Technical Review
Due Date: Nov 11th
What is it worth? 15% of your grade.
For some ideas of possible tools, check this page, and explore on your own!!!!
Page Requirements:
If you do a .doc format, this will probably take at least 10 pages due to the use of lots of screen captures. I have many samples available that we'll look at in class. I expect that the vast majority will use Camtasia to create their technical review as a movie instead. The Mac people in the class will likely use iMovie (and Quick Time for screen recording).
Page Requirements:
If you do a .doc format, this will probably take at least 10 pages due to the use of lots of screen captures. I have many samples available that we'll look at in class. I expect that the vast majority will use Camtasia to create their technical review as a movie instead. The Mac people in the class will likely use iMovie (and Quick Time for screen recording).
Description
As part of your course grade, you will be required to write (or film) a Critical Review of Technology[1]. This review will be similar to a critical
review of a book, but with a CMC
twist. For the review you should explore
the Internet, inside a VW, etc. to find some tool, technology, or product that you
think might be useful (or not useful!) for teaching technology-enhanced language learning. This might be some website you find that
encourages chat among speakers of different languages, some cool new social
networking site, or any other tool you discover that you believe has a
potential use for language learning (including text, audio, or video). This, of course, might also be a tool that
you find within Second Life, or a review of some other Virtual World program. Remember, this is a critical review, so the tool you review may not be perfect! It is also quite possible (or very likely!)
that the tool you choose was not expressly created for the purpose of CMC as it relates to language learning.
As part of this critical review process you must give feedback to 1-2 of the reviews written by members in your collaboration group.
As part of this critical review process you must give feedback to 1-2 of the reviews written by members in your collaboration group.
Your critical review should include the following sections:
Part I. A concise description of the tool being
described. This is similar to the
summary part of a critical review of an article. Therefore, this section of your review should
describe the tool, not evaluate it. For this section you should answer the
following questions[2]:
- What is the “bibliographic” information for the product? By this I mean that you should provide information that will allow your readers to find and/or potentially download the technology under review. You should also mention who created the tool (probably a company, but perhaps an individual)
- How is the product described by its creators?
- What is the product designed to do?
- How do you use the product? (This should be a step-by-step set of instructions that will let your readers understand how to use the product. I strongly recommend the use of screen captures in your paper as part of this process. As you might imagine, this is where the pages can really add up!)
Part II. The second section of your critical review is
the critical part (insert groans
here—pardon the pun). In this section
you will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the product as it relates to
CMC and also talk about how it might be used by teachers. In this part of your review you should answer
the following questions:
- How easy or difficult is this product to use? This answer should include a discussion of required technologies (Do you need a newer computer? Do you need a high speed connection? Do you have to download something onto your computer? Do you need a head set or webcam?).
- Who do you think would most benefit from using this product?
- How could this product be used to enhance language learning? It is possible that the answer to this question is not discussed at all on the website for the product—answering this question will depend on your insights. In answering this question, please give some very concrete suggestions. For example, you might briefly discuss how an individual learner might use the technology for ATALL, or you might discuss how a language instructor might make use of the technology for a CMC activity in a classroom (or between two classrooms separated by thousands of miles).
Please feel free to make additions to either of these
sections!
Remember, that most of you will use Camtasia or some other screen capture and editing software to "write" your technical review. I'll be showing you a couple of these in class that I'll make, so you'll have models to follow!
Remember, that most of you will use Camtasia or some other screen capture and editing software to "write" your technical review. I'll be showing you a couple of these in class that I'll make, so you'll have models to follow!
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