Empower English Language Learners With Tools From the Web

Review

"This timely, user-friendly book provides inservice and preservice ESL teachers with the background and tools needed to implement Web 2.0 technologies in their classes today. The ELLs in these classrooms will benefit from learning English (and content) through rich and motivating technologies such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, visual media, social networking, and Second Life. Designed for teachers who need some guidance in using technology as a teaching tool, this handbook is very easy to follow and provides step-by-step instructions for even the most inexperienced ‘digital (non)natives’!" (Holly Hansen-Thomas, Assistant Professor of Bilingual and ESL Education )
"An excellent overview of the potential of Web 2.0 for ESL and other language teachers or administrators who are new to using Web tools. This book offers concrete suggestions, addresses concerns about using certain tools with younger learners, and provides alternatives for the K-12 setting when appropriate. If you want a resource that will help you determine which of the powerful Web 2.0 tools are best for your setting, then this book is for you!" (Elizabeth Scaduto, ESL Director )
"This book provides great examples for teachers looking to enhance their practice through technology. These strategies can help not only English language learners, but ALL students!" (Jacie Maslyk, Elementary School Principal )
"Teachers and students are increasingly separated by a technological divide. This quick read will bridge that divide. Nineteenth-century schools cannot effectively prepare 21st-century students. After this quick read, teachers will be ready to jump into Web 2.0 technology with skills every student will envy." (Denise Lewis Harlos, Educational Program Development )
"I thought the examples and stories that are presented throughout the text were great. Showing how people have used these technologies successfully with ELL students is very motivating and encouraging for the reader." (Faith Chaney Grant, ELL Teacher )
"Fills a niche for technology rich communities striving to meet the instructional and social needs of ELL students." (Library Media Connection Magazine )

About the Author

Lori Langer de Ramirez began her career as a teacher of Spanish, French, and ESL. She is currently the chairperson of the ESL and World Language Department for Herricks Public Schools. Langer de Ramirez is the author of Take Action: Lesson Plans for the Multicultural Classroom and Voices of Diversity: Stories, Activities and Resources for the Multicultural Classroom (Pearson), as well as several Spanish-language books and texts (Cuéntame – Folklore y Fábulas and Mi abuela ya no está). She has contributed to many textbooks and written numerous articles about second-language pedagogy and methodology. Her interactive Web site (www.miscositas.com) offers teachers over 40 virtual picturebooks, videos, wiki and blog links, and other curricular materials for teaching Chinese, English, French, Indonesian, Italian, Spanish, and Thai.In the past decade, Langer de Ramirez has presented over 50 workshops, staff development trainings, and addresses at local, regional, and national conferences and in schools throughout the United States (Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington DC) and abroad (Puerto Rico, Thailand, Venezuela). She is the recipient of the Nelson Brooks Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Culture; several National Endowment for the Humanities grants for study in Mexico, Colombia, and Senegal; and a Fulbright Award to India and Nepal. Her areas of research and curriculum development are multicultural and diversity education, folktales in the language classroom, and technology in language teaching. She holds a master's degree in applied linguistics and a doctorate in curriculum and teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University.