Web 2.0 Tools for the Teaching of EFL

María Irene Albers de Urriola M.A in Applied Linguistics Universidad Simón Bolívar Specialist in Computer Technology in Education Universidad de Carabobo Web 2.0 Tools for the Teaching of EFL

What is Web 2.0 ? Web 2.0 is the representation of the evolution of traditional applications towards web applications focused on the final user. Web 2.0 is an actitud not a technology, it implies reading and writing, not just reading. María Irene Albers de Urriola M.A in Applied Linguistics Universidad Simón Bolívar Specialist in Computer Technology in Education Universidad de Carabobo

Advantages of using Web 2.0 tools: Organize to-do items Store files Social connections Creation of photo albums María Irene Albers de Urriola M.A in Applied Linguistics Universidad Simón Bolívar Specialist in Computer Technology in Education Universidad de Carabobo

Disadvantages

Time management

Potential data loss

Lack of interoperability

Format changes (instability)

Copy right restrictions

María Irene Albers de Urriola M.A in Applied Linguistics Universidad Simón Bolívar Specialist in Computer Technology in Education Universidad de Carabobo

Platforms:

Moodle

Nicenet

BSCW

Claroline

Olat

Moodle

Moodle is a software package for producing internet-based courses and web sites. It's an ongoing development project designed to support a social constructionist framework of education. It’s an Internet Classroom Assistant (ICA) or Course Management System (CMS)

Moodle is provided freely as Open Source software (under the GNU Public License ).

Nicenet

Nicenet set out to provide a tool that is very easy to adopt and use . The ICA requires only a web browser and a connection to the Internet, so there is no software to install or servers to manage.

The simple format of the system is highly intuitive with a very low learning curve, requiring no formal training.

The interface has low graphical content to make it easy to use through a standard modem. Such a model allows teachers to incorporate the ICA based on their personal pedagogical priorities rather than institutional infrastructure

BSCW

The BSCW system supports collaboration by providing shared workspaces over the Internet.

It allows storage and retrieval of documents and sharing information within a group.

Each user is awared of the activities of others within the workspace.

Tools for Teaching EFL Weblog or simply blog : - A frequently updated website consisting of dated entries arranged in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first . - Are published by individuals and their style is personal and informal. - Simple and free publishing tools . Since anybody with a net connection can publish their own weblog, there is great variety in the quality, content, and ambition of weblogs. - A weblog may have anywhere from a handful to tens of thousands of daily readers. María Irene Albers de Urriola M.A in Applied Linguistics Universidad Simón Bolívar Specialist in Computer Technology in Education Universidad de Carabobo

Tools for Teaching EFL Weblogs providers : Blogger: http//www.blogger.com Xanga: http://www.xanga.com/ Wordpress: http//www.wordpress.com María Irene Albers de Urriola M.A in Applied Linguistics Universidad Simón Bolívar Specialist in Computer Technology in Education Universidad de Carabobo

Tools for Teaching EFL Wiki: - server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. - hyperlinks and has a simple text syntax for creating new pages and crosslinks between internal pages on the fly. - unusual among group communication mechanisms in that it allows the organization of contributions to be edited in addition to the content itself. Like many simple concepts, "open editing" has some profound and subtle effects on Wiki usage. Allowing everyday users to create and edit any page in a Web site is exciting in that it encourages democratic use of the Web and promotes content composition by nontechnical users . María Irene Albers de Urriola M.A in Applied Linguistics Universidad Simón Bolívar Specialist in Computer Technology in Education Universidad de Carabobo

Tools for Teaching EFL Wiki providers María Irene Albers de Urriola M.A in Applied Linguistics Universidad Simón Bolívar Specialist in Computer Technology in Education Universidad de Carabobo Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Pbwiki: Wikispaces

Tools for Teaching EFL The tools for pictures allow you to write or record messages for students to learn vocabulary, or grammatical structures. The say that a picture is worth a thousand words is complemented with the stories you compose . Photographs María Irene Albers de Urriola M.A in Applied Linguistics Universidad Simón Bolívar Specialist in Computer Technology in Education Universidad de Carabobo

Tools for Teaching EFL Bubbleshare: http://www.bubbleshare.com / Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/ Picasa: http://picasa.google.com/ María Irene Albers de Urriola M.A in Applied Linguistics Universidad Simón Bolívar Specialist in Computer Technology in Education Universidad de Carabobo

Tools for Teaching EFL They help teachers and students to communicate and evaluate the progress in different areas. Pronunciation, grammar, coherence, cohesion are some aspects for which these tools are useful for. María Irene Albers de Urriola M.A in Applied Linguistics Universidad Simón Bolívar Specialist in Computer Technology in Education Universidad de Carabobo

Tools for Teaching EFL María Irene Albers de Urriola M.A in Applied Linguistics Universidad Simón Bolívar Specialist in Computer Technology in Education Universidad de Carabobo Elllo (English Listening Language Lab Online) http://www.elllo.org/ Eslcafe: http://www.eslcafe.com / Chinswing: http://www.chinswing.com /

Cooperation and Writing Cooperation The strategy used by teachers to make students work together in search of getting the proposed goals, based on principles of equal participation, simultaneous interaction, individual accountability, and positive interdependence. Writing By using Web 2.0 tools students write and publish their projects in the net, which could increase their motivation to writing as they know that other users, not only their teachers and peers could read their work. María Irene Albers de Urriola M.A in Applied Linguistics Universidad Simón Bolívar Specialist in Computer Technology in Education Universidad de Carabobo

Tools for Cooperating and Writing María Irene Albers de Urriola M.A in Applied Linguistics Universidad Simón Bolívar Specialist in Computer Technology in Education Universidad de Carabobo Writeboard: http://www.writeboard.com / Dekita: http://dekita.org/

Tools for Making Movies Dfilm: http://www.dfilm.com/live/mm.html María Irene Albers de Urriola M.A in Applied Linguistics Universidad Simón Bolívar Specialist in Computer Technology in Education Universidad de Carabobo

Second Life

Create your own avatar.

Design wonderful and unimaginable places.

Make lots of friends.

Organize meetings.

Make your students meet there with new personalities, isn’t it fun.

References

Hinchcliffe,D. (s/f) Dion Hinchcliffe's Web 2.0 Blog Retrieved on February 2nd., 2007 at http://web2.wsj2.com/the_best_web_20_software_of_2005.htm

O´Reilly, T. (2005) What Is Web 2.0 Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software. Retreived on February 13, 2007 at

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

Risk Assessment For Use Of Third Party Web 2.0 Services Retreived on February 15, 2007 at www.ukoln.ac.uk/qafocus/documents/briefings/briefing-98/briefing-98-A5.doc

Roush, W. (2006). Web 2.0's Startup Fever.

Software toolkits and cheap hardware have led to the comeback of the garage startup. But this time the boom is more rational. http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/16688/