Researcher Summary
I am interested in computer-assisted language learning (CALL), a form of teaching and learning using computers as part of a blended language classroom. I am particularly interested in presenting the students with computer applications which are part of the students’ every day life and provide the students with an authentic learning experience. My research includes the integration of podcasts into the language curriculum to enhance the listening skills of the students. As early as 2000 I developed my own podcasts and started my own iTunes channel where the students could download the tailor-made German podcasts onto their mp3 devices for learning purposes. I researched the use of podcasts in my classes and presented the outcomes on several international CALL conferences between 2001 and 2010. In 2011 I started using social media - Facebook as integral part of my teaching practices. Social media is particularly useful to create a sociocultural learning environment, it helps to build a very strong link between the on-campus and distance students and can create a social presence unknown to a conventional classroom setting. Social media in a second language learning environment was the topic of my PhD which is titled 'The effect of Facebook-Social Media on the learning and teaching of German at tertiary level in New Zealand'.
