++ Task 1

TSL 641: COMPUTER ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING
Task 1

ESL WEBSITE EVALUATION
1. You are to evaluate an ESL website (on English as a Second Language Teaching & Learning) by answering the attached list of questions. Do not forget to include the website’s address in your commentary. Remember to have a good focus!
2. Your answers to each question must be at least one paragraph in length.
3. This evaluation task is to be done individually and to be posted in your blog.

Evaluation Guide
1. What does the application attempt to “teach”?
2. What sorts of things is the application user expected to do with regards to learning the content?
3. What sorts of computer skills is the application users expected to have in order to operate/access/use the application?
4. While you are “playing”/”accessing”/”assessing” the application, does it remind you of anything you do in a classroom, or with a teacher, or with a fellow classmate, or in self-study?
5. Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying the application?
6. How well is the constructivist theory of learning applied to the chosen website(s)?
7. In 1980s and early 1990s, there was a major debate on ‘whether the computer was “master” of or “slave” to the learning process (Higgins and Johns, 1984). In relation to your evaluation - was the computer a replacement for teachers, or merely an obedient servant to students?
8. Would you like to use the application yourself in your future work?
Yes? Give reasons:
No? Give reasons:
Suggestions/Recommendations.