Thoughts, Reflections, Stomach Grumblings Regarding EAL Technology/Online Resources

This post has one purpose: to fulfill my CS Professional Development. Well, that's not quite true. I can honestly say I found it quite a worthwhile endeavor to see what resources are currently available to EAL/ESL teachers. You don't want to reinvent the wheel when someone has already gone through all the trouble. From my limited experience already, I know one thing for sure: good lessons can take a lot of time to make.

The EAL Teaching/Student Learning Resources list that I've compiled for the past month showcases a lot of great resources currently available to teachers and students to promote English as an Additional Language -- both in and out of the classroom. The more and more I dug around the Internet, the more I realized that there is A LOT of stuff out there, and A LOT of useful things too. In fact, just today I stumbled upon The English Blog which is literally bursting with useful websites, multimedia, web 2.0 applications and other resources that are all related to EAL instruction. It was one first time in recent memory that I was a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information was out there regarding technology for EAL instruction.

It is apparent that many people are taking a focus at the issue I based my presentation on: Integrating Technology into EAL Instruction. It makes me excited, hopeful perhaps, that there are many creative people out there trying to create meaningful applications and online experiences to help facilitate the need of engaging EAL/ESL instruction. Babbel, which I've discussed in my last post, is a great example of this.

Hmmm, I'm not too sure what else to add for a summary or conclusion. I'm definatley not going to explain everything I've found and listed on my EAL Resources Page, as it's quite self-explanatory and many pages have a lot of overlap as to what they provide. Take a look and let me know what you (genuinely) think about them. Leave a comment. I dare you.