Software for Students
Interactive Software and Books for Learners of
English
Reviews
RESEARCH AND PREVIEW OF THE Easy Writer SOFTWARE PROGRAM BY JANE BORIS HANSER
Elizabeth Engler
Brunilda Peña-Febre
Paulette Santillo
June Van Slooten
Professional Development Project
May 1, 2005
Table of Contents
Introduction
Application of
Theory
3
Results of Research and Preview
Fountain
Court
6
Bethlehem
Center
7
Conclusion
8
Appendix
A
10
Appendix B
14
Attachments-Student’s Feedback Responses
References
15
Student’s
Surveys
16
Bethlehem Center
I 17
ESL 2 AM Fountain
Court II 18
ESL 3 AM Fountain
Court III 19
ESL 3 PM Fountain
Court IV 20
ESL Multi-Level
Shohola V 21
Attachments with CD-ROM
Software 22
Research and Preview of the Easy Writer Software Program by Jane Boris
Hanser Results of Research and Preview Fountain Court The first group introduced to the software was ESL 2 AM. This
group had requested grammar as a focal point of the lessons during the first
week when this course began back in March 2005. The Easy Writer Demo was a
resourceful reinforcement tool; as well as a group assessment, allowing
individuals to define their own strengths without any pressure or group
acknowledgement. Only one student had ample computer experience; the rest had
minimal or no software exposure. On the day of the demonstration the age range
of the participants was from 18 to 51 years, with only one male participating.
On the average the students were comfortable with navigating the program and
with the lessons. The final group introduced to the software was ESL 3 PM. As
understood by the instructor of that class, grammar was covered throughout the
course, following the curriculum guidelines. The age range of this group was
from 22 to 44 with one male student participating. Only one student had
computer experience. This class was divided on their feelings with the level of
difficulty of the lessons but found the software easy to navigate. This group
not only participated in helping each other obtain the correct answers, but
showed each other how to use the mouse easily. They experienced problems with
the mouse but it did not deter them from reaching their goals. They all left
the class requesting the grammar software lessons to continue. The Bethlehem Center While using the Easy Writer at the Bethlehem Center for
ESL 3 PM, the following conclusions were drawn. Only one person in eight found
this lesson difficult, and three of the students found navigation within the CD
a problem. Most of the students would recommend this program to others as well
as would use this program at home. All of them wanted to see more lessons like
this. Regardless of levels, it was learned that all of the students who used
the program wanted more computer learning experience in the classroom whether it
was this program or another. Some were frustrated with the program, finding it
difficult to understand, but all of them appeared eager to learn more. When
some of the students were having difficulties, other students would jump in and
help them out. This exercise quickly became a group effort. From what I
observed, .the actual grammar lessons presented were challenging to the
students. Also, utilizing this software in the classroom immediately emphasized
the need for a computer literacy course at the Bethlehem Center. Several of the
students at night inquired about such a course and were very eager to gain more
fluency with computers. I believe that this software will lead them in the
direction of better computer familiarity along with improved grammar skills. Conclusion At both Fountain Court and The Bethlehem Center, we learned
that though many students were not computer savvy, this particular software was
user friendly. It was a group activity and they realized that this program was
not intimidating. Since the reward factor was always a positive response to
correct answers with no negative feedback on wrong answers, students quickly
became eager to participate. The method by which instruction was delivered made
a significant difference. As a supplemental tool, it would be an additional
incentive to our learners. It added involvement, enhanced group planning of
content, and students were actively projecting outcomes. Including
technological tools within the classroom setting, not only enriches the learning
environment, but meets the needs of visual learners who would otherwise be
intimated with tangible materials. This software program was a welcome change
from the traditional textbooks and worksheets. The appendices which follow
include authentic responses from instructors. Student surveys are also
attached. Appendix A Instructor Feedback and Commentary Instructor I When presented with this program for the first time to both
myself and my class, I was immediately struck by several thoughts: 1. Student feedback was immediate. 2. Student risk-taking was very low as wrong answers went
undetected except by the person using the mouse. 3. Students were engaged for the entire class period. 4. Students were so caught up in the program that when
helping each other, they remained speaking English instead of lapsing into their
native language as they are often prone to do. At first many of the students were somewhat intimidated by the
computer, especially those students with little of no experience; however, they
quickly got over the fear. (I was surprised by the results of the survey which
showed that most of the students in my advance class were fairly inexperienced
with the computer). Lack of computer experience was no barrier to using the
program because essentially, all the students had to do was point and click.
Within one or two turns, then entire class was comfortable operating the
program. This is an important advantage. By using a program which was so
simple to operate, the students were able to focus, undistracted on the true
purpose of the program which was to learn and practice concepts of grammar,
instead of “wrestling” with the computer and trying to get it or keep it
working.
Respectfully submitted, When I notified my Multi-Level ESL class in Shohola that they
would preview a CD grammar program, they were delighted and very excited. The
day of the preview, everyone reported directly to the computer room. There were
five computers already set up with the CD-Rom program Easy Writer . Each
student quickly mastered the basic keyboard operations and seamlessly accessed
the Level 1 grammar program. Students worked on their own, occasionally asking
for assistance, but more often than not, sat figuring out the answer themselves.
June Van Slooten, Instructor Appendix B Students Feedback References Software for Students (1995-2004). Retrieved from the World
Wide Web
http://www.softwareforstudents.com/Grammar%20HELP!%20Main%20Page.htm
Smith, M. K. (2002). Malcolm Knowles, informal adult
education, self-direction and andragogy, the encyclopedia of informal education,
www.infed.org/thinkers/et-knowl.htm . Retrieved April 30, 2005 from the
World Wide Web
http://www.work911.com/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=4214 Zinn, L. (1999, August). Philosophy of adult education
inventory. Lifelong Learning Options, Boulder, CO.
Introduction
Product: Easy Writer System Requirements:
Windows
XP, ME, NT, 2000, 95, 3.1
Author and creator: Jane Boris Hanser
Jane Boris Hanser describes her product in the brochure as
software that is interactive for ESL students. She states in her introduction
demonstration package, "Easy Writer is a one-of –a-kind
software program for ESL Students. Designed for high beginner/intermediate/high
intermediate students of English…within this software is all authentic student
writing, contributed by college ESL students.” The concept was introduced to
the students as students who learned ESL within the New York City colleges like
them. These students have experienced similar writing problems of which we
would look and correct. This product would help them learn how much they have
learned in class with NCC and how much more they will need to learn without
anyone knowing. In addition, though we did not request it at this time, nor did
we print out a sample demo for our students to view due to time constraints, the
author can provide us with tangible materials, “The Grammar HELP! Student
Handbook: An ESL Student's Guide to English Grammar and Editing with Examples
and Exercises.” (Software for Students, 1995-2004). Additional information may
be retrieved from the reference page at the end of our presentation.
Application of Theory
Easy Writer software is an
ideal program for students and teachers alike. Learners are highly motivated
because it is a self-directed software program reinforcing grammar skills. It
assumes the learner is responsible for learning and involves group participation
as well as self assessment. A teacher who prefers to take on the role as a
facilitator and partner in the teaching-learning exchange will find the software
ideal because it supports this type of learning process. As Zinn described in
“Philosophy of Adult Education Inventory (PAEI); humanistic adult
education…concepts and key words- andragogy, freedom, autonomy, individuality,
entrepreneurialism, self-directedness, teaching-learning exchange, openness,
interpersonal communication, personal meaning, authenticity” (Zinn, 1999, p.
27). Teachers who would prefer this teaching style will welcome the software as
meeting the learning environment's needs.
Teachers familiar with Knowles and andragogy theories in adult
education agree that the characteristics of adult learners are different from
the traits of child learners, on which traditional pedagogy is premised.
1. Self-concept: As a person matures his self concept moves
from one of being a dependent personality toward one of being a self-directed
human being.
2. Experience: As a person matures he accumulates a growing
reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning.
3. Readiness to learn. As a person matures his readiness to
learn becomes oriented increasingly to the developmental tasks of his social
roles.
4. Orientation to learning. As a person matures his time
perspective changes from one of postponed application of knowledge to immediacy
of application, and accordingly his orientation toward learning shifts from one
of subject-centeredness to one of problem centeredness [sic].
5. Motivation to learn: As a person matures the motivation to
learn is internal (Knowles 1984:12) (Smith, 2002, 15).
The software will aid our adult learners’ maturity towards
learning independently, allowing individual growth and empowerment. To identify
the learning qualities Smith further discusses, Self-directed
learning' describes, according to Malcolm Knowles a process:
... in which individuals take the initiative, with or without
the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning
goals, identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing and
implementing appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating learning outcomes.
(Knowles 1975: 18)
Knowles puts forward three immediate reasons for self-directed
learning. First … people who take the initiative in learning (proactive
learners) learn more things, and learn better, than do people who sit at the
feet of teachers passively waiting to be taught (reactive learners). 'They enter
into learning more purposefully and with greater motivation. They also tend to
retain and make use of what they learn better and longer than do the reactive
learners.' (Knowles 1975: 14)
A second immediate reason is that self-directed learning is
more in tune with our natural processes of psychological development. 'An
essential aspect of maturing is developing the ability to take increasing
responsibility for our own lives - to become increasingly self-directed'
(Knowles 1975: 15).
A third immediate reason is that many of the new developments
in education put a heavy responsibility on the learners to take a good deal of
initiative in their own learning. 'Students entering into these programs without
having learned the skills of self-directed inquiry will experience anxiety,
frustration, and often failure, and so will their teachers (Knowles 1975: 15)
(Smith, 20-23).
With this in mind, the ESL learners at Fountain Court
experienced and expressed enthusiasm with the facilitator who introduced the
software program. Our students want to be self-directed learners. They want to
learn how to motivate themselves to become as independent as most Americans
are. We hinder our learners when they are maintained reactive. Easy Writer
will be an asset to the teachers who want to empower their students’
abilities.
We were impressed with our groups. By allowing and giving our
learners direction, as well as providing encouragement to proceed onto
additional activities (once they worked on the first demonstration level with
the instructor), students took off with the program inviting each other for
responses and feedback. Two ESL 3 level classes and one ESL 2 class
participated for approximately two hours in a group activity on separate times
and days. All three groups were introduced to level one and two of the
demonstrations, and one group actually skipped the third level to start the
Expert level, but due to time constraints, they were not able to complete it.
Because of this initial success, the program was later introduced to a
multilevel class.
The second group introduced to the software was ESL 3 AM. For
this group grammar lessons have been incorporated with reading assignments,
interactive grammar Web sites and limited “grammar only” lessons. This group
only had one student who had no prior computer experience. In fact, several
students within this group actively use computers. Two students found the
software to be too easy while one found it to be too difficult. The rest of the
students found the software program to be on an average level of difficultly.
One student verbally stated that it “was good to learn from.” The age range of
this group was from 30 to 50 years with one male student participating on the
day of the demonstration. The majority of the students never used a CD-ROM to
learn ESL; therefore, they were impressed with the Easy Writer demonstration.
Another advantage of this program was that it gave students
extra opportunities to practice their oral reading. As they tried to find
errors, they found themselves re-reading sentences out loud to themselves and to
each other. Finally, an additional advantage of this program was that it can
easily be used as an ongoing assessment tool to identify students’ strong and
weak areas, and thus, the teacher can tailor and “fine tune” future lessons to
those weak areas which were observed and noted.
Although this was an engaging and delightful program to use
and was greeted with much enthusiasm by my students, there is a cautionary
statement to mention. This program is best used as a supplement to reinforce
teaching, not as a substitute for teaching. Supplements are good for adding
extra practice opportunities for lessons taught and for providing material for
review. This program can also be used as a motivator for individual students to
complete work given in order to get on to the program and have some “fun”
practice opportunities. This program can also be built in to the class schedule
by allowing the first or last half hour of class to be devoted to using it,
which may also improve punctuality to class and attendance as well!
Paulette Santillo, ESL 3 Instructor
Instructor II
I liked Level 1, as it gave immediate feedback to the
students. When they clicked on a noun or pronoun they thought was incorrect,
either the correct version would appear in blue print, or the text would remain
the same, indicating that there was no error. Having students work in this
self-directed and self-checking environment was a nice follow-up to the text
grammar lessons they have been working on.
Level 2 was more of a keyboard challenge for the students.
This program required the students to retype the correct phrases, with accuracy
being the key. I was concerned that some students without good keyboarding
skills were typing and retyping too often, but they told me it just reinforced
their learning! I found myself wondering just when a grammar lesson had
generated as much enthusiasm as this lesson did!
I was especially pleased to note that all of the students
refused to click on the correct answer function. Instead, they persisted until
they found all of the errors on the page. When they checked their work, the
program noted how many answers they had located and how many more they still
needed to find. This particular challenge led the students to thinking on a
much deeper level than they might have applied if we were correcting sentences
as a group in a book.
After working for two hours, the lesson was over. The
students all expressed an interest in working with the demo CD again in the
future. They were all motivated to practice English on the computers in our
local library.
Multi-Level ESL, Shohola
The surveys conducted are attached for review. Students
provided us with feedback, as a result we can summarize:
¨ The majority would recommend this program to others.
¨ They all enjoyed the software program.
¨ The majority of the students would like to see more
lessons on CD-ROM’s
¨ The majority of students felt other teachers could use
this program.
¨ The majority of students would like to see more
activities using computers.
¨ Many students felt the program was edgy, or modern.
¨ The majority of students liked this change in routine.