Prompt 10

*RICHARDSON Ch. 7. Fun with Flickr: Creating, Publishing, and Using Images Online
*BLACKBOARD - Kern, R. (2006). Perspectives on technology in learning and teaching languages. TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 183-210.

After reading Richardson, what ideas do you have for using images and programs such as Flickr in the language learning classroom?

Kern gives a broad overview of issues in CALL, with specific examples from three areas and implications for teaching and research. Select and share your own thoughts and opinions on one or more issues that Kern raises.

Richardson mentioned that the images and the Flickr program have great potential for education. In the language learning classroom, the Flickr can be used to create presentations and slid shows; illustrate poetry; teach social software, teach geography, etc. (Richardson, p.101). The Flickr has a very useful tool, which is the annotation feature that allows adding notes to parts of the image, so students can identify what they see. And also, teachers can ask students to make comment on what they see. What’s more, The Flickr can have “tags” or each uploaded pictures, and these tags allow these pictures searchable worldwide. Students can search their interested photos, by leaving comments on these photos, they can learn more about the photographer and the photograph. In a word, Flivkr has a great potential for language learning, and should be widely used I language learning classroom.

CALL has been by and large successfully used in language learning area, and the main issue of the effectiveness has been raised. Kern (2006) said the answer to the CALL effectiveness is "sometimes yes, sometimes no; sometimes yes for some learners but not for others". I totally agree with this. CALL technologies, such as videos, CALL tutorials and chat rooms have different features, and will be effective in different teaching area, so, for educators, they should be clear that the effectiveness of technologies needs to be measured by the particular ways in which the technology is used. When using CALL in language teaching, teachers need to be aware of how to best use them to accomplish specific goals, and ask what it means to use computer for learning and using a language.