Computer Assisted Projects
Well, current thought in education and specifically in language education hold student autonomy and empowerment as central tenets. Drawing on the work of Freire, Giroux, Cummins, and McLaren, this view of education argues for a pedagogy of change and transformation--one that validates and facilitates student centered education. Researchers like Kenny, Abbot, Legutke, and Thomas have suggested that empowerment and autonomy are not simply a matter of giving students choices, but rather outcomes of the holistic process of the students initiating, planning, and organizing projects. They argue that it is precisely through this experience that students develop a capacity for independent thought and judgment. Acquiring information, and access to information, has always been a key in this, or any other, view of education. Technology being what it is, information is increasingly less an icon controlled solely by the teacher. Computer assisted language learning with the arrival of more interactive platforms is increasingly making it possible for teachers to go beyond the contextual limitations of the textbook and the classroom. By incorporating this kind of technology into the classroom, students are no longer limited by the information they receive from the teacher, the textbook, or their peers in class--or even to the time/space measures of the classroom. The language classroom provides an ideal context for such incorporation in that it allows the learner to: (1) have access to authentic materials, (2) interact with proficient speakers for actual communicative purposes, (3) have a window into the social and cultural makeup of those speakers, (4) work in cooperation with a community of learners, and (5) share their experiences (linguistic and cultural) with others.
The most exciting attempt thus far was designing and teaching an interactive content based ESL course. The course, American Family and Culture, was offered to international students at one of the local (Hawaii) universities. Essentially we took a very traditional two-dimensional syllabus and transformed it into an interactive, community building offering--one that sought to develop autonomous, personally invested learners who are empowered by the educational process. Drawing on the principles of critical pedagogy and experiential learning, the course took a very non traditional approach to education; our main objectives were to get the students exposed to the socio-cultural community in Honolulu (through community based projects) and to the larger community of learners (through Internet based projects). Students explored issues relevant to their interests through e-mail partners, student discussion lists, and on-line research, culminating with the publication of interactive reports on the World Wide Web. Now, remember, these were students who had no previous experience with such media! The results were extremely encouraging. There will be a couple of papers documenting this study, if you are interested in reading about the process and findings of this course you can contact me.
Currently, I am exploring ways to incorporate CAI and CALL into an EFL classroom. My current teaching venue, the MLI in Abu Dhabi, has some very advanced technological tools for the classroom and the computer lab. I am trying to develop a curriculum and a teaching practice that works seamlessly with technology (that is, technology becomes part and parcel of the classroom--not merely a showpiece). I hope to share my findings soon.
Two years ago I designed an interactive orientation to the Internet. The project, aptly named Prometheus Unbound, was scheduled to be in a CD format and should be completed some time this century (all things being equal)! The orientation takes the novice Internet user through the basics of E-Mail (Pine), Gopher, Usenet, and Telnet. Initial piloting resulted in very positive feedback...students like it!
Harnessing technology is often a cause of anxiety for language teachers. Where does one begin? Is it really worth the effort? A couple of colleagues and I have also put together a handbook for language professionals who are keen on finding out what all this hoopla about technology really is and how to use it for their purposes. This handbook will tell you all you really need to join the Information Superhighway (no, we don't get any royalties!). The handbook is published through the University of Hawai'i.
There are a number of international discussion lists for ESL/EFL students. For the past four years or so, I have been monitoring SPORT-SL--an international discussion list. This list is one of ten e-mail discussion lists currently offered under the auspices of the International Student List Project. 2500 students and 100 teachers from around the world are exchanging information, making friends, and building bridges through these discussion lists. Why not join, or have your students join and let's talk about the wacky world of sports.
