reading prompt 1

*LEVY – Ch. 3 Evaluation
*RICHARDSON Ch. 1. The Read/Write Web.
*RICHARDSON Ch. 2. Weblogs: Pedagogy & Practice

What has been your experience with blogs prior to this class? Are there any blogs you regularly visit? Do you have your own blog? Richardson describes the many potential uses of weblogs for classroom pedagogy and practice. What are some ways blogs could be used effectively with ELL students?

Levy described many different types and methods of evaluation of CALL software programs or websites. As an ESL teacher, describe at least one component you would want to see in an evaluation that would help you decided whether or not to use it.
Blogs are really popular in all these years. We can post our “diary”, photos, videos, music etc., and at the same time, the visitor can leave their responses. It’s a good way to communicate and share information. I always visit my parents and friends’ blogs in China to check how they are doing now. And I visit “YouTube.com” almost every day to watch videos and shows. I have two blogs, I constantly update my blogs in order that my parents and friends can get to know my recent situation, and response messages they left.
Richardson (2009) introduced many uses of blogs, they are really helpful for ELL students too. Especially “class blog”, for many ELLs, they have difficulties in understanding what teacher said in class, and some of them are shy to talk in class. In this case, they can check class-related information such as class syllabus, homework assignment, and events. They can read online readings, post their responses for reading, post their writing samples, and exchange ideas with their peers etc.
For evaluate CALL software programs or websites, I think as an ESL teacher, the component of “valid” is very important. The designed software programs or websites should “work” for students and teachers, and follow the pedagogy. For example, when evaluate “Connected Speech” in CD format, which was designed to assist ELLs to improve their spoken English, the “reliable voice recognition”, “social cultural content of the program and linguistic accuracy” (Levy, p.49) should take into consideration. If the pronunciation is unclear, the reading passage is about some weird topics, and too much “hard” vocabulary etc., the program wouldn’t work, therefore cannot be used