Return-Path: <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id j3LIt6G03089; Thu, 21 Apr 2005 14:55:06 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 14:55:06 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <20050421185147.89374.qmail@web52505.mail.yahoo.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Debra Morris Smith <dlmsmith@sbcglobal.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-ESL:10836] Re: online courses as a solution to the growing demand for ESL classes X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Status: O Content-Length: 2915 Lines: 76 Having too many students isn't a problem many of the programs in other parts of the country are having, especially with the reduction in refugee and student numbers since 2001. I think sometimes teachers fear that students won't attend class if they can get ESL classes online, but my sense is that a creative combination on online and traditional instruction can be excellent. I'm using the Internet a lot this year with my advanced adult ESL students in a free public adult education and literacy -- though more Internet-as-realia than Internet-for-instruction -- and my own experience as an Arabic student bears out the value of online instruction. I have benefited more than I can possibly say from intense daily study at the Arab Academy, an online school based in Cairo, and it hasn't decreased my commitment to my weekly university Arabic class at all; in fact, the constant availability of the online course has strengthened my commitment to my studies, and I'm sure I'm far more proficient than I would ever have become without online instruction. But watching my classmates there, I have observed that online instruction requires a compatible learning style; while many students thrive in the online classroom, I have seen others flounder and fade away who might have done well in a face-to-face environment. (I imagine that the reverse would also be true and that adding online instruction to the menu would only increase the extent to which our education culture is sensitive to learning styles.) I will admit that as a teacher I want to mediate my students' online experience and provide lots of unpredictable human interaction, but at the same time I am delighted to think that the Internet can provide access to English instruction for underserved language-learning groups and English enrichment for all, and I admire your persistence in promoting Pumarosa. Debbie Smith --- PAUL ROGERS <pwaynerogers@yahoo.com> wrote: > I recently read an article about the crisis in > ESL programs for the growing number of Spanish > speakering High School students in the Southeast. > And I know that in Calilfornia funding for > community college programs is being cut back > drastically, and sooner or later will affect adult > ESL > classes. > At the same time, the number of ESL classes > online is increasing. My own web-site now has about > 10,000 hits per month. > In talking to several teachers, I get the > impression that there is a resistance to using > online > courses. But - how else can the "crisis" be handled? > So, I would like to solicit some discussion > with > people on this list concerning online courses and > their place in ESL programs. > Thank you, > Paul Rogers > www.pumarosa.com > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam > protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com >
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