Using the Internet to teach language and
culture:
Making a class web page
Victoria Muehleisen
Institute of Language Teaching
Waseda University
This web page is based on a presentation given at the 36th Annual JACET
Conference at Waseda University on September 6, 1997.
Introduction
It seems that the Internet is everywhere these days: more and more
schools have computer labs with connections to the Internet, many
teachers and students are connected at home, and there are even Internet
cafes where people can walk in off the street and get connected.
Language teachers can take advantage of the current interest in the
Internet by using it in their classes; in doing so, they will at the
same time be encouraging students to use English outside of the class as
well. There are many different activities that fall under the heading
of "using the Internet", including e-mail and web browsing (see my
article in the
June 1997 Internet TESL Journal for more on these), but
making a class web page is one of the best ways to get students
involved in using English creatively.
Reasons for making a class web page
- It's fun and interesting, so students are motivated to use
English.
- Students can show off the results of their English study (for
example to their friends and to their e-mail penpals) and get feedback
through e-mail (from anyone who happens to read their page).
- Students learn to think from the point of view of foreign
audiences.
- It's a very convenient form of CALL (Computer Assisted Language
Learning) in that computer labs with Internet connections are very
likely to be already already equipped with the necessary software for
making web pages, e.g., a web browser and a word processing program.
Students can easily save their pages on floppy disk and work outside of
the classroom.
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Possible formats for class web pages
There are many possible formats for a class web page; how you choose to
organize your page and what you choose to include in it depends on many
factors, including the following:- Your students' level of English
ability: for elementary level students, for example, it might be better
to have pages with many graphics an a minimum of text.
- Your
students' interests and the topics being dealt with in the class: a web
page is a great place for students to show what they are learning in
research projects.
- The anticipated audience: Do you expect your
pages to be viewed by people inside your country or outside of it? Will
the pages be targetted toward a general audience, toward other English
students, or toward people with a special interest in a particular
area?
- The kinds of materials used on your pages: in addition to
text, it is possibleto include photos, drawings, sound clips, and
animation or short video clips.
To get a idea of the range of
possibilities, it's useful to look at some of the projects that have
already been carried out in language classes.
- The Daily
Life in Japan pages made by my 1996 Intermediate English
class at Waseda use photographs and short captions to show scenes of
daily life in Japan. These pages are aimed at a general audience of
people outside of Japan.
-
The Famous
Personages in Japan site at Kyoto Sangyo University is also
aimed at a general foriegn audience. It gives short reports on famous
Japanese people, ranging from musicians to sports stars to
politicians.
-
Students at the Helsinki Institute of Technology present essays (some
with photos) focusing on Finnish
culture. Their intended audience seems to be college
students around the world. Students at this school also take part in on-going writing
exchange program with universities in other countries.
-
Students at Chuo
University report on their research on the return of Hong
Kong to China and on issues surrounding the presentation of World War
II in history textbooks.
- Students in my 1997 Intermediate English
class made Individual Web
Pagesthis spring. They were free to design their pages to
their own liking, and the results are quite interesting.
-
Links to more class pages can be found at VOLTERRE-FR:
Internet Projects for Learners and Teachers of
English
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Starting with your own web page
In order to students how to make web pages, you'll need to learn first.
One of the best ways to do this is by making your own web page first.
When you do so, I think you'll quickly find that you web page is a great
place to put the information students often ask you for. My home page, for example,
includes class schedules, information related to on-going class work,
and interesting WWW links for students. Charles Kelly's article How
to Make a Successful ESL/EFL Teacher's Web Page has many
useful suggestions for teachers. As you begin working on your web
page, you will probably want to learn more about how the web works and
about HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language), the "code" used for making web
pages. One good starting point can be found on-line at theWorld
Wide Web FAQ. Any bookstore with computer books will also
have useful resources for beginners.
One of the first choices you'll
face in making a web page is whether to work directly with HTML code or
to use page making software. With software, it is easily to jump right
in and get started, but there are significant advantages to learning
HTML code.
First, in order to work directly with HTML code, all you
need is a word processing program (the files are saved as TEXT files
rather than in the word processor's format). Since most of us already
have one, there's no need to buy any additional software. It's
convenient for students too; if they save their files to floppy disk,
they can work on any computer at school or at home without having to
worry about purchasing any particular software.
Second, with
software programs it can be hard to correct mistakes and fine tune your
page for the look you want. I've been frustrated by most of the
software programs I've tried for this reason. The one exception is
software that allows you to see and directly work with the HTML code,
such as the Page
Spinner shareware for MacIntosh.
To teach yourself
HTML, I recommend the following WWW sites:
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Getting students started
Start by browsing the WWW: in class, have students look at web pages,
especially those made by other students. Ask them to think about what
makes a good page--a page that is interesting, easy to read and
understand, and quick loading.Next, have students work on individual
pages to practice using basic HTML codes. You can break this down into
steps.
- Have students choose the graphics they will use (perhpas
their own photos, scanned into the computer) and write a basic version
of their text. Have them think about the arrangement of the page:
Where will the pictures go? How many separate pages will they use? How
will they be linked together?
- Add the HTML codes to the basic
document and test it on the screen. On Macs or computers running
Windows, an easy way to do this is toopen two windows on the screen.
One has the word processong program with the page in HTML code, while
the other has the browser. Use the "open file" command on the browser
to look at the text file. Students can modify their HTML code, save the
file, and then look at it with the browser to see what the page looks
like.
- Encourage students to experiment. They can try different
sizes of font, different background colors, and different placement of
graphics,for example. Encourage them to make links to their favorite
WWW sites.
- Have students check each other's pages online, proofreading and
testing links.
- When the individual pages are finished, link them
up to the class web page.
Once the students have made individual pages, they will have a good idea
of how HTML works and they'll be ready to work on a class project.
Where you go from here depends on the kind of project you choose to
do.To the Top
Some legal issues
It's very easy to download text and graphics from other web sites and
use them in your pages, but it may be illegal. My advice: don't even
think about it!. Rather than downloading such material, you can link to
it from your page. It's easier and perfectly legal. You are also
legally safe if you use text and graphics you've created yourselves.
You can create your own graphics by scanning in photos you've taken or
using a drawing program.
You can also buy collections of graphics (photos or clip art) which you
can legally include in your pages. One example is the Web Explosion
collection on CD-ROM.
Publicize your pages
Once your pages are finished, you'll want people to know it's on the
web. A good way to do this is to register your pages with search
engines such as Alta
Vista and Yahoo. You can
also ask for your web pages to be added to lists for ESL teachers, such
as the VOLTERRE-FR
List.
More information about publicizing your site can be found on-line at http://ep.com/faq/webannounce.html
Good
luck with your web pages!