CALL on the cheap Using services freely available on the Internet

CALL on the cheap

Using services freely

available on the

Internet

Types of service available

E-mail

WWW

Bulletin boards

E-mail groups

E-mailExchange letters with

individual studentsGood way to submit

assignmentsBecomes unmanageable with

large numbers of students

WWW 1

Post lesson or course outline: students can view before or after lesson.

Extends possible scope of lectures: with student preparation, even difficult lectures may be comprehensible.

WWW 2

Requires technical proficiencyCan be very time-consuming:

may need to keep updating site

StaticNon-interactive

Bulletin Boards

ezBoardPost information about lecturesStudents ask questions or make

commentsOther students can read all postingsTrue interaction: group-based

learning

Bulletin Boards 2

No notification of new messages

Long topics/forums with many topics can be confusing.

E-mail groups/mailing list

Yahoo Groups (was eGroups)Mail automatically delivered to all

members: no need to check for new messages

Owner can choose whether to allow members to send messages

E-mail groups 2

Interface not as attractive as ezBoard

Psychological difference: “receiving” e-mail; and“participating in” a discussion

ezBoard details

http://www.ezBoard.com/

Press CREATE button on homepage and fill in details as prompted.

Board top page for students

Yahoo Group details

http://groups.yahoo.com/

Press CLICK HERE TO REGISTER and follow instructions

Don’t give students the “subscribe” email address because they won’t be able to join from a communal computer;Use web or invitation methods!

Website details

Homepage: introduction to course goals, etc;list of topics

1 page per topic or per lecture:questions;links to more information

Preparation

Give students list of addresses: website, ezBoard, and Yahoo Group

Before each lecture...

Make webpage in advance

Create new forum on ezBoard

Send message using Yahoo Groups:

brief mention of topic;

links to webpage and ezBoard

forum

Ongoing

Visit the board regularly and post replies to maintain student interest.