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November 1999, Week 4

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From:
LLTI-Editor <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 22 Nov 1999 16:55:45 EST
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--- Forwarded Message from "Violeta" <[log in to unmask]> ---

>From: "Violeta" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: "Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum             " <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: LLTI Digest - 17 Nov 1999 to 18 Nov 1999 (#1999-123)
>Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 21:32:01 +0200

------------------
Dear language teachers,

A  barrier to reaching my goal of integrating technology into my
teaching than lack of time is the REAL (TANGIBLE) access to computers and
the Internet at school. 

In Bulgaria there is a school subject "Informatics"
which is compulsory for high school students, so the priority goes to the
Informatics classes. As it is not required to use computers and the
Internet in the foreign language classroom, it is very difficult to fight
for access to the IT  lab. We are in the shadow of Informatics. We have the
"leftovers" of the time for using the IT - when there are no Informatics
classes. And when there are no Informatics classes the room is locked. 

I take my students (10-15) twice a year to a computer lab at the Faculty of
Mathematics and Informatics of Sofia University and there we enjoy sharing
sites and browsing. On a regular basis I work with 5-6 students from every
class (there are 30 students in a class) in the 10-th grade (this makes
about 30 students out of 150 who have access to computers at home). We
exchange messages all year round. I usually assign a topic to a  group of
students or an individual student and ask them to prepare a report for the
whole class. The students are very proud of their findings. After this oral
publication of their work other students from the class make posters and
display them in the hallways. Last year my students were in the 9th grade
and they participated in a few e-mail projects within I*EARN. They made
great posters about  the following projects: "Flowers and Symbols", "Our
EFL Classroom Behavioral Rules", "Everyday Life", "Moments of Catharsis".
Last year we got 40  cards, each for a 5-hour free access to an Internet
Cafe in the Municipal Library in Sofia given to us by the Open Society
Foundation in Sofia. The students without Internet at
home went there and they were supervised by their peers with skills for
Internet use. 

It is difficult, almost impossible to have access to computers in the
language classroom because the Informatics teachers are jealous and they
have the
key and are in charge of the hardware and software. The school principal
confessed that she is not an expert and  said that all the teachers should
comply with the Informatics teachers requirements and their classes. 

I would like to ask you to share the situation at your schools so that I
could compare. here's a list of questions I would like you to answer:

1. How is the access for students and teachers to  computers organized at
your school?
2. What official steps shoud a language teacher take at your school if
he/she wants to book time for access to computers prior, during or after
his/her classes?
3. How many hours a week are the computers  accessible to  teachers and
students at your school?

Best wishes,

Violeta Tsoneva, Ph. D.
EFL Teacher
German Language High School
26 Pozitano St
Sofia 1000, Bulgaria
e-mail: [log in to unmask]

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