INTERNET INTO TEACHING SPEAKING AND LISTENING SKILLS.

María José López Aguirre

Week 6: Speaking and Listening Online: A Survey of Internet Resources

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The reading from this week “Speaking and Listening Online: A Survey of Internet Resources” presented important information about online activities that can be used to enhance speaking and listening skills. My initial reaction to this article was positive because I considered that having this kind of resources increases the opportunities for teachers to include CALL into their lessons, especially when teaching speaking and listening, and also facilitates students the acquisition of the target language. Something I want to remember from this article is that Internet plays an important role in learning a new language due to the fact that it allows students and teachers to be connected all over the world and provides a tremendous amount of information they want to encounter. In order to practice listening skills students can access websites that contain receptive communication activities (audio podcast, songs, news reports, interviews, movies, videos files, etc.) with their specific task (comprehension exercises, multiple choice/gist questions, gap fill exercise, etc.) So, they will have a specific purpose to listen or watch the materials. Something I learned from this article and that every teacher should know was that the synchronous activities, such as live chats and instant messaging, are considered beneficial to the enhancement of students’ aural/oral skills. These chat rooms allow users to communicate by writing or answering text messages in real-time interactions. What surprised me in this article was that ESL/EFL learners can successfully negotiate meaning with native or non-native speakers in order to give feedback and help themselves improve their mistakes in their learning. To conclude, these cutting-edge technologies are valuable tools that teachers should consider to apply into their lessons in order to enhance students’ second language learning and acquisition. 

HOW ENHANCE CRITICAL THINKING WITH TECHNOLOGY?

María José López Aguirre
Week 5: Critical Thinking and Technology
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This week article "Critical Thinking and Technology" was fairly interesting. It present information about how technology influence in many ways the critical thinking skills of learners. Something that caught my attention was the reasons why people learn. Intrinsic motivation play an important role in learning. Teachers need to recognize that students are most likely to become intellectually excited and motivated to work, when the learning objectives appeal to their attitudes and emotions as well as their ability to understand. Teachers also must be aware that people acquire knowledge naturally while trying to solve problems that concern them. Something I want to remember from this article is that knowledge comes from the ability to reason, understand, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate evidence rather than memorizing abstract information. Something that made me want to read more about was the information regarding to learning personalities, teachers should acknowledge that many people like visual input as opposed to auditory learning. For example, they like to learn and organize information inductively through experiences, and using visual aids such as pictures, diagrams, time lines or demonstrations in order to retain information easily. Technology offers teachers the opportunity to provide students a variety of visual resources in order to foster the ability to think critically and creatively, and benefit the acquisition of new knowledge.  Others prefer the speech or visual symbols of auditory information, such as written words or notations. Questions I still have are regarding about how technology can contribute to the critical thinking skill to those students that prefer auditory input. To conclude, teacher need to know their students learning personalities and stablish clear objectives for their learning before they decide if certain technologies can help them develop their ability to think critically and become active intellects.

THE BENEFITS OF USING INTERNET INTO ELT

María José López Aguirre
Week 4: CALL Me … Maybe: A Framework for Integrating the Internet into ELT
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The article from this week was really good. It share information about the implementation of Internet into English teaching and learning. Something that really impress me was the fact that there is an alternative framework for Internet integration into ELT in classrooms with access or no access to Internet.

The reading “CALL Me … Maybe: A Framework for Integrating the Internet into ELT” present the benefits of using Internet in Language classroom and how using it can improve the teaching and learning process of English. Something I want to remember from this article is that Internet offers exposure to English, along with the opportunity to manipulate the language and interact in it. Internet can be used to offer advice, facilitate analysis or conduct activities according to what student’s needs. It provides many resources that teachers and learners might exploit allowing them to use authentic or semi-authentic English Language Learning Materials. Something I learned from this article and that every teacher should know was that even if you have less access to Internet you can reproduce and save materials for use them offline. For example, printing pages or exercises, saving them on a flash driver to used them into the class. This technological tool can be used to engage students in a more interactive learning by stimulating creativity and fostering communication and collaboration. Something I learned and that I immediately wanted to share with a colleague was that mobile phones are more accessible than computers. So, teachers can allow students to use them in order to access to Internet just for academic purposes. To conclude, cutting-edge technology, such as Internet, is becoming a great tool for a good, and effective ELT.

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PODCASTING IN LISTENING STRATEGIES COURSES

María José López Aguirre

Week 3:

Integrating CALL into the Classroom: the Role of Podcasting in an ESL Listening Strategies Course.

Blending Technologies in ESL Courses: A Reflexive Enquiry.

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The readings from week 3 provide amazing information about the role of podcasting in listening courses. Podcasts are digital media files delivered over a network such as audio and videos that can be downloaded and reproduced in all source of devices (computers, MP3 players, etc.) In education podcasting is becoming popular due to the fact that it has the potential to foster an effective integration of in-class and out-of-class teaching and learning process.

The article “Integrating CALL into the Classroom: The Role of Podcasting in an ESL Listening Strategies Course” presents how the implementation of this phenomenon are improving the activities and materials into listening lessons. Something I want to remember from this article is that the use of podcast improve the teaching process. Teachers can provide students a wide variety of audios that they can listen out of class in order to review and practice what they have learned. This learning tool also serve to motivate students by given them control over the input they receive. Something that surprised me a lot about that is that new podcast episodes are automatically downloaded to students’ devices once they have subscribed, so they can easily decide when and how often to listen or watch it. In the article, “Blending Technologies in ESL Courses: A Reflexive Enquiry” it is focus on the blending of technology in second language teaching contexts. Something that caught my attention was that teachers are fixing their syllabus in order to incorporate this blended approach. They also have to consider some aspects such as planning and design, or performance issues because that would allow for specific analyses of impact on learners. To conclude, podcasting is a potential tool that is becoming popular in listening strategies course.