Saturday, October 31, 2009

Journal Response

Journal response

According to my experience in studding technology especially in 551,552, and 563, I have achieve a number of technological projects that I believe were helpful and beneficial to my students and also they were beneficial to me as a professional teacher. My students used the materials I offered in my web page, they also found it easy to communicate with me and receive feed back. In 551, I used the PowerPoint to give an example of level three lesson plan; also I designed a lesson plan about Arabic culture using the Microsoft publisher. Also I used the Microsoft office excels for students grading and I found it very helpful to follow up student’s performance and grading.
Course 552 helped me to design unit plan, lesson plan and projects for students to help them to know about Arabic culture, the students could navigate in different resources of in formation and communicate with each others and with teachers through technology.
In 563 I used more developed technological techniques; using the bog, wikis and web page. I am able to post the authentic materials for my students in my web site and use the rubrics for grading. The most important thing I can say about understanding the using technology in teaching is to control the use of technology by choosing the beneficial side of technology that can help to achieve the goals of education because technology is open and students are exposed to different features and entertainments and teachers should be aware of that. I choosed Google site because its free, easy and has different good feachers in addition to that it provide technical support; its very easy to access and I could my blogs and use G-mails. Google is helpfull and beneficial.

My e-portfolio address is:
http://sites.google.com/site/electronicportfoliofamily/

Friday, May 22, 2009

The Advantages of Using Technology in Second Language Education

Wang, Li (2005/May). The Advantages of Using Technology in Second Language Education. T.H.E. Journal, Retrieved 05/20/2009, from http://www.thejournal.com/articles/17296

The author of this paper talked about the advert of computer technology as a big change that made gathering information easier around the world. Regardless of the disadvantages of technology in terms of expenses, researches are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of using technology in the classroom. The author mentioned the study of Al-Jarf (2004) as a prove that teaching second language with technology is more effective than teaching with dependent on text book and students are able to post their own threads, short paragraphs, locating information from the internet and checking their spelling mistakes using Microsoft Word. In another study in 2003, the study proved that the internet exposes students to other cultures and enable students to understand language within culture. The author mentioned another study in 2004 and the data analysis indicated that students, administrators and instructors benefit from the online placement testing.
In teaching a foreign language I found that the use of computer technology in the class made the learning process easier. I saved a lot of time in looking for materials from the internet, using Goodle images for vocabulary and speaking, and expose students to the culture of the target language. The students are able to use the features of the smart board and Microsoft office for their projects; the curriculum offered a lot of easy ways to help the students explore in the supplementary materials and shared folders.

Learning and Teaching Information Technology

Eisenberg, B. Michael Retrieved May 22, 2009, from Learning and Teaching Information Technology Web site: http://www.libraryinstruction.com/info-tech.html

According to the author, there is a wide agreement among educators that students need to be proficient in using computers considering many questions about the ability of using computers to met the needs of communication and learning, he think that the productivity is neglecting the curriculum needs. Learners should use technology as a tool of organization, communication, research and problem solving instead of just operating the computer system. The author said that during the past 25 years library media professional worked hard to directly relate the content of technology to the curriculum and tied the skills together in information process model. The author’s final thoughts were about conducting a curriculum in a way that help the students to understand not only how to use it but also when and why.
As a teacher of foreign language I agree that student recently are able use computer technology but I have to be aware of directing my students to how, why and when do they have to use it; and this will be by relating and tying the lessons to use of technology. The students will use technology to explore in the webs looking for beneficial topics to read or listen to also for communication and gathering cultural information.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

The Advantages of Using Technology in Second Language Education

Wang, Li (2005/May). The Advantages of Using Technology in Second Language Education. T.H.E. Journal, Retrieved 05/20/2009, from http://www.thejournal.com/articles/17296

The author of this paper talked about the advert of computer technology as a big change that made gathering information easier around the world. Regardless of the disadvantages of technology in terms of expenses, researches are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of using technology in the classroom. The author mentioned the study of Al-Jarf (2004) as a prove that teaching second language with technology is more effective than teaching with dependent on text book and students are able to post their own threads, short paragraphs, locating information from the internet and checking their spelling mistakes using Microsoft Word. In another study in 2003, the study proved that the internet exposes students to other cultures and enable students to understand language within culture.
As a teacher of foreign language I am sure that using in technology in teaching is making a big difference in the outcome of the learning process in terms of mastering the language and exposing students to the culture of the target language. Internet is an important tool of communication that gives students a wide field of knowledge about the language and culture.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Teaching foreign language with technology

Julie, (09,04,13). Teaching foreign language with technology . distance learning home schools, Retrieved 05,07,2009, from http://www.distance-learning-home-school.com/2009/04/teaching-foreign-language-with-technology/

In this topic the author emphasized that all high schools or colleges are enrolling students to foreign languages, so teaching foreign languages is needed in both schools and house schooling, the house schooled students will need to be exposed to technology especially when the parents are not experts or native speakers of the required language. Technology offers a solid approach to teaching and learning a second language. Students are able to communicate through the different tools of technology video lessons, music-based instruction, games, cultural video designed to help students their understanding of the culture as well as language and virtual interaction. The author thinks that parents are able to find the tools of technology that will enable their kids to interact using through the target language with native speakers.
As a teacher of a foreign language I believe that the use of technology will make it easy for students to communicate through the authentic materials using the TV channels, TL websites magazines etc... And also it will be easy for teachers to facilitate effective sessions in the classrooms. Communication in the world of today is a basic characteristic and this happened because of the wide use of technology and students do not find any difficulties to develop using a foreign language.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

The use of Computer Technology in Teaching Critical Reading

Rings, Sally (1994, 02, 25). The Role of Computer Technology in Teaching Critical Reading. MCLI, Retrieved 05,03,2009, from http://zircon.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/critR/

The author thinks that the use of computer in reading is to rise up the critical thinking however the software advertized has failed to emphasize this function. Three characteristics are revealed when applying the pedagogical approaches to the computer technology to foster critical reading; the first characteristic is the high level of interacting that makes learners involved in the instructional process. Second characteristic that the software has been used to promote reading to help the students to modify their strategies and provide a prompt pertaining to strategy use; the prompt asks the students to write what they know about the topic, video can help the students to fill the gab of the prior knowledge. Third characteristic of soft ware that promotes critical reading is to approximate real context by making topic available on the screen. The author thinks that computer technology can support the following processes, comprehension, idea generation, analysis, reflection and composition.
As a teacher of foreign language I believe that using computer soft ware to enhance reading skill is essential and beneficial and I am depending a lot on the computer to look for the appropriate topics from different websites, using the word document software and encourage the students to rise up their communications with each other by looking for passages from the websites and exchange information.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

The challenges of teaching listening skills

Beare, Kenneth the challenge of teaching listening. English as a second language, Retrieved 04/23/2009, from http://esl.about.com/cs/teachinglistening/a/a_tlisten.htm

The author started the topic convincing that listening is the one of the most difficult
skills in teaching language and students can become frustrated because of this; they can come to an end that they can’t understand any thing from what they listen to so mental block will happen. Although listening is a global learning style and a lot of students have this style, but they can learn better when they listen to topic using their own language. The author said that it’s important to train student to listen to short topics like five to ten minutes and then gradually they can expand the time of listening like learning other skills, for example if some body wants to learn to jog for a long time, he should start with jogging for a few minutes and then gradually he will be able to become fit. The author thinks that the human brain can become amazing if it has given time to do that.
As a teacher of foreign language, I believe that this author gave a very effective explanation to the strategy of teaching listening, and teaching Arabic language should have the same strategy of enhancing listening. In DLI, and by using the available technology, it’s easy for teachers to follow objective steps to help students to develop their listening skills. In my counseling sessions for the students, I found that many of the students are suffering from listening and so many teachers may observe the same phenomena so all teachers should encourage students to practice listening step by step until they come to the result that they are able to listen for a long time.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Teaching with technology

Hooper, S., & Rieber, L. P. (1995). Teaching with technology. In A. C. Ornstein (Ed.), Teaching: Theory into practice, (pp. 154-170). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
http://www.nowhereroad.com/twt/

The author spoke about the role of teachers in the classrooms and what are their roles beyond sparking knowledge; the role is that teacher should be a manager, psychologist, counselor, and more over he should manage the technology to communicate with students. He thinks that technology is not the number of computers and devices in the classroom, but also the benefits of these tools that help in reinforcing the learning process, the educational technology makes the students evolved in applying ideas from various sources to create the best learning environment possible for students. The author thinks that using technology in teaching is different than using technology in other fields; it needs plans and goals specifications, the goals that connected with the needs of learning and then the kind of technology must be used and this will prevent the misuse of technology. The author stated five phases for the traditional role of technology like familiarization, utilization, integration, reorientation and evaluation. As a foreign language teacher in the DLI, I am considering what the author of this journal, that it’s important to understand the role of teacher in selecting and evaluating the appropriate type of technology that is suitable to my students and in the same time is beneficial for them instead of getting lost in the big field of technology which contains a lot of entertainments that serve the goal of advertisement and business

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Technology in Environmental Education

Wolf, Clancy (05/2003). Technology in environmental environment . New Horizons for learning, Retrieved 04/12/2009, from http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/environmental/wolf.htm


The author said that the reason for integrating technology in educational program are audience demand, state Ed. requirement and kids relate to technology; and integrating technology into our educational program provide students with additional tools to enhance learning. Students can understand their experiences through verbal, written spatial, quantitative or graphical means using a variety of learning tools. The author chose what he think is a simple definition for technology and that is technology is how human change/ control their environment. The writer mentioned specific ways to infuse technology into programs at Island Wood where he worked as a coordinator of technology, like using a camera to capture and save images and using devices to hook microscopes to screens; also he talked about high speed movies which can allow students to slow down time and many other devices that can help the students for better understanding to the surrounding environment. In the end the author emphasized the importance of training for staff and students and he think that the time the students spend in how to use technology should be minimized while the time of learning should be maximized.
As a teacher foreign language at DLI, I will take in consideration the ideas of this expert person about the importance of technology as an effective move to connect the student with environment in a way that help him to develop a better understanding in the field of Arabic language. Students will explore in different dimensions of the language and culture and using technology will make it much easier.
Clancy J. Wlof is a technology coordinator in Island Wood, he designed and supervised an activity for the university of Michigan; he also created EEL link ( a website for environmental education information)

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Weblogs for Use with ESL Classes

Campbell , A (2003). Weblogs for Use with ESL Classes. TESL, VL IX, Retrieved04/05/2009, from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Campbell-Weblogs.html
The author specified three ways to use blogs in TSL classrooms as a purpose of the paper. He defined the weblog as an online journal that an individual can update with his or her own words, ideas and thoughts through software that enable one to easily do so. The author also gave an idea of the history of blogs that it has been existed since the beginning of the World Wide Web, the blogging software appeared in July1999 and because it’s easy to be established, the number of users grew up tremendously. The author specified three types of weblogs for use in ESL classrooms, the tutor blog that is run by the tutor for the purpose of giving daily practice to the learners considering that the teacher knows better about his students who may feel uncomfortable about the assigned materials, to promote explanation of English websites to encourage further explanation, encourage online verbal exchange by use of comment buttons and provide class or syllabus information like homework, discuss topics and provide tasks, also blogs serve as resource of links for self-study. Another kind of blogs is the learner’s blogs they are run by the students or collaborative groups who can direct each other to the suitable links that help in the study of target language so they can use blogs as a journal for writing practice. In the class blog, the author thinks that it’s possible the blog in posting subjects for speaking, develop researches and exchange subjects with other students. Also the author mentioned a lot of web logs soft wares for those who are looking for them. As a teacher of foreign language, I can use the same principles that are used in ESL because I am teaching Arabic as a second language. I can encourage my students to use the blogs to communicate with their teachers and each others. Students will be able to chose the materials they like and it will be easy to follow up their tasks and give them feedback, this is a good way of reinforcing the learning process

Weblogs in Education

Tan, Y.H., Ow, E.G.J., & Ho, P.Y.J. (2005). Weblogs in education (a literature review)

Authors gave an introduction and a definition of a weblog as an essentially a web page ‘logging’ hyperlinks to websites which a web surfer finds interesting. They also described the blog as a website that frequently updated with a high availability of band width and storage space so we can store personal editorship, hyperlink, video and audio clips and comment features. They also described how it’s easy to create a blog and how the blog archive the posts automatically and show the latest post without user intervention. In the field of education, the authors illustrated of blogs as a learning tool and mediation by language; comments enable students to communicate and socialize which will enhance learning in a collaborative environment. Authors offered points to facilitate planning for the use of edublogs such as how to create a reflective journal, start a class blog, have the students create their own blogs and have the class share weblogs. Authors stated some issues of concerns for teaching and learning like students access to computers that are capable of inputting and displaying Chinese and Tamil characters, scaffolding of learning tasks plagiarism and legal liability. As foreign language teacher, I fully understood the benefit of blogs as an effective tool of learning, In DLI, we don’t have blogs yet but we are using the shared folders to facilitate the learning process especially in following up homework and provide materials. I think using blogs in teaching language is a developed way of learning, for language is learned by communication so students can communicate with native speakers and immerse in target language environment especially when they communicate with blogs that made to show social environment

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Lights,cameras, pencils! using descriptive video to enhance writing.

Hoffner, H, (April 2008). Lights, cameras, pencils! using descriptive video to enhance writing. the reading teacher, 61 no7 576, Retrieved Ap 2008, from http://www.reading.org/


These writers explained the importance and effectiveness of movies in developing the learning process. They considered movies as not only entertainment but also educational, and teachers can use movies to supplement the curriculum, especially in the field of special education like students with visual impairment. The idea is to use the descriptive program which has additional audio track that is activated by using the secondary audio program (SAP) feature on a television program. They think that descriptive programming can enhance reading and writing language and motivate the students who are used to the entertainment culture. The authors also described the way of using described video in the classroom with visual description for the film to develop creative writing ability; they found that students can create a description for the scene or the environment of the film. They also provided information about how to obtain described programming through links, DVDs and broadcasting.
As a teacher of foreign language I thing it’s beneficial to use the descriptive video in my class not only for students with visual impairment but also for normal students to reinforce the ability of describing scenes and develop their imaginations. Describing the environment is a basic skill in learning language; describing buildings, scenes, and restaurants is a part of skills exam.