An Experience with Semivirtual courses on Reading Comprehension

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An Experience with Semivirtual courses on Reading
Comprehension
Unidad académica Escuela de Educación Facultad
Centro de Lenguas Profesor Jorge Villegas A. E
mail jorge.villegas_at_upb.edu.co

• Action Research Report
• UPB, 2005

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Jorge Villegas A., TEFL Specialist from
Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Associate
teacher at the Language Center - UPB. Previous
presentations on Computer Assisted Language
Learning related topics at ELT conferences
ASOCOPI 39th conference, Santa Marta, 2004
Jornadas del Maestro Investigador 2003-2005, UPB
I Congreso Internacional sobre soluciones CALL,
EAFIT, Medellín, 2004 I ACT languages, Cali,
2005.
Unidad académica Escuela de Educación Facultad
Centro de Lenguas Profesor Jorge Villegas A. E
mail jorge.villegas_at_upb.edu.co
An Experience with Semivirtual courses on Reading
Comprehension
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An Experience with Semivirtual courses on Reading
Comprehension

• Keystones
• The Dearing Report (1997) searched for the
  promise for improving the quality, flexibility,
  and effectiveness of higher education.
• Conversational Framework (Laurillard, D (1993)
  Rethinking University Teaching A framework for
  the effective use of educational technology,
  London Routledge), who based on Gordon Pask's
  Conversation Theory (1976).

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THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

• Britain and Liber (1999) a Framework for
  Pedagogical Evaluation of Virtual Learning
  Environments

Charts taken from the Joint Information Systems
Committee Technology Application Programme
(JTAP)s website http//www.jisc.ac.uk/
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INTERACTION WITHIN A VLE
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A Semivirtual Experience with Reading
Comprehension Courses
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A Semivirtual Experience with Reading
Comprehension Courses
Basic Models for on-line courses ContentSupport
model static body of content is the core of the
course and it is supplemented by tutorial
support. The level of on-line interaction is
relatively low. Wrap-around model Materials are
wrapped by activities, on-line discussions. Mason
(1998) refers to this model as a 50/50 model
because students interact on-line half their
time. Integrated model The course is defined by
collaborative activities, needs and group
activities. Resources are contributed by
participants or tutors as the course develops
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Basic Skills and Topics

• Recognition of parts of speech (Nouns,
  Adjectives, Verbs, Adverbs, and others) and the
  function of roots, prefixes and suffixes.
• Parts of sentences and paragraphs topics, topic
  sentences, main idea, supporting sentences,
  concluding sentences.

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Basic Skills and Topics

• True/false cognates and dictionary use.
• Guessing meaning from context by typographical
  clues.

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Basic Reading Skills

• Recognizing True/False statements or looking for
  answers by skimming and scanning techniques
• Recognizing a texts outline /structure

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Influencing Factors

• Requirement for graduation
• Short time (40 hrs) for the course
• Heterogeneity No English mastery needed
• Place and Time for the course
• Availability of resources

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Difficulties

• Heterogeneity and assessment
• Lack of technological literacy
• WWW access restrictions
• Time for the activities
• Risk of cheating
• Other

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A Semivirtual Experience with Reading
Comprehension Courses
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A Semivirtual Experience with Reading
Comprehension Courses
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A Semivirtual Experience with Reading
Comprehension Courses
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A Semivirtual Experience with Reading
Comprehension Courses
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A Semivirtual Experience with Reading
Comprehension Courses
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A Semivirtual Experience with Reading
Comprehension Courses
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A Semivirtual Experience with Reading
Comprehension Courses
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References
Britain, Sandy Liber, Oleg. (1999) A framework
for pedagogical evaluation of Virtual Learning
Environments. University of Wales-Bangor. Taken
from the URL http//www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/docume
nts/00001237.htm on October 20/2003 Charts taken
from the Joint Information Systems Committee
Technology Application Programme (JTAP)s
website http//www.jisc.ac.uk/
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References
Unesco, 2004 Information and Communication
Technologies in Teacher Education, A Planning
Guide. Taken from http//unesdoc.unesco.org/images
/0012/001295/129533e.pdf, Warschauer, Mark.
(1998). Interaction, negotiation, and
computer-mediated learning. In M. Clay (Ed.),
Practical applications of educational technology
in language learning. Lyon, France National
Institute of Applied Sciences Retrieved June,
2002 from the World Wide Web http//www.gse.uci.e
du/markw/papers.htmlWarschauer, M., Kern, R
(2000). Theory and practice of network-based
language teaching. In M. Warschauer R. Kern
(Eds.), Network-based language teaching Concepts
and practice . New York Cambridge University
Press. Retrieved December, 2001 from the World
Wide Web http//www.gse.uci.edu/markw/nblt-intro.
html
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For More Information

• Contact me at Language Center UPB or
• Email me
• jorgehv_at_upb.edu.co
• jorgehumbertovillegas_at_yahoo.com
• jorgevillegas_at_epm.net.co
• Paper soon availabe at my website
• http//www.upb.edu.co/cdelenguas/ourprojects.hml