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Software Reviews

Go to ESL Software Vendors list

Note: Only the very first link below has been updated since 1999. Until I have had a chance to review these links please treat this information accordingly. When this page is reviewed, this notice will be removed - Vance

Software reviews can be found in:

• The ESL Program of the Division of Adult and Career Education produced a "Technology Guide" with software reviews written by teachers who used each program with their students and evaluated the software. The entire guide is available on-line as a .pdf file at http://adultinstruction.org/administrators/handbooks/index.htm . Scroll down to the link titled: ESL/CBET & Citizenship Technology Guide to download the file on software reviews. (from TESLCA-L posting May 2004)
• The ESL SuperStore has an ESL Review Sites page for links to online reviews and assessment procedures: http://members.tripod.com/~eslss/review.htm (July 1999)
• The LLTI/IALL computer software database at http://fldb.dartmouth.edu/fldb is unique in that it (1) allows software developers to nominate titles for review, and (2) invites practitioners to submit reviews of those titles nominated. The reviews are moderated.
• There are ESL/EFL software reviews in various issues of American Language Review: http://www.alr.org
• CALICO Journal's review archive is now housed at http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/others/calico/review/ or is it ...
  http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/others/calico/index.htm (per Jack Burston)
• The CTI Centre for Modern Languages (CTICML) has an index of programs reviewed at http://www.hull.ac.uk/cti/resources/reviews/alphabet.htm
• Language Learning and Technology, http://polyglot.cal.msu.edu/llt/
• Technology & Learning Magazine Online's software review/summary search engine (not only ESL) is at http://www.techlearning.com/review.shtml; Ana Bishop's ESL software review for Technology & Learning Magazine is at http://www.techlearning.com/articles/4.98.pix1.html
• K-12 software, but not specific to Bilingual Ed, is Scholastic, Inc.'s Electronic Learning's software recommendations at http://www.scholastic.com/el/software/index.htm
• There are some reviews of English programs at the ON-CALL site at the University of Queensland at http://www.cltr.uq.oz.au:8000/callrev/
• ReCALL Newsletter online publishes reviews at http://www.hull.ac.uk/cti/pubs/newslet.htm; ReCALL's software catalogue source can be queried at http://www.hull.ac.uk/cti/search.htm (try searching CD-ROM, target language English, for example). There are links to a number of web sites that offer reviews of software for all languages, not just ESL, sorted alphabetically at http://www.hull.ac.uk/cti/revlist.htm; given as http://www.hull.ac.uk/cti/resources/reviews/revlist.htm in a May 1999 posting to calico-l by June Thompson.

Annotated Inventory of ESL Computer Resources "Reviews of many software programs and Internet sites ... fully searchable, by web level, language skill, rating, Canadian Benchmark level, etc.   All of the software has been tested with students and the reviews written by TESL/CALL (sic) http://207.236.117.20/orlac/ and click on database access." -- according to Luisa Diniz, TESLCA-L 18 Nov, 1998. "Over three hundred titles have been reviewed and an additional 50 titles will be added this spring. This inventory is being compiled by a team at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board for the Government of Canada (Citizenship and Immigration)." - Jim Edgar, email Feb 8, 1999

Ruth Vilmi's Software Evaluation: The Process of Evaluating Software and its Effect on Learning -- includes an in-depth list of criteria for evaluation as well as the Stages of the Evaluation Process and more    http://www.hut.fi/~rvilmi/LangHelp/softwarelist.html -- according to Luisa Diniz, TESLCA-L 18 Nov, 1998.

According to Luisa Diniz, TESLCA-L 18 Nov, 1998. "This is the most complete sotware evaluation I have come across. http://hagar.up.ac.za/catts/learner/eel/Conc/conceot.htm

The TESOL CALL-IS Website: SOFTWARE RESOURCES is at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~call/software.html

Jim Duber's indexed list of CD-ROM reviews is available from Computer-Assisted Language Learning @ Chorus, http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/chorus/call/. You'll also find "cutting edge" CALL here (see Chorus, below). Other reviews are available; e.g. "List of Known Bibliographical Software Packages" at http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/chorus/eresearch/index.html

From a decent posting on TESLCA-L by Kylie Baxter, Assistant Information Officer, CTI Modern Languages, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull HU6 7RX, UK "there are a number of web sites that offer reviews of software, if that is of any help. We have links to a number at our site for all languages, not just ESL, sorted alphabetically at http://www.hull.ac.uk/cti/revlist.htm

'Drew' Andrew Taber has software reviews on DigiEnglish at: http://digienglish.org/software_reviews.htm - Sarah Jackson recommends this as "a great resource that seems to objectively review many language software programs."

The Association for Supervisors and Curriculum Directors ASCD publishes and sells an annual issue called Only the Best Software Guide (with an ESL section) See the link at http://www.ascd.org/pubs/pubs.html

Rated software reviews can be found at: http://linguasy.com/crc

Norm Johnson and Deborah Healey have their CAELL Journal article, "A Place to Start in Selecting Software," up at http://ucs.orst.edu/~healeyd/cj_software_selection.html

Robb, Tom's paper addressing (1) What is the most influential source of information for software purchases? (2) Do most people try out software before they purchase it? (3) Does software purchased by people who try it first tend to be better suited and more frequently used by their students? (4) Are checklists usually used in the software selection process? (5) Does the use of a checklist assure the purchase of more usable software? Presented at the JALT "CALLing Asia '99" conference (May 22-23, 1999).is at http://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/~trobb/evalrpt.html

For TESLCA-L files on software, send an email message to:

• listserv@cunyvm.cuny.edu

Leave the subject blank (or put anything there) and in the body of the message type (or copy the following and paste it in the body):

GET CALL SOFTWARE TESL-L F=MAIL
GET CALL AUTHORIN TESL-L F=MAIL

For a TESLCA-L file on software EVALUATION, send an email message to:

• listserv@cunyvm.cuny.edu

Leave the subject blank (or put anything there) and in the body of the message type (or copy the following and paste it in the body):

GET SOFTWARE EVAL TESL-L F=MAIL