Course Overview - Spring 2009

EFL537
Computer Assisted Language Learning
Southern New Hampshire University/Vietnam National University
Spring 2009 

Instructor: Jeff Lebow
Email address: jefflebow@gmail.com
(most assignments and and questions for Jeff should be posted on the website, NOT emailed)
Course Website:  http://efl537.com
Office: Virtual Office at http:/efl537.com/chat
Office Hours & Extra Assistance
'Virtual Lab hours' will be scheduled and we will use a variety of collaborative tools to provide additional support .
Phone: 1-603-574-4923


TEXTBOOK

There are no required print  textbooks for this course. All reading materials will come from online resources listed at  http://efl537.com/readings and http://learningcall.net/readings
Students are encouraged to have a USB flash drive for data storage and transfer.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides a hands-on, collaborative environment in which to learn about and explore the use of computer technology for language learning. As much as possible, participants are encouraged to use the various technologies we’ll be learning about to develop learning materials that will be relevant to their teaching context. Participants are also encouraged to use these technologies to collaborate with and engage other EFL professionals in learning about the theoretical and pedagogical foundations of CALL. Assessment is based on each student’s portfolio of work, skills development, and collaborative participation.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
EFL537 students will be able to integrate the learned theories, pedagogy, and technologies into their practice as learners and educators. Specifically, they will

  • Overcome affective filters that might prevent them from including CALL tools in their teaching.
  • Demonstrate competence in basic computer skills including desktop management, online content creation, use of synchronous text and audio interaction, and accessing multimedia files.
  • Familiarize themselves with advanced computer literacies such as producing audio and video materials, creating interactive web based quizzes, accessing materials via RSS, and functioning in 3D virtual environments.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of theory and research related to CALL
  • Produce and test instructional materials designed for their target learners.
  • Use computer technologies to engage in meaningful professional development and develop a personal learning network
  • Develop strategies for coping with technological, economic, and/or bureaucratic obstacles they may encounter in practicing CALL


COURSE OUTLINE
Below is a tentative schedule of skills and topics to be covered during this course. It is possible that we will stray from this schedule based on student interest and pace of learning. The first part of this course aims to expose you to a variety of tools and encourages you to play with them . The second part of the course aims to help you  build resources that will be most useful to you as an EFL teacher and professional educator.

Week 1 
  Students will spend most of week#1 developing basic skill proficiencies, exploring applications of CALL online, and  finding readings and other materials relevant to their particular areas of interest.
Skill areas:  Desktop & File Management, Audio, Bookmarking, Telephony & IM, website Creation, Activity Creation, Presentation building, & basic graphics editing.


Week 2
During Week#2, students will put their skills to use by creating and collecting usable learning materials, building a personal website, developing a plan for using CALL in their teaching now and in the foreseeable future.  As a class, we will also try to connect with EFL teachers around the world to share ideas and discuss how CALL is being used.
Additional Topics and Skills areas that may be covered: Video, Social Networking, Virtual Environments, Professional Development, Language Skill CALL
Required Assignments:
  • Reading Reflections - at least 2 reflections
    You can choose any reading from the VNUEFL537 Reading list or find others of special interest from the EFL Readings Section
    Try to include a discussion of how the topic of the reading  applies to your teaching environment and how it might affect your practice.  Please post these on EFL537.com as blog entries (create/blog entry) with a title like "Jeff's Reading Reflection #1. If you like, you can also post a copy of  these on your personal website (blog or wiki).

  • Bookmark at least 30 CALL related websites on your Delicious account and tag appropriately. See the delicious guide for information about how to install the del.icio.us plugin and tag bookmarks. More information and guides about social bookmarking here.
    Feel free to bookmark websites that aren't  related to CALL or this course.  For the sites that are related to this course, please tag them with 'efl537' and other appropriate keyword descriptions such as (listening, reading, quiz, video, blog, etc.)

  • Build a Materials Archive
    Create an EFL537  folder (that can be stored on a flash drive) that contains  sub-folders for
    • Documents (.doc , .pdf )
    • Webpages (.html , .htm)
    • Presentations (.ppt ,  pps , .odp)
    • Media (.mp3, .wmv,  .swf .flv)
      Find at least 20 files that you can use in your teaching and save them in the appropriate folders.  It should look something like this.

  • Build a personal website (Wordpress.com, wikispaces.com, or another site approved by Jeff)
    Create pages for ' About Me',  EFL537,  and SNHU TEFL Program, .  Feel free to post additional material including your reading reflections, additional pages,  categories, & posts.  This is your site and can use it how you wish - during this course and after.

  • Daily Assignments -  assorted tasks assigned each day to practice the tools or skills being taught

  • CALL Plan Report - Submit a report, presentation, and/or audio recording discussing your short-term and long-term plans and possibilities for using computer assisted language learning in your teaching environment.

Optional Assignments

     You do NOT have to do these, but will receive credit for anything extra you produce. These can fall into three categories
  • Using CALL tools to produce CALL Materials - create a bunch of Hot Potatoes activities, build online lessons for EFL students,  upload presentation lessons to your Slideshare, etc.
  • Creating materials that will help future VNU EFL537'ers - Remember how stressful the first few days were?  I would love to have support material that helped students  avoid some of the overwhelming confusion when first discovering CALL tools. I think the people best able to produce that kind of material  are YOU!  You could create combinations of  text,screenshot images, audio, and/or powerpoint presentations that explain how to use certain tools and how they might be used. These materials could include Vietnamese language and be posted on your EFL537 or other blogs and help future students avoid some of the CALL suffering you've experienced.  They'll never know how lucky they are :)
  • Going further than required with the required assignments - bookmarking additional pages, doing extra reading reflections, building and awesome personal website, etc.

The last class will be held on March 18.  All work must be finished by March 22.