Job Discussion Forums

[Karla]

Anyone out there who actually makes use of CALL beyond e-mail exchanges?

Can you recommend any software?

Is it really worth the trouble?

Sorry, just don't see how computers can be a substitute for good teaching...

[denise]

They can't substitute, but they can augment.

In grad school (my school offered a CALL certificate, and I took a few classes), I witnessed some amazing things--things that are well beyond my technological know-how. The ESL students made their own i-mac movie. I don't even know what an i-mac is, other than some sort of computer thingummy. I think they may also have produced a newsletter--desktop publishing, etc.

I use computers primarily for research--e.g., at the beginning of the term, during the "learner training" phase, I send my students to the lab to have them look up reading strategies, etc. They also use the lab independently to find material for presentations, papers, etc. Plus the standard grammar/TOEFL practice in the lab--certainly no substitute for a teacher, but a nice break from the classroom every now and then.

I wish I could integrate computers a bit more. I'd love to make a class website or newsletter or something, but our terms are so short (seven class weeks) and my computer skills so inadequate that it won't happen any time soon.

d

[Teacher in Rome]

All the teaching I do at the moment is online. The students and the teacher hook up to a "virtual classroom" at an appointed hour. The technology is the most state of the art that you can get, but there are some drawbacks.

The biggest advantage is that the students' listening skills improve dramatically. A case of sink or swim.

The courses I am teaching are all a mixture of online "virtual classroom" and offline exercises (including video and audio files) that the students send to their teacher for correction and feedback.

[arioch36]

I agree, it is not a substitute for good teaching. But it is a good chance for someone to hype them selves in a journal article, with CALL being the new revolution, etc.

It is also a good chance for corrupt college leader to make some money. The school invests in a bunch of CALL Labs. The Japanese company loans the school the money, greasy fingers, money exchanged under the table, you can fill in the rest.

That said, I loved the CALL lab one of my schools had. First, it had software for pronunciation of words, for synonyms and antonyms. Very useful. Also, if the students can access the internet directly, they can do some research for their writing assignments (Chinese libraries often are not a good place to do research) Though if students have direct access to the internet, it has to be strictly monitored, and abuse has to be quickly and definitely punished.

That said, I can't remember which softwarew was best. My second CALL lab sucked. But if you do a search, there was a similart discussion months ago when some people did recommend specific software. Maybe it was Capergirl or Denise?

Overseas you will have no choice about the software. And the college in China shutdown internet access for outside China halfway through the semester.