mylife

I have just read two chapters from Pennington and Stevens booked on Computers in Applied Linguistics and have found some of the points with in the articles by Bernard Mohan interesting. As previously I had not considered the talk associated by the learning tasks assigned to students as being included in the language acquisition of our students. By this I am referring to any speech that takes place while the students are engaged on the task of language learning.

Associated with the web quest I had thought of some incidental learning as being linked to the way the group would be expected to work through the task, discuss the topic and work together to solve any problems that arise, however the incidental learning that could take place would be severely reduce if students are able due to similar backgrounds rely too much on their native languages. The discussion aspect that Mohan discusses seems to rely on students having to use English as a means of communicating with each other as differing first languages won’t allow for easy problem solving. This means that even the simplest and most basic of CALL lessons may have far greater impacts than first thought.

I think that it is important to use CALL lessons for more than just the online grammar exercises and typing tutor that might sometimes be forced upon us by the powers that be as lessons that engage the students and interest them are more likely to raise the incidental discussion that was discussed in this one part of Pennington and Stevens book. So far the most engaging CALL lesson that my students have had may not have raised a lot of English but made the students interested in something that involved English for more than twenty involved them typing a variety of words in a typing tutor style format, except that they had to type these words before they were eaten by a bunch of sharks. There was a lot of first language discussion however at least 4 out of the 12 students asked me what some of the words means and for me that was a small victory that while not the incidental discussion based learning that Mohan was discussing was I feel a form of learning none the less.

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/

Yeah well that worked but at this stage I really ahve to admit to having troubles motivating myself. I am finding the WebQuest difficult and have been working on it perhaps to the detrement of readings. I have looked at some of the books listed on our Semester outline and am planning to look at the role of computers in SL development. I also want to read the Tom March article and a bit more from the prescribed text.

I forgot to say that I put a link under my name on the wiki to WebQuest if anyone has trouble finding it through other ways.

I really have to admit that the one problem that I am having with anything created online is that once I step out of the comfort zone that is Microsoft works I lose that wonderful tool called spell check. Therefore my webquest is littered with spelling mistakes and grammar mess ups.

I Have a link on my wiki page to great free educational based pictures but I do not know how to insert a link on this blog.

Well once again it is a Saturday workshop and I am exhausted already. I have not yet done anything about having my students establish Blogs as I have to wait for the Tech guy to come back from China to ask if he thinks it would be OK. I do not want to create trouble on the server at work as the poor baby is already overworked. The computer server not the tech guy.

Well it is that time of the year again where Brisbane nd most of Queensland goes just that little bit crazy for the show. Personally I could not think of a more boring way to spend that day. So I took the money it would cost to go to the show and went shopping. While $100 doesn't go far shopping it would have even less use at a show where you pay $21 to get in and from there on you have to pay for almost anything, Rides, food, showbags.

Have never really been into this annual event, maybe on day it will hold more interest.

Well last weekend I climbed the Story Bridge and this weekend I ran across the Gateway bridge in the bridge to brisbane annual fun run. It was good though fun run is a bit of an oxymoron but I enjoyed this head down, I-Pod on and just run for 12 kms, well perhaps not run for 12 km but at least 6 or them I was running. Kind of a cycle run. walk. run, walk, usually determined by a person that I decided was not allowed to pass me once I passed them and if they did I had to run again.

OK all I need to do now is figure out how to get the picture from here to the profile. HMMMMMMMMMMM now how do I do that when it keeps telling me that there is an illegal character.

Wow trying to understand the complexities of George Orwell's book is hard enough let alone trying to make ESL teenagers see the interest in it and explain to them it is a classic piece of English literature when all they say is it is boring.