Week 10 The Beginning of a New Adventure

The week 10 has finished. However the LOTI framework and its survey where really impressive for me. I could see more clearly a lot of other possibilities to use technology for teaching. Also the article “Seven Principles”  left me the clear idea of committing to “ eschew materials that are simply didactic, and search instead for those that are interactive, problem oriented, relevant to real-world issues, and that evoke student motivation.”  As Janine said this is just the beginning of a new adventure!

That’s why I would like to mention:

What topics where more successful?

I think that the Webquest, PBL, One computer classroom, teacher resources online, peer review for final report and learning styles where the topics that more caught the attention of the classmates.

What topics where more successful for you?

The most successful for me is the Interactive Power Point presentation, Webquest, PBL, the Employment of CALL in Teaching Second/Foreign Language Speaking Skills, Standards for teaching language, and the blessing of Rubistar! It seems that I won’t finish.

Which tools will you use in your classes?

I want to try ANVIL, Voice threat, podcast, student inventory.

And all the other tools were suggested and used by colleagues like Pretzi and Voki.

Which if any do you think were not relevant to what you do or will do?

I did not find irrelevant any topic from this course.  Even if I felt a topic was less applicable for me, I tried to look for a way to put it in practice with my students. I think I can learn something of every article here. I still want to dedicate some time to create lesson plans using tech tools I haven’t tried yet. 

What other tools might we have covered or would you suggest that we could have looked at?

I would like the course can include something for 3D environment. Like http://www.alice.org/ I am really interested in using it with my students too. I think it would be a great tool to teach language. It can be used for story telling, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web.

I want to give a long lasting applause to:

Janine my prepared instructor.

Jeff Magoto.

University of Oregon.

US Embassy-Mexico City.

Office of English Language Programs.

US State Department.

Thank you to all my classmates for creating a wonderful atmosphere for learning.

Best Regards

Aida

Week 9 and Keep Using Technology in the Classroom

This week was very active but also was one more week full of treasures. We learned and discuss about multiple intelligences, learning styles and technology usage based on student centered classroom.

I was impress to find so many articles related to teaching using technology trying to address the different learning styles. I never thought that there were so many research about how having specific activities using technology would impact different students’ learning styles and intelligences.

The discussions on Nicenet left great contributions to our own learning experience. I fell in love of the 5Cs and of the Standards since “The Standards document states that learning strategies are an integral part of the -weave- of curricular elements that help students to learn -what to say to whom and when- (Standards, p. 29). The Standards authors call for creating -rich curricular experiences- by bringing in such notions as critical thinking skills, cultural knowledge, and learning strategies.” I would add that Standards promote learner’s autonomy too, since is based in the “assumption that -All students can be successful language and culture learners- (Standards, p. 7). The Standards statement of philosophy states that the ultimate goal is -a future in which all students will develop and maintain proficiency in English and at least one other language, modern or classical- (Standards, p.7). This concept is integral to language strategies instruction, since learning strategies provide a way for all students to become proficient in a foreign language.”

 Then I finalized my Webquest based on what I learned from the articles. I created flash cards using power point and I include them on it. I used all the resources from it during my classes with great results. After applying a student survey, I notice the students were happy with the usage of technology and without a doubt developing more their different intelligences. They are like sponges absorbing all the new knowledge and new experiences.

I worked on my final project. I made the changes suggested by my partner and I traduced to English the class syllabus to include it on the final project. This left me a great satisfaction feeling and at the same time I realized that the end of the class was getting closer. I updated my class site and I had good comments from parents accessing to it.

Then I completed the course evaluation and I gave my compliments to our very well prepared Instructor who set the example of using the model the University of Oregon created to develop web skills with us. The way she was discovering the information and triggering our background experiences with our present learning was exactly the best way to be a role model for us.

The interaction with the classmates is profoundly appreciated by me.

I am planning to keep using more technological tools into my teaching. I want to create an online survey for parents. And I am creating a list with ideas that I am going to develop during the summer where I will be using the different tools I haven’t used yet with the students. Like improving my class site and have a delicious link on it. I will  incorporate Voicethreat and ANVILL, avatars’ creation and some many more tech tools etc! I can wait!

Thank you all for another great week!

Aida

Technology and Learning Styles

Inspired by the articles and recommendations found on Howard Gardner’s website “Technology and Multiple Intelligences”,  I created a Webquest including activities that during the process can be good for learners with different learning styles and MI.

a)    I include songs where they can use musical intelligence.

b)    I ask them to have a conversation, this would develop linguistics.

c)    The usage of videos for visual learners.

d)    The flash cards develop logical and mathematical because they need to figure out the day of the week that needs to match with the phrase which has the same color. Also they need to complete the seven days or seven phrases one per day.

e)    The usage of puppets and writing the words help bodily/kinesthetic students too from being just sitting in front of a computer.

Also I had the chance to see the excellent results with my students after using it.

I could probe how “by understanding a student's strengths and weaknesses in each intelligence, we can help students become more successful.”  I also learned “that integrating multiple intelligences into the classroom involves changing our idea about teaching and learning. It requires addressing individual differences and providing a range of activities and experiences to facilitate learning.”

The main point of including technology is to use it to “facilitate learning in each intelligence area. There is no "right way" to integrate intelligences or technology into the classroom. The key is to provide the most effective learning environment for students.”

Regards

Aida

Week 8 Tech Tools for Teaching

AVILL tool was a total hit for me. I could not stop thinking of how to use it with my students since clearly Jeff mentioned in the webinar this tool is being used just for high school students and adults. When I finish my readings and took the seminar about ANVILL I learned that we can use the tool as audio journals. I am still thinking about how to make this opportunity available to my students. I bet recording their voices when they’re talking in English would be motivating for them too.

During the webinar I really had a nice experience watching the video and communicating using text and voice with the rest of the teachers and moderators in real time.  Later on I explored ANVILL myself and it was an amazing experience. I saw the courses created on ANVILL and I learned a lot from them. This tool definitely let the “teacher put digestible amounts of content in front of students” as Jeff mentioned in his article Authoring with ANVILL. This is a well thought-out tool to develop oral/aural skills.  Another admirable feature is that teachers can make use of cooperative activities like WebQuest, and ANVILL can embed tools like Voice Threat on it.

While I was reading the assignments for this week, I was also thinking about my specific situation with parents without computers or with computers but without internet service. I decided to create the class site to post materials and encourage parents to be involved in their children’s second language learning. It is common for most of them to use internet cafes and I am sure they would do an effort to check the materials from it. I had a concern after I created the class site; most of the parents do not know English and the site is written completely in English. This made me think about the necessity to use it in class every day for children to become familiar with it. Also I would like to invite parents to learn how to use it in a short workshop. These things are going to make students and parents use this tool with ease.

When I saw PO-YU’s alphabet using a tool for Taiwanese to learn English, it made me think about creating a bilingual class site too in order to facilitate parents to guide their children. I am going to hold on to that thought for now.

As Mohini mentioned, “I need to practice the same to get more familiar with the tools so that I can use them effectively.” Teachers need more time to learn how to make the most of every tool.  It is a good investment of time because after we learn how to use them well, we can start saving a lot of time developing materials and better delivering the contents to our students. 

I learned a lot from finishing my draft and reviewing my peer’s draft. I had the opportunity to see other’s work, and the way they are planning or had addressed their specific situations incorporating technology in their classrooms.

It was a remarkable experience and great collaboration exercise.

Regards

Aida