Spring 2011 Web-Based Lessons and Activities

We've finally come to the final post in our class blog this semester. To wrap things up and to showcase your final projects, please post a link to your group's web-based lesson or activity in the comments to this post.

ESL, From Paper to iPad, Slowdown or Go?

iPads and tables are taking over the classrooms in many school systems around the country (see links below). A lot of the media-hype stresses the idea of "paperless classrooms." This will obviously affect language learning due to classes demanding the use of technology over what would be called 'traditional' (paper-full) classrooms. View the links below to inform and guide your thoughts. 

• http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/education/05tablets.html?_r=1
• http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/01/could_school_boards_move_to_ip.html#cmpid=v2mode_be_smoref_digg

This post will discuss both criticism and raves on CALL thru studies conducted by Ferit Kilickaya, and illicit possible ways to prevent these problem from cropping up in classrooms as they move to computer (tablet) environments. 

In a paper by "The Effect of Computer-Assisted Language Learning on Learners' Achievement on The TOEFL Exam," Ferit Kilickaya, Ph.D studied two groups who were being taught the same material (English); one thru 'traditional' and the other thru CALL. This study extend from the start of the EFL course all the way up until they took the TOEFL exam -- again one group with paper, and the other using computers. She found the following after the exam: (this is not the order presented in her paper).

For the structure section of the TOEFL:

• No significant score differences for multiple choice sections tests. 

For the reading section:

• Traditional (Control) outperformed CALL 
• Possible Reasons:
• In class: students were distracted when reading due to it being on the screen. So they avoided reading, so this lowered the score. (this was mentioned in section 5.3.2, Implications for Teaching) 
• Not possible to take notes, underline the important points. 
• Not seeing a reading passages as a whole
• Bored with scrolling up and down
• Not being used to reading passages or text on the screen. 

For the listening: 

• CALL outperformed Control (traditional)
• Generally, students reported that in a traditional course, listening was ignored. 

Overall the CALL group reported a generally good experience, stating that they "spen[t] more time on the sections they are having difficulty in" and enjoyed "getting immediate feedback." (Kilickaya 2005) (editing mine).

Since everyone knows what a 'traditional' class is, she did not include responses from her traditional students which would indicate how they felt about their experience in-order to contrast it with CALL. (They could not have contrasted with CALL as they potentially never took a CALL class.)

Question:

All of these criticism and critiques lead to the following questions: In light of the complaints regarding the reading portion, is it yet appropriate to be going to a completely "paperless" classroom? And what can be done to challenge the points made regarding the CALL group’s significant difference in score in the reading section? 

Kilickaya, F. (2005). The Effect of Computer-Assisted Language Learning on Learners' Achievement on The TOEFL Exam.

CALL Resources

We have come a long way since the beginning and I would like to thank Dr.Sauro for sharing all of her wonderful resources! I wanted to compile a list of all of the sources we have in order to help us in a CALL classroom and tell WHY we like them.

Hot Potatoes- This is a great site where you can make an assessment just for the needs of your class!

Quest Garden- A great resource for webquest! You can find a wide range of content and grade level material, not to mention you can create your very own!

FREE WIKIS!- A free site to impress your class or colleagues with! Use this site to collaborate with others to create something bigger and better.

Blabberize it! Make any project personal and engaging with this site!

First Call for CALL

First call for CALL

Laptops' Pros and Cons for Elementary School Students

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, many people who have a stake in education are interested in just how much technology there is in the nation's elementary schools, and how that technology is being used. Schools are striving to help their students become technologically literate at a young age. So let's talk about advantages and disadvantages of using laptops for young kids.

Implementing laptop use in elementary school classrooms exposes a child to the technological culture. It is clear, that if students are introduced to laptop in early age they will be better prepared for the required use of laptops in high school and college; these students when in higher grades show better typing skills and familiarity with Internet use as compared to those that have never used laptops.

Using laptops for the purpose of note taking can be very beneficial, since a strong typist can record much faster than writing by hand. So in this time and age it is prudent idea to introduce laptops to children in the classroom, especially children in grades 3-12, to give them a head-start they need to keep up with changes in technology.

But, let's think about the cost. At several hundred dollars per unit. Laptops are too expensive for many public elementary schools. According to the study, done by UCLA Department of Education, software, internet connection, maintenance, and training costs must also be considered when budgeting for a laptop program.

Good news! Laptop use encourages enthusiasm in a child when it comes to learning. Young kids may equate the use of laptop with opportunity for entertainment, but this helps to increase the child's interest in learning. In addition, laptops can assist teachers to find online programs, which can be of interest to younger students.

But computer crashes can hinder teaching and learning. If replacements are not available, the classroom time is wasted. Allowing students to use laptops in elementary schools can eliminate the need for to spend time on fundamentals of computer training in later times.

Although, there is a growing concern about the safety of the electromagnetic fields emitted from wireless devices used by laptop computers, the great benefits of use of laptop such as the developing skills to stay organized cannot be ignored. Young students need to learn how to remember school work and do home assignments. It is a great idea to ask kids to return their home works via email and to participate in internet-based classes.

Also, not all students can have an internet connection at home. Even when a laptop is borrowed from schools, it can't be used for internet-based educational activities.

The question of security also has to be taken into consideration. Laptop computers are small and lightweight and can easily be smuggled out of school and stolen.

In the above paragraphs I have tried to cover pros and cons of having laptops in elementary schools but, some questions remain unanswered for myself. Questions such as:

When is the appropriate age for introducing young students to advanced computer technology?

Do you think professional teachers need to have good understanding of negative health affects of electronic teaching aids? How to continue teaching and make best use of valuable classroom time when technical problems make computers unavailable? Does it mean elementary school teacher has to be prepared with plan B in case something goes wrong with computers?

Should teachers discuss pros and cons of laptops with parents and prepare them for unexpected events?

That's a wrap...

The end of the semester is near. With final exams just around the corner, I find it appropriate for us to share our final thoughts on CALL. Here are a few questions for you to help light the way.

1. Which CALL software/tool do you feel most comfortable with and why?

2. Which CALL software/tool are you the most excited about integrating into your current classroom/job setting?

3. Are there any other CALL issues or trends that you would like to learn more about?

4. Do you have any CALL success stories that you'd like to share with the class?

5. What do you feel is the biggest challenge with integrating CALL into today's classrooms?

6. In terms of professional development, how do you see yourself continuing to educate yourself on CALL trends after this semester?

Critical pedagogical applications of CALL

A lot of times when we think of CALL we think of it in terms of its pedagogical applications alone. Many of our ESL students, however, immigrate under various circumstances, live culturally diverse lives significant to them, and often attend low-income schools. Many ELL's find themselves in competitive public school systems that value a particular cultural norm; what E.D. Hirsch or Ruby Payne (1997; 2000) might refer to as "cultural literacy", that is different than their own. Many experience a dissonance as they are removed from their cultural roots and experience, what W.E.B. DuBois (LaRaviere, 2008) reffered to as a sense of "two-ness", as sense of living two lives, one private and one public. How might you apply CALL in your classrooms to enrich the experiences of yours students who, in addition to language, may struggle with cultural meanings as well? In other words, how can we use CALL applications to teach ELL's to navigate the complex cultural, and often divisive, realities of American public education, while still giving voice and agency to their familial, cultural, linguistic, and historic heritage?



For more information on critical pedagogy and CALL go to:
lib.utsa.edu
click on "Find Databases & Artles"
click on "Education and Human Development"
Scroll down to and click on: "Eric via Ebsco"
Check the boxes: "Full Text" and "Peer Reviewed"
Type into the box: Author & Title or "CALL" and "critical theory"

Kellner, D. and G. Kim (2010). "YouTube, Critical Pedagogy, and Media Activism." Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies 32(1): 3-36.

LaRaviere, T. (2008). Chairman Fred Hampton way: an auto ethnographic inquiry into politically relevant teaching. Qualitative Inquiry 14(3), 489-504.

Hirsch, E.D. (1987). Cultural literacy: what every American needs to know. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin. 13-23.

Payne, R.K. & Solcumb, P.D. (2000). Removing the mask: giftedness in poverty. Highlands, TX: aha! Process Inc

TUSD Media (Creator) & YouTube (Distributor). (2011). Retrieved March 28, 2011 from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPZHsvbmXLY

Google as a Language Corpus?

Guoquan Sha of Sichuan Economic Management College in Chengdu, China, wrote an interesting article at the end of 2010.

His main idea is that corpora has changed language learning and language applications over the past years. But aside from this remark, he mentions one of the most common tools available on the internet- Google.

Sha argues that Google has become a great platform or springboard tool for many university students in China that are learning languages. They utilize Google first as a method to solve their language learning or writing difficulties. He also mentions that in comparison with the British National Corpus, Google has different advantages. It provides spelling checks and has far more search results than this specific corpus.

This semester, I know we have discussed a variety of different technological aspects that should be considered in language learning. What about Google? How does this serve a function in light of language learning? Sha describes how it is used easily by students for working on translations or working with writing. How do you see this applicable in your own language teaching? Would you support using a tool like this in the language classroom? Do you find it comparable to other corpora out there?

Sha, G. (2010). Using Google as a super corpus to drive written language learning: a comparison with the British National Corpus. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 23(5), 377 — 393.

How do you develop discipline plans for online misbehavior?

Click on the image below to hear this week's blog topic:



It's been observed that when learners feel a sense of anonymity, sometimes their comments are just awkward, and at worst can be very unwelcomed. In the article "Virtual Harassment", by Ferganchick-Neufang (1998) the challenges of online educators are explored with some possible solutions.

So, how do you enforce the limits of socially acceptable behavior to prevent students from offending you and others in chat rooms, or on Facebook, and other sites? Additionally, if you had a Blackboard site (with a discussion board) and a student started posting complaints against you, what actions would you take?

Is You tube a very good tool for learning and teaching?

You tube is a very good tool for learning and teaching.
You tube is one of the most common tools used is classrooms. By using You tube one can provide supplementary information for classrooms. You tube helps teachers to bring the lessons to life, rather than traditional reading and listening. Also, by using YouTube, an instructor can create a more engaging and context-rich classrooms environment. Doing so, creates a more comfortable setting and encourages students to pay attention.
According to R. Mullen and L. Wedwick (2008), you tube is an easily accessible and effective tool for classroom instruction. Others however, caution that using media like YouTube are subject to certain rules and regulations that teachers must consider. (R. Talab & R. Butler, 2007)
Many school s are restricted in using you tube in classrooms. Do you think that using YouTube in classrooms has advantages/disadvantages? Please explain.

Talab, R. S. and R. P. Butler (2007). shared electronic spaces in the classroom: copyright, privacy, and guidelines. TechTrends. 51(1): pgs. 12-15.

Mullen, R. and L. Wedwick (2008). Avoiding the digital abyss: getting started in the classroom with youtube, digital stories, and blogs. Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas 82(2-), pgs. 66-69.

Smartpen - a good tool for learning languages?

The technology has played an important role in human beings’ life. No matter if you are eating, dressing, living, or learning, you probably use one or more techniques in the processes. For language learning, using the technique becomes common in the classroom. I found out one language learning tool which claimed that you can use the pen-based computer for the pedagogical purpose. Here is the link of the product webpage and introductions on The New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/technology/30pen.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&sq=livescribe 2007&st=Search&scp=1
http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/index.html

It just not put the camera on the top of the pen but also can record sounds for simple steps at the same time. Learners can play and watch what they record at any time and speed they want. Teachers can use it to prepare their classes or give additional instructions for some learners. Also, teachers can share the videos in blogs or use it for distance teaching. I just want to know if anyone uses this product before or similar techniques in your teaching? What do you think about the effectiveness of it in learning the foreign languages? If not, will you use it in your class? And what will be the pros and cons by using this technique?

Hello Clickers!

I have used a similar clicker 3-4 years ago for one of my undergraduate courses. It was a general (required) business course with at least 400 students in class. Our professor would start the class with a question for us to “check-in” with our clickers. (And students, of course, manage to make friends in class and assign one hardworking student who never skips class to carry 3-5 clickers to class and help them “check-in” every week...until it's midterm.) In this video, it was not clear if the students had to pay for the clickers or not. I remembered I had to pay around $30 dollars and register my clicker online.

If you were a teacher at this school, how often would you ask your students to use clickers? Would you go entirely “paperless”? What advantages and disadvantages do you see a class may have when using clickers? Specifically, how can this help/limit language learning?

* I am focusing on the clicker itself. However, please feel free to comment and give insights on the other technology (ex: video-chat across the district).

MMOGs, SIEs, games and more...

Linking the social and cognitive dimensions of language learning seems to be an important concept to some researchers. After reading up on games, virtual environments and learning opportunities this week I still have a lot of questions and am curious as to what some of the rest of us have to say on the subject. Here are some things I am wondering:

What beneficial uses of MMOGs or SIEs have you either possibly experienced as an educator, or might expect for language learning classrooms? What might be the advantages or disadvantages? Do you think that the extra time needed to design and/or implement these tools in a classroom (rather than sticking to the usual ways of doing things) is justified? Why or why not?

Teacher Rants About Students On Her Blog

Here's a controversial topic from recent weeks: The case of the teacher who ranted about her students on her blog, calling them "lazy" and "jerks."

Here's the link to the MSNBC report:
http://www.educationnation.com/index.cfm?objectid=AF733A81-3A1A-11E0-A170000C296BA163&aka=0

Was this OK as long as she kept students identities anoynymous? Should she be suspended or fired or should she have the freedom of speech to write these things in her blog?

The interview also mentions the topic of a school district's Internet and blog policies. Do any of you teach in school districts that have Internet policies? What about policies towards social networking sites like Facebook? If not, what are your feelings towards what is and isn't appropriate for teachers using the Internet during their off-duty hours?

Skype for Language Learning

I've recently come across several sites that use Skype, or a similar video + chat system, as a way to provide one on one foreign language tutoring and teaching. One such program is a "fair trade" version, where instructors from the so-called "developing world" are provided an opportunity to be language instructors to students from around the world. Students pay a set hourly fee to have one-on-one time with their online teacher. For more information on this service go to http://glovico.org/. However, I've also seen YouTube posts where speakers of English or other languages simply advertise their language teaching expertise, provide their Skype contact information, and I assume then set up a payment scheme with their online students.

I'm wondering:

Would you pay to use this type of one-on-one tutoring service? If so, how much might you pay per hour and how would you select an instructor or program? Would you ever consider setting up a Skype tutoring session with someone who simply advertised online, for example through YouTube? I'm also curious to know if would you be willing to offer your services as a language teacher via Skype and under what circumstances or with what safeguards?

Virtual Class Reflection

At the end of today's virtual class, post your reflections to one of the four prompts below:

1. In episode 5 of the CALLSpot, what factors do Hempel and Stickler identify as important for successful distance language teaching and learning online? What does this suggest regarding the pros and cons of online language learning for the learner population you have taught or would like to teach?



2. One of the criticisms levied against distance ed courses is the difficulty teachers face in establishing a sense of community among remotely located participants. What strategies might an instructor employ to foster a sense of community?



3. “Think of a class you have taught or are currently teaching. If you were to move 50% to 100% of the class time to an online format, what would the change require or involved? How would it require you, as a teacher, to change or adapt?” (Sánchez-Serrano’s, 2008, p. 173)
   
   
4. According to Nancy, one of the Spanish language distance education teachers surveyed by Sánchez-Serrano’s (2008), “the online curriculum should be designed to match, as closely as possible, the needs of the environment and of the students, while not attempting to imitate its face-to-face counterparts as the perfect model” (p. 157).How should a curriculum for online language instruction differ from a curriculum for face-to-face language instruction?

Translation App for Smart Phones

Google has recently launched a translation app for the iPhone called Google Translate. What makes this app special is that it is allows you to speak in one language into your phone and then it will read it out loud translated into the chosen language. The person you are speaking to can then respond, and the app will translate and read out loud what they said in your starting language. As a bonus, it will also include a translated text, which can be enlarged.

The app is being marketed towards travelers, for example ordering food in a foreign language. However, what effect, if any, do you think it will have on language learners? Will it be a boon to motivated learners, or yet another crutch for indifferent students? What about other groups, such as the deaf community?

For those interested in reading more, here is a link to the Google Mobile Blog, which describes the app in more detail. Can’t wait to read your thoughts!

http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/02/introducing-google-translate-app-for.html

ESL and video and computer games

I have been an avid gamer for over a dozen years, which is a little shorter than half my lifetime. Through many nights at the computer screen blasting people online to smithereens I have always wondered, why can't school ever be a game? After all playing a game is soooooo easy, and fun, while learning new things can be boring, tiring, and amotivational, at times. So my question to you and my blog is about video and computer games and education, specifically language acquisition.
The questions that I would like to ask you are, Do you think commercial(for entertainment)computer and video games can help with language acquisition?
Do you use educational computer games in your classroom? and if yes which sites, or games do you, or have you used?(feel free to post links in your blogs)
I have read a little information, as well, as listened to the callcast #4 to inform myself about this issue. What I personally found was that this is a pretty new area of research,(for all you future ph.ds. out there), especially SLA within commercial games, and the potential benefits of those games on SLA. So far I found that there is some evidence to support that commercial games can be beneficial, but the problem is that material learned often has limited use outside of the game world, as vocabulary can be very game specific(This is especially the case for MMOGs Massively Multiplayer Online Games). MMOGs do provide a safe haven for learners(especially advance learners) to practice with potential target language native speakers, in an neutral arena, where their identity is masked by an avatar, and they have just as much political, and face value as the other guy. Also, learners are usually highly motivated by these games to continue playing and thus hopefully interact and learn. If you would like to read more about it this is a dissertation research on everquest by Rankin(2008), you can also read these shorter articles if you are interested Sykes (2008) and Thorne(2008).
Another interesting aspect is creating games like SIE(simulated immersive environments ), or Serious games, the articles above also talk about those. Basically they are educational games, yet are designed much like MMOGs to attract learners, and harness their motivation, but have strictly educational purposes.
Finally, and Rankin rights about it, there are people who try to combine commercial and education in one, by augmenting the commercial game and making it more educational in the process. An amazing example of this can be read about in Purushotma (2005) where she creates a learning version of the Sims, by combining a German with the English version. In this way she creates a version of the Sims that is potentially very good for language learners.
Finally here is a website that I have used in my class, which has very simple games for LLs that are free, and although repetitive, can be fun. www.eslgamesworld.com just go to games, you have to scroll through advertisements but its free, and my learners enjoyed the activity, although I must say they are beginners. Anyways thats all from me.

How much can technology assist students' learning?

Up to what point can technology help schools meet the needs of their students? Do you think a computer program can be flexible enough to allow ELL students to work at their own pace while academically gifted ELL students are able to work at a more accelerated pace? Most importantly, to be able to assist ELL students to work on grade-level curriculum while developing their English language skills? At first, it might not seem promising, but actually the program Kurzweil 3000 is known to assist ELL students with little prior education or with learning difficulties providing great benefits to all type of learners.



Kurzweil 3000 claims to provide powerful learning experiences in a variety of ways. In addition, students who use this program make significant gains academically, including test scores. Most students are able to raise their reading scores from low to passing. As news of the success of this program spreads, more and more schools, colleges, and universities are utilizing it. As a result, the use of Kurzweil 3000 is increasingly been used for all subjects. Not only are students grades improving, more importantly, students are functioning more independently and more confident. This comes as a great benefit to challenged students including, students with special needs, students with disabilities, ELL students, and GT students as so many of them are constantly anxious they aren’t able to perform well. Apparently Kurzweil 3000 gives them the confidence and support they need. One of the most helpful features used by students with disabilities is “Modeling by reading text aloud.” This is a feature where the readings are scanned and they are read by the program as the student listens. It can be repeated as necessary. All those readings can actually be read to you by a computer? Yes, unlimited reading! This feature supports the teaching of fluency. Kurzweil 3000 is said to be transforming the lives of many students. Although most students are hard-workers, due to their learning challenges, their grades often don't reflect their effort or their knowledge. Kurzweil 3000 is known as a program that opens the door to opportunities to students.

To read more about Kurzweil 3000, you can go to the following link:
http://www.kurzweiledu.com/files/K3000%20ELL%20Research.pdf

Too Much Technology?

This post is taking a different look at technology. Lets think about a different angle for a moment. Can there be too much technology in the classroom? This post is not to say that we don't need technology in the classroom. By all means, I am very much in favor of adding technology into the classroom. But, here is something to think about.

Schools in Lancaster, Pennsylvania have been putting more and more technology into there classroom. They have been using various types of educational software, Mimio boards, PowerPoint, QuickTime, Windows Media Player, and others.

But the newest addition to their technology is using a school-based, kid-friendly e-mail system called Gaggle. The students in grades three through twelve are now using this system in the Lancaster schools. They have an e-mail account where the students can type and hand in all their homework. There is a place where the students can take notes and store them and their homework assignments in the "digital locker". The students can have discussions in Gaggle. There is also a feature called GaggleTube, a kid-friendly version of YouTube. One teacher in the article said " I could see going paperless with Gaggle in the future and having the students turn all their big essays in to me electronically." Could the school system go all paperless?

I think that learning how to write is still important. There are many skills that technology can aid in but should not replace. What are your thoughts on this? Is there such a thing as too much technology? Are there certain skills that just cannot be replaced? What would be the pros and cons of Gaggle? Again, I am very much in favor of adding technology into the classroom. I just wanted to take a different approach and see what people thought about this. Is there such a think as too much technology?

Click on the picture to read the article I got this information from.

Automated Essay Scoring!

So we all know teachers never have enough time to implement all the awesome things they have planned. One seemingly efficient way to evaluate learners is through automated systems. State tests are all multiple choice and scantron answer documents are read and digitally recorded with very little human input. That may be great when the only possible answers are A, B, C, or D, but what happens with writing?

As an English Language Arts teacher, I dread the evenings after my students write essays because I know that I need to respond promptly and get the various stages of drafts back to my students for improvement. But what if a computer program could do it for me? Would I trust the reading of essays to algorithms? My school has a program that students can write in and hit “grade” and in a matter of seconds get a mock “TAKS” score and some stock feedback comments. They can then go back and improve their response.

Automated essay scoring systems (AES) are a type of writing assessment tools. Research on the effectiveness and validity of AES varies. Aside from the actually difference in scores given by AES and human-raters, other studies the frequency and type of feedback is compared in AES and teacher written feedback. Many studies are conducted with native-English speakers and ELLs.

This is important to anyone taking a standardized test in the near future. Could a computer be grading your essay? Do you want that? Why or why not, or does it not matter to you? Do you use programs like these? Would you? Is it okay to take the human element out for the sake of efficiency? Can these e-raters be truly valid?

There is always a level of subjectivity in grading writing. I don’t even let the school’s grader grade my students’ work.

This is a study with one e-rater program with ELLs. The literature review is of particular interest.
Automated Essay Scoring Feedback
Dikli, S. (2010) The nature of automated essay scoring feedback. CALICO Journal. 28(1), 99-134.

To Mobile or To Not Mobile?

Hello TESL call spot! Let’s get our discussion on shall we?

First, think about all the people, including yourself, that own a mobile device. This mobile device can be a personal laptop, cell phone, e-Reader, iPad, iTouch, smart/iPhone etc. Nowadays and coupled with seemingly easy and free access to the internet via these mobile devices, it’s possible for anyone to receive, send, view, and process information from almost anywhere and anytime (even on airplanes!). This has many implications for language learning. Please share any opinions, experiences, or insight you have on using mobile devices for language learning. Feel free to also connect your postings to last week and this week’s readings (e.g. pros and cons of mobile devices, possible design and evaluation issues related to a language course utilizing mobile devices).

For those interested, this discussion question was inspired by an article featured by Apple online: Use of iTouches to teach fourth grade English Language Learners (ELLs) at Central Elementary school in Escondido, CA increases reading fluency and comprehension.

Thoughts on Blogging

Several of you have shared your own experiences with maintaining or reading blogs. Others expressed curiosity regarding just how blogging could be used to support language learning.

• What do you think characterizes a good personal or professional blog? Feel free to link to any in your response.


• What ideas do you have for using a blog in a language learning class? How might a blog with a pedagogical function be different from a personal or professional blog?
  

Welcome Post

Welcome to the community blog for ESL 5073 Computer Assisted Language Learning. This community blog is for taking our discussion of topics, issues and resources in CALL beyond the classroom. All students will be responsible for participating in weekly discussions on the blog and for leading 1 blog discussion during the term.

In order to participate, you'll need to set up your own personal blog on blogger and request membership to this community. Once you do, introduce yourself here by replying to one or two of the following prompts:

1. Have you ever kept a blog before? If so, for how long?
2. Have you ever used technology in your teaching before? If so, what kind of technology did you use and for what types of classes and learners?
3. What sorts of technology are you interested in learning to use?