TESOL Technology: Collaborative Web Site Review
A place to share ideas, resources and projects related to Computer Assisted Language Learning for ESL teachers and students.


Monday, June 6, 2011

Collaborative Web Site Review

The collaborative web site review was an interesting assignment and a new take on group projects for me because all the meetings, collaboration and comments took place solely on the computer using both asynchronous and synchronous communication. Google docs and Skype served as our means of synchronous communication as each partner uploaded their section and made comments on other participants sections. The use of Skype was a wonderful means to narrow down the topics, assign tasks and clarify miscommunication; whereas, Google docs allowed us to share our comments and also clarifying information using the instant chat feature. We then used email to finalize and confirm the final project for submission.  Below is a brief description of the process and a link to the complete evaluation.

Three websites, Voice of America’s Special English (VOA), ESLvideo, and English Listening Lesson Lab Online (ELLLO) were evaluated for their appropriateness for CALL-based classroom language instruction. The following reviews are based on the Evaluating Web Resource Checklist from Alberta Libraries, which provides basic, but core guidance for choosing the right websites for both English learning and teaching. The criterion for evaluation includes six categories: authority, scope, currency, purpose, accuracy, and usability. The reviews also explore the extent to which the contents of the three websites apply TESOL pedagogy and are useful for ESL classroom activities. Click to view the complete web site evaluation.

No comments: