Elementary language educators have been using CDROMS with their students for over a decade, and the Internet for the past five years.  But what are the criteria for selecting 'educationally sound' elementary CDROMs and Internet sites for language learning and teaching?  How do you know a good CDROM/Web Site when you view it?    In the space of 30-90 minutes, you're going to grapple with these questions and more. 

The Task

By the end of this lesson, you and your group will answer these questions:

1. Which two of example CDROMs and/or Web Sites loaded on LERC's computer stations are the best ones for elementary Language Arts teachers and learners? Why? 
2. Which two are the worst? Why? 
3. What do best and worst mean to you? 

The Process

1. First, each participant will have a hard copy of the worksheet. To answer the questions given above, you'll break into groups of four. Within the group, each of you will take on one of the following roles:

 

The Efficiency Expert: You value time a great deal. You believe that too much time is wasted in today's classrooms on unfocused activity and learners not knowing what they should be doing at a given moment. To you, a good ESL CDROM is one that delivers the most learning bang for the buck. If it's a short, unambitious activity that teaches a small thing well, then you like it. If it's a longterm activity, it had better deliver a deep understanding of the topic it covers, in your view.

The Affiliator and Language Expert: To you, the best learning activities are those in which students learn to work together. CDROMs that force collaboration and create a need for discussion and consensus are the best in your view. If the learning expereince on a CDROM could be 'done' by a student working alone, it leaves you cold.  As well, you believe the activities should meet the needs of every language learner in the group (and class), and model grade appropriate language and curriculum.

The Altitudinist: Higher level thinking is everything to you. There's too much emphasis on factual recall in schools today. The only justification for bringing technology into schools is if it opens up the possibility that students will have to analyze information, synthesize multiple perspectives, and take a stance on the merits of something. You also value sites that allow for some creative expression on the part of the learner.

The Technophile: You love this internet thang. To you, the best CDROM is one that makes the best use of a computers technology (bells and whistles). If a CDROM has attractive colors, animated gifs, and lots of links to interesting sites, you love it. If it makes minimal use of the computers capabilities, you'd rather use a worksheet.

2. Individually, you'll examine as many of the CDROMs/Web Sites as possible, and use the worksheet to jot down some notes of your opinions of each from the perspective of your role. You'll need to examine the CDROMs/Web Sites fairly quickly. Don't spend more than 7 minutes on any one CDROM/Web Site. Your instructor will keep time.

 
3. A list of the computer stations containing the CDROMs you'll be analyzing will be posted in LERC.  These are the three websites to evaluate:
 
Word Central

Scholastic Field Trip

PBSKIDS Word Helper


4. When everyone in the group has seen all the CDROMs/Web Sites, it's time to get together to answer the questions. One way to proceed would be to go around and poll each team member for the best two and worst two from their perspective. Pay attention to each of the other perspectives, even if at first you think you might disagree with them.

5. There will probably not be unanimous agreement, so the next step is to talk together to hammer out a compromise consensus about your team's nominations for best and worst. Pool your perspectives and see if you can agree on what's best for the learner.

6. One person in each group should record the group's thoughts.

7. When debriefing time is called, report your results to the whole class. Do you think the other groups will agree with your conclusions? 

Conclusion