Computers in the classroom.

Surely someone must be using them?

They are a useful tool but I think that when they are used as a part of the course, students can easily lose interest in coming to classes as a lot of the information they can get from internet can be done at home. Also it is easy to obtain English courses on CD Rom. It may be good as a compliment to a course, an added bonus like a E-Lab to use will they are waiting or after class.
Then aga

Thanks Woodward. What do you think about using computers for comprehension? In my classes students only ever hear my voice, so I'm toying with the idea of playing short clips of dialogue from sitcoms and movies so students can hear other styles of English, then quizing and coaching them through what was said.
Can it/does it work?
Does anyone have other ideas or experiences?

"Students can easily lose interest in coming to classes as a lot of the information they can get from internet can be done at home". That is completely right, they get this feeling so what they say is that they'll copy down the address and say they'll do it at home, but they never do as they don't usually have the time.

Thanks Maj. Can you think of ways that computers CAN be constructive in class?

Either guiding them through the net and tell them the exact exercises you would like them to do, or using Webquests. I haven't worked with the latter yet, so I have no on-hands experience.

It is good for the students to get a variety of accents so your idea of using clips would be a good. Maybe not entire movies unless you have a free movie night but specific parts of movies/sitcoms could get their interest up since they are a little harder to obtain by internet than pure links to web sites. If you are wondering whether it will work or not, there's only one way to find out. Give it

That's too close to the truth Woody. Sometimes I hear a slightly Aussie accent reflected in the speech of my students, especially the strong Aussie AY sound ... pay may, day etc.
I don't worry too much about this though because it is usually a sound that most Japanese have difficulty making.
I have noticed that my own accent has changed a lot since I've been teaching, as a result of tr

That's too close to the truth Woody. Sometimes I hear a slightly Aussie accent reflected in the speech of my students, especially the strong Aussie AY sound ... pay may, day etc.
I don't worry too much about this though because it is usually a sound that most Japanese have difficulty making.
I have noticed that my own accent has changed a lot since I've been teaching, as a result of tr

The VB one is a bit of a laugh.
I have noticed the same thing as you that my accent has changed a little in my attempts to remain neutral. Just the other day my brother accused me of speaking like an American. Aaaarrggghhh! I assume it's because I pronounce my R's more than usual llike in the States. Not many of our English-speaking Spanish students can pinpoint where I'm from even if they'v