BP6_2009102_Web2.0Tool_iGoogle

As a French teacher, I seek as many opportunities as possible to immerse students in the French language in an authentic way although there is no possibility for students to travel to a francophone country. Therefore, it is necessary to find some other way to integrate authentic French into the classroom in a way that helps students practice the four competences (writing, reading, speaking, and listening) daily.

IGoogle is one of many Web 2.0 tools that are quite useful in teaching foreign language. Foreign language teachers, like me, can use iGoogle in a way the replicates an immersion experience and fosters daily practice. The iGoogle tools allow users to set up a homepage and add several gadgets to that homepage (Google, 2009).

According to Google (2009) “gadgets come in lots of different forms and provide access to activities and information from all across the web.” Both the iGoogle tool itself and the gadgets that one can add to it are easily adapted into the foreign language classroom because these gadgets can feature information in the target language that students can read, listen to, write about, then discuss in class.

If I were to integrate the iGoogle tool into my French courses, I would use many aspects of the tool to develop the students’ skills in the four competences. For example, students could create their Google homepages from the French version of the tool. Here is an example of a French iGoogle homepage:

(Google, 2009)

The French version of the homepage forces students to read in French because all titles, tabs, and gadgets in French. This gives students immediate access to authentic and current uses of French phrases and vocabulary.

Second, students could add gadgets to their homepages that would give them further access to current and authentic French. For example, Google Reader, which allows users to receive updates to websites to subscriptions to RSS feeds can give students access to French sites with podcasts, articles, and videos on a variety of subjects (Commom Craft, 2008). Students can then share these feeds with their classmates and with me as their instructor so we can collaborate on what they have been learning through the feeds.

Third, students can add gadgets that feature famous French quotes, word of the day, or a French-English dictionary. These are gadgets that will introduce students to new vocabulary, and even some French culture or history as they look up new words and learn quotes of famous historical French figures.

(Google, 2009)

Finally, students can also use the Google Docs gadget within their iGoogle homepage. This could allow students to create PowerPoint presentations or Word documents in French and invite classmates to edit the documents. In this way, students could collaborate on group projects and presentations using the information they have learned in from the articles and resources in their Google Reader.

IGoogle presents many opportunities to improve the communcation skills of French students and would be extremely useful to me as a foreign language teacher. The main benefit of a Web 2.0 tool such as iGoogle is that it presents an adaptable platform that can only improve and become more useful as more gadgets are created and made available.

References

Google. (2009). Features: what is iGoogle? Retrieved from http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=20324&nbsp

Common Craft. (2008). Google reader in plain English. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSPZ2Uu_X3Y

Google. (2009). iGoogle homepage images. Retrieved from http://www.igoogle.fr/ig