CTG

CALL Quiz [1998]

 

Test your knowledge of CALL with this 20-question instant-feedback quiz.

These questions are designed to get you, the teacher or lab administrator, thinking about a few of the myriad concerns relevant to teaching in a CALL lab. In some cases, the answer designated as correct is only one of several possibilities.
1. Where would you likely encounter a GIF?
On a defective magnetic tape.
In a dark alley.
On the Web.
Only a programmer can see GIFs (they're part of the system folder).

2. Teaching language with computers is cheaper and easier than teaching with analog (tape-based) equipment.
Yes, if you use networked PCs.
Yes, if you use non-networked Macs.
Maybe, but only if you use commercial CDs.
No. Getting trained personnel to set up, configure and maintain the systems and training teachers to teach with computers is a costly and enormous undertaking.

3. When someone asks what platform you work on, what do they want to know?
Whether you use Microsoft or Apple software.
Whether you wear hard- or soft-soled shoes to work.
Whether you work from floppy disks or a hard drive.
What operating system (OS) your computer runs on.

4. The most difficult aspect of the transition from analog to computer language labs is . . .
Selecting appropriate and cost-effective software.
Wiring and configuring computers in a network.
Training teachers to use computers to effectively satisfy pedagogical goals.
Dealing with copyright issues of converted analog material and site licenses for software.

5. What is probably the biggest advantage to using digital audio over tape-based audio?
Digital files rewind faster.
Any part of the digital audio file can be played instantly (randomly accessed).
Digital audio is much cheaper.
It's generally easier to obtain copyright permission from publishers for digital conversion of material than making multiple analog copies.

6. What's an application "window".
The time you have to use an application between launching it and having it freeze up.
The small boxes that appear on screen when you choose the wrong command.
The movable and resizable box that contains an application's controls and input.
The clickable area on the screen.

7. What does it mean to be on a fast LAN?
Your school is accessed via the Zipper Lan(e) on the expressway and the commute is short.
Your computer has a connection to the Internet.
You are able to upload, or FTP, files to your own Web page.
Your computer is networked with others using Ethernet or some other fast file transfer system.

8. What is the proper balance between student and teacher computer proficiency?
Young students are bound to know more and can show teachers most of what they need to know.
Highly proficient students can be used as student teachers and take over the technology aspects of computer-based activities.
Teachers cannot take refuge behind a knowledgeable student.
This is irrelevant since it is the Lab Director's job to insulate the teacher from the technology.

9. How much information fits on a HD floppy disk? How much on a CD?
640kB and 20MB respectively.
1.4kB and 650kB respectively.
It varies greatly depending upon how they are formatted.
1.4 MB and 650MB respectively.

10. Where on the Web would be the best place to search for Ernest Hemingway's birthplace?
The AltaVista search engine.
The Yahoo search engine.
Encyclopedia Britannica (assuming your school subscribes to the site).
Use the Open Location button or command and type "Ernest Hemingway."

11. How could you copy a picture found on the Web for use in a word processing document?
Web graphics can only be viewed with a browser, not copied or saved into another application.
Download the HTML file of the Web page.
Click and hold on the picture, copy it into the clipboard or save it as a GIF or JPEG.
Use Nexis to retrieve the graphic file directly.

12. If you upload a Web page to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or your school Web server, your document can be viewed...
Only by subscribers of the same ISP (e.g., Erol's, TIAC, AOL, or Bell Atlantic).
Only by users of the same kind of computer (Mac, Windows, Unix, etc.).
By any computer in the world with Web access.
By anyone in the world with E-mail access.

13. How could you access the full text of a specific newspaper article from several months ago?
Open a Telnet connection to Nexis and search the database.
Use a search engine, such as Yahoo or Lycos.
E-mail the paper directly.
Use the paper's free Web site.

14. To "reboot" a computer is to...
Quit all applications and return to the Finder (Mac) or desktop (Windows).
Reinstall the operating system.
Restart it.
Give the CPU a swift kick when all else fails.

15. The difference between an analog language lab and a computer language lab is...
Virtually nothing.
The equipment; the approach is essentially the same.
They are totally different environments and best approached as such.
The former is inviting; the latter is intimidating.

16. What are AIFF and WAV examples of?
Graphic file formats.
Adobe PhotoShop proprietary formats.
Digital video file formats.
Digital sound file formats.

17. What differentiates a document, an application, and an operating system (OS)?
An OS runs the computer, an application runs on the the OS, and a document is opened by the application that created it.
None: they are roughly synonymous.
A document is a component of an OS and applications are opened by documents.
A document is a component of an application, which may or may not run on an OS, depending upon the platform.

18. Which is NOT a search engine?
Yahoo.
Internet Explorer.
A site that provides a tool to look things up on the Web.
Lycos.

19. Which of these is a proper Web address (location or "URL")?
http://www.symbols/index/wordindex-a.html
johndesz@bu.edu
http://www.bu.edu/celop/MLL
telnet://schmooze.hunter.cuny.edu:8888

20. What is the greatest challenge in getting teachers to use a CALL lab effectively?
Dealing with the fundamentally student-centered environment--more so than any other lab.
Learning to think critically and problem solve on computers instead of applying rote procedures to traditional lab operations.
Giving structure to the language value of second language students learning how to use computers.
All of the above.

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