented in a class.

Week 5 Critical Thinking Language Skills Development in CALL

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Based on the article Critical Thinking and Technology, (More Than About Technology) by Ken Bain

Technology Learning and some contributions

My initial reaction to of this article was this author is asking me three very strong questions:  how do we want students to think critically?  how can technology help teachers to encourage students to become the best ones?  and determine how and why people learn? To start with the author answered the last question and gave the following factors such as intrinsic motivations, reasoning abilities, students’ personalities and students' preconceptions; also, how these influence during human learning. A belief of mine that was confirmed students do not have blank minds waiting for copy and paste information, but I have studied that students have previous knowledge and previous experiences. Moreover, another factor which determined how humans learn is the high variety of learning styles auditory visual kinesthetic tactile, each person mind is different and feels more comfortable with a specific input.

The use of technology will have teachers move from the question how integrate technology during teaching to how we want students use technology to achieve learning. The first suggestion was visual to stimulate, contribute and hesitate students to critical thinking. Technology specially computers are tools for teachers that help to increase cognitive skills like analysis.  The second suggestion give the brain a good visual learning and provocative thought. Computer can create visual aids and pictures for student whose learning style is visual. However, pictorial presentations can be created by teachers to create a debate.

Week 4 Internet and English Language Teaching

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Based on the article CALL Me… Maybe: A Framework for Integrating the Internet into ELT

Internet can be Integrated into ELT classes

What surprised me in the article was the beginning because it made me realize how meaningful it will be for students if they could practice by playing different roles in the most famous web pages on the internet.  Could you imagine a student preparing an advertisement to sell a new pair of shoes on amazon and he has to present to the class or a student presenting his or her critics about the latest movie as rotten tomatoes. These activities could be used for any age, level of proficient or topic and they present a great opportunity for students to manipulate the language. Moreover, as the article mention the use of technology during a ELT  can increase learners’ motivation, engage learners, promote autonomy and aid retention.  My favorite quote from the article was “limited access generally implies limits to hardware, software and internet, but also it referred to the lack of desire, ability and opportunity to use technology in the classroom”However, I said that this article showed how to incorporate ICT during ETL even if the access is limited or not, and presented some reasons why teachers should consider integrate internet into ELT. Besides, the author has divide into two the role of the internet in a ELT class internet as tutor and internet as a tool. This framework presented by the article made me want to read more about and explore the different web pages. I will really recommend this article is my favorite  till the moment!