Sunday, April 26, 2009
Teaching Social Studies with Technology: New Research on Collaborative Approaches
This research is about using technology in teaching social studies and collaborative approaches. The researchers based their findings on results of “The MITTEN Program” (Taylor and Duran, 2006, University of Michigan-Dearborn) .This program explored the effectiveness of integration of technology in teaching social studies in the schools. MITTEN program finding was based on many surveys for educators about how effective the use of technology is in their teaching. The researcher came up with many conclusions such as the positive role of technology in students’ achievement, “The qualitative data collected during the MITTEN project helps to explain why student achievement in history increases when technology is used” (Taylor and Duran, 2006, University of Michigan-Dearborn). The MITTEN program also connects student’s engagement and pedagogy to the use of technology in teaching in order to meet students’ needs. The research also stated that technology is very powerful when it comes to designing activities and projects. I agree with MITTEN program about the problems of integrating technology in teaching- learning environment such as plagiarism and absences of computers in houses for many students.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Computer
VI, Vu Tuong (2005, FEB). Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Computer. T¹p chÝ Khoa häc ®hqghn, ngo¹i ng÷, T.xxI, 61, Retrieved 04/18/09, from http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/saad/Documents/advant%20and%20disadvant%20of%20CALL.pdf
Vu Tuong VI (*)
This article was written by Vu Tuong Vi. It is about the advantages and disadvantages of using computer network technology in languages teaching. The writer said that technology has been used in language teaching for almost three decades. The internet transforms the computer to a tool for information processing and communication. The main idea of this paper is to examine the usefulness of using technology in languages teaching and learning environment. According to the writer “The computer network has offered language teachers and learners a source of authentic material” (VI T¹p chÝ Khoa häc ®hqghn, ngo¹i ng÷, T.xxI, Sè 2, 2005)
. He also thinks multimedia programs can be used as powerful tools to enhance teaching. He added that technology provide to the students (wide range of sources such as online dictionaries). The writer mentioned others advantages such as student can obtain a free lecture notes magazines and newspapers in order to enhance their reading skill. The writer also think that “computer network has been seen as a useful tool for communication” (VI T¹p chÝ Khoa häc ®hqghn, ngo¹i ng÷, T.xxI, Sè 2, 2005)
. Today teachers and students communicate through E-mail, blackboard and others communication tools.
The writer maintained many concern about using technology in teaching languages such as the issues of accessibility, financial barriers, time consuming, and some times lack of knowledge among teachers. The writer concluded his paper by emphasizing on idea of necessity of using computer network technology in teaching languages. I think the writer was successful to offer many examples for the advantages of using technology in teaching languages but his examples for the disadvantages are very general.
Vu Tuong VI (*)
This article was written by Vu Tuong Vi. It is about the advantages and disadvantages of using computer network technology in languages teaching. The writer said that technology has been used in language teaching for almost three decades. The internet transforms the computer to a tool for information processing and communication. The main idea of this paper is to examine the usefulness of using technology in languages teaching and learning environment. According to the writer “The computer network has offered language teachers and learners a source of authentic material” (VI T¹p chÝ Khoa häc ®hqghn, ngo¹i ng÷, T.xxI, Sè 2, 2005)
. He also thinks multimedia programs can be used as powerful tools to enhance teaching. He added that technology provide to the students (wide range of sources such as online dictionaries). The writer mentioned others advantages such as student can obtain a free lecture notes magazines and newspapers in order to enhance their reading skill. The writer also think that “computer network has been seen as a useful tool for communication” (VI T¹p chÝ Khoa häc ®hqghn, ngo¹i ng÷, T.xxI, Sè 2, 2005)
. Today teachers and students communicate through E-mail, blackboard and others communication tools.
The writer maintained many concern about using technology in teaching languages such as the issues of accessibility, financial barriers, time consuming, and some times lack of knowledge among teachers. The writer concluded his paper by emphasizing on idea of necessity of using computer network technology in teaching languages. I think the writer was successful to offer many examples for the advantages of using technology in teaching languages but his examples for the disadvantages are very general.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Taking Technology to the Classroom
This article was written by David P. Diaz who is a professional in training faculty in technology. Mr. Diaz tried in this article to address the issue of using and implementing technology in the classroom. Mr. Diaz said some of his students told him that what faculty need from any technology training is hands-on training. After Mr. Diaz offered to them several hands-on workshops they said to him “We didn't realize it was going to be so hard. Although we are interested in using technology in the classroom, we aren't skilled enough to put together a quality educational product." (Diaz, 2001, University of North Carolina) After that Mr. Diaz main concern was how to offer effective or efficient technology training. Mr. Diaz in order to meet these challenges puts four principles of technology training "pedagogy-based” " (Diaz, 2001, University of North Carolina). These four principles are ‘First: Emphasize good teaching, not good technology, Second: Focus training on application not construction, Third: Make product development a team effort, fourth: Bring more training to the teacher, not the teacher to the training”." (Diaz, 2001, University of North Carolina ). I think Mr. Diaz technology training principles are very powerful and I agree with him in his concerns and his approach to tackle these challenges. At DLI many trainers focus in technology rather than how to use technology to get better teaching and learning qualities. Also we do need to bring training and trainers to the classroom instate of taking teachers to the training centers. However DLI technology training is hand-on training. It is focusing on application. It is also a team effort product.
Diaz, David ( 2001). Taking Technology to the Classroom. University of North Carolina , Retrieved 04/11/09, from http://technologysource.org/article/taking_technology_to_the_classroom/
Diaz, David ( 2001). Taking Technology to the Classroom. University of North Carolina , Retrieved 04/11/09, from http://technologysource.org/article/taking_technology_to_the_classroom/
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Weblogs for Use with ESL Classes
Campbell, Aaron (2003). Weblogs for Use with ESL Classes. Ryukoku University (Seta, Japan), Retrieved 04/04/2009, from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Campbell-Weblogs.html
This article is about the use of weblogs in ESL classes. The writer of this paper is Aaron Patric Campbell. Mr. Campbell is a blogger too. His intention of writing this paper is to introduce ways of using Weblogs in teaching ESL, to define Weblogs, and to show different kinds of weblogs in teaching ESL. He also mentions available information about software used in weblogs.
According to Mr. Campbell weblogs “ can be thought of as an online journal that an individual can continuously update with his or her own words, ideas, and thoughts through software that enables one to easily do so” ( Campbell, 2003, Ryukoku University Seta, Japan) , he think that anyone with basic computer skill can mange to use weblogs. He think weblogs are very effective in term of creates both a record of learning and a resource for others. Mr. Campbell explains three types of weblogs that can be used in ESL classes:
the first one is the tutor blog, this one can help the teacher to provides reading assignment to his students, to discover English weblogs, to use online conversation, to provide many links to encourage the students to be self- directed learners, and finally, to make course materials available to the students such as syllabus
The second one is the Learner Blog; this one can be run by group or individual learner. The third one is the Class Blog which is helpful for many teachers and students because it has been used as toll for classroom discussion, facilitating languages project, international classroom to share ideas and experiences, and finally as good toll for writing and reading in order to obtain feedback from peers.
Mr. Campbell said there are much software in the market, there for our preference should match our needs. Mr. Campbell concluded his paper by encouraging linguistics to use weblogs because it is easy and effective in teaching and learning languages.
I visited Mr. Campbell’s weblog. I think his weblog is powerful, well organized, and has a visitors from all over the world. You can see the strength of his paper when you see his weblog. However, I think the only weakness of this paper; he did say any thing about the role of weblog in teaching culture, which is a crucial in teaching foreign languages.
This article is about the use of weblogs in ESL classes. The writer of this paper is Aaron Patric Campbell. Mr. Campbell is a blogger too. His intention of writing this paper is to introduce ways of using Weblogs in teaching ESL, to define Weblogs, and to show different kinds of weblogs in teaching ESL. He also mentions available information about software used in weblogs.
According to Mr. Campbell weblogs “ can be thought of as an online journal that an individual can continuously update with his or her own words, ideas, and thoughts through software that enables one to easily do so” ( Campbell, 2003, Ryukoku University Seta, Japan) , he think that anyone with basic computer skill can mange to use weblogs. He think weblogs are very effective in term of creates both a record of learning and a resource for others. Mr. Campbell explains three types of weblogs that can be used in ESL classes:
the first one is the tutor blog, this one can help the teacher to provides reading assignment to his students, to discover English weblogs, to use online conversation, to provide many links to encourage the students to be self- directed learners, and finally, to make course materials available to the students such as syllabus
The second one is the Learner Blog; this one can be run by group or individual learner. The third one is the Class Blog which is helpful for many teachers and students because it has been used as toll for classroom discussion, facilitating languages project, international classroom to share ideas and experiences, and finally as good toll for writing and reading in order to obtain feedback from peers.
Mr. Campbell said there are much software in the market, there for our preference should match our needs. Mr. Campbell concluded his paper by encouraging linguistics to use weblogs because it is easy and effective in teaching and learning languages.
I visited Mr. Campbell’s weblog. I think his weblog is powerful, well organized, and has a visitors from all over the world. You can see the strength of his paper when you see his weblog. However, I think the only weakness of this paper; he did say any thing about the role of weblog in teaching culture, which is a crucial in teaching foreign languages.
Educational Blogging
Downes, Stephen (2004). Educational Blogging. EDUCAUSE Review,, 39, Retrieved 04/04/2009, from http://connect.educause.edu/library/EDUCAUSE+Review/EducationalBlogging/40493
This article was written in 2004 by Stephen Downes. In the article Mr. Downes explained the role of blogs in our education system today by showing many students’ blogs. For instance one of his examples was a fifth grade student who had strong feeling about his blog, he said “The blogs give us a chance to communicate between us and motivate us to write more” (Downes, 2004, Educause Review). I think these are very powerful future because when bloggers publish on their blogs, people from the entire world can respond by using the comments link. The fifth grade student added “This way, they can ask questions or simply tell us what they like. We can then know if people like what we write and this indicate[s to] us what to do better. By reading these comments, we can know our weaknesses and our talents” ” (Downes, 2004, Educause Review) It is very effective toll for feed back, which is crucial in learning process. It can bring people from different background, religion, and race together in order to exchange their point of view with each other and to be open minded and sensitive to the rest of the world not just people in our immediate environment. Mr. Downes showed in his article many definitions of the blog. It seems like these definitions were developed over time reacting to important events in our life and development in technology. According to Downes “Blogging is something defined by format and process, not by content” (Downes, 2004, Educause Review). The strength of this article is the connections that the writer made between the big events and the way us response to those events through technology. Blogs should always meet our new needs in order to help educators and students to solve problems. On the other hand the weakness of the article is the way the article explained the five major uses for blogs in education. I think these uses could be identifying better, and be supported with clear examples.
This article was written in 2004 by Stephen Downes. In the article Mr. Downes explained the role of blogs in our education system today by showing many students’ blogs. For instance one of his examples was a fifth grade student who had strong feeling about his blog, he said “The blogs give us a chance to communicate between us and motivate us to write more” (Downes, 2004, Educause Review). I think these are very powerful future because when bloggers publish on their blogs, people from the entire world can respond by using the comments link. The fifth grade student added “This way, they can ask questions or simply tell us what they like. We can then know if people like what we write and this indicate[s to] us what to do better. By reading these comments, we can know our weaknesses and our talents” ” (Downes, 2004, Educause Review) It is very effective toll for feed back, which is crucial in learning process. It can bring people from different background, religion, and race together in order to exchange their point of view with each other and to be open minded and sensitive to the rest of the world not just people in our immediate environment. Mr. Downes showed in his article many definitions of the blog. It seems like these definitions were developed over time reacting to important events in our life and development in technology. According to Downes “Blogging is something defined by format and process, not by content” (Downes, 2004, Educause Review). The strength of this article is the connections that the writer made between the big events and the way us response to those events through technology. Blogs should always meet our new needs in order to help educators and students to solve problems. On the other hand the weakness of the article is the way the article explained the five major uses for blogs in education. I think these uses could be identifying better, and be supported with clear examples.
Teaching With Technology
Martineau, Pamela (2008). Teaching With Technology. California Schools magazine,, 7, Retrieved 04/04/2004, from http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.libproxy.chapman.edu:2048/hww/results/external_link_maincontentframe.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.30
This paper is written by Pamela Martineau from California school. The writer main idea is to encourage School boards, administrations, and teachers to revisit their technology police in order to make necessary changes to accommodate the daily changes in technology; because technology is a useful tool to meet students’ needs and goals. These needs and goals are differ from generation to generation “we’ve got a different generations --- like it or not” (Martineau, 2008, California magazine) says Ann Flynn, who is an expert in education technology. The writer gives in this paper many examples from different districts in California about the advantages of using technology to enhance reading, through iPod or iREAD. Also teachers can use technology as toll for keeping digital assessment record for their students. The writer also explains many strategies to use technology to help students at risk. The writer also mentions that technology helps to overcome the problem of attendance in school today. According to the writer “Some digital devices that were once off-limits in the classroom are now used to advance learning there. Social networking sites are a prime example” (Martineau, 2008, California magazine) , the writer gives examples for some popular internet global community classrooms such as Epals , which is “ linking more than 11 million students and teachers from 191 countries”( . Martineau, 2008, California magazine) The writer concluded his paper by emphasizing on the idea of seen technology as solution to classrooms’ problems rather than focusing in technology itself.
At DLI we do not have restriction for using technology. The DLI polices encourage teachers to use technology. Many teachers and students find technology very useful to communicate effectively, however there are a few teachers expressed concern about the limitation of using it. I think teachers, parents, and students should be involved in forming any polices regarding technology.
This paper is written by Pamela Martineau from California school. The writer main idea is to encourage School boards, administrations, and teachers to revisit their technology police in order to make necessary changes to accommodate the daily changes in technology; because technology is a useful tool to meet students’ needs and goals. These needs and goals are differ from generation to generation “we’ve got a different generations --- like it or not” (Martineau, 2008, California magazine) says Ann Flynn, who is an expert in education technology. The writer gives in this paper many examples from different districts in California about the advantages of using technology to enhance reading, through iPod or iREAD. Also teachers can use technology as toll for keeping digital assessment record for their students. The writer also explains many strategies to use technology to help students at risk. The writer also mentions that technology helps to overcome the problem of attendance in school today. According to the writer “Some digital devices that were once off-limits in the classroom are now used to advance learning there. Social networking sites are a prime example” (Martineau, 2008, California magazine) , the writer gives examples for some popular internet global community classrooms such as Epals , which is “ linking more than 11 million students and teachers from 191 countries”( . Martineau, 2008, California magazine) The writer concluded his paper by emphasizing on the idea of seen technology as solution to classrooms’ problems rather than focusing in technology itself.
At DLI we do not have restriction for using technology. The DLI polices encourage teachers to use technology. Many teachers and students find technology very useful to communicate effectively, however there are a few teachers expressed concern about the limitation of using it. I think teachers, parents, and students should be involved in forming any polices regarding technology.
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