A cost-benefit analysis for using the internet in the language classroom

Abstract

In recent years, the Internet has obtained its place in the educational environment. As part of the examination requirements, students have to be able to use the Internet to find information and to gain experience with international communication, for example by using email. Investments in both time and money for this purpose are large, while the results are often hard to measure. Sometimes, computer literacy seems to be the only result of using computers in the classroom, the development of which may be a laudable goal, but is certainly not the responsibility of a language teacher. Using the Internet for language teaching purposes can of course provide benefits, but whether they balance the investments remains to be seen. To aid in this process the author developed a short quizz consisting of a number of questions, the answers to which determine whether the necessary investment to using a particular site is worth it. A ‘scorecard’ makes this easy.