THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY FOR ASSESSING LANGUAGE AND GIVING FEEDBACK

María José López Aguirre.

Week 15: How to use technology to provide feedback.
Assessing language using computer technology.

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This week readings presented useful and interesting information about assessing language, feedback and technology. The first reading share information about computer-based language testing. Something that caught my attention was the benefits that this tool offer in order to create more efficient online tests. The software that I like the most was the Discovery School’s Quiz Center. It is a free tool that helps teachers to create their own quizzes. It has amazing options such as randomized items, require true/false, multiple-choice questions, etc. and send actual responses and automated scores to the students and teachers. It is also possible to add multimedia files including audio or video to create tasks that are more relevant to interactive language use. The second article explains how screen capture software offer an innovative way of providing feedback to students on different tasks such as essays, reports, presentations, etc. Something I learned from the article is that, for teachers, it is effective to give specific feedback without a great amount of typing. It also allows students to view actions on a screen where the teacher explains ways to improve the assignments.

To conclude, my impression with screencast for feedback has been meaningful, especially in online classes in which I cannot meet the teacher very often. I really prefer having feedback in screencasts because sometimes when teachers deliver written feedback is confusing to get the idea of the comments, but screen casting can make it very personal by viewing the screen where the teacher is correcting my work; and listening the teacher explaining the points to improve.

CREATING AN INTERACTIVE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT.

María José López Aguirre

Week 14: 10 Benefits of Getting Students to Participate in Classroom Discussions
Increase Student Interaction with "Think­ Pair­ Shares" and "Circle Chats"

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The articles for this week mentioned the benefits and activities for increasing students’ participation and interaction in EFL classrooms. In the first article, a belief of mine that was confirmed was that teachers shouldn’t be the only person speaking in the entire class while students just listen to them without any interaction. So, having students participating, asking and answering questions, benefits teachers in a way that they can see the extent of their understanding. As a result, teachers can easily provide feedback or promote peer feedback in order to enrich students’ language proficient. Getting students participation is really useful in order to develop speaking skills. Students enhance this communicative skill by practicing and receiving feedback to correct their mistakes. I think it is important to engage students in every class by appealing their interest in the content, so they are more willing to share their thoughts. The second reading explained two activities to increase students’ interaction. The Think-Pair-Share is an effective technique used in order to give students the time to process their ideas with a partner before sharing them. Also, I love the Circle Chat which is another technique that promote student- to- student interaction. Using this activity every student are expose to different opinions and thoughts. Providing specific time they have the chance to speak with a new partner each time bringing new opportunities to interact standing in a circle. To conclude, teachers should encourage students to participate in classroom discussions, and give them the chance to interact with their classmates to enhance their language proficiency.

WORKING WITH PROJECT-BASED LEARNING

María José López Aguirre

Week 12: Maximizing the Benefits of Project Work in Foreign Language Classrooms
Seven Essentials for Project- Based Learning

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This week readings share information about the benefits that project work offers to ESL learning. Project-based learning (PBL) is an effective student-centered approach implemented in language classrooms in order to engage students, increase their motivation and autonomy during the learning process. Students acquire knowledge by working for an extended period of time to gather information, investigate and respond to a real-life issue. Also, students can develop collaboration, communication, critical thinking and the use of technology, which will serve them well in the real world. I really like were the ideas presented for a final outcome of a project. For example, the bulletin board display, written reports, posters, role-plays, multimedia presentations, videos, and podcasts. The second article is focused on some essentials for PBL. Something that caught my attention was that teachers have to consider some elements when making a project. They have to activate students’ need to learn new content by launching a project that engage their interest and initiates questioning. Moreover, students have the opportunity to choose any topic to study in order to design, create and present new projects. The most important element of PBL is that teachers should design projects with the extent of students’ choice that fits their own styles, so it is meaningful for them. Something I learned from this article is that when working on projects students are engaged in compiling, processing, exchanging information in order to produce a successful project outcome. Finally, PBL is a dynamic classroom approach in which students actively explored real life problems and challenges and acquire a deeper knowledge.

MOBILE PHONES AS SUPPORTIVE TOOLS FOR ESL LEARNING

María José López Aguirre

Week 11: Twenty Ideas for Using Mobile Phones in the Language Classroom

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This week reading present amazing ideas for using mobile phones in language classroom.  My initial reaction to this article was good. I really like the activities that were described in the article due to the fact that mobile phones provide many potential functions which students are familiar with, and offer them the opportunity to enhance their language learning in various skills. Something I want to remember from this article is that there are many programs that have easy access to materials, so that students can practice anytime and anywhere. Also, it is noticeable that learners are more willing to work on their cellphones rather than using computers. Something that really caught my attention was the idea about using the voice memo recorder. Applying that activity students can record interviews or conversations they engage in outside the classroom. Besides, teacher could consider to require students to use the vocabulary or grammar structure they learned in class in order to get them use the language. They also can request students to share the recordings in class, promoting discussion of the same topic, and feedback from teachers and classmates. Something that teachers should acknowledge is that not all the students have access to mobile phones and wireless, so it is important to adapt the activities to their possibilities. To conclude, using mobile phones in the classroom gives students control over their own learning providing practical materials they can use in their spare time outside classroom in order to increase their language proficient.

THE APPLICATION OF COLLABORATIVE ONLINE WIKIS

María José López Aguirre
Week 10: Online Collaborative Writing Using Wikis.
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The reading for this week share amazing information about incorporating software such as wikis to promote collaborative writing for ESL students. My initial impression of this article was good. I like this article because is the description of a writing project base on the experience of a teacher. The element that really caught my attention was the tool incorporated to enhance writing competence. Teachers should take advantage of collaborative online wikis to promote writing tasks in the ESL classroom. Teachers can create their wikis for free, and provide a specific task to students, so they will have a purpose to access. Having students writing in groups is very useful as they work together to improve the organization of their ideas. Something I want to remember from this article is that teachers become technicians as they conducted students how to work on this tool. They introduced the prompts in order to encourage them to collaborate in their paragraph. Something I learned from this article was the importance of free expression and collaborative peer review. In that way, when students work in wikis they obtain feedback from their peers, which is different from the teacher’s, and orients students to accept constructive criticism in order to enhance their text. What surprised me in this article was the fact that it is easy for teachers to be monitoring and supporting the process of their students’ writing as they have free access to this tool. To conclude using wikis writing projects is an effective tool to develop students’ writing skill.

APPLYING CALL INTO VOCABULARY ACQUISITION AND READING SKILL

Maria Jose Lopez Aguirre

Week 8: Online English-English Learner Dictionaries Boost Word Learning.

Using Technology to Assist in Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading Comprehension.

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This week articles contain useful information about using CALL to enhance vocabulary acquisition. Something that caught my attention from the first article was the implementation of learner dictionaries designed for ESL/EFL students. Amazingly, these online dictionaries are available for students in the web providing features such as meaning, frequency use, examples, collocations, etc. that ease learners to acquire new words strategically and enjoyably. Something I learned is that corpus-based dictionaries are appropriate to use because the content is based on authentic environment that show how the language is actually used. So, students should became aware of what kind of dictionaries use, that help focus mainly on frequent word usage and meaning. Furthermore, when learners encounter the vocabulary many times in any material they are more willing to retain the meaning of the words. The second article is focused on the role of vocabulary acquisition in reading comprehension. My favorite quote from the article was “good readers have a rich vocabulary, and similarly, a rich vocabulary is one of the key elements that ensure reading proficiency”. In fact, vocabulary plays a major part in reading proficient due to the requirement that EFL/ESL learners should know a considerably number of words to reach the necessary grade of comprehension of the text. Moreover, multimedia offers content which contain annotations, such as pictures, videos, and interactivity facilitating the retention and learning of new words. To conclude, CALL provide meaningful materials that can be applied to foster the usage of learner-oriented dictionaries in order to develop vocabulary acquisition and reading skill, becoming both elements closely related.

INTERNET-BASED READING AND WRITING LEARNING STRATEGIES.

María José López Aguirre

Week 7: Using Internet - Based Children's Literature to Teach EFL.
Using the Internet in ESL Writing Instruction.
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The articles from this week give essential information about using Internet to enhance reading and listening skills. The first journal provides information about implementing Internet resources to develop the reading skill of young learners. It is important to acknowledge that young students become willing to acquire new knowledge by fostering an autonomous literature. Students are more interest in learning by being exposed to the vocabulary in a specific context in a reading rather than memorizing and looking for the meanings in dictionaries. Internet provides potential resources for reading materials that are accessible to students, and helps them to be independent readers by letting them select the materials they prefer, and practicing outside the classroom. Moreover, there are many tasks teachers can give to students in order to stablish specific purposes for the readings. The second article remarks the importance of applying Internet-based activities to improve the writing of L2 learners. Something that caught my attention were the amazing writing genres that serve authentic communicative purposes, such as creating a class website, e-mail connection, and web pages. Furthermore, students have the chance to work in a collaborative learning environment by acting in an electronic community in which they can interact, share files and offer peer feedback among them. What surprised me in this article was that teachers should analyze how they are going to integrate on-line activities into the syllabus in a connected way, and being aware of their students’ interest and necessities is crucial. So, when appealing to their style they are willing to create, analyze, and produce information and ideas more easily and efficiently. To conclude, Web-based networking tools offer excellent opportunities to conduct the improvement of reading and writing skills into ESL learning.