ETJ Blog

Well, we don’t always have to talk about language learning here .. but today I WILL continue to talk about English language learning. WHY? Well, I’ve just come back from the annual JALT conference which was held this past weekend in Shizuoka, Japan. JALT stands for the Japan Association of Language Teachers and most of the teachers in the association are English teachers, and at all levels: elementary school and younger, junior high school, high school, and university level.

I feel like I gathered so much information this past Saturday and Sunday that my brain grew too quickly … and now I have a headache!! Actually, right now it’s only INFORMATION that I gained. When I actually put it into USE, then it will be something that I’ve LEARNED and incorporated into my set of teaching skill. Hopefully this new information will assist or benefit language students in the future. I hope so!

I went to a few workshops on MOODLE. Moodle is an online tool for creating educational courses. It’s called a CMS, or Course Management System. MOODLE is relatively ‘new’, probably useful in many learning environments and … it’s F-R-E-E, open-source software so it’s very appealing to many teachers and institutions. With Moodle students can access their course from any computer that is connected to the internet. You can read, answer questions, get scores and feedback from your teacher, chat with fellow classmates, post messages to discussion forums, and work collaboratively (with others) on a class ‘wiki.’ Does it sound exciting???

I’ve recently setup a Moodle installation on my web server and I’m just starting to do things with it. I want to use it with students soon, probably on a limited basis to start.

At the JALT conference I also attended workshops on kids activities (I also teach children), using movies and video journals in the classroom, wikis, and the use of podcasts and mp3 players for language learning. Wow, it was a lot of information!! There are so many language teachers out there who are doing new and exciting projects and activities!

I’m especially interested in using technology to help with language learning. In the JALT group and in other circles, they call this CALL or ‘computer-assisted language learning.’ I think I like the term TELL better: ‘technology enhanced language learning.’ As an example, student podcasts (audio recording files) could be created, exchanged and assessed in a class and this would not involve the use of computers.

I also like the word ‘enhanced’ more than ‘assisted.’ If computers and other technology are not actually enhancing language teaching and learning, then I’m not sure it’s really worth it.

Okay, I think I’ve rambled on enough here. I need to make a new audio lesson podcast as my last one (number 15) was pretty short! Let’s collectively think about technology and language learning and what’s helpful to students and what’s not. I think it’s helpful to know what students and teachers are doing right now, and also what is possible in the future. HOW CAN WE USE TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE LANGUAGE LEARNING?

Posted by English Teacher John on Tuesday, October 11th, 2005 at 12:55 pm
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