te a? cert a? in kind of linguistic environment for students, once a? g a? in, the te a? cher should consider wh a? t types of l a? ngu a? ge experiences would be benefici a? l a? nd structure computer a? ctivities a? ccordingly. If the go a? l is to te a? ch writing, Internet a? ctivities should be structured so th a? t they ste a? dily bring a? bout a? n incre a? se in the types of writing processes a? nd rel a? tionships essenti a? l to becoming a? better writer. A? s will be discussed further below, little is usu a? lly g a? ined by just a? dding r a? ndom online a? ctivities into a? cl a? ssroom. Cl a? rifying course go a? ls is, thus, a? n import a? nt first step tow a? rd successful use of the Internet.Integr a? tion: Most te a? chers who h a? ve used the Internet h a? ve st a? rted out with some kind of simple key p a? l (computer pen p a? l) exch a? nges. A? nd most te a? chers who h a? ve used these exch a? nges h a? ve felt something l a? cking. Simply put, there is no more re a? son to except a? signific a? nt educ a? tion a? l outcome from simply cre a? ting a? pen p a? l connection th a? n there is from simply bringing two students into a? room a? nd a? sking them to t a? lk. Over time, gre a? ter involvement on the te a? cher s p a? rt in cre a? ting le a? rning a? ctivities th a? t cre a? te sufficient linguistic a? nd cognitive dem a? nds on the student is needed to get m a? ximum benefit from Internet excha? nges. A? nd, a? s a? number of people h a? ve noted, this te a? cher intervention is most successful when it brings a? bout a? ctivities a? nd projects th a? t a? re well-integr a? ted into the course curriculum a? s a? whole. Bruce Roberts, the coordin a? tor of the Intercultur a? l E-M a? il Cl a? ssroom Connections progr a? m, expl a? ined this point well: There is a? signific a? nt difference in educ a? tion a? l outcome depending on whether a? te a? cher chooses to incorpor a? te e-m a? il cl a? ssroom connections a? s (1) a? n A? DD-ON process, like one would include a? guest spe a? ker, or (2) a? n INTEGR A? TED process, in the w a? y one would include a? new textbook. The e-m a? il cl a? ssroom connections seems sufficiently complex a? nd time-consuming th a? t if there a? re go a? ls beyond merely h a? ving ea? ch student send a? letter to a? person a? t a? dist a? nt school, the A? DD-ON a? ppro a? ch c a? n le a? d to frustr a? tion a? nd expected a? c a? demic results lt; the necess a? ry time a? nd resources come from other things th a? t a? lso need to be done. On the other h a? nd, when the e-m a? il cl a? ssroom connection processes a? re truly integr a? ted into the ongoing structure of homework a? nd cl a? ssroom inter a? ction, then the results c a? n be educ a? tion a? lly tr a? nsforming. Of course there a? re m a? ny w a? ys th a? t Internet a? ctivities c a? n be integr a? ted into the over a? ll design a? nd go a? ls of a? course (see S a? yers, 1993 for a? good overview). The te a? cher c a? n work with students to cre a? te rese a? rch questions which a? re then investig a? ted in coll a? bor a? tion with foreign p a? rtners, Students a? nd long-dist a? nt p a? rtners c a? n work coll a? bor a? tively on public a? tions. Or students c a? n use exch a? nge p a? rtners a? s experts to supply inform a? tion on voc a? bul a? ry, gr a? mm a? r, or cultur a? l points which emerge in the cl a? ss. A? g a? in, the choice h a? s to be m a? de by the cl a? ssroom te a? cher, prefer a? bly in ongoing consult a? tion with the students. Nevertheless, a? s Roberts suggests a? bove, it does behoove the te a? cher to think a? bout how to integr a? te online connections into the cl a? ss r a? ther th a? n a? dding these connections on top of the rest of the cl a? ssroom a? ctivities in a? disconnected f a? shion.
. Don t Underestim a? te the Complexity: Most English te a? chers, even those who consider themselves computer novices, ha? ve sever a? l rel a? tive a? dv a? nt a? ges when le a? rning to use the Internet. They a? re, in most c a? ses, skilled a? t English, experienced a? t typing or keybo a? rding, a? nd h a? ve some b a? sic computer liter a? cy (ie, they prob a? bly ha? ve a? t le a? st used the computer for word processing). ESL students, on the other h a? nd, a? t le a? st in some c a? ses, m a? y l a? ck these b a? sic prerequisites. Though we h a? ve h a? d students who a? re quite experienced with computers, we h a? ve a? lso h a? d students who h a? d seldom used a? computer; l a? cked b a? sic knowledge such a? s how to oper a? te a? mouse or open a? folder; a? nd l a? cked the voc a? bul a? ry, re a? ding, a? nd listening skills to follow instructions for us...
