F I EL D S TU DY 3 Technology in the Learning Environment Episode 6

Online Learning

Target Competency At the end of this activity, you should be able to evaluate the appropriateness of internet resources to the learning tasks. Specific Tasks 1. Observe a class. Take note of the topic being presented. 2. Surf the net to find sites that provide support materials and/or interactive programs on the topic. 3. Evaluate the materials and/or sites. Table 1. Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet to the Learning Process

Advantages
Makes our search for additional knowledge on a certain topic easier with the help of the internet. Can be saved and stored electronically (documents and

Disadvantages
Makes us more dependent to electronic documents thus our visit in the library and reading of tangible books more rare/less. Too much exposure to the

reading items assigned are found in the internet). Internet is almost available in every spot of the city. Internet enables learners to communicate through video chat or online messaging to the authors of their book. Internet enables learners to communicate with his teacher and classmates. Can give various drills which are very useful for delivering lessons, whether in grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, or listening, as they are tireless in their delivery. Some specific advantages are: organization of materials, including volume of material and random presentation, scoring and record keeping, including allowing student control, audio-cuing, and recording and storage of students responses are really commendable. In terms of giving test such as proficiency or diagnostic test,

laptop or computer damages our eyes which makes us print the saved documents. Printing is more expensive than photocopying. But students living in rural areas find it hard to find internet caf. Some sites in the internet are edited by unreliable people. Not all students can afford to spend much money to pay for internet fee. Internet connection may sometimes be disrupted and power interruption can also limit our access to computers. Not all students have computers. Not all students are literate or proficient in internet and computer use. In terms of giving feedback in an online learning, learning and communication become critical because mechanized systems do not have the capability to modify feedback with the same sensitivity that

using internet i.e. adapting reliable websites, can actually establish more quickly than a standard pencil and paper test. Expert at storing large amounts of information and categorizing or sorting it by user-determined category. Can discuss current events among groups of geographically dispersed students. Can make question and answer sessions outside of class time. Teachers can actually make some announcements formally even if shes not in the classroom. Using e-mail discussion for peer support can promote peer collaboration.

a human instructor does. Also most of the websites available are foreign context (Decontextualized). Learners cant actually relate to it.

Table 2. Evaluation of Online Materials

Sites / Materials
www. Institutechildrenslit.com

Comments
It was just actually more on advertising. The site was looking for interested test makers or writers. On our part as a student of test construction and materials design for English, we cant still apply on this site because we are still on our stage of learning test making.

www.tesol.org

This site is intended for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL). The site is very nice because it provides online discussion, resource centers, and education program for teaching English as a second or foreign language. It also has a community of English teachers who help and teach one another. But then, theres a limitation to the usage of this site. You can avail their complete offerings and benefits if you are part of their organization. Their membership fee for global electronic membership costs thirty-five U.S. dollars, and their

membership expires, so you need to renew again your membership. www.britishcouncil.org This site provides a comprehensive list of presentation for language skill assessment and evaluation. An example of these presentations is Barry O Sullivans Theories and Practices in Language Testing. Presentations in this site are easy to understand because it provides illustrations to its contents. www.teacherneedhelp.com It gives us list of strategies for teaching English, Student management, framework of classroom life, principles of teaching, content based teaching, how to test reading comprehension and many more. In short, this site is very helpful in guiding us to our future career in teaching English.