Week 10: Reflection

I can’t believe this is the end of Week 10 and the end of the course. Time indeed flies!  

The course has been really productive. I have learned a lot about how to use technology to make lessons more interactive. The most interesting topics for me were the following:

• The use of blogs for teaching
• Carrying out effective web searches and bookmarking sites with Delicious
• Project-based learning, WebQuests and rubrics
• Interactive PowerPoint
• The one-computer classroom.

I liked those topics because they provided me with new ideas and tools I can use in my classroom. Also, I liked that, while exploring these topics, we had some practical tasks that encouraged me to try and implement the knowledge I gained. But for these tasks, I might not have become confident to apply this knowledge in my classroom. 

As for the tools I am going to use in my classes, there are plenty of them. First of all, I am going to start using WebQuests to make my teaching more interactive and student-centered. Then, I am going to use Rubistar, EasyTestMaker, HotPotatoes and various websites that provide resources for lessons, such as BreakingNewsEnglish. Finally, I have created a discussion class on Nicenet that I am going to start using next academic year. I also want to create a class wiki. I have lots of plans and ambitions in terms of integrating technology into my classes and I do hope I will be able to implement all of my ideas. 

To conclude my post, I want to thank Donna for developing and facilitating such an interesting and useful course and other course participants for sharing their knowldge and experience with me. I really enjoyed this course and had fun working with you all.  

Anna

Week 9: Reflection

The highlight of this week was our final project. It took me quite a lot of time to prepare the WebQuest and then write the first draft of my final project. I put in a lot of effort trying to make it as explicit as possible and therefore, I was really glad to receive positive comments from Sawako, who was my partner. I had to make only a few slight changes in the first draft before publishing it. Namely, I decided to include the questions we were supposed to answer. In my first draft I didn't have the questions, but having read Sawako's first draft, I noticed that because of the questions she kept in her draft, it was much easier to follow her ideas. So I decided to include the questions into my final draft as well. 

The readings about the theory of multiple intelligences and learning styles were a good reminder of what I learned before. I took the learning style quiz at http://www.edutopia.org and found out that my strongest intelligences are linguistic, intrapersonal, and visual/spatial. This was not a surprise to me because I had taken similar paper-based quizzes before. However, this was the first time I did it on-line and I really liked how quickly it was, so I added the link to Edutopia to my Delicious page. In my English Language Methodology class we talk about learning styles and multiple intelligences and I usually ask my students to take a quiz to find out their own style. From now on, I am planning to ask them to take it on-line rather than on paper. 

Anna

Week 8: Reflection

This week was really challenging. We had so much to do! However, the tasks were interesting and useful. First of all, I liked the technology tools we have explored. They can help teachers make their daily practice more various and more interesting for students. I think one of the best websites in our list is Tools for Educators. Although I didn’t use it for the week project, I am familiar with it and use it quite often to create crosswords, word searches and bingo games. I especially like that this website allows creating crosswords not only with clues, but also with pictures. Such crosswords are much more interesting for young learners.

I think all teachers like crosswords because they allow students to memorize new words in a fun way. Therefore, I would like to share a link to a Split Crossword. You can download it from http://curriculumproject.org/teacher-training-2 (look for Activity 11.11 – Communicative Crosswords: CrossWare on this website). You enter the words and the program generates a split crossword. In the classroom students have to complete the clues for their half of the crossword. When they have written the clues, they work with a partner who has the other half, asking for and giving clues so they can both complete their half of the crossword. I think this is a very useful activity for students. When writing clues, they can use synonyms and relative clauses and in this way learn to use the strategy of paraphrasing. Besides, when they are working with a partner, they have to explain the meaning of their word without saying the word and listen to each other and guess the word their partner is explaining. Thus, they can develop listening and speaking skills. Although it might be difficult to use Split crosswords with complete beginners, higher level students (from elementary onward) can really benefit from them. For example, I often use Split crosswords with Advanced level students and in my English Language Methodology classroom to help students memorize different terms related to the field of English language teaching.

As for the final project, I am happy I have finished my first draft. Now I am looking forward to getting my partner’s comments so that I could prepare the final draft. However, even now I know I should make some changes. While reviewing Sawako’s project, I understood that I am missing some things in my project. So I am ready to make changes right now.

Anna

Week 7: Reflection

I have finally finished my WebQuest! It is about Communicative Language Teaching and is created for pre-service EFL teachers. It took quite  a lot of time to find all the materials and put them all together, but I really enjoyed the process. Unfortunately, I won't be able to try this WebQuest with my students because my lectures have already finished. I will send my students a message asking to access the WebQuest, but I don't think they will do the assignments. I am going to use this WebQuest next academic year.

This week I have learned about a new tool - Padlet. I was so excited about it that I decided to use it in my WebQuest. I registered at Padlet.com and linked some pages to my WebQuest. I want my students to use Padlet to share the results of their work, but the tasks they have to complete are not very creative. I am not sure I've chosen the best way to use Padlet because I think it is best used for showing students' work such as videos, slideshows etc. or for doing group research. Anyway, for the time being, I think it's ok to try to use it at least in such a simple way. 

This week topic was Learner Autonomy. It is directly related to my final project as the use of WebQuests can foster learner autonomy in the classroom. Thus, in my WebQuest students are supposed to complete the tasks on their own. As we do not have an opportunity to complete the WebQuest in class, I decided to ask students to do it at home and use the knowledge obtained for a class discussion. Unfortunately, it means that they will have to work individually at home, but I will use some group work in class when we discuss what students have learned. 


Anyway, as I won't be able to try the WebQuest right away, I would really appreciate your feedback and comments. You can access my WebQuest at
http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=196138

Anna 

Week 6: Reflection

I have been using PPT in my teaching for some time and I have always tried to involve students in my presentations. I have tried animation in order not to reveal the content of my slides at once. I have also used Think, pair, share technique and Concept Test technique. However, I didn't know about such techniques as Blank Slide, Quick Write and some others. Therefore, I enjoyed the readings and tried to use some of the tips provided in my PPT. 

Also, I didn't know that it is possible to create your own interactive game in Power Point.  I thought you need some special computer skills to do something like that. Creating your own game in PPT is a time consuming task; however, once you have your own template, you can always update it to include new questions and tasks for students. So it is worth it.

As for my project, last week I decided to develop a WebQuest about Communicative Language Teaching. However, I was extremely busy this week and couldn't finish my WebQuest. Moreover, I think I will have to opt for a project plan. My lectures finish this week, which means that I won't be able to try my WebQuest. 

Anna