CALL/CALLT Website Evaluation

WEBSITE: http://www.manythings.org/

1. Who are the users the website/websites is/ are targeting?

The website targets are people who are learning English as a second language (ESL) or as foreign language (EFL). It also targeted the TESL/TEFL teachers as there are various kinds of activities that can be used in their lesson.

2. What sorts of things are the application users expected to do with regards to learning and using (or even manipulating!) the content?

The websites offers many interesting exercises. The users can choose variety of exercises; quizzes, word games, word puzzles, proverbs, slang expressions, anagrams, a random-sentence generator and other computer assisted language learning activities. The user just has to choose an exercise and wait for the exercise to load. When it finishes uploading, the users can start doing the exercise. Just need a simple click of a mouse.

3. What sorts of computer skills are the application users expected to have in order to operate/access/use the application?

The skill needed is just basic computer and internet browsing skill. The user just need to click on which exercise they want to do and wait until it loads. Some exercise need special plug-ins which the user can download it directly upon suggestion from the web browser. Except for some audio files which needs the user to download it first before they can access it. Other than that, the user just needs basic computer and internet stuff.

4. While you are “playing”/”accessing”/ “assessing” the website(s), does it remind you of anything you do (or have done) in a classroom, or with a teacher, or with a fellow classmate, or in self-study?

Back in my schooldays, learning with computers only exists if you are in a computer club. However, the exercises are quite similar to what my teachers do on the blackboard. The difference is it is easier now with the technology. The teachers won’t have to waste their time writing it on the board or waste their money by photocopying it for each student. They can just simply project it to the white screen or on the wall.

5. What setting will the website(s) best used in: independent study lab with no teacher available, lab associated with a class, a teacher-led class with one or a few computers?

I guess the website could be used in the setting of independent study lab with no teacher available since it does provide instruction and answers. However, it is still best if there are teachers monitoring and helping if for some reason the students need any help. For example, downloading and installing the required plug-ins for some exercise.

6. Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying the application?

There are a lot of theories of language learning underlying in the application since the exercise covers all the language skills. The most theory of language learning that can be pinpointed in the application is cognitive theory since most of the exercises involve drilling.

7. How well are the Vygotsky’s constructivist theory of learning and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence theory applied to the chosen website(s)?

If the students do the exercises in pairs, it could be said that Vygotsky’s constructivist theory of learning is applied in the website since the pairs can discuss with each other on the answer; students construct knowledge through social interactions with others. But, I doubt that the students need to do the exercises in pairs. As for Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence theory, there are some intelligence that can be located such as ‘Verbal-Linguistic’, and ‘Intrapersonal’.

Even though there are bits of these theories applied in the websites, in my opinion, the website just focus on letting the user have fun while learning.

8. In 1980s and early 1990s, there was a major debate on ‘whether the computer was “master” of or “slave” to the learning process (Higgins and Johns, 1984). In relation to your evaluation – is the computer a replacement for teachers, or merely an obedient servant to students?

I don’t think that computers are a replacement for teachers. They are mechanisms that aid the teachers in the learning process. Computers are meant to be used to ease the learning process. No matter how much information inputted in the computer, it can never explain better than a real life teacher. Obedient servant to the students? I guess so, since it is just a tool used in helping with the learning process.

9. Would you like to use the website(s) yourself in your future work?

If I become an English educator, I will surely use the website. It provides many interesting exercises to be use. It will definitely ease the problems of getting interesting material for the students to use. Even though the design and layout of the website is not that interesting, the exercises are still useful. If I do not become an English educator, why would I use it in my future work right?

10. Suggestions / Recommendations.

The website owner could put some effort on the design and layout of the website. Make it more attractive so that people will visit the page and utilize it. Notes on the skills tested can be really useful. Some tutorial can be helpful too. For the exercises, it is best if not so many drilling exercise only.

Nadzeri Md. Suhaimi

2004327076

U8A