Forums in ESL classrooms!?!

I have just started to reflect on the classroom applications of some technologies such as blogs, websites, etc. The more I think and I read about it, the more I believe that computers make a happy marriage with an ESL classroom setting.

Some weeks ago in my Computer Application course we discussed the application of forums in an ESL class. I agree with almost everything written in Mark’s text. It is clear that the organization of topics makes it quick for students to find needed information even when they are doing their homework alone at home. I am sure that forums would have been very useful for me when I was in high school since I tend to be the kind of “lost” an uninformed student.

Furthermore, it seems rather easy for the teacher to control what is being said on the forum. I also think that one of the advantages of forums is that the teacher can be closer to the students by being more informed about what they really think.

I also think that it is a good way to get the students more involved in their ESL class when they are outside the class. I may be wrong but I think it could improve the cohesiveness of a whole class. Also, I am sure that it can catch the interest of some students who will be more motivated in the course.

Since I am not a genius in computer matters, I am very happy to learn that it is easy to have a forum running in a short time. I am very interested in tying this out with my students in the future.

Managing a computer class

Before I had even started my studies in the Beals, I was thinking about how it would be like to manage a computer class. As you can read in the previous entries on my blog, I don’t have so much knowledge about the technologies related to computers. Since December, I have a laptop and I am very interested in discovering how it can be helpful for my studies. Even if my knowledge is not so great, I would be very interested to direct students in a computeur calss. I don’t have any problem to say to the students that my knowledge is limited. I would ask the some students to teach the others. This would also be a way for me to have a more student’s centered class.

There are many issues related to computer class management. First, it is clear that the teacher as to develop his/her tricks to make sure that the students listen in class. This does not make me nervous at all because I think I will discover what works better for me with experience.

As it was motioned in class, the teacher is also responsible to control the content view by the students on internet. For the younger students I think that a more strict approach should be used. However, I think that online gambling, pornographic websites, etc, are very accessible to students, no matter if they are inside or outside that class. I think that the best way is to explain why it is not good to go on these websites no matter if they are inside or outside the class.

Since my cooperative teacher in my practicum does not go the computer lab very often, I don’t have practical knowledge about this issue. After an interesting conversation during my Computer Application course, many questions aroused. For example, do teachers go to the computer lab only to complete writing and reading tasks? How can a teacher includes meaningful conversation in such a setting?

To conclude, I am not very stressed about having to manage a computer class. I have enough confidence that I will be able to deal with this situation with success. Knowing that some students are very good to use computer makes me feel even more confident.