A Website in Ch 7(CALL Essentials)

Ch7 Content-Based Instruction


“MuseumLink's Museum of Museums”
Ha, this not a tongue twister. It's the website I am going to introduce to you!
We all know that some news websites such as CNN, BBC, USA TODAY, are considered “news” content-based website. And “MuseumLink's is a “museum” content-based website which provides almost every museum’s website. This is really special!
Students can understand the content necessary to have a successful journey to museums.


*First contact: when I see this website at the first sight, I think its homepage is not complicated as I thought! Its homepage has clear classification of all information you may want to know, so you will not get lost among those museums.

*try to explore: before long, I find out the museums which are introduced in this website mainly focus on America and Canada. Because there are two specific and links for the two countries. Because I just visited Toronto, Canada, last summer, I click the link at the once. Then I am so delighted to know that I've already visited some museums on that list. I've been to The Art Gallery of Ontario, I still remember I went there on Wednesday because after 5pm on Saturdays are free! You know, the most important thing for a backpacker is to cut down your budget!
(oh, it's the pic I took in AGO! notice the wall!!)

It's a pity that I did not really visit ROM, because The Royal Ontario Museum was under-construction (for establishing a new appearance!). So, I just passed by ROM for several times; instead of going in there. Actually I also paid a visit to another museum in Toronto which is not on this website's list. That is Beta Shoe Museum. It has a rich collection of every kind of shoes, from the ancient to modern. I also had a good time there. It seems that Beta Shoe museum has no website, because I really cannot find it. Oh, if you find its website, please let me know!
Then, I click “international museum links.” Since there is no “Taiwan” on the list, I have no choice but see China’s part, only one museum which I do not know at all. Then, I try to see “England” part because I've been to London two years ago (do you still remember the bombs which are placed in London by terrorists? That's right! I was there when London was attacked by terrorists. Well, that's another long story; maybe I can share with you later. Among the museums on the long list of England, I am so glad that I've been to The British Museum, The National Gallery, The Victoria & Albert Museum. Doubtless, I have sweet memories about these three museums.

(see!! it's the bookplate I made in V&A museum! Do you see my name on it? )

*I think (my brief conclusion): though not all museums in the word are introduced in the website, I still recommend that everyone should see this website. Even though you have little interests in “museums”, you can also take this website as a window on the world! I mean, it's a good chance for you to know more about every country's culture and heritage! I am not sure whether this is an excellent contend-based website or not, but I,m really fond of this website not only because it makes me think of those great memories but also lets me know there is another culture-friendly website!

A Website in Ch 4(CALL Essentials)

Ch4---Communication and Collaboration

The goal of chapter 4 is “communication and collaboration.” Though there are good websites I can introduce to you in this chapter, such as Tapped In, I still want to recommend “Monster Exchange.” And I would like to briefly analyze it for you.

※Goals: Encourage the development of reading and writing skills while integrating Internet technology into the classroom curriculum.

※Presentation: Classrooms from a variety of schools worldwide are paired together; the students in each classroom are split into groups, each of which designs an original picture of a monster. The students must then write a description of the monster. The partnered classes then exchange their descriptions via e-mail and the Internet. These students are then challenged to use reading comprehension skills to read the descriptions and translate them into a monster picture. The true challenge involves creating a redrawn picture as close to the original picture as possible without looking at the original and using only the written description of the monster. The written descriptions, original monster pictures, and redrawn monster pictures are scanned and uploaded to the Internet using the browser-based Monster Gallery Builder. The Monster Gallery Builder is entirely form-based and does not require the teacher or student to know any HTML code. The Monster Galleries are then published, and feedback is provided via e-mail.

※Appropriateness: I do think the website is really helpful! Not only learners but also teachers/parents are provided clear and useful guidelines in manipulating the website. And every link is quite specific related to what learners may want to know.

※Outcomes: Learners can practice the ability of writing and reading by figuring out what others’ monsters are and creating their own “monsters.” In other words, learners can learn from this drawing and get to know others’ drawings.

※Evaluation: Basically, there is no formal and strict evaluation in the website. But we can know how much students learn from checking the correctness of their monsters. I mean, we can judge students’ learning by their understanding of others’ descriptions and monsters which are created by them.

※Notes: In the link of “kids’ stuff”, there is another great link named . You can find six interesting websites for English learning. Be sure to visit them when you finish discovering how amazing “Monster Exchange” is!

A Website in Ch 5 (CALL Essentials)

Ch5 ---Creativity and Production

Hello! Time magazine! it's a mutimedia website.
I do believe that for students who want to upgrade their English ability from all over the world would definitely know this widely-known magazine! And I myself am one of Time magazine’s follower. But you know what? Its website is also great enough for you to visit everyday.

This chapter’s goal is introducing us the notion of “creativity and production.” At the first, I am not really understand why Time magazine’s website can be taken as the symbol of creativity, but I find out the answer at its “photos link.” Once you click on the link, you would see tons of pictures. Most importantly, you can find various kinds of photos you like, and guess what the article/news is from the pictures before reading them. Sometimes the pictures are not reveal what happened in those pictures directly, so you can let your imagination run wield and predict what you would know from the news. Besides, you can also use those pictures (legally), that is, the photos part in Time magazine is a free and rich photo album which provides you any photo you are searching for.

What’s more, the website of Time magazine also provides video or audio services/clips of most of the news. In other words, if you want to let your eyes relax for a while, you can also have other choices to know the news. (Oh~you can also sharpen your listening skill at the same time!) Of course there are many advantages of the website, maybe you can pay a visit to it and discover other amazing features that attract you!

By the way, have you ever visited the website of "Time for Kids "?

It's a really sweet and friendly website for children to know inportant news in more interesting ways. Or, if you are not really confident in English, you may try to devoted yourself to this website before visiting the website of Time Magazine!

A Website in Ch 6 (CALL Essentials)

Ch6 --- Inquiry and Problem-Solving

Tom Snyder Productions is the website I visit this week.

It provides a variety of softwares which are appropriate for different grades, types of content that help students to solve problems in areas such as the environment, social relations, etc

Though I knew it’s a software publisher before I visit there, I still feel quite shocked when I really see that website. Because I never see such an “organized” website which is for purchasing English learning material (especially for children). The reason why I use the word “organized” is because it’s indeed a really clear classified website. There are some links that can lead you to the field you want like.

What’s more, there is a much more specific classification of various links can cater to learners’ need.
The part of “teacher tools” interests me the most because I can find and learn something new information which may help me to come up some new ideas for my teaching in the future. I click almost all links in this field, then I am quite surprised to find out a truth. That is, kids nowadays really have tons of resources to make their learning better and much more fun! Compared to what resources I had when I was little, kids nowadays can try different ways to learn. In other words, as long as they want to learn, there are lots of attracting materials they can use.
I do believe Taiwan has such a good website as well, but I haven’t met it yet!
Oh! If you want to know about the history of this website, just click this!

A Website in Ch 3 (CALL Essentials)

Ch3---Developing and Practicing Listening and Speaking Skills

Adam Rado’s English Learning Fun Site(ELFS)
http://www.elfs.com/
This is the website I visited this week!
☆ I’m not going to use some guidelines on p.45 to evaluate this website, in other words, I will use my own way, which I think it’s more suitable for this website, to share what do I know and feel with you!

*First Contact:
To be honest, I think the homepage is a little bit confusing for me. Though there are only a few columns there, it’s not as easy as visiting SchMOOze University, which I introduced last week. Oh, maybe that’s because I’m still not quite used to learning English though English website. Before long, I decide to move my mouse to “books” part because there are two index fingers!

*Get into the “book” part:
There are three different columns that can help learners to acquire different English ability. For me, the most attracting part is TOON IN To IDIOMS. It uses funny pictures (in a pretty “comic” way) to help learners to remember the definition of the idioms. I think this is fascinating! When I was in senior high, my English tutor asked me to learn idioms by reading a book ( COMPACT FUN WITH IDIOMS ) Just like this website, the book also uses pictures and interesting dialogue to help students to learn idioms. I used to consider the book is the bible for me to learn idioms, but now I get another bible, which is the website! For most ESL students, it’s hard to memorize idioms and put them in to practice. But now, I do believe that we can learn better with the help pf this website.

*What do I learn?
This website also provides IDIOM QUIZ for learners to check their leaning. This is a really sweet idea!

*Room for improvement:
Just like what I’ve mentioned in the beginning, there are so many “indefinite” links on the pages, and this makes me do not know where to click. I mean, many links in this website do not have a very clear and specific instruction to follow. So, I cannot know what the link is after I click it. This is inconvenient and kind of wasting time.

*Here comes a conclusion:
Though there is some drawback in the website, I still strongly recommend learners to pay a visit! Because you will find out that learning idioms is not as difficult as you thought!

A Website in Ch 2 (CALL Essentials)

Ch2 ---Developing and Practicing Reading and Writing Skills

SchMOOze University(http://schmooze.hunter.cuny.edu/)
This is the website which I explore in Ch2.
*Goals: Provide ESL students a lively and an interactive environment to learn
English.

*Presentation: It has 20 links on the homepage. And each link bring learners to the section they want. It's an extremely simple-to-use and a clear homepage.

*Appropriateness: Because there are many links, students might need more instructions before entering those different websites. It would be great if there are some brief introductions.

*Outcomes: Learners have more opportunities and access to communicate with other ESL students or even native speakers.

*Evaluation: Evaluation is not the main part of the website.

*Notes: The link, "Dave's ESL Cafe on the Web" is really interesting! Dave has the experience of teaching English in Japan where he discover and cultivate his ability of teaching English. There is a short and funny video in the that website. Pay a visit to it! Here is the video


For ESL students, this is a really helpful website because it provides an "authentic" access to learning English. I've already created my own account, but I haven't tried to talk to anyone. I am really looking forward to "having my own room! Though I'm still not quite sure how to use this website efficiently, I do believe that I can benefit a lot from this amazing platform.


Last but not least, not until I played the game of “treasure hunting”(Oh, I named it by myself, I am not pretty sure the correct name of this game) did I know this website’s another“main attraction.” However, I did not have a good time in the game. Frankly speaking, I still cannot know why this game can make Schemooze much more famous. Haha, if you are interested in my experience in this game, you may see check it …it titled as Lab 2 (reflection) :)