TEACHING FRENCH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
USING THE INTERNET:
FAQ
Elizabeth Murphy
October, 1998




Do you have a question about use of the Internet that you would like to have answered? If so, complete the comment form and I will add your question and an answer to the following list.

1. Why use the Internet?
2. What is project-based teaching?
3. How can I get some help designing lessons for the web?
4. Where can I find some interactive activities?
5. How can I link up with other teachers to ask questions and share ideas?
6. What happens if the connections are too slow?
7. Where can I find information on Internet vocabulary in French?
8. Are there any online dictionnaries?
9. Where can I find a French-English dictionary online?
10. Are there any sites with lists of cultural activities?
11. Can students do crosswords online?
12. Does the Mining Company have a site for French?
13. How do I get accents without a bilingual keyboard?
14. Where can I get some help designing lessons plans for the Internet?
15. Are there any interactive sites for learning to conjugate verbs?
16. Is there such a thing as a French verb index?
17. How can I get money to do projects?
18. Can sites be translated into French?
19. How can I use the Internet to translate words?
20. What is an effective way to search in French?
21. Are there Primary sites?
22. Are there Primary sites that use images to build vocab?
23. Is the Internet only good for reading or writing?
24. Can I use Real Audio to hear French pronunciation?
25. Is there one site that provides and index of all other French sites?
26. Do I need to change my approach to teaching in order to use the Internet?
(see text below)


The technologies that make it possible to automate traditional methods of teaching and learning are also helping to create new methods, and to redefine valued educational goals. For example, new technologies can automate symbol-manipulation algebra and spelling correction, making these skills less important to learn, while increasing the importance of "higher-order" skills required to do creative mathematics and writing. As a result, attempts to use new technologies in education to further traditional learning goals or traditional methods of teaching makes less and less sense.
The Roles of Artificial Intelligence in Education: Current Progress and Future Prospects


The long-term role of AI (and computer-based technology in general) in education will not be to support traditional teaching and learning practices, but to challenge and even threaten them by suggesting new things to learn and offering new ways to acquire them. For this reason it is misleading to view AI or technology in general as a means of saving education. At best, these forces will transform schools and classrooms, not improve them in any simple sense.

The Roles of Artificial Intelligence in Education: Current Progress and Future Prospects