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thelmadatter

I know there is a board for this but it doesnt get anywhere near the traffic this one does.

My school (a tech school with high school and college divisions) is planning to seriously overhaul their CALL. Im part of this project. They may be overestimating my knowledge...

Anyway, I am looking to network with other ESL-EFL teachers who use CALL so we can swap war stories and I can get ideas. This school seems really open to ideas... As for me, I used CALL during my masters program to do my thesis.

You can contact me off-board at [email protected] if you like.

Thanks

arioch36 · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 3589

I hate CALL as a teaching tool if the students have their own internet connection. i want control, not to have to be always checking if they are surfing, e-mail / chatting, or doing what they are supposed to be doing.

That's my war story. If I want them to research the net, I want them to do it on their own time. Using a CALL in China, I better be the only one with a hard drive. Of course, having all the students supplied only with a monitor is not expensive enough or prestigious enough. I'm not using CALL to teach the internet...but to teach 40 students english.

Where do you teach?

thelmadatter · Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2003 1:01 pm Post subject: problems with CALL

You hit on two problems with using CALL - the loss of teacher control of the class activity (to some extent unavoidable) and the time used teaching the technology taking away from the teaching of the subject.

However, at my old university, they had Altris, a monitoring system where I could control (or not) what the students had on their monitors. This helped immensely, esp when it was time for lecturing. However, CALL classrooms cannot run exactly like traditional ones because the students almost automatically have more control over what they do in class....

Much of the second problem comes when we try to introduce too much too soon into a classroom. Not only do students and teachers need to learn how to use the software and perhaps the hardware, they need to relearn how to behave in the classroom (did my masters thesis in this area)...

Celeste · Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2003 12:53 am Post subject:

As I type this post, the technicians in the next room are busy installing our new CALL lab. I have had one training session on the operation of the software (Calabo EX) and I will be using this equipment starting with an in service teacher training seminar in August- I am to help the teachers brush up on their basic skills. Excited? Yes. Nervous? Somewhat. Sense of impending doom? Sort of, but I'm sure I'll get over it once I get some more practice time with the equipment.

From what I've seen, I can limit what the students can do at their terminals as I see fit. They have access to the internet unless I block or override them. I will report back in September as to how it all works out.

johnslat · Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2003 3:59 am Post subject: Don't CALL me

We've been using CALL labs at the IPA for a year. The big problem, besides the all too frequent " technical diffculties ", that I see is that the software we're using - Dynamic Education ( DynEd; New Dynamic English )

http://www.dyned.com/dyned/eng/ende.html

has little or no relation to the curriculum / syllabi we're teaching in the classroom. The staff, of course, had no say whatsoever in choosing the software, so this may be the usual, " What the heck was the administration thinking about when they chose THIS? " problem. And, of course, computers, as far as I can determine, don't actually TEACH anything; they can simply reinforce what's taught in class. Personally, from what I've seen here, it's mostly a waste of the students' time, although I've found the labs to be great places to go over homework / quizzes individually with students while the others are playing with their computers. However, I've also noticed some other teachers find the lab periods great for just relaxing, some to the point of slipping into slumberland.
Regards,
John

Celeste · Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2003 5:20 am Post subject:

The system that we're having installed doesn't come with lessons on it- I have to write those myself. I think this is better (albeit more time consuming) because I'll be able to control the content. I was looking at some software such as rosetta, but I couldn't be sure that the content was going to be of much benefit to my students. Therefore, I didn't even try to justify the expense to my boss. I would hate to have thousands of dollars of software going totally unused because I purchased the wrong stuff.

thelmadatter · Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2003 7:31 pm Post subject: call

I explained to my boss today about the fact that unless the software comes along with the texts, there is that problem of things being uncompatible. but that problems existed/exists with traditional audio language labs. Its even worse if the material covered is not on any quiz or test. We all know how well students mind that... Heck even I didnt pay as much attention if I wasnt gonna be held accountable in some way...

Celeste -- Im really really interested in what your school and you are doing. Where are you at? Could you email me?