Thanks, Bruce.

Others:  Do you see the same patterns  with your students' sue of the  
Web at home that Bruce sees, or different patterns?

Bruce asks: "My guess would be that the ABE students are a lot less  
connected since they may not be literate in any language, are  
probably on the bottom rung economically and are probably not sharing  
a home like my new immigrants. Am I right?"   What are your thoughts?

David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net


On Jan 3, 2006, at 11:35 PM, Bruce Moon wrote:


> David and others,

> Interesting that you should ask about who is connected. I teach two  

> classes

> and I didn't mention my second class because it is mostly senior  

> Koreans in

> their 70's. While none of the older Koreans  are connected (one of my

> students said his granddaughter told him to stay away from the  

> computer so

> he wouldn't break it!), about half of their children n are and  

> manage to do

> things like buy airline tickets for them. I do have an Afghan woman  

> in that

> class who has just begun  voice chat with her widespread family  

> (Russia,

> Denmark, Texas, California, Hawaii). A Korean in her 50's who is  

> visiting

> her daughter here uses the Internet for everything (banking, shopping,

> travel, e-mail, etc.)

> My refugee class is mostly made of family groups so I can't  

> separate out the

> genders; if one is connected, thay all are and are online together  

> as a

> family. Since they are new immigrants, most of them live with  

> family who

> have been here for a while. When that's the case, they invariably  

> have a

> computer and the Internet at home. Today, for example, I started  

> the new

> year and had a family of four Moldovans(mother, father, and grown  

> son and

> his wife) who have been in the country for less than a month. They are

> living with the father's sister's family and they have a computer.  

> I just

> launched a Hot Potatoes health unit to support my class instruction  

> and they

> were eager to continue what they started in the lab at home. The  

> percentage

> of connectedness is about 75%. Internet "telephony" takes the form  

> of voice

> chat. I haven't polled, but I'd guess a third of those who connect  

> use voice

> chat. All of those who have the Internet use e-mail.

> My population is too small to see trends. I do see that the younger

> immigrants are extremely adept in using technology. I'm thinking of  

> two

> young ladies in particular. One has a website that she uses to bridge

> between home (Ukraine) and here. She spent her spare time learning new

> software packages and got a digital video camera with her first  

> paycheck.

> And so did the other young lady who is from Iran. She also has a video

> camera, does constant voice chat when she is at home (I've visited the

> apartment she shares with her mother on two or three occasions) and  

> often

> has a cell phone on the other ear, while listening to contemporary  

> Iranian

> music over the web at the same time. This seems to echo what we are  

> hearing

> about our own digital generation. It may be a worldwide phenomenon.

> This off-topic, but maybe not.... Last night I got a Skype call out  

> of the

> blue from a stranger. He spoke only a few English phrases and I had a

> difficult time getting his country from him. He kept on throwing  

> out French,

> German, and Russian phrases at me. I couldn't communicate in any of  

> them.

> Looking at his profile and his few responses to me, I discovered  

> that he was

> a Kurd living in Poland. He was 15 and his 10 year old brother was  

> with him.

> They were trying to coax me to speak Kurdish phrases and would  

> applaud when

> I mimicked them accurately (I felt like a trained chimp act...).  

> Their aim

> appeared to be to practice English, but were willing to talk in  

> German,

> Russian or French as well. Tonight I voice chatted with a friend from

> Guangdong, China and text chatted with the husband of a former  

> student who

> is from Cambodia. I guess one trend I may be seeing is a lot of  

> barriers are

> coming down.

> My guess would be that the ABE students are a lot less connected  

> since they

> may not be literate in any language, are probably on the bottom rung

> economically and are probably not sharing a home like my new  

> immigrants. Am

> I right?

> Bruce Moon

> Adult ESL teacher

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: technology-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:technology- 

> bounces at nifl.gov] On

> Behalf Of David Rosen

> Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 11:30 AM

> To: The Technology and Literacy Discussion List

> Subject: [Technology] Internet Use from Home, Simulations

>

> Bruce and others,

>

> You mentioned that a simulation to teach online banking and shopping

> might be valuable.  I agree, and think simulations have a lot of

> potential in adult literacy education. If Technology e-list

> subscribers will e-mail me or post to the list some of their favorite

> simulations I will compile these and add a section on simulations to

> the Literacy list. ( http://alri.org/literacylist.html )

>

> Bruce, what % of your students (by gender) have access to the

> Internet from home? Of these, what % use e-mail?  What % use Internet

> telephony? What trends do you see in access and use of the Internet

> from home?  More ESL/ELL students getting access from home? More

> using e-mail? More using Internet telephony? Or something else?

>

> How about other teachers on this list?  have you surveyed your

> students? What trends are you seeing? Are there differences between

> ELL and ABE students?

>

> David J. Rosen

> djrosen at comcast.net

>

>

>

> On Jan 3, 2006, at 2:10 PM, Bruce Moon wrote:

>

>> I suspect that the nature of the Internet and the abuses of it may

>> have

>> already skewed what we teach. I doubt if very many of us are going

>> to teach

>> our students how to download music or use a chat room.  Because it

>> involves

>> setting up an account and submitting personal information, we

>> probably won't

>> be teaching students to use auctions either. Perhaps we do need to

>> examine

>> our teaching, though, to make sure that we don't direct our

>> teaching in just

>> the way that we use the Internet. Here I am thinking of how  

>> elementary

>> school teachers tend to teach fiction books when boys are

>> interested in

>> non-fiction, perhaps unknowingly transmitting the idea that  

>> reading is

>> "sissy stuff". If it there was a simulation to  teach online

>> banking and

>> shopping, those might be valuable skills to teach our students of

>> both sexes

>> to minimize the digital divide.

>> 	As a sidelight, I teach refugees from former Soviet Union countries.

>> Sometimes within days of entry, the men in the men who are online

>> searching

>> auto auction sites. Within their community, there is a network of

>> workers

>> who can take a damaged auto and make it look like new. They are

>> looking for

>> just the right car to take to their family friends. I drive a 1991

>> Toyota

>> pickup; all of my students drive 21st century cars.

>> 	Thinking about my students, I don't think that the stereotypes

>> necessarily apply as they are driven by their needs as newcomers

>> who want to

>> continue their connections with their homeland. E-mail to friends

>> back home

>> seems to be equally used by both. Both men and women like to

>> download music

>> from "home". First language news sites are also popular, perhaps

>> more with

>> the men. And a few of the  more net savvy of both sexes find the  

>> first

>> language java chat sites that the school's proxy hasn't been able

>> to block.

>> Bruce Moon

>> Adult ESL educator

>> Rio Linda, CA

>>

>>

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