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Subject: continuing

Author: Mariana

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 10:54:03 08/13/10 Fri Still talking about how new tecnologies are influencing not only language itself but its use and still its learning. There is another article that is about an action research concerning about the use of technology in language teaching and learning. It try to explore the effectiveness of blogs to promote frequent extra reading practice in a freshman EFL science and technology reading program at a public university. According to it, Sociocultural theory and the revival of Vygostky¡¯s constructivism have made us rethink how to approach the learning-teaching process in the twenty-first century. The questions are: ¡°Are we really helping our students acquire skills that will be crucial in their future? Are we using learning resources that will make them connect socioculturally and learn from the interactions among themselves and others?¡± Many of the low proficiency students in this program do not have regular access to a computer and have not worked with blogs before. There is not only a perceived socioeconomic divide but differences in skills and knowledge about computers are also quite noticeable It remarks that the use of ICTs (Information and Communications Technology) has become increasingly important in our classrooms as part of the English Language Teaching practice. But some difficults are faced: - little access to the Internet for those students who did not have this service at home. But they suggest: ¡°teachers had several consultation hours so students could come to their offices to read the blog and write the corresponding comments. Online assignments also created additional pressure on students since there were extra tasks that limited their time to dedicate to other subjects.¡± - the lack of knowledge about these tools causes initial fear to use them, and some students take longer to learn how to handle them, others are cautious or shy when writing comments as these would be read by their classmates. Another limitation is the dedication and time teachers are required to devote to the blog not only to find materials that will be interesting and motivating for the students, but also giving continuous feedback to students¡® comments in order to maintain their attention, curiosity and willingness to participate in the blog. Results show that these online social environments are very well perceived by most students and that they are quite effective when new ways of learning outside the traditional classroom. So, the research point out the positive points os the use of blogs: ¡°According to Grewling (2004) the biggest reason for using blogs in language teaching is the way they are set up because they invite participation and have the potential to democratize the classroom since each student is given the chance to participate equally. Grewling (2004) also brings up the fact that issues like ¨Dshyness¡¬ become less relevant in a blog than in f2f situations and, furthermore, that quieter students¡® participation increases in online environments. Blogs can also be accessed practically anytime and anywhere so contributors can post and comment at their own convenience and determine their own pace and level of contribution (Grewling, 2004). This same author and Pinkman (2005) state that blogs give students more control over their own learning, and, when created by students themselves, blogs can also give students the ownership of a personal space, a sense of belonging that is not so easily achieved in f2f environments. Parashar Panday (2007) assures that blogs offer many benefits to our students since they help to enhance the skills of communicating, sharing, analyzing, reflecting, reading, writing, keeping records and promote collaboration among grown-ups. Then why not use blogs in our foreign language classrooms, even if the main skill to practice is restricted to reading? [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]