A Presentation at the JALT-CALL Conference 2001
Saturday, 10:00 am to 10:45 am, Room 338
The Kinds of Materials That Can Be Put On-line
Traditional Materials
Just because the Web is new doesn't mean you should abandon things that have always worked well with students. Many of the same things you have always done with paper and recordings can also be done on the Web. Many of these materials can be easily created with the Netscape Composer (Freeware) and the RealAudio Producer (Freeware Version).
You may submit your quiz data to the Internet TESL Journal and they will put the quiz online.
Advantages: It's free. / The quizzes are interactive and game-like. / No advertising on the pages. / Quizzes are proofread again before being uploaded.
Disadvantages: You need to wait until someone else proofreads and uploads the quiz. (However, if you send in the data with a note that you want to use it right away, it can be put online immediately without proofreading and you will be sent the URL where the quiz is.)
You can download an application for either Mac or Windows that allows you to enter quiz data. This data can then be exported to an HTML/JavaScript file.
Advantages: It's fairly easy to use.
Disadvantages: You have to give an email address to register. / The generated filesize is much larger than it needs to be. / Earlier versions of Hot Potatoes generated multiple-file quizzes with framesets. / Requires more mouse-clicking than other similar quiz applications.
The "you have to give an email address" disadvantage can be ignored if you register for a temporary email address at hotmail.com or similar free email service.
An Interesting Option: Potato Skins (By Brian Nelson) is a freeware Shockwave quiz program that can use the XML files generated by Hot Potatoes.
Advantages: Easy to use. Allows students to immediately see the correct answer without needing the "latest" browsers. Filesize is small, thus files are fast to download.
Disadvantages: Question order is not randomized. The score is automatically kept by the computer, so they are less game-like.
HTML & WAV Files - Backward compatible to Netscape 2.0
At this time, there are no easy-to-use applications to help you do this kind of quiz. However, if you are moderately computer-literate, you can probably figure out how to do this kind of thing.
Listening / Hearing Minimal Pair Practice & Quizzes
CGI Quizzes, PHP, ASP, etc.
Here is one script: QuizTest (By Kristina Pfaff-Harris)
There are quite a few free Perl scripts on the Web that allow you to do quizzes graded by CGI.
Advantages: Some of them can email the results to the teacher.
Disadvantages: Sometimes a little difficult to install. Some servers won't let you use CGI. The time students wait for results is sometimes irritatingly long. Some require using cookies.
Hangman, Flashcards, Matching, Concentration, Word Search, Jumbled Words, ....
Advantages: It's free. / Activities are interactive and game-like.
Disadvantages: You must host your creations on their site with advertising on the pages. / You need to register an email address which means you may begin to receive spam. (I've received unsolicited mail from them.)
All handout passed out in class can be put online for students who were not able to attend class and for students who have lost their handouts.
Old tests can be put online for students to study. This gives all students a chance to see your old tests, not only students who have friends who have taken your class.
Outlines and teaching notes from each class. These can be used by students who have missed a class and by all students for reviewing.
Doing Things on the Internet
Pages with Guides and Explanations on how to ...
... send a virtual greeting card (Christmas, Valentine, ....)
... play games
... do other interesting things on the Web.
A Simple Page of Links (with or without descriptions)
Make a select list of places you think your students should visit.
Sites that make interesting reading.
Sites that provide interesting activities
How to (Effectively) Format Them and Advice on Common Pitfalls to Avoid