CALL Resources

This is an ongoing project to capture resources around the Web, articles, software, and my own notes on CALL technologies and methodologies.

I’ve split it into two sections: For Teachers and For Language Learners.  These might not be the best distinctions, but they do put the focus on where I see the value of the resources applied.

Table of Contents:

Table of Contents:

For Teachers

Organizations:

Journals:

Blogs:

CALL-Focused Communities/Online Spaces:

Authoring Software:

Media Editing:

Speech Recognition

Media Sharing:

Web Hosting:

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Miscellaneous Websites Dealing with CALL:

For Language Learners

Reading:

Listening:

Writing:

Speaking:

Virtual/Augmented Reality:

Social Networks:

Games:

Open Courseware:

For Teachers

Organizations:

Journals:

Blogs:

CALL-Focused Communities/Online Spaces:

Authoring Software:

Media Editing:

Video

Audio

Images

Screencasting

Speech Recognition

Web Hosting:

Free, Basic Hosting

These are all simple Web hosting services that allow users to create Web pages through templates and WYSIWYG interfaces and some that even allow for uploading of files (.html, media, etc.).  You get what you pay for. Here is a comparison on Wikipedia.

Paid Hosting

There are so many paid hosting providers out there, I couldn’t even begin to list them here.  Most of these paid services offer much more storage and bandwidth than the free hosts (these days I would use one unless it offered unlimited).  They let you add your own domain(s) (and might even include a free domain registration with your account) and they let you create sub-domains.  They should also offer FTP, database access (SQL, mySQL, etc.), and probably some sort of pre-configured scripts to install popular free/opensource software like Moodle, WordPress, and other useful products for teachers.

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

The term LMS is probably overused.  Most of these are what I would really call Course Management Systems (CMS) because they are build more for managing materials than tracking and modifying the learning environment for better outcomes.  However, these are generally being used synonymously in the workplace so I’ll do that same here (not to mention, I having used an systems that I’d consider worthy of the title LMS)

Web Services (free, online)

Self-Hosted (install on your server/host)

Miscellaneous Websites Dealing with CALL:

For Language Learners

Reading:

The Web was invented for text and there is no lack of reading material out there.  Teachers can use the Web as their library.  Everything from news to books to folk tales can keep you and your student busy.  In addition, there are a few resources that have advantages that paper materials don’t.

Listening:

The number of services focusing on audio and video content have exploded in recent years.  As Internet speeds increase, we get more of our entertainment online.  In addition to TV shows and movies, there are also services that provide instructional materials and pronunciation aids to complement the A/V.

Writing:

As with reading, writing is a natural match for the Web.  Gone are the days when you had to write HTML code to publish online.  These days, it’s as easy as using your word processor...in fact there are online word processors like the one I wrote this handout on (Google Docs).  Put writing is more than just static text now; it is interactive.

Speaking:

There still aren’t too many ways to practice speaking online, but the offerings are growing.  The Web is now our telephone, answering machine, and the place where we publish our own audio and video recordings.  

Virtual/Augmented Reality:

I still am not sure that this deserves its own section. I could probably find places for these links in the other sections. However, it is a popular area now and there is a general lack of understanding of what is available to use. Another issue with this section is the usage of the term VR. Many would consider VR only animated 3D virtual environments; however, that is not the way that the world is using the term these days. VR encompasses not only animated 3D virtual environments, but also 360 degree images and videos that are accessed through VR headsets (Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift, etc…). For language learning, few resources exist for 3D virtual environments, outside of a few (generally poor) game-based applications. Older virtual environments, such as SecondLife, would be interesting, but at this time, they are not accessible through VR headsets, though Linden Labs has been teasing their VR replacement called Sansar for 2017. With this in mind, I’ll try to track this quickly moving space here.

Hardware/Headsets

Virtual Environments

VR Language Learning Applications

AR Language Learning Applications

Authoring Service/Software

Physical Spaces

Miscellaneous VR/AR

Videoconferencing

Videoconferencing for language learning has been popular for years, but the only in the last 5-10 years has it been so accessible by average people around the world. Both our personal hardware and Internet connection speeds have improved greatly. The popularization of smartphones has helped greatly, too. Now, everything one needs to participate in videoconferencing is available in a single device.

Videoconferenced Language Teaching Services

Social Networks:

Social networks help us to contact and communicate with people who share our same interests.  From general social networking sites to ones that specialize in language learning, there are more opportunities than ever to connect with like-minded people.

Traditional

Language Learning

Media-Centric

Games:

Open Courseware:

Do you want to take a course from MIT or Berkely?  Many people who never would have had the chance to do so can now get at least a little bit of that experience.  Open courseware is a movement that began a few years ago.  Universities and other organizations began offering there course materials online.  The quality differs from school to school and course to course, but there are an incredible number of courses that you and your students can benefit from.

 CALL Resources by Daniel A. Craig is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Contact dan@danielcraig.com for info