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a brief introduction, by Tom Rohrbach Spring International Language Center

General categories

· E-mail based communication
· Using web based resources
· Web based communication
· Creating web pages / projects
· Using ‘new’ technologies

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Kinds of interactions

(can be individual, small group, or whole class)

· student & teacher
· student & student, same class
· student & student, long-distance
· student & native English speaker, local or long-distance
· student or class & expert, local or long-distance
· class & class, in school
· class & class, long-distance

(in approximate order from quick & easy to involved & difficult)

· teacher & student exchange e-mail

· teacher makes class group in e-mail program, sends e-mail to whole group (announcements, assignments, etc.)

· students exchange one-on-one e-mail about assignments, activities, projects, etc.

· students write e-mail to local ‘keypals’ - school classes, college students in teacher-training, firefighters, etc.

· students or class write to an ‘expert’ - famous person, writer from class textbook, etc.

· students or class write to Americans abroad, such as ambassadors, military personnel in Afghanistan, etc.

· class does a keypal exchange with a class elsewhere, possibly abroad (see epals.com, Dave’s ESL Café, TESL-L discussion groups, etc., to make connections)

RESOURCES

Books:

E-Mail for English Teaching, by Mark Warschauer.  TESOL, Bloomington, Illinois (1995).  Spring has copies at ACC and AUR.

Online:

· Neteach article - suggested ways to use e-mail - at <http://lc.ust.hk/neteach/email.txt>.

· Keypals for students & classes, article & links - at <http://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/~trobb/keypals.html>.

· Keypal opportunities for students, with links - at <http://ilc2.doshisha.ac.jp/users/kkitao/online/www/kitao/int-keyp.htm>.

· Epals.com - at <http://www.epals.com/>

 

(in approximate order from quick & easy to involved & difficult)

· using ESL websites - quizzes, readings, exercises, games, etc.

· using commercial websites - news, e-texts, culture, history, Library of Congress, encyclopedias, etc.

· doing research - individual, partners, or whole class: for papers, projects, research class, etc.

· scavenger hunts - individual or team, cooperative or competitive

· student discussion groups/forums - individual, partners, or whole class - examples include Dave’s ESL Café forums, at <http://www.eslcafe.com/discussion/>, and the International student discussion groups at <http://www.latrobe.edu.au/education/sl/sl.html>.

· teacher-created class web page with syllabus, news, assignments, etc.

· teacher-created class web ‘virtual classroom’ with assignments, threaded discussions, student work, etc. -- free sites such as “Internet Classroom Assistant” at <http://www.nicenet.org>.

· web sites created by students or whole class -- free sites include the Spring web site itself (ask Tom), Yahoo Geocities, Tripod, and others. See a list at <http://thefreesite.com/Free_Web_Space/>.

· web projects with classes from other schools around the world - for project ideas, see TESL’s project links page at <http://iteslj.org/links/ESL/Student_Projects/>.

RESOURCES

Books:

Internet for English Teaching by Mark Warschauer, Heidi Shetzer, and Christine Meloni (2000). This is THE best introductory book about using the Internet for English and ESL.

Online:

· “Using the Internet for Teaching English” article - at <http://ilc2.doshisha.ac.jp/users/kkitao/online/internet/art-use.htm>.

· Important guidelines to consider when using the Internet - article cached at <http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:yYGi-mRYFbYC:iteslj.org/Articles/Warschauer-Internet.html+%22The+Internet+for+English+Teaching:+Guidelines+for+Teachers%22+Warschauer&hl=en&ie=UTF-8>. (I don’t know how long this will remain available.)

 

[This section will be added later…] :-)

It’s always a good idea to consider individual students and their needs, as well as group needs, when you use the Internet in your ESL teaching. Besides students’ goals and career plans, it’s also important to consider multiple intelligences and learning styles.

For example, one student will enjoy and excel at visual work such as photography, drawing, or designing a web page. Another will prefer solving a problem or puzzle online. Another will prefer social activities such as chat, e-mail, and keypals. Here’s a brief list…

Multiple Intelligences to consider online

· verbal/linguistic (writing, sending taped messages)
· visual/spatial (photos, drawings, graphic design)
· logical/mathematical (solving problems, mysteries, etc.)
· musical/rhythmic (song-writing, ?)
· bodily/kinesthetic (dance lessons on video?)
· interpersonal (social interactions, Dear Abby advice, etc.)
· intrapersonal (reflection, journaling, etc.)
· naturalistic (save the whales, the environment, take pictures of a favorite natural place, etc.)

Learning Styles to keep in mind

· visual
· auditory
· kinesthetic

RESOURCES

Online:

· “Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences” - introduction & readings, at <http://www.ldpride.net/learningstyles.MI.htm>.

· Free Learning Styles Questionnaire you can try - at <http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/ilsweb.html>

· Adult Learning Styles - at <http://www.cyg.net/~jblackmo/diglib/styl-a.html>

· Keirsey Temperament Sorter - for exploring your own personality, at <http://www.advisorteam.com/user/ktsintro.asp>

· How Technology Enhances Gardner’s Eight Intelligences - at <http://www.america-tomorrow.com/ati/nhl80402.htm>.

 

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More links will be added from time to time in the Spring Teachers’ Room online.

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Written by Tom Rohrbach
Spring International Language Center
October 2002

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