Week 10: Technology Integration

My reflection about  "Building Teacher Skills Through the Interactive Web"

It time to my true, at the beginning I was nervous, because I had always involved with classroom language, always tried to enhance techniques through technology, I thought I was doing it, but after this course, I will be only practicing.

Each week was a new expectation about the all tasks for the week like the discussion and the different articles which had to read in order to develop our tasks. Particularly I had to read a lot, and write my tasks on a word page, before to post them.

It was amazing all the things we shared like: The ABCD objectives, create an online class, exercises about hyperlinks, do the final project, refresh knowledge about multiple intelligences and styles of learning, and least the Levels of Technology Integration (LoTI) was great because they help us to recognize in which level we are and what we would like to be in a year.

I think it is a good time to become to do changes in our responsibility in learners education. Those changes depend of us, because we take the decision above the use of technology and make our classes modern and fun in order to motivate learners to love and learn English, when students are involved in actively creating their knowledge; they learn and retain the context easier.

Now, at the end I feel satisfied because I innovate knowledge, I stayed to reflect in my real style learning in order to applied to my students, and beginning to plan my lesson using ABCD objectives and above all use technological tools in order to engage students and motivate them to love and learn English.

Finally, I want to thank firstly to Oregon University for the opportunity that give us to innovate our knowledge through this kind of programs. To Robert for his dedication in each of our steps in the development of this course, the support he provided us to development in each discussion was the highest level and forced to become increasingly better in our cognitive needs…

Thanks very much, all people who participated in this interesting online course…. I am always going to remember you too much….

Love,

Genny

Week 9: Final Project and Multiple Intelligence and Learning Style Technology

My reflection about Techonology and Learning Styles Technology

Hello, friends

This week has been so much stress for me, because I focused my attention in my Final Project; the experience was interesting. I only needed to follow the check list to finish it.

The discussion about MI (multiple intelligences) and (LS) Learning styles were topics that I have read, to link them with technology was a little difficult, but I really like the idea to enhance the process mixing them, I had to read a lot to establish a difference between MI and LS.

http://www.creativelearningcentre.com/downloads/LS%20vs%20MI%20TEX9_p8_9.pdf

The difference between Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligence are very pronounced:

"An intelligence is the ability to solve problems, or to create products, that are valued within one or more cultural settings."Howard Gardner, Frames of Mind, 1993. So MI must be ‘OUTPUT’ function of information intake, knowledge, skills. But learning styles can be defined as way human beings prefer to concentrated on store and remember new information or knowledge.

I knew about Multiple Intelligence and Learning Styles through my formation as a teacher at the university and the CRADLE Project of the Ministry of Education in my country; however it was interesting refresh my knowledge and enhances it with technology.

Howard Gardner first identified and introduced to us seven different kinds of intelligence in Frames of Mind.

• Linguistic intelligence: sensitivity to the meaning and order of words.

• Logical-mathematical intelligence: ability in mathematics and other complex logical systems.

• Musical intelligence: the ability to understand and create music. Musicians, composers and dancers show a heightened musical intelligence.

• Spatial intelligence: the ability to "think in pictures," to perceive the visual world accurately, and recreate (or alter) it in the mind or on paper. Spatial intelligence is highly developed in artists, architects, designers and sculptors.

• Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence: the ability to use one's body in a skilled way, for self-expression or toward a goal. Mimes, dancers, basketball players, and actors are among those who display bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

• Interpersonal intelligence: an ability to perceive and understand other individuals -- their moods, desires, and motivations. Political and religious leaders, skilled parents and teachers, and therapists use this intelligence.

• Intrapersonal intelligence: an understanding of one's own emotions. Some novelists and or counselors use their own experience to guide others.

And after he identified and the naturalist intelligence which creates observation notebooks of changing in the local or global environment, pets, parks, etc. Use All Your Smarts: Multiple Intelligences for Diverse Library Learners

Using technology enhances with the multiple intelligences and style of learning, students can store, sort, and cross-reference information, notes, bibliographies, and create multimedia reports to make an adventure of learning, because they will give it final polish. Some of the most popular word processing programs include Microsoft Word, Word Perfect, and Ami Pro for Windows. http://www.casacanada.com/chart.html

Teachers can be able to develop their own courseware, create databases linking documents, present preprogrammed slide presentations from videodiscs, and enrich their courses with a wealth of the technology, help them to develop language skills with a grater fluency and a more effective style, using these skills in communicating and collaborating with distant students on a variety of projects, through an increasing number of electronic networks.

Genny

Week 8: Teaching with online tools

Hello Robert and all Online fiends,

You had reason, when in a hotmail, you told me, that the last weeks will be strong in this course. All this topic were very interesting, I have navigated through many websites, and I can understand that we have all the tools we need in order to teach in an interactive way, I felt amazed, but at the same time sad, because tools such as ANVILL, was difficult to navigate, I read some Jeff’s information written in the Nicenet, I tried to use those tools, but I couldn’t .

However, I designed my class using a Class Wiki, and I included some hyperlinks which will help my students to be motivated and working in an interactive class and autonomous learning too.

Speech-based on toolbox for language teachers. This is focused on the practice oral/aural language, with the use of audio video tools. I think that VOICEBOARD (VB), is the best tool in ANVILL, VOICEDBOARD. I am sure it helps to students to develop speaking skill. However, in our town is difficult to use them, because the internet services is bad, and watch videos in you tube or use tools such as Skype for example, it is a failure. I think of autonomous learning and learning with technology, I will imagine to my students working with their computer very soon, because I have been talking to the political authorities of my town, and they have promised to give us an internet service to the center of the city. Nowadays there are not any decisions about that but some councilors along with our Mayor are working on that project.

our job is wonderful and easier when we have appropriate resources, our students enjoy their learning and improve their knowledge. I feel motivated and I suppose my students too, I have enjoyed designing my Class wiki in order to work with my students, and I am going to continue explored this tool and other ones I learnt. Technology Web-skills are terrific.

Week 7: Learner Autonomy and One Computer Options

I think that learning autonomy depends of learners, teachers or the system teaching situation. Learners’ autonomy has freedom to decide their lessons and exercises in the classroom. The teaching practices are flexible, and therefore learning autonomy is practicable and achievable.

Some students get to prepare themselves for improving their knowledge, they study very hard, and have to make a big effort to get the goals, so that they read magazines, newspapers and books in English, listening to radio, and watching TV programs or movies, listen to music; in other words they create their own methods and encourage by the learning English process.

Nowadays, the learning autonomy is easier, because there are many alternatives to learn alone, one of them is using-technology which has many websites and fantastic URLs. In addition, it is easy to get a computer, internet services or the famous Blackberry cell phones, so that with a good motivation they have the opportunity to learn very well and according the necessity in the modern society.

It was beautiful finding many alternatives for our class especially 7 Categories for Classroom Computer by Donna Ashmus, which involve many options for teachers and students that I would like to use with my students like: oral reports, show multimedia projects, Station communication, E-mail other students/classrooms, Quick Cam to take pictures of students or communicate face to face, use CD-ROM encyclopedia for research, pictures, video and sound clips, etc. Use Internet to access libraries, projects, databases, addresses, etc. Publish tools such as: monthly class magazine, newsletter, anthologies, classroom journal, ongoing story center, brochure for project, web publishing. Simulation center: work teams of students, complete worksheet as they work through the program, and students make prediction.

Then, I think this is our responsibility be able to teach, but using the appropriate methodology according to the science and technology.

Genny.

WEEK 6: ENGAGING STUDENTS

Large classes and Interactive Power Point.

Hello friends,

Really Teaching in large classes is a custom in my job, so that, I have always looking for resources to help me in order to teach to my students and get the effectively and efficiently.

Obviously, the technology tool skills come to give to teachers the light in electronically to web-based assignments before the class. In this process, it was interesting have had the opportunity to analyze the quoted “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself”. (John Dewey). Because when the people always study in order to learn more and more, they become successful.

I have always had clear that aim of teaching is not only transmitting information. Our labor as teacher is to share academic knowledge and help to our students to be humanistic, reflective, critical and active constructors of their own scenario.

Now, I have learnt that in large classes must impose techniques to keep students interested in the learning process it is necessary to have present the (Schneider for an extensive discussion of theories). About the cognitive theories who describes the three phases of the learning process:

1. - we decide what to attend to, If we want students to learn, we need to capture their attention.

2. - We organize what we observe into a coherent mental pattern or structure, Students must decide how to organize this information in their own minds (and notes).

3. - This gives new information meaning beyond the particular learning occasion, and makes it easier to retrieve. This final phase of learning begins in the classroom, with review and application, and continues out of the classroom.

Based in this Chinese proverb: “Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.” for that reason I like very much to work with PBL, because we can involve our students directly with the real materials, real activities like web-quest.

I have always used PPT in my classes, now I only need to add the link with internet in my teaching learning process, and we use the specific knowledge we need our students learn. In this way, the teaching is appropriate for visual, kinesthetic musical, etc and different learners’ ages. Thanks Robert, It is important to refresh our knowledge, and to improve our capacities as a good professional; and the most important, Get the successful in our students.

Week 5: Assessment, Rubrics and PBL

My nice and beautiful expiriences about Rubrics and PBL

In this week, the level of my knowledge has grown during this course, because I have never had clear the idea about rubrics and assessment, however nowadays I understand that they help us to know what our students learnt. It is important to emphasize that sometimes teachers do not give the importance to this topics which facilitate us to understand our activities in this difficult educational labor, because we are forming new professionals for a new society.

Sometimes, we teach in a quickly way, and we do not think, what happens with the learners about their feelings, thoughts and goals which they have for the futures. Obviously, we used to attend many seminars, but they do not have this kind of topics, I do not know why, but I suppose because it is a complex topic at the beginning and take a lot time to understand it.

to be clear, neither rubrics is better than the other and both (holistic and analytic rubrics) have a place in authentic assessment, depending of many aspects like, the person who is teaching, and the kind of learners, because sometimes, there is less detail to analyze in the holistic rubric, younger students may be able to integrate them into their schema better than the analytic rubric. Teachers must score the product and they have different ideas about what are acceptable criteria which help us to get an extra detail in the analytic rubric with multiple grades about the same criteria.

In Project Based Learning (PBL), students have a long process in answer to a complex question, problem, or challenge. Projects help students learn contents that requires the modern society with knowledge such as collaboration, communication and critical thinking.

Students get a deeper understanding about the necessity to learn according globalized world. Projects develop skills and habits of learning and can allow students to know community issues, interact through technology, and work with others as if they are in a classroom. Students have the opportunity to focus their learning using debate, forum or solving problems. They create a need to know essential content and skills. Because they learn firstly the knowledge and then, once learned, they have the opportunity to apply them creating a context and reason to learn and understand the information and concepts.


Thanks Robert for these new knowledge.



WEEK 4: TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LESSON PLAN

This week, I have understood that sometimes we assist to a seminar, but they are unfocussed with the expectative in the teaching learning process.

Actually, the area of the website for teaching English is new for me, but planning the lesson is common in our activities, however I have learnt a new form to do it and I have liked it a lot. The best experience in the websites techniques and the most widely implemented methods of helping all students to learn more successfully it is amazing.

The description of the teaching and learning strategies, in order to improve in the teaching learning process with the websites, and other resources has been interesting. It is important to recognize that while these strategies are useful, little will be accomplished in implementing them unless there is ongoing documentation of their results.

Learn to use this new technique, it a new for to teach with efficiently, it depends of us and the interested of our students.