A Journey Through Online
Language Learning
Web Apps > Freeware
Things to consider
Freeware is computer software that is freely downloadable from the internet. Freeware comes with advantages as well as some risks for the user. One of the primary disadvantages of using freeware is the increased potential for your computer to become infected with spyware and viruses. The main advantage of freeware is that it allows you to develop certain online learning tools or use certain software at no cost. This is especially important for those of you who have little technical and financial support from their institution to develop online learning materials. Note that some VLE’s, such as Moodle, or Content Management Systems, such as LightnEasy, that allow you to create complete language courses, are also freeware.
Examples of freeware in the language courses Hogelands, Lagelands and Business Dutch:
One other advantage of the ever-increasing availability of freeware is that it is making up for one of the traditional disadvantages of online teaching, i.e. the lack of direct communication between tutor and student (as well as peer student contact). Freeware video-conferencing and chat, such as Skype or MSN messenger, allows you to have online tutorials and virtual classrooms with screen and file sharing, one-to-one web calls using video, and much more; all this is of enormous importance in fully online language teaching. Students can not only practise their speaking and listening skills in real time, it also makes up for the lack of social contact, which is a complaint voiced frequently by students of online courses. For one-to-one tutorials, which are only possible when teaching a small number of students, and group conversations (tutor-students; student – peers) the Skype freeware is used. Note that Skype also has several plug-ins that allow for the recording of the conversation so that a tutorial can be uploaded on the course’s website, or a peer conversation can be emailed to the tutor for feedback. Also, Audacity was used by students to record oral assignments that were then posted to the tutor. Audacity is freeware for recording and editing of sounds. Chat sessions were also organised as part of Lagelands and Hogelands using either Skype or MSN messenger.
Some freeware applications allow you to develop content or exercise materials for your course. Self-correcting exercises in Hogelands and Business Dutch use the freeware Hot Potatoes. Hot Potatoes includes six applications, enabling you to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises for the World Wide Web. The different applications are very easy to use, you just give in the data and the program creates the web pages for you. They are particularly suited to develop varied vocabulary (example from Business Dutch), as well as exercises on the content of texts, such as selecting true/false statements, short-answer questions on a text, etc. (example from Business Dutch).
- Are you willing to work with applications for which no or little technical support exists? Does your institution offer software packages with technical support that might be an alternative to using freeware (your institution might have a software license for, e.g., a videoconferencing service)?
- Do you have the availability, time and technical know-how to provide your students with support?
- Are you willing to test the freeware of your choice on different browsers? To update it when new versions are released?
Examples:
- Lagelands
- Hogelands
- Reading Skills in Business Dutch
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