For Educators:

Constructivism is an educational theory that serves the best interests of the student. “In constructivist learning environments, teachers encourage a view of knowledge as understandings that can be put into action, rather than received as truths” (Boethel & Dimock, 1999, p. 12). The aims of this site are to incorporate constructivism in a manner that utilizes hypermedia for the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. Most importantly this site aims to do this while incorporating the various multiple intelligences of the student.

On the Video page of this website there is an activity titled “Digital story assignment.” This activity is designed to get students creating hypermedia in a context that utilizes students’ prior knowledge. “If knowledge is defined as understandings that can be put to use…then knowledge may be characterized as ‘similar to a set of tools,’ and like tools, ‘can only be fully understood through use’” (Boethel & Dimock, 1999, p. 6). Students must come to terms with their own capabilities by realizing them through practice. By creating a digital story, using a program like Camtasia, students will be able to create expressive dialogues in English, yet not be limited by self-imposed inhibitions that often make themselves apparent in person to person dialogues. The assignment requirements for verbal, aural and visual content satisfies aural, spatial and linguistic multiple intelligences.

On the Travel page of this website there is another activity titled, “Interactive Map Activity.” This was designed to satisfy similar multiple intelligences as those outlined above, however I feel that there is a greater stress upon the linguistic multiple intelligence. This is due to the focus of the assignment being placed on a verbal presentation of the interactive map. Both of these activities have been specifically designed to draw out existing knowledge and expand upon this knowledge from within a practical context.

As far as the website construction is concerned I tried to create a site that was both aesthetically pleasing yet functional. It was important to me to establish an environment that would appeal to both my colleagues and students alike. I feel that a website experience should be one that contributes in some way to the user’s life. Whether that contribution is an interesting piece of information or an inspiration to do further research on a topic the level of influence may vary. “When users gain more experience with the medium and designers use common-sense interface designs, the problem of disorientation might diminish” (Wang, 2003). If a website is easy to use, then the content of that website will be that much easier to understand.

When constructing and designing this website I tried very hard to adhere to ADA standards. For every audio and video file that I have referenced I have created a text based website depicting the dialogue for the media used. It is important to me that all people have the opportunity to visit my site. If some of you feel that I have failed in properly creating a user friendly environment for all people, then please send me an email and I would be glad to hear your criticisms.

Overall this website was created to be used as a teaching tool and not an object for instruction. It is not my intention to simply place my students in front of the computer and watch them fumble through the material. I hope that with guidance and conversation my students will use this website in a way that promotes the practical application of the English language. It is a depressing state of affairs for the EFL learner in that they rarely get the opportunity to exercise their knowledge and understanding. Hopefully this website can serve as a stepping stone for their progression towards English language fluency.

Bibliography:

Boethel, M., & Dimock, K. V. (1999). Constructing knowledge with technology. Austin, Texas: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.

Wang, H. (2003). Hypermedia: A brief literature review. Journal of Educational Computing, Design & Online Learning .

For Students:

Here you will find a website designed by your teacher. Please take a look at the resources I have made available and please feel free to make any suggestions. I am here to serve your best interests and this can be very difficult if I don’t know how to do this. If you have a question…ask it. If you have a comment…give it. If you simply want to give your opinion…give it.

There are some things on this site that have been specifically designed for use in the classroom. Please feel free to get involved with anything on this website in your own time. Most of the activities are creatively open ended and repeating an activity procedure might create drastically different results the second, third, even fourth time you complete it.

My overall aim is to get you using hypermedia in different ways. I hope for you all to become excellent English speakers in an increasingly technological world. In order to achieve this goal we must engage technology in the language classroom. Number one on the top of my list of goals for this website is for you to have fun. Thank you for visiting my website.