ASSIGNMENTS FOR INTERNET AND LANGUAGE
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This is the page that describes the two assignments that you will do for this workshop. I tried to design them to be useful professional products you could actually use in the future.
The two assignments for this workshop include evaluative critieria for websites and a website lesson plan.
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Assignment #1: Evaluating the
Web
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Format: Written in the body of an email or typed on
paper
Due: Sunday, September 20th at the beginning of class
Just because something is up on the world wide web doesn't mean that it is worthwhile; this goes for ESL quizzes, informational pages, and people's homepages. Part of using the Internet responsibly means being able to think critically about and evaluate the resources you use on the World Wide Web, just as you would with texts you use in the classroom.
While there is not much in print yet about evaluating websites, there is a great deal of information about evaluation on the World Wide Web.
Because there is so much written about evaluation on the World Wide Web, there is no way we can cover it all in this weekend workshop. Therefore, although this assignment requires you to choose only two sites to read, I suggest that you continue on your own.
Another problem we encounter here is that in terms of using websites to teach language there are basically four different kinds of websites to evaluate, all which need their own criteria. These four kinds of websites include:
| 1.
Informational sites unrelated to teaching or language in particular,
for example: a site that describes the Edo Period in Japan, or a site with pancake recipes. |
2.
Sites containing information or activities for language students,
for example: a site containing information about phrasal verbs, or a site with American slang quizzes. |
| 3.
Sites intended to contain information for teachers, for example: a site with lesson plans, or a site with a plethora of information for ESL professionals ranging from job information to collections of links (for other languages: Agora language Marketplace) |
4.
and last, but not least, information dissemination sites, for example: NETEACH MOOS (a place to discuss in real time ESL issues) or refereed Internet Journals like The Internet TESL Journal. |
These four types of sites are by no means all-inclusive, and often sites (like Dave's ESL Cafe) include all four kinds of sites. However, for the purposes of this workshop, site type 3 and 4 are a little beyond our scope. We will be looking at the site types outlined in green: informational sites and sites with activities for students.
For Assignment #1 you have to choose which kind of site for which you are more interested in developing evaluative criteria. If you choose informational sites (sites which you may use to develop into a lesson plan later on in the workshop), please continue reading. If you choose sites with activities for students (which you may also choose to use in your lesson plan later on), please go down to that section by clicking here.
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Evaluating Informational Sites
Don't reinvent the wheel |
In this assignment you will investigate at least two other sites that contain information about evaluating informational websites, choose the most important content and develop your own set of criteria. Finally, you will use that criteria to evaluate a site of your own choosing.
STEP ONE: Read what
two other people have written about evaluation, there's no point in re-inventing
the wheel if you don't have to! Feel free to look on your own for that information,
articles in Internet
Journals and Kathy
Schrock's Educator's guide might be good places to start looking, or you
can try these sites:
STEP TWO:
Develop your own list of evaluative criteria. Put together all the information
you have found so far, keeping in mind your answers to Task #1, and make your own set of criteria that applies specifically
to a website you might include in a lesson plan. Your set of criteria should focus not only on the technological aspects of the site (for example, does the page load quickly, are the graphics attractive) but also should address issues of authoring (how is the material presented, is it authoritative, is it trustworthy) STEP THREE: Evaluate
a site of your own choosing using the criteria you just developed. (Without spending too long on the choosing
part) Choose an information site you might (or not) want to use as part of
your website lesson plan and evaluate it. *****While this is a pass/fail class,
I hope you will respect the effort I have put into creating it, I look forward
to seeing your results, and compiling them onto the website for you to see
immediately. I can't do that if the assignments aren't handed in on time.
Thank you**** In this assignment you will investigate
at least two other sites that contain information about evaluating sites,
choose the most important contents and develop your own set of criteria. Finally,
you will use that criteria to evaluate a site of your own choosing.
Evaluating
Websites (a page with a power-point presentation and actual web pages
as examples)
Evaluating
Internet Research Sources (a pithy
article by Robert Harris of Southern California College)
The
Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (a well-designed
site with examples, criteria, etc. Possibly suitable for use with advanced
ESL students)
Bibliography
on Evaluating Internet Resources by Nicole Auer, Library Instruction
Coordinator Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Thinking
Critically about World Wide Web resources
(an outline format set of criteria by Esther Grassian, UCLA College Library)
Thinking about current language theory
STEP ONE: Look at what at least two other sites have to say about how websites should be constructed for language students. Feel free to peruse Internet Journal articles, check out the list of links at Dave's ESL Cafe or Agora Language Marketplace or Internet Resources for language teachers and students, or do a search on your own. If not, try two of the links I have pre-selected for you:
| CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW From: The Internet as an Educational Tool in ESOL Writing Instruction, by Karla Frizler ,**( scroll down to the section entitled "ESOL Language Learning Theories and the Philosophies of the Internet" .) |
| Thriving on Screen: Web-Authoring for L2 Instruction by Jack Kimball **(especially the last part; five points of fruitful Web-authoring) |
| How to make a Successful ESL/EFL Teacher's webpage by Charles Kelley, especially the list of things to avoid. |
STEP TWO: Develop your own list of evaluative criteria. Put together all the information you have found so far, keeping in mind your answers to Task #1, and make your own set of criteria that applies specifically to a website you might include in a lesson plan. Your set of criteria should focus not only on the technological aspects of the site (for example, does the page load quickly, are the graphics attractive) but also should address issues of language pedagogy (is it a site that exhibits the same philosophy of teaching as you hold? is it mechanistic? Does it provide students with realistic language practice opportunities?)
STEP THREE: Evaluate
a site of your own choosing using the criteria you just developed. (Without spending too much time on the choosing part) Choose a site designed for language/ESL students that you may (or not) want to use as part of your lesson plan assignment and evaluate it. Here are some good places to start looking for sites designed for students:
TESL Journal's Links for students
VCU Trail Guide to International Sites and Language Resources
Dave's ESL Cafe
*****While this is a pass/fail class, I hope you will respect the effort I have put into creating it, I look forward to seeing your results, and compiling them onto the website for you to see immediately. I can't do that if the assignments aren't handed in on time. Thank you****
| Workshop Page One: Introduction | Workshop Page Two: Issues surrounding the use of the Internet for ESL |
| Workshop Page Three: Making Internet lesson plans | Workshop Page Four: Creating a website |