Question 6 Oct 2009

Question 6

Explain briefly how multimedia technology and the Internet help to shape the phase known as Integrative CALL.

Answer:

According to Warschauer (2010), integrative approaches to CALL are based on two important technological developments which are the multimedia technology and the Internet. Multimedia technology allows a variety of media such as text, graphics, sound, animation, and video to be accessed on a single machine (Warschauer, 2010). Multimedia also supports hypermedia which enable multimedia resources to be easily accessed by just a click on the mouse.   

With hypermedia, an authentic learning environment is created, whereby the activities is done in a real world concept. Skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening) are also easily integrated into one activity. Students could also have control over their own learning by learning at their own individual pace. Hypermedia also facilitates a principle focus on the content without sacrificing a secondary focus on language form or learning strategies.

Through the Internet, Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) enables language learners to communicate directly, inexpensively, and conveniently with other learners or speakers of the target language 24 hours a day, from school, work, or home (Warschauer, 2010). This communication can be asynchronous (not simultaneous) through tools such as electronic mail (email), which allows each participant to compose messages at their time and pace, or in can be synchronous (synchronous, "real time"), using programs such as MOOs, which allow people all around the world to have a simultaneous conversation by typing at their keyboards (Warschauer, 2010). It also allows not only one-to-one communication, but also one-to-many, allowing a teacher or student to share a message with a small group, the whole class, a partner class, or an international discussion list of hundreds or thousands of people (Warschauer, 2010).

Computer Mediated Communication allows users to share not only brief messages, but also lengthy (formatted or unformatted) documents - thus facilitating collaborative writing - and also graphics, sounds, and video (Warschauer, 2010). Using the World Wide Web (WWW), students can search through millions of files around the world within minutes to locate and access authentic materials (e.g. newspaper and magazine articles, radio broadcasts, short videos, movie reviews, book excerpts) exactly tailored to their own personal interests (Warschauer, 2010). They can also use the Web to publish their texts or multimedia materials to share with partner classes or with the general public (Warschauer, 2010).

With hypermedia and the use of the WWW, multimedia technology and the Internet have shaped the phase known as Integrative CALL.

Here is the link to my reference for this question ---> click H E R E

Blended Learning [Images]

All pictures were taken from Google Image

LMS

After finishing this entry, I hope that I'll be able to remember these two concepts forever! :)

LMS is actually a Learning Management System software application or Web-based technology used to plan, implement, and access a specific learning process.
It gives benefits to the instructor by providing the instructor with a way to create and deliver content, monitor student participation, and access student performance.
It brings benefits to the students in a way that it provides students with the ability to use interactive features such as threaded discussions, video conferencing, and discussion forums.
Some example of LMS are iLearn, WebCT, or Blackborad, Hotpotatoes, etc.

(taken from Nurul Ezdiani and Nurul Ayuunni's presentation slide)

Week 10: Authoring Program and Hot Potatoes

Pioneers of the authoring programmes are Wida's The Authoring Suite and Camsoft's Fun with Texts.

There are a number of authoring programs which could be obtained for free on the internet and is easy to use. It could be very essential for teachers too as it could assist teachers in preparing materials for classroom activities. Among the authoring packages are Jclic, Content Generator, Max Author, Quandary, Quia, Task Magic, HotPotatoes, and Crossword Puzzles.

I've tried using HotPotatoes and it is indeed a very helpful programme. Activities such as matching, cloze passages, quiz, crossword, and mix could easily be prepared. Morover, students could check their answers online too.

Week 9: Internet and Language Teaching and Learning - CMC

CMC or Computer-Mediated Communication is the process by which people create, exchange, and perceive information using networked telecommunications systems that facilitate encoding, transmitting, and decoding messages (December, 1996). It could be divided into two types which are synchronous and asynchoronous. Synchoronous happens in real time, for example, when chatting with another person online. Both parties need to be present in front of their respective computers in order to receive the message there and then. As for asynchoronous, it happens in delayed time. For example, email. Both parties do not have to be present when the message is sent as it could be received anytime the other party goes online. CMC is said to be a highly interactive communication since the interaction and feedback received are limitless.

Are you an active or passive participant online? Ever heard of lurking? In the Internet culture, a lurker is a person who reads discussion on a message board, newsgroup, chatroom, file sharing or other interactive system, but rarely or never participates actively. So, if you are a person who just look at something online but do not respond, you are a lurker. :)

Using e-mail in the classroom setting is one of the way to incorporate the use of technology into the classroom. Students would be able to communicate with the instructor or even their peers online at any time of the day. However, instructors or teachers who wish to accept assignments online should consider setting some basic rules such as time to submit the assignments so that all students will upload their assignments on time. This is one of the asynchronous CMC.

The types of activities which could use synchronous learning are Virtual Classroom or Chat Rooms. Students would be able to have responses on the tack there and then. This is an interactive way to assist learners in their language learning too as there is response from the other party.

Week 7: CALL and Language Skills

It is said that writers with peer evaluation writes better. We never know how true this could be but it might differ from one person to another.

Wikis such as Wikipedia can be used to create and edit collection of interlinked web pages. This is an example of collaborative writing whereby many writers get involved in writing or editing on a topic. Wikis also supports hyperlinks.

The advantages of using Weblog and Wikis as tool for teaching are;

• real audience.
• easy to use and access.
• encourage collaboration among students.
• develop higher level of learning.
• encourage creativity.
• develop social skills.
• encourage single-author writing.

There are also some disadvantages in using Weblog and Wikis in teaching;

• collaborative learning does not apply to all situation.
• lack reliability and stability.
• open to spam and vandalism.
• require Internet connectivity to collaborate.
• may offer disorganized information.

Weblogs has been used widely to encourage learners to write. Several blogs that are used to teach writing are WriteShop and ESLGold. Students should be encouraged too to start a blog where they could write freely but with supervision by the teachers.

Week 6: CALL and Language Skills

The use of CALL in the teaching of reading and vocabulary is not a new thing to us nowadays. In fact, there are a lot of reading activities that one can get from the Internet and the WWW. The endless links and activities could help language learners to learn the language in a very effective way too. The reading courseware is one of the reading activity that emulates classroom reading. With the integration of computers in the reading activity, reading has became more efficient for learner by providing immediate and interactive feedback.

Here are some of the advantage of reading courseware:

• Certain features can be chosen according to the problem areas of a particular class.
• Text of any genre can be shared among a set of driver text manipulation programs.
• Online help can also be designed to take advantage of this commonality of generic text.

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Hypertext and hypermedia have been used in developing such language learning activities for so long. Hypertext is the simpler version whereby it only involves texts, while hypermedia consists of media, audio and it is more interactive. 

The 3 uses of hypermedia in CALL are for reference, instructions and research. The interactive online dictionary, for example,uses hypermedia. Learners could access to the dictionary easily. In instructions, students were given tasks that are interactive with animation, for example. Hypermedia is also important for future research and for collecting data.