Today, the developed world has entered an age where
technology abounds in all aspects of our lives. The advances seen in the
communications industry extend to our communicative learning needs, so that
acquiring a foreign language can be made much easier and faster with the
assistance of technology.
Japan is a world leader in technology and communications. As founder
and executive director of CALICO (Computer-assisted Language Learning and
Instruction Consortium), I was pleased to co-host, with my colleagues, an
international symposium with ILS-BBC, on December 2-4, 1985, at the Tokyo
International Hilton. This was our most successful international conference
in my ten years of There has been considerable interest expressed in designing
and implementing a variety of exemplary programs to teach courses in numerous
disciplines with the assistance of a computer. As we study the feasibility
of such projects, we must determine objectively in what ways and to what
extent computer-assisted instruction (CAI) can make a significant contribution
to teaching concepts more effectively, by providing teachers, administrators,
and students with options that would not otherwise be available.
It has been my pleasure to direct CAI materials development projects
designed to teach foreign and second languages since 1975. In the course
of this research, several conclusions have been reached concerning ways
in which language teachers and administrators can remain in the forefront,
as CAI curricula are designed, implemented and evaluated:
- Competent teachers and administrators must be centrally involved in
designing and managing the teaching-learning process, - The letters CAI stand for computer-assisted instruction; that
is, the purpose of the computer is to assist, not replace, the teacher. - A major trend in teaching and learning during the past 10 years has
been toward the individualization of instruction through the use of interactive
multimedia courseware. We refer to this innovation as CAI/IL, (Computer-Assisted
Instruction/Interactive Learning). This has not only altered the basic
classroom situation, but the roles of teachers and students as well.
In the early days of interactive learning, there were pedagogical materials
such as books, audio tapes, movies and visual aids. Today, interactive multimedia
incorporates full-motion video, audio, voice recording, graphics, animation,
and interactive text. Multimedia is defined as the sequential or simultaneous
use of a variety of these media formats.
Access to technology, and access to computers in general, is constantly
increasing. Well-designed multimedia software should manage a variety of
multimedia, be easy to use, be exciting to look at, and most importantly,
be pedagogically sound. Premium products in this area provide tutorial,
simulation, practice, gaming, evaluation and training.
The teacher' s role is stronger than ever, especially when using multimedia
software. People make this work. The instructor' s role is to teach, familiarize,
integrate into the current curriculum, and to manage and evaluate students.
During this workshop, participants will quickly review the history of
CAI/IL and explore how this technology has improved over the years. They
will be able to work firsthand with software programs that exemplify
the technologies discussed. Teachers will learn how best to integrate technology
into their existing English training curriculum, and how to augment their
teaching using these technologies.
I have found that, in the traditional classroom, 30 to 35% of the information
is retained in the classroom. On the other hand, using interactive software,
there is a 90 to 95% retention rate in one-half the time. Multimedia courseware
attains the following major instructional goals: relevance, attention, confidence,
satisfaction, and participation.
Throughout my career, my goal has always been to enhance the learning
environment. I have served as a language teacher, language program director,
a language school owner, a teacher educator, a materials-development specialist,
a project director or principal investigator for numerous grants and contracts
from government agencies desiring to apply technology to the teaching and
learning of languages, and as the founder-owner of a software company dedicated
to designing and developing products for learners of ESL/EFL at all levels.
Whatever our future may be in CAI/IL, the extent to which we will be
successful depends more on teacher participation than upon any other single
variable. We hope that you will accept the challenge to become involved
in a way that is meaningful to you. Please join us for this workshop. I
look forward to participating again in JALT' s international conference
this year.