Wednesday, February 27, 2008

CMC Tools

The CMC tool I am most interested in is actually the blog. As I talked about in a previous post, I think it is great tool to not only keep in touch with students outside of the classroom, but also to keep in contact with the parents. I am interested in blogs for possible research as well. My first mini-project will involve the use of a blog to enhance cultural understanding between American students and students from Spain.

Along with blogs, I believe discussion boards are just as important. After all of our readings, I tend to believe that asynchronous communication is better used in a school setting because the benefits to be me are worth the delayed response. Studies have shown that because students have time in acmc to think about the responses and think about what they want to say, they have a better understanding of what is going on as well as decreased stress levels and apprehension. Also, with blogs and discussion boards, students can log on from any computer at any time to participate in the discussion.

Text chat is another cmc tool, but being synchronous it can be stressful and confusing. Text chat, if it worked well, would be great for "off - the cuff" communication helping the students fluency and communication thinking time. However, for me the complexity of the chat, the disconnected nature, lack of non-verbal cues, and rapid progression is not worth the frustration. I believe the more overwhelming text-chat is to the students, the less useful it is.

Now voice-chat, on the other hand could be a better option. The disconnected nature would not be as bad, non-verbal cues in the voice would be more obvious, and students would be able to practice their speaking skills. I believe the only nerve-wracking experience with voice-chat would be the pronunication and correct way of speaking, especially if they were talking to natives.

I believe that in my future classroom or future research, I will lean more towards asynchronous modes of cmc.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Final Project Ideas ...

Through all of our readings and discussions, one thing that has interested me is the "speaking skills" part of L2 Learning. I have found it very odd that one of the most crucial aspects of FLA is oral communication yet studies in CALL on speaking are very few. I imagine it is because written and listening skills are more easily researched and studied.

I decided for my final project to furthur explore this issue. I think furthur study in the "speaking skills" area of FLA would be very useful because like I said oral production of the target language is indeed a very crucial skill needed. In the real world, that is how people communicate. It's not very common to go to a vendor on the street and write them a message to tell them what you want.

I am currently still fine-tuning my research questions but here are the rough examples of two:
1) To what extent does the use of podcasts improve accentedness in L2 learners?
****My 1st plan in this research question is that through podcasts students will record themselves speaking at the beginning of the semester and then again at the end to analyze and review their accents. Between these two sessions students can DL podcasts of native speakers to hear their accent and then record a podcast themselves doing an imitation of what they have heard. Or something to that nature.

2) What effects do voice-chats offer to FLA that written-based chat does not?
****I'm still working on this one because the 1st question is the one I will more likely use.

I really hope to discover that there are very effective ways to promote speaking skills in L2 learning and hopefully that podcasts/voice-chats are great ways to do so!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

My thoughts so far ...

In the few weeks that we have been in this course, I feel like I have already learned some very useful skills/tools in regards to technology. Just this blog itself has given me some great ideas for my furture classroom. I would like to create a blog which includes cultural videos and pictures, and links to websites for exercises and fun activities so that my students can continue their language learning outside of the classroom. On the blog I would also like to include links for parents to websites that they can use to help their children in their FLA. If I create other web pages or blogs that demonstrate what the students are doing in class, the parents will be able to link to them and see what their children are doing.

So, in my blog I would definitely take advantage of image, video, and link-list elements. I could also use a poll to either poll the parents or the students about an idea to be implemented into the classroom. I tried last class period to upload a document link but "Goggle Docs" just basically copied and pasted the document into my blog. I would like to learn how to link it because I think that could be a useful tool as well to keep parents updated with newsletters in case their hard copy gets lost in the "child-to-parent" process. Another element I looked at last class was the news reel. The options didn't look that great but I would like to possibly get a news reel with news from a spanish-speaking country. I don't know if that's possible so I'd like to learn!

The readings for this course have helped a lot too. I feel like by reading them and the different studies, I am more aware and more knowledgable about how technology can be integrated effectively into foreign language education. I had never heard of CALL or CMC before this class. I feel like the more studies I read, the more prepared I will be to advocate technology in FL teaching in my future school. The readings have also helped me to start thinking about what I might like to do for my project. The first idea I have involves the use of speech recognition software and other means to enhance the speaking skills in FLA. The second idea involves more research done at the K through 12 levels. Both of these ideas interest me because there is not a lot of research done on them. Also, I believe speaking is a crucial skill to FLA and should not be overlooked, and I think the sooner we can implent CALL into the lower levels the better!

Monday, February 11, 2008

Document Test

Feb. 11, 2008

Here is my new kitty Stevie! Isn't she cute?! I got her from the local Animal Shelter last Tuesday! In this picture she was trying to help me study lol.



She's pretty crazy! I wish I had her on video but I don't yet. Here are some other crazy kitties! It's pretty funny!

Friday, February 8, 2008

PowerPoint

I think PowerPoint is a great tool to use in the classroom! If my future classroom has a smartboard, I would love to use PowerPoint to create an everyday routine of slides we begin the class with. I can include sound and games, etc. I think it is a great tool to show images and link to websites.

It is useful when it is used as a tool to enhance what you are teaching. It is NOT useful when it is the only method you use for instruction. Students need some hands-on instruction as well (especially at the younger levels).

So, overall I think it is a great educational tool when used in moderation and used to enhance instruction with images, important facts, sounds, internet links, etc.

Here is a PowerPoint I created! ...

Saturday, February 2, 2008

My Internet Use...

This past week I have definitely noticed that I use the internet for more social purposes like email or facebook or instant messenger. However, I do use it occasionally for more practical purposes when I want to find out information.

Monday 01/28/08:
Monday night after class I actually didn’t get back on the computer!

Tuesday 01/29/08:
1)webmail - to check my email
2)facebook
3)google - to look for family clipart for the little boy I tutor (about 10 mins)
4)webmail - to attach the clipart images to email to myself
5)webmail - to get the images and print them off
6)facebook

Wednesday 01/30/08:
1)webmail - to check email
2)facebook
3)Pets Inc. website - to look for kittens! :-D (about 20-30 mins.)
4)Petfinder - to look for kittens! :-D (about 1 hour)
5)mapquest - to look up directions (about 10 mins.)
6)facebook

Thursday 01/31/08:
1)webmail - to check email
2)facebook
3)webmail - to check email
4)facebook
5)AOL instant messenger - to chat (about 3 hours)
6)Pets Inc. website - to look for kittens! :-D (about 20-30 mins.)
7)Petfinder - to look for kittens! :-D (about 2 hour)
8)webmail - to email pictures of kittens! :-D
9)facebook

Friday 02/01/08
1)webmail - to check email
2)facebook
3)the astronomy center website - to take practice tests (about 4 - 5 hours :-( boo)
4)webmail - to check email
5)facebook
6)webmail - to send a couple of pictures
7)AOL instant messenger - to chat (about 2 hours)
8)facebook


I noticed that in my email, I really just check my messges. I might send a quick reply if I need to but I do not usually compose emails to people for fun. Each time I am on webmail it is for about 5 to 10 mins. max. Facebook, on the other hand, gets a LOT of my time! I spend about 30 mins. to 1 hour (or more haha) each time I am on facebook. I reply to messages, write messages, update my pictures, look at my friends pictures, write on walls, take quizzes, etc. So, I guess I am a very social internet user and I stay pretty connected to all my friends through the internet (especially on facebook). I also noticed that I have a little routine: 1) I check my email ... and then 2) facebook. haha