ELI inaugurated a computer classroom with nine Pentium stations in the summer of 1995. The facility permits instructors to integrate computer technology into their lesson plans. Three of the teachers who have used this exciting resource discuss its impact on their classes.
"The use of the computer in the Level II classroom was an adventure for all of us," says Maia Sponseller, "as many students had never used one before and I had never taught a course on computers. However, we pulled through with flying colors!" Approximately 20-30 minutes of each class period were spent doing various reading, writing, or grammar exercises on the computer. Students worked in pairs or small groups to discuss the proper use of grammar and to correct grammar exercises, answer reading comprehension questions, or summarize a text together. Also, students were asked to send Maia a bi-weekly journal via e-mail to help develop writing fluency. "I responded to the journals, remarking on the topic as well as some grammar points," she says. "My class put forth a great effort. Without a doubt, we all learned a lot!"
In Reading and Writing in Your Field, students do a great deal of work on improving their library research skills. "In the computer classroom," says Patience Phillips, "they were able to hone those skills without making an additional trip to the library." Students accessed a number of Morris Library's electronic resources, including the catalog of books and various popular and scholarly indexes, directly from the language classroom. They also learned about the latest source of up-to-date information, the World Wide Web. Students began by investigating the Web page of a newlywed couple, whose Web address was published in USA Today, viewing the wedding photos and reading about the bride's wedding dress and the ceremony itself. "Several students even e-mailed the couple their good wishes!" says Patience. From there, students "surfed" off in many different directions within the Web, finding valuable research materials for their reading and writing projects. Not just a research tool, the computers also were used in their capacity as writing tools, with some students composing directly on the computer for the first time. Already competent word-processors, students learned through use how to make the most of the text-shaping functions offered in Word 6.
Computers in an oral skills class? While this may seem strange to some, for students in Barbara Morris' Level III Listening/Speaking class, their use has become a natural extension of classwork. Barbara explains, "The computer screen can be a stimulus for discussion, as students try to answer questions, complete a survey or play a team game, or a tablet on which students can consolidate their ideas to share with their classmates. It is also part catalog and encyclopedia, and I show students how they can access information on Gopher and Netscape concerning topics which come up in class, such as housing ads and information on campus facilities." Some of Barbara's students have also given presentations in class on how to use different software programs, such as Powerpoint and Netscape. Because the screens are linked using the Robotel system, their classmates can follow their explanations on the screen in front of them. In this way, the computer becomes itself both a visual aid and a topic for discussion.
Barbara Morris also taught a seminar for African educators on desktop publishing in the computer classroom this past summer, using the newly installed PageMaker 5.0 for Windows software. "In just five classes, participants were able to scan photographs and 'publish' a one-page newsletter," she says.
"My current English through Desktop Publishing class is discovering how to download graphics from the Web, which they can use in the student newsletter, New Voice. They are also learning how to convert word processing files done on the PCs in the computer classroom so that they can be imported into PageMaker files on the Macintosh computers in the public sites," Barbara added.
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| Students Susana Fernandez and Hoo Young Lee collaborate on a project in the ELI computer classroom. |
