What Computers Can and Can’t “Do” (based on Meskill, 2002, p. 122)

Computers CAN	Computer CAN’T
Judge predetermined right-or-wrong answers, e.g., multiple choice and fill-in-the-blanks	Judge unexpected input
Provide immediate, yet fixed, feedback, suggestions, and encouragement	Provide individualized feedback beyond a predetermined list of messages
Provide authentic information throughmultimedia - texts, images, sounds,videos, and animations	Engage learner in rich negotiation of meaning characteristic of face-to-face interaction
Motivate task persistence •Record learner’s writing, speech, and learning progress	Motivate depth and quality of engagement characteristic of human interaction

Note:

- Computer technology has to be treated as an aid, but not a panacea.

- The effectiveness of CALL cannot reside in the technology itself but in how it is put to use and for what purposes.