Short-term and long-term plans and possibilities for using computer assisted language learning in my teaching environment.

Applying high technology in teaching English is a problem for teachers depending on the conditions for learning of each school. As for my centre, we have computers so that I can do some of the things that change my ways of teaching.

          First, as for the short term plan, I use the comuper to prepare the lesson instead of writing by hand. I try to use the powerpoint to design the lesson, using materials on internet.

  I can use my web site for teaching and connecting with my students (http://moon75364.wordpress.com) or I create one own website for the whole class. I can post my requirements and schedule on it, students look and do what I ask them to do. Each week or month, I give a topic for students to discuss and each student has to  post a comment on that topic. When doing so all of them have to think of something to post and everyone can read the comments. That is one of the way students learn English out their class. When one post on the web site, they will do their tasks or prepare their comments more carefully because they know that many people are going to read their articals. Students themselves can give the topic for the week or the month , the teacher decides at last or chooses which topic  is most suitable or related to the lesson they are learning. Students will be attracted by all the things they post on the web site.

          Second, as for the long term plan, I will try to learn more about computer and design my lessonsusing Hot potatoes for help. I can add audio tape by using audacity or use it to record my students’ voice and play back for them to listen. They could hear their voices and their mistakes so that they can correct the better. Inoder to make the lesson plan more attractive, I use google to find the suitable pictures then copy pictures to paste in the teaching plan by Infanview. As for teachers and students, it doesn’t take much time when we look for our materials when we save the name of the web sites using Firefox. I will try to use them as much as possible and tell my students to use them , too. I am not good at computer yet but I think little by little I will make progress and computer wil be helpful to me.

Moon

VN EFL537 Great thanks to our prof. Jeff Lebow

Course reflection

Ten days  passes while I don’t think the course finish because we are very interested in learning this subject. On the first day of the course, I was very worried about it because I don’t know much about computers. The prof. first gave the instructions but very quickly. We understood the instructions but we couldn’t follow because we had to find where is where. The next day he changed, he showed the instructions, we could read and followed . It was much easier and we could finish all the things he asked us to do. We had to stay in class all days to ask what we did not know yet. We helped each other and tried our best because our professor spent a lot of time for us. We were in Viet Nam and it was the day time while our prof. had to work at midnight. We didn’t want him to waste any of  his time. We – all the students in VN EFL537 give  great thanks to our professor Jeff Lebow. He encouraged us all the time.

Moon.

Reflection day 9

Today, I try to finish all my tasks. I posted 5 comments on teaching and learning English. Three of them about skills while the other two are about blogging in the classroom and Language learners & computer games. I can’t add in my deliciou as many web sites as I want because I do not have enough time to read them. I want to read and find the real interesting web sites to add in it, not only the names of the web sites.I need to have time to add more and more. I still do not know how to add audio, video clips…….  to powerpoint. I have a camara, I am trying to learn to post those files.

          From the beginning till now, I can:

- Create my blog:         http://moon75463.wordpress.com

- Create my Delicious: http://del.icio.us/moon75463

- Create my slide share: http:// www. Slideshare.net/moon75463 and post one.

- Write 5 comments.

- Post on EFL537.

- Record a song and an introduction to post on EFL537.

- Record a group chat with Vinh Ha, Catherine, Tam, Violet.

- I can save internet web sites using Fire fox.

- I can copy and save pictures by Infanview.

- Create my lesson using Hot potatoes.

- Use Skype

I want to do a lot of things but I do not have enough time. I am trying then.

Language Learners & Computer Games

                                                                         

                                                                      Moon- May 29th, 2008.

          Nowadays, games on computers are widly played. People, esecially students spend hours staying in front of the computers playing games.That is  why language teachers use games in teaching English.

             When people learn to play video games, they are learning a new literacy (Gee, 2005, p. 13).

          Which games are chosen  for teaching? They must be educational games. Many maths teachers use games for teaching maths. What can a language teacher do with the game? Differrent kinds of exercise are created for language learning:

- Gap-Filling. - Walkthroughs. - Relay Reading. - Jigsaw Reading.

- Game Dictogloss. - Listening/Questioning. - True/ False. ………..

           Why teaching language through games is good . It is because games interest the learners much. They learn but do not know that they are learning, they only think that they are playing so that they can remember much and  do not forget for a long time. Games help the teachers create different types of exercises. Learning by games costs a lot of money to pay for the dishes but the problem is solved when there are many web sites which have  educational games but we do not have to pay much. We can see the web sites       http://www.slideshare.net/bcgstanley/wiaoc2007-games-may-2007

http://www.samorost.net/samorost2/]

http://www.gotmail.jp/apps/bar_e.html ………….

Games make you much more interested in learning.

Day 8 reflection

             Today, we have talk with some others teachers at SNHU. First, we thought that they are students, but infact, they are teachers. We are very sorry for that mistake.

             All the teachers are very easy to  make aquainted with. The line was not good and we didn’t have a webcam so  the teachers coudn’t see us. We talked freely about all things we want to ask our teachers. The new teachers did not ask us much. We wanted them to ask us  the more the better because so we could practice much.

             Moon, Vinh Ha, Tam, Thanh, Catherin had the first group chat which we posted on EFL537 website. We discussed about high  technology and teaching English. If each one had a microphone, it would be much better. It was ok in situation.

             We don’t have webcam, but we do not know how to post videos from camera while we have camera and we have many videos of our class. Can we post audio text in our webblog is still a question because we tried but we fail.