ARCALL

PLN slide show by Vance Stevens

2010-08-13T11:24:00.007-03:00

Vance Stevens visited La Plata and gave a presentation on PLN.
More than twenty teachers enjoyed his presence. Susana Canelo from Del Valle , province of Buenos Aires, drove 400km to share this event with us.
(click on the photo to see it bigger)

We'd like to share Vance's slideshow with you.

PLN

View more presentations from Escuela de Lenguas UNLP.

2009-11-01T16:18:00.001-03:00

Dear followers:

We are pleased to announce that the Social Networking 2009 moodle forums were officially opened today, Nov 1st, at 12:00 am GMT. With 567 English teachers from all over the world registered in our Moodle, we had the pleasure to start what promises to be one of the most successful online events of the year.

Thank you for your support and enthusiastic participation. We hope you join the discussions, the Second Life Tour and all WiZiQ videoconferences. Don't miss any.

Enjoy the conference!

Social Networking Team

Social Networking Conference 2009

2009-09-19T21:06:00.004-03:00

Dear friends,

We are delighted to inform you that from November 5-8, 2009, we will be running the Social Networking 2009 Conference. This open-knowledge event will be completely online and free and it is aimed at elluminating ELT practitioners to grow in the use of social networks as learning development tools.

This event is being jointly organized by AVEALMEC and ARCALL, two Latin-American associations, one based in Venezuela and the other in Argentina, interested in promoting the use of ICT in the language classroom.

For this event, we invited conference speakers from different parts of the world:

George Siemens -Canada

Etienne Wenger -US

Vance Stevens -UAE

Nik Peachey -UK

Charalambos Vrasidas and Maria Solomou -Cyprus

Nicky Hockly -Spain

Erika Cruvinel and Ronaldo Lima –Brazil

Rita Zeinstejer and Paula Ledesma -Argentina

Nellie Müller Deustch –Israel

Carla Arena –Brazil

Graham Stanley –Spain

Jennifer Verschoor, Evelyn Izquierdo and Erika Cruvinel –Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil

During four days, our guest speakers will be sharing their experiences and expertise with participants and will help us grasp a better picture of how social networks can be used in the language teaching and learning field. We will be discussing about the concepts and theories around social networks, communities of practice and the Web 2.0, as well as about the use, advantages and drawbacks of social networking tools.

Join us and participate in this amazing learning experience!

http://avealmec.org.ve/

Spread the word! Let´s get socially connected!

E-greetings from,

Pete Sharma in Rosario

2009-09-19T18:30:00.023-03:00

This morning we attended a presentation by British author and material designer, Pete Sharma, on Using Technology in ELT. He started off by carrying out a brief survey on the level of familiarity teachers in the area have with ICT. We were supposed to rate ourselves from 1 to 5 on each of the following categories: knowledge, skills and attitude. The survey yielded the following results: most teachers got a score between 5 and 11, with very few EFL professionals placing themselves at either extreme of the continuum i.e. hopeless technophobes or tech-savvy technophiles.

While we can say that most teachers are acquainted with some tools, such as CD ROMs, online dictionaries and blogs, there were many questions about podcasts, authoring software and concordancers. The greatest technological gap we noticed in terms of equipment was probably the widespread use of Interactive Whiteboards in the British school system, which certainly aroused a great deal of curiosity among the local EFL professionals.

However, as Sharma pointed out, the most important considerations are still pedagogical, how teachers can make the equation technology - materials - learning relevant, instead of just recreating old practices in interactive formats. Most importantly, how the access to ubiquitous digital content and an always updated "world wide corpus" is changing the very nature of the language we teach.

Photo: Macmillan Santa Fe

III SBS Conference by Prof. Carla Raguseo

2009-06-21T16:50:00.006-03:00

Dear ARCALL members,

Last Friday, June 19th we had the pleasure of giving a presentation called Towards E-Learning 2.0 on ELT with Jesica Bassani at the III SBS Conference for English Language Teachers Blending and Bonding in Rosario, Argentina. We analyzed how we can build communicative online learning environments based on the principles of the Web 2.0. It was an amazing experience and we got a lot of positive feedback from the teachers who attended the session.

Prof. Carla Raguseo

http://carlaraguseo.edublogs.org/

/http://ticsylenguas.edublogs.org/

Towards E-Learning 2.0 in ELT

View more OpenOffice presentations from Carla Raguseo.

Why We Need To Teach Technology in School

2009-06-07T22:23:00.000-03:00

II Jornadas Internacionales en Córdoba

2009-05-31T17:53:00.003-03:00

Los días 27, 28 y 29 de mayo se llevaron a cabo las II Jornadas Internacionales de Tecnologías Aplicadas a la Enseñanza de Lenguas en la Facultad de Lenguas de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.

Allí estuvo presente ARCALL , representado por las profesoras Jennifer Verschoor y Nelba Quintana.

II Sessions on Distance Learning at National University of La Plata

2009-05-23T19:39:00.002-03:00

Click HERE to see the article

A blog post thanks to Evelyn

2009-05-23T19:31:00.004-03:00

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Avealmec and ARCALL bound together

Last April 3, Jennifer Verschoor (president of the Argentinian CALL Association – ARCALL) and Evelyn Izquierdo (ESP teacher at Universidad Central de Venezuela and Avealmec member) got together to make a presentation on Social Bookmarking. It was a presentation offered to participants of the blended course “21st Century for the EFL Class” currently carried out by Professor Doris Molero at Universidad Rafael Belloso Chacín, Maracaibo-Venezuela.

This course, sponsored by Integrating Technology for Instruction and Learning and led by Nellie Deutsch and Doris Molero, is being supported with live presentations every Friday by Webheads in Action members.

It was not only a real pleasure to work with Jennifer again, but also to share knowledge and experiences with colleagues from all over the world. We appreciate very much Nellie and Doris’s invitation to collaborate with this course, and also congratulate them for such a great contribution to the ELT community.
Below you will find the PPT presentation.
Prof. Evelyn Izquierdo

Social Bookmarking

View more OpenOffice presentations from EvelynIzquierdo.

Teacher Training course at Escuela Normal Superior N°3 "Almafuerte"

2009-05-19T10:16:00.001-03:00

Yesterday I started a three session teacher training course at Escuela Normal Superior N°3 "Almafuerte"- ISFD 97_Profesorado de Inglés organized by Prof. Patricia Guzmán ( Head of the English Area of the Englsih courses at Escuela Normal Superior N°3 . These sessions are free for the students.
I had the pleasure to have as participants some colleagues of mine such as : Prof. Anahí Cuestas (Escuela de Lenguas Coordinator of the English area), Prof. Silvana Barboni (teacher at Profesorado de Inglés) and Prof. Silvana Fernández (Literature specialist and teacher at ICAB) The session started with an introduction to ICT (Information and Communication Techonologies). Then we started exploring Google tools : mail , chat and calendar.The audience consisted of digital immigrants with different levels of computer literacy. Some of them were curious about what blogs and wikis are, and the advantages of having an account in Facebook.
Prof. Nelba Quintana
http://englishvirtualcommunity.blogspot.com

Career Strategies Congress

2009-04-28T23:34:00.003-03:00

The III National Conference for Teachers of English was held in Concepción del Uruguay from April 22nd to 25th. Teachers from different provinces (Tucumán, Corrientes, Formosa, among others) attended to different presentations at the new local auditorium. The event was fantastically organized by Ma. Laura Perrotta and Roxana Embon.
I met Gustavo Gonzalez - vice president of APIBA (Asociación de Profesores de Inglés de Buenos Aires) and vice president of FAAPI (Federación Argentina de Asociaciones de Profesores de Inglés) - who delighted the audience with his energy, videos, music and magic - yes, he performed some magic tricks.
I also met Fabiana Parano who spoke about how to tell a story in L2 and performed "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe.I also spoke with Mady Casco about her material concerned with the first episode of the TV, her series "LOST" and her experience as teacher trainer.I spoke about Worldcall 2008, presented ARCALL and spoke about mobile learning.
The final raffle was amazing. I think everybody got a present from the different sponsors even a training course in England and another in South Africa.

2009 EUROCALL

2009-04-14T22:33:00.002-03:00

The 2009 EUROCALL conference will focus on New Trends in Computer Assisted Language Learning with a special emphasis on innovative ways of collaborating and working together in the advancement of language learning and teaching.

The conference sub-themes are an example of the numerous branches that have grown out of the CALL tree and is an illustration, we think, of the roots that this area has planted in a collective will to actively contribute towards better understanding and improving language learning with the assistance of information and communications technologies

Congreso nacional de profesores de inglés en Entre Ríos Abril

2009-04-09T09:43:00.003-03:00

Congreso nacional de profesores de inglés

En la ciudad de Concepción del Uruguay se realizará el 24, 25 y 26 de abril, la segunda edición del Congreso nacional para profesores de inglés “Resources for Teachers”, organizado por Career Strategies.

El mismo se llevará a cabo en el Nuevo Auditorio Municipal (8 de Junio y Urquiza), con el aval del Colegio del Uruguay JJ. de Urquiza-Uader y con el auspicio de la dirección de Cultura de la municipalidad de C. del Uruguay, de la Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos (Uner) y la Universidad de C. del Uruguay (UCU) y el apoyo de San Cristóbal Seguros Generales.

El mismo contará con disertantes reconocidos a nivel nacional e internacional como lo son Gustavo González, Silvia Schnitzler, Alfredo Bilopolsky, Mady Casco, Charlie López, Ana María Bergel, M. Belén Milbrandt entre tantos otros que hablarán sobre las diferentes temáticas del idioma inglés. También participará la prof. Nelba Quintana hablando sobre "Latest trends in Edu-Tech" el día 24 de abril.

El Congreso contará también con auspiciantes del más alto nivel que expondrán y venderán sus productos en el hall de entrada. Faber Castell, Muresco, VIF, Oxford, Advice, VIF, SBS son algunos de ellos.

Las vacantes son limitadas, y ya hay un gran número de inscriptos de todo el país. Quienes estén interesado en asistir se pueden comunicar a los siguientes teléfonos 03442-15626895 o 03442-15544147 o enviar un mail a career-strategies@hotmail.com. La página web es www.career-strategies.com.ar

Thomas Robb's contribution to our blog

2009-03-08T09:04:00.004-02:00

It was my great pleasure to participate in the ARCALL online chat session in Elluminate on February 23rd with Jennifer Verschoor -ARCALL funding member- sitting next to me in my hotel room in Buenos Aires and others participating from distant locations. I'd just like to summarize what I said there and to add a few comments.

One person asked how CALL was organized in Japan and this was a very important question, because it brings to the fore a very important issue. Most teaching with technology, be it CALL or anything else, is not very organized at all. Despite the relative wealth of equipment available in Japanese universities, and recently even in secondary schools, only some teachers use technology and, for the most part, they stick to one or two tools that they are most familiar with and can use comfortably with their students.

Very few schools have any sort of coordinated program where multiple teachers collaborate and use the same tech tools in some sort of uniform fashion. Perhaps this will come in the future, but right now what I see is rather chaotic. Yet, on the other side of the coin, we need to be aware of attempts of institutions to force technology on us because generally it is not done effectively. Stories about rooms of computers gathering dust and other major expenses that have done to waste are legion. Administrations tend to spend money (when they have it) on hardware, but ignore the software and human elements (training and support) that are needed for any new technology to succeed. Teachers need to "buy in to" the system if it is going to have this chance.

The establishment of ARCALL is an important step in the right direction because technology is not going to succeed unless there are enthusiastic users to support the other teachers in their initial attempts to use technology and to experiment with what is currently available in order to discover what works best. I hope that ARCALL can grow into a major force towards the implemtation of technology in the schools so that students can take advantage of all of the wonderful advantages that it offers for langauge practice, communication and cultural exchange.

Thank you, Thomas for your article!

(photograph taken at WorldCall August 2008)

Mundo Bloggers in Buenos Aires

2009-03-06T19:30:00.002-02:00

Next Friday, March 20th, there will be an interesting event about blogs.

More info about the event HERE

Slide show of session about WorldCALL with Thomas Robb

2009-03-03T17:06:00.001-02:00

Arcall 6 Thomas Robb

View more presentations from Arcall Call argentina. (tags: arcall tics)

Hornby Regional Summer School:Learning, Sharing, Networking

2009-02-17T18:30:00.004-02:00

by Ronaldo Lima Jr

Bio: Ronaldo Lima Jr holds an MA in Applied Linguistics (Universidade de Brasília) and is a Linguistics PhD student (Universidade de Brasília). One of his main interests is technology-enhanced language learning/teaching. He currently works as an EFL teacher and a member of the EdTech Team at the binational center Casa Thomas Jefferson (Brasília, Brazil) and you can follow him online at http://ihopeitworks.blogspot.com, http://brazilbridges.net and as “ronaldojunior” on Twitter.

Between January 20 and January 30, 26 teachers and teacher trainers from 7 Latin American countries met in Sán Nicolás, Argentina, for the Hornby Regional Summer School, whose theme was “Mind the Gap: new technologies and teacher training”. The participants were from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela and the course was funded by the British Council and the Hornby Educational Trust.

Led by the course director Gavin Dudeney (Spain) and the academic tutor Nik Peachey (Morocco), the participants had the chance to explore different web tools that can be used in the language classroom. The mornings were used for input sessions, which fostered enough curiosity to make the hands-on afternoon practice rather effective. On the last day, participants were encouraged to come up with action plans to be taken throughout 2009 and, by sharing their resolutions, they proved the fruitfulness of these days of networking.

Along with Ana Falcao (Brazil) and Pedro Castro (Cuba), I was invited to be a speaker, delivering one session about “Using Text Online”. I decided to explore the educational uses of blogs, wikis and google docs and started my session by letting participants choose which of these three tools would be of greatest interest for them and, even though all participants had already had experiences with at least one of the tools, wikis was a virtually unanimous choice, so here is a little bit of the session for the readers who could not attend the school:

The word wiki means quick in Hawaiian and is the word used to describe a type of webpage that allows multiple editing. The key behind a wiki is collaboration. Take Wikipedia, for instance. It is the largest encyclopedia today and it was written (and is still being written) by internet users. There are many wiki hosts nowadays that allow anybody to create a wiki for free from scratch and then invite other people to read it or collaborate with it. There are three basic permission levels you can choose when building a wiki:

· Fully public: any visitor can read and edit your wiki;
· Partially public: any visitor can read your wiki, but only invited or authorized authors can edit it (this is the usual default setting);
· Fully private: only invited or authorized visitors can read and/or edit your wiki.

There are many educational uses for wikis, for example:

· Teacher trainers can build wikis to keep their training sessions in the same place, allowing trainees access and revisit the training session (ex: http://brazilbridges.net/) after is has been delivered. One great advantage of this use is that teacher trainers that are going to deliver sessions together can plan and prepare the sessions in different physical places, just by editing the wiki together;
· Teachers could use wikis for process writing activities, since the nature of wikis is very much parallel to the nature of process writing: drafting, revising, having peers review, editing and publishing the final work (ex: http://practicalwriting.pbwiki.com/);
· Teachers and teacher trainers may have a wiki to advertise some project and/or ask for collaboration in that project (ex: http://strategiesproject.pbwiki.com/);
· Wikis might be useful for discussing specific webtools and how they can be used in language learning/teaching (ex: http://voicethread4education.wikispaces.com/).

All in all, as any other webtool, wikis have been used for various purposes, according to teachers’ creativity, which seems to be endless and unlimited. It is just a matter of overcoming a possible fear of the unknown, learn the basics and dive into this technological possibility.

You can check out the blogs and wikis created by the Hornby School participants on my blog (http://ihopeitworks.blogspot.com/) in the post entitled “Hornby Summer School – Sán Nicolás Argentina”.

Post about the event by Gavin Dudeney HERE

Gavin Dudeney y Nicholas Peachey con ARCALL

2009-01-19T17:41:00.012-02:00

El pasado domingo 18 de enero, dos íconos de las TICs estuvieron con ARCALL : Gavin Dudeney y Nicholas Peachey.

Gavin vive en Barcelona, España. Es uno de los directores de The Consultants-e avocado a la sección diseñar y oficiar de tutor en Second Life. Es autor de los libros "How to Teach English with Technology" - Longman, 2007 (con Nicky Hockley) y "The Internet & The Language Classroom" - Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Nicholas (Nik) Peachey vive en Morocco, Africa. Es un experto en integración de TICs (Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación) en las aulas. Ha trabajado como profesor de inglés, capacitador de profesores y entrenador de TICs para el British Council e International House en varios países. Actualmente trabaja de forma independiente como consultor, capacitador y diseñador de contenidos y materiales.

Tanto Nik como Gavin tienen el encanto de aquellos que saben y transmiten sus conocimientos de manera simple y clara. Gavin sostuvo que la mejor manera para aprender un idioma es un "completa immersión", idealmente en el país nativo. Pero también sostuvo que Second Life puede ser una opción muy interesante ya que la interacción en el mundo virtual puede parecerse más a la vida real que la situación de clase. Actualmente viaja a distintos puntos del globo para hablar sobre la aplicación de las TICs o capacitar docentes.

Nik habló sobre su trabajo en los 3 blogs que desarrolla y al que le dedica gran parte de su tiempo.

http://quickshout.blogspot.com/

http://daily-english-activities.blogspot.com/

http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/

Ambos estarán a cargo de la Hornby School que se lleva cabo en San Nicolás.

( En la foto: Jennifer Verschoor, Gavin Dudeney, Nelba Quintana y Nik Peachey)

ICT and teacher training San Nicolás, 20-30 January 2009

2009-01-17T00:26:00.003-02:00

The Hornby Educational Trust, with the British Council, co-funds Hornby Regional Schools for English language teachers round the world.

The 2009 Hornby Regional School proposes to focus on the role played by new technologies in pre-service training and how they can be used to enhance the training of English language teachers.

Participants, from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela were selected through an open application process.

The course director is Gavin Dudeney is one of the authors of 'How to TeachEnglish withTechnology' (Longman, 2007).

The course tutor is Nicholas Peachey

Jennifer and Nelba will meet them in Buenos Aires and chat with them about the latest trends in ICT applied to language learning.

Are you ready to integrate Technology?

2009-01-06T20:50:00.003-02:00

Below you will find an article I wrote for ARTESOL

Teaching has changed dramatically in the 21st century with the advent of Web 2.0 tools like wikis, blogs and podcasts just to name a few. New technologies have changed the landscape of information and knowledge. Learning in this scenario poses new questions for us teachers. Anyone with access to Internet has the ability to create videos, text and audio that can be shared with a global audience. How can teachers be inspired to gradually start incorporating Technology in their daily teaching? Internet has become a big challenge for teachers and if used correctly is an empowering phenomenon.

But most teachers internally ask themselves why should I start using technology. My only answer to this interrogation is that Technology is here to stay. Integrating technology is not putting computers in the classroom without teacher training. Technology should be used effectively and efficiently to allow students to learn how to apply computer skills in meaningful ways. Consider the power you have as a teacher to start sharing students work with a real audience that is considered to be any student from the world. Below you can observe how teaching methods gradually started changing.

Traditional Approach
Note Taking
Research from Newspapers, journals etc.
Formal Communications. e.g. Letters
Watching videos

Digital Alternative
Word processors and voice recording
Online newspapers, Search Engines (eg. Google, Yahoo etc.)
General research Search engines and directories, webquests
Youtube, Multimedia Player, etc.
Email, Mobile phones, Blackberries, Chats and Forums
Formal writing Word processing, emails, blogs, wikis, etc.

When I finished my Teacher training studies some years ago I would have never thought that my students could learn from other students worldwide. Teachers were the only holder of knowledge and the center of the classroom. Technology has broken down the four walls of my classroom and has allowed my student to learn English in a real context. There is no greater rewarding experience than to see student´s motivation grow to levels one would have never thought. If we want to integrate technology we must be aware of our “digital natives” students. Teachers must be opened to sharing, connectedness and Networking.

The other question I heard many teachers asking me is how can they start integrating Technology. Recently ARCALL (Argentine Computer Assisted Language Learning) has been launched with the clear goal to help teacher integrate technology. We know that there are many compelling reasons to start incorporating technology and that many brilliant teachers are doing this.

ARCALL is a group of innovative language teaching professionals from Argentina which aim to:
• increase the use of educational technology in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teaching,
• collaborate in the integration of ICT in Argentina in ways that are effective and appropriate,
• assist teachers in integrating ICT into their daily practices and as a means of developing themselves professionally,
• train teachers on using computers and the Internet in English language teaching,
• develop a Research Area to further apply new ideas into the classroom.

I also suggest exploring other possibilities like teaching in a virtual world. Second Life is one of the many virtual worlds where students arrive to a virtual island where they have the chance to practice English in different places of this island for example near the ocean, at the theatre, at the disco or even in the supermarket. Everything is based on a communicative approach where voice communication, chat and instant messages are used. The teacher and the student create their own avatar. There is a huge variety of clothes you can choose from. You can also be teletransported from once place to another. Possibilities are endless and as a teacher your imagination is at full swing. Classes are really visual and dynamic and students have the great benefit of being able to practice 24 hours.

Another possibility is to create your own blog and share your experience with other colleagues. As head of a blog, I should say that the journey on how to incorporate technology in your classes is full of obstacles and rewards. If you are about to create one, I’d like to invite all teachers who have not already incorporated technology in their classrooms, to give it a try. I hope you enjoy the ride.

Trad.Prof. Lic. Jennifer Verschoor
ARCALL ( Argentine Computer Assisted Language Learning) President
References
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

Is technology rewiring our brains?

2008-12-08T11:07:00.004-02:00

More than 2,000 years ago, Socrates warned about a different information revolution--the rise of the written word, which he considered a more superficial way of learning than the oral tradition. More recently, the arrival of television sparked concerns that it would make children more violent or passive and interfere with their education.

Dr. Gary Small, a psychiatrist at UCLA, argues that daily exposure to digital technologies such as the internet and smart phones can alter how the brain works.

When the brain spends more time on technology-related tasks and less time exposed to other people, it drifts away from fundamental social skills such as reading facial expressions during conversation.

Small says the effect is strongest in so-called digital natives--people in their teens and 20s who have been "digitally hard-wired since toddlerhood." He thinks it's important to help the digital natives improve their social skills and older people--digital immigrants--improve their technology skills.

At least one 19-year-old internet enthusiast does not agree Small's idea: John Rowe, who lives near Pasadena, Calif., spends six to 12 hours online a day. He flits from instant messaging his friends to games like Cyber Nations and Galaxies Ablaze to online forums for game players and disc jockeys. " If I didin't didn't actively go out and try to spend time with friends, I wouldn't have the social skills that I do," said Rowe, who reckons he spends three or four nights a week out with his pals"

What is your opinion????

PS: Adapted from LINK

ARCALL at Escuela de Lenguas

2008-11-16T22:26:00.006-02:00

Yesterday there were educational sessions at the Escuela de Lenguas of the National University of La Plata celebrating its 15th anniversary.

The teachers who belong to the School staff shared the experiences or research work they have carried out this year. The sessions were grouped into three sections: ICT, Literature and Linguistics. As you may imagine, ARCALL was present in the ICT sessions ;-)

In this opportunity, Jennifer and I spoke about WorldCALL - what it is and its aims- and made a brief description of the latest trends presented in Fukuoka and our intention of spreading WorldCALL work. We also presented ARCALL (CALL Argentina) and invited the audience to join us.

Escuela de Lenguas 15th anniversary

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: nelbaq worldcall2008)

Blog commenting project

2008-11-07T12:34:00.000-02:00

Mrs. Durff - a very engaged teacher in the United States wants to know if there is an interest to establish a blog commenting project she started with her students.

She would also be happy if there are some peoples interested from outside US, also like inside. Her blog is avaiable here: http://durffsblog. blogspot. com/The students blog is avayable here.

If anyone feeling adressed by this - you can twitter her via @durff or skype "mrsdurff".

Slideshow about Wikis

2008-11-07T10:24:00.001-02:00

Check out the slide show here:

http://www.slideshare.net/aula21/los-wikis-como-herramienta-educativa-presentation.

Post about ARCALL in Rosario

2008-11-01T17:18:00.006-02:00

The following text was posted by Prof. Carla Raguseo in her blog:

El pasado mes de setiembre fue creada ARCALL (Argentine Association of Computer Assisted Language Learning), la primera asociación de estas características a nivel nacional en Argentina. Al igual que otras asociaciones profesionales de CALL en el mundo, ARCALL tiene como objetivo principal promover la utilización de TICs en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras. (Leer descripción en español aquí) Si bien en esta primera instancia está dirigida a profesores de inglés, según sus fundadoras, la idea es hacerla extensiva a todas las lenguas en el futuro.
Las profesoras Jennifer Verschoor, Nelba Quintana y Claudia Ceraso, miembros fundadoras, ya han diseñado una variedad de entornos virtuales para facilitar el intercambio y la comunicación entre profesores: un grupo Yahoo, un blog y una wiki para centralizar discusiones y debates, publicar anuncios y favorecer el trabajo colaborativo entre los miembros.
Para mayor información contactarse a arcall.info@gmail.com
Los invitamos a unirse para aprender y compartir. ¡Y a hacer historia!

Thank you, Carla for spreading the news!!!

ARCALL Spirit

2008-10-19T21:46:00.005-02:00

I want to publicly thank Argentine webheads Gladys Baya, ClaudiaBellusci, Susana Canelo, Marina Cantarutti, Nelba Quintana, VickySaumell, Jennifer Verschoor, Rita Zeinstejer and Monica Zuccoli for their support and participation in a presentation I did on Oct. 17 before a small group of Argentinian English teachers who are in theUnited States on a month-long Fulbright grant.

The Fulbrighters spent their first week at the University of Maryland, taking classes at the Maryland English Institute, where I teach. I was invited to give a talk before the group, and I decided to talk about Web 2.0 and using web tools in the classroom. As I had only 2 hours for the presentation, I decided that the most useful thing I could do would be to persuade them to join a Communityof Practice--either webheads or Learning with Computers or both--andto put them in touch with some of the webheads in Argentina.

To this end, I created a wiki at http://webrevolution.pbwiki.com/ and invited the Argentine webheads to address the group during the presentationvia Skype. They were wonderful--even those I invited at the last minute (becauseI kept finding new Argentine webheads--the country must be crawlingwith them!) took the time to add some personal information to acontact list I created in the wiki.

In addition, Susana, Claudia, Marina, Nelba, and Jennifer have created pages in the wiki to show webprojects they have done with their students and/or made VoiceThreadgreetings to the group; Jennifer (or was it Nelba?) added a link tothe ARCALL wiki; and Gladys, Susana, Monica, Nelba, and Vicky skypedin and addressed the group during the presentation. (This was my first time broadcasting synchronous voice to a f2f audience, and itwas mostly successful, although PowerGramo refused to record it [was it because it was a conference call?] and we did have some soundissues; thanks also to Moira who patiently talked to me while Steve Sharp helped me figure out a way to broadcast the conversation in ourmultimedia lab).

In addition, there was a lot of back-and-forth overemail as I planned the presentation and developed the wiki. Rita,Gladys, Nelba, and Jennifer gave me a lot of very useful advice and tips. The presentation was very well-received by the Argentine English teachers; I had a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with, and insome cases re-connect with, the Argentinian webheads; and the collaborative wiki we all made together is by far my favorite of all the wikis I have created. I have just opened it up for anyone to view,and I hope you will have a look and see yet again what a fabulous group of collaborators the webheads are. Many, many thanks, kisses and hugs to all who helped me out on this endeavor!

Posted by: "Nina Liakos" Sun Oct 19, 2008 6:36 am (PDT)

2008-08-21T11:17:00.008-03:00

Welcome to ARCALL!

The Argentinean Computer Assisted Language Learning (ARCALL) is a group of innovative language teaching professionals which aims to:

Increase the use of educational technology in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teaching.
Collaborate and assist in the integration of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in Argentina in ways that are effective and appropiate.
Train teachers on using computers and the Internet in English language teaching.

Provide a focus for the promulgation of innovative research, development and practice relating to the use of technologies for language learning.
Develop a Research Area to further apply new ideas into the classroom.

Support Special Interest Groups (SIGs)