World English

The best technological tool that from my point of view that may be used to enhance EFL/ESL learning is wallwisher. This tool may help your learners to develop all language skills except speaking (  though in some case if the  students create their own recording and upload it as video or audio file it may also develop speaking and pronunciation as well) . It may assist your learners to develop their writing, reading, spelling, grammar.

However, languages teachers who would prefer using this tool should take into consideration that this tool, from my point of view, should not be used with beginners. Otherwise, the learners may be frustrated and the affective filter may increase, which as you know is not preferable.

There is another issue that the teachers should mind when implementing this tool with their students. They should also see whether their learners have computer literacy or not. This may also frustrate students, create extra tension and give no profit.

The other technological tools that I would recommend to use in language class are fotobabble and blogging. To me, blogging is the best way to develop students’ creative writing, spelling, grammar and vocabulary as well.

Concerning babbling photos (fotobabble) it is, to me the best tool that may enhance language learners speaking skills

Before our class discussion on cloud computing the very phenomenon “cloud computing” seemed to me quite incomprehensive. However, class discussion on the issue helped me to understand what the term “cloud computing” means. As it is defined in some internet sources “Cloud computing is a general term for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the Internet” Simply put, cloud computing is a type of  internet service that provides the user distant internet access.

Cloud computing services can be categorized into three groups: Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-Service and Software-as-a-Service.

A cloud can be private or public. A public cloud is sold on demand of users, whereas a private cloud computing is a proprietary network or a data center that provides internet to a limited number of people.

No matter whether the cloud computing is private or public, its main goal is to supply the users with easy accessible internet and collaboration. Nowadays, cloud computing is more preferable by institutions that need to have internet connection 24-hours a day, because of its practicality to be used, it also saves time and it is also financially beneficial.

Thus, cloud computing provides us access to the preferable web services, office automation data storage services, and etc.

Along with advantages, there are also disadvantages about using cloud computing. The primary concern about cloud computing is that it depends on network and if the connection is off, then there is now access to any browser.

Thus, the benefits of cloud computing are:
• Access your data at all times – not just while in the office
• A physical storage center is no longer needed
• Most have a pay structure that only calls for payment only when used
• Relieves burden on IT Professionals and frees up their time in the office
• Easily scalable so companies can add or subtract storage based on their own need

And the disadvantages of cloud computing are:
• Lost control comes with handing over your data and information
• Depending on third-party to ensure the security and confidentiality of data and information
• If your cloud host disappears, where does your information go?

(retrieved from http://www.saasdir.com/news/showNews.aspx?ID=33174)

From my point of view the use of cloud computing in Armenia will be will be a plus both for learners and teachers. As mentioned in the advantage part, it will be time saving for both learners and teachers. As it is less costly, it will also be beneficial from financial perspectives. Cloud computing will give the learners opportunity to access information wherever they go and teachers will save time.

The literature review on Chapelle (1999) in her article discusses issues that are directed generally at how deeper understanding of CALL can increase CALL activities and our comprehension of CALL. In her article, she also suggests that particular questions, relevant to CALL, as well as ways of implementing CALL through empirical research should be specified.

The first issue that Salaberry (1999) finds in Chapelle’s (1999) article concerns the limitation of background literature review. Salaberry then finds some other concerns in Chapelle’s article to speak about. According to Salaberry, in her article Chapelle lacks clarity and sufficient information on CALL. Salaberry finds that the lack of socio-cultural approaches in Chapelle’s article are due to two main reasons: the role of individual’s interest and motivation including the role of inherent educational goal and challenges brought about by new technologies for educational purposes. The other issue that Salaberry finds worth mentioning about Chapelle’s article is the scope of Chapelle’s proposed hierarchy of relevant areas of research domains for CALL studies.  Salaberry suggests that these areas are not analyzed thoroughly.

Salaberry further goes on discussing what Chapelle has written about the interplay between focus on form and focus on meaning. According to Salaberry, Chapelle’s explanation about focus on form and focus on meaning lacks theoretical constructs. The other concern that Salaberry has what Chapelle has written in her article relates to her analysis of psycholinguistic process that underlines second language acquisition.

Finally, the last remark that  Salaberry makes  about Chapelle’s article is that she should not relate computers as “teachers”, rather, tools, that assist learners to accomplish the task.

However, despite a number of disagreements, Salaberry agrees with Chapelle on an important statement made by Chapelle such as “CALL questions and methods are fundamental for choosing classroom activities, but they are of course not the only questions that one might pose about CALL use nor the only informative approach to research”.

Having covered the available materials on Research and Theory on CALL, I came to understand that just applying computers in teaching or learning a foreign language will not promise success. I understood that there are far more important issues to account than just using computers for learning or teaching purposes. Before reading these two articles by Chapelle and Salaberry I thought of computers as “machine-teachers”. However, the following discussion on CALL helped me to view computers as tools that simply assist learners to accomplish tasks, rather than “machine-teachers”.

The rapid development of internet has brought up new ways of learning. One of the new ways of learning, that is unique in itself, is learning through virtual classroom where the learning takes place vie internet. Virtual classes create communities for learners where the students interact and discuss classes with each other through internet. Distance learning is, as it is sometimes called, is another alternative way of learning. This kind of learning has some advantages such as students are free to do their classes any time of the day and any day of the week that is more convenient for them. The other advantage of this kind of learning is that the instructor has more personal relationship with the learners and it gives the teacher a chance to understand the learner’s problems better, as the teacher interacts on live with students as long as it is necessary to clarify the task. For learners, virtual schools offer classes that are not available in their regular school curriculum. It also allows the learners to fit the extra courses into their individual schedules.  However, along with the number of advantages of virtual education, there are also some disadvantages to it. To me, nothing can replace the regular classroom and the traditional teacher, as the only presence of a teacher in the classroom is enough for a learner to feel support.

In the modern world, mobile phones seem to be an inseparable part of our daily life. People use cell phones for different purposes such as to communicate, to take notes, to see the time, to-do list, as an alarm clock, as a calculator and even as a music player and etc.

However, during recent years, in education, mobile phones have   started to gain popularity as not just a tool for communication  and social interaction or a “toy for entertainment” but as a potential and an effective technology which may assist language learning.  Because of their easy accessibility and straightforward manageability and also for their practicality and relatively low cost as well, many students are adept at using cell phones.

According to some research findings and interview data mobile phones give language teachers different perspectives about teaching.

The ways and the reasons how and why mobile phones may be used for teaching and learning purposes are numerous.

A great number of information resources and programs that language teachers may want to make use of for teaching purposes are web-based and are easily accessible via mobile phones.

For instance, language teachers may create instant podcasts which are easily to get for learners on the internet.

Since mobiles are compact devices they are almost always under the owner’s hand. Therefore the learners can use them in almost any situations. They can take pictures which students can later use in slide shows to speak about them. They can also hold interviews about the area of their interest and record it.

Students can also use mobiles for text messaging which may assist to develop their writing skills and enrich their vocabulary.

Learners who have eye-sight problems can also actively participate in learning. They can listen to the podcasts of the same reading material and develop their listening skills.

However, since the introduction of mobile technology into the education is a new phenomenon, language teachers should be careful in applying cell phones to teaching. According to research the best setting where the application of mobile is more effective is outclass environment where the students have an access to authentic and real-life communication and collaboration among learners.

Second life or the virtual world, as it is called, is quickly becoming popular among both language teachers and learners.  Vertual world is gaining popularity as another successful way of teaching and learning a second language. Projects carried out on the effectiveness of 3D environments, have proven that second life can be as effective as traditional classroom learning. Moreover, some language learners consider learning through second life to be more effective.

To me, second life is one of the best environments that creates  a  “real-life”   situations and engages the “players” into communication.  It also involves the participants into negotiation, clarifying meaning and requesting information.

However, to me, second life has also some disadvantages. For instance, when meeting unfamiliar people in second life, they may offend you for entering their private residence or territory. Or when people use abbreviations or slang that are basically used those who speak the language quite native-like, it may also be disappointing for the learners if they don’t understand the message.

Another disadvantage of second file, to me, is that communication with native speakers may affect grammar defectively.

In other words, no virtual or second life can replace real-life communication, pre-planned teaching and language classroom.

Having both read and watched the available materials on Computer and video gaming I came to conclude that video games seem to gain ground in the field of education nowadays. Media aided games are believed to be one of the best and effective ways via which learning takes plays. As Sasha Barab stated in his interview, video gaming creates real world situations and engages the players into “real like” situations where the players’ responsibility to handle the situation without any loss is crucial. It is assumed that this very sense of responsibility and even sometimes failure in gaming may serve as motivation. For instance, if a player is put in a situation where it is up him to find solutions to water pollution and he does not know the possible sources of water pollution, it is quite likely that the player will search for some information about the ways how to prevent water pollution and its disastrous consequences. Thus, it leaves us to conclude that gaming is a very good way where the player not only gets a lot of information, but also looks for ways to solve a problem.

However, video gaming does not only demand problem solving skill from the side of a player, but also collaborative work.

As James Paul Gee emphasized in his interview, games nowadays, come with software that allow kids to do some modifications and innovations in the parts of the game that they would like to change. To my mind, this is another positive feature of video gaming that aids players to develop their creative thinking.

Another and not less important fact about gaming, according to P. James, is that video games may be referred to as a way of assessment of one’s knowledge in a particular field. This type of assessment does not separate learning from knowledge.

From my point of view, the future of learning through video games in education and science is promising. We, as future teachers, should realize the significant role of CALL and media aided learning and do our best to, first to have computer literacy ourselves and second, find best ways to pass the knowledge and the experience to our learners.

To be honest I am very impressed with the impact of technology and digital media on  yought.Often, when we held a discussion on the social networking and its impact, I would always think of social networking as a way of just teaching. However, my perception about digital media has changed greatly since I read   “The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life” The idea that social networking may help teens to moralize identity through social networking in order to bring themselves into status of negotiation peer-to-peer sociality and so on, was something that I had never come up with before.

Another, and, I would say not less interesting thought, was the classification of nonparticipant teens into: conscientious and disenfranchised. These nonparticipants are teens who for one reason or another are against social networking such as MySpace, Facebook, etc.

What I had never thought of was that gender matter would also have some role to what extend girls and boys use social network such as MySpace.

Categorization of kids using digital media into three groups “kicking out, messing around and hanging out” was also an issue that I had never heard of before.

Interestingly, before watching Mimi Ito’s talk on “Learning with New Media” I had a slightly different understanding about the role of technology in learning. To be honest, I view learning through digital media as something like, I would call it “intended learning” where you deliberately search for ways of “learning”, searching for some information to acquire. However, it comes out that social networks, especially MySpace and Facebook, have far greater positive impact on learning rather than just I called “intended learning”.

Another idea that surprised when listening to Mimi Ito is that some parents are quite reluctant about their children to be a part of social network life. They either do not value that kind of learning or they simply don’t know how to enhance it.

However, from my point of view parents’ concern about keeping their kids off from social networks like Facebook or MySpace is or other social networks alike, is quite understandable, unless it does not concern learning. After all, if something has a good impact on one thing, the same thing have a negative impact on some other things.

Will Richardson’s speech on “weblogs in Schools” was a really interesting material to listen to. I really keep being surprised with the development of modern technology in education and how we, as future teachers, may use technology for teaching purposes. It is really amazing, every time I listen to a podcast on weblogs or blogging, I always get new ideas and thoughts on how blogs may be used in my teaching. Frankly speaking, now, that we have covered so much about blogs, I feel more or less comfortable when thinking about introducing blogs to my learners.

For instance, writing blogs may be used for different purposes: to improve writing reading and skills and not only! As Will Richardson said, when writing blogs learners are more accurate about their writing, which cannot be said about writing a diary, since the writers get comments on their writing, they are more careful about the ways they express their thoughts. To me, developing writing a blog may be promoted by assigning your learners to write a blog about their scope of interest, for example, food, fashion, etc. I think, this can serve as a very good stimulus for the learners.  The other reason that I am thinking of using blogs in my class is teaching my students networking. As the role of the digital technology and internet in the modern world is very important, I, as a teacher, would really like my learners to know how to work with internet. Besides, blogs may give your learners more links to explore the field that interests your learners more. A teacher may use this chance and assigning the learners to write a blog on “what I knew and what I learned more about smth.” by using the links that the learners find when reading through the blogs on the topics that suits more to their interest.

Thomas Friedman’s video on “Why world is flat” was another interesting watching material. That was interesting to hear Thomas Frieman talking about the importance of developing technology for good purposes and literacy. The world if flat because of the rapid developing of technology that has a great impact on the world being flat. According to Thomas Friedman’s speech, there are a number of issues that contribute to the process of flattering such as Workflow software, Open source, Netscape Fall of the Berlin wall that all caused the barriers and walls to come down opening a way for information to spread around the globe.