Greetings,
As you know I mentioned about an
assigment that was given to me to find a research question and then I
was asked to tell the reason why I had chosen it. Currently, my
instructor ,Mr. Neufeld who is giving lectures in both English and computer departments at Metu NCC, has given me an assignment that is about
writing our reflections and feedbacks on the process that we have learned in
the class.
Firstly, we had a vocabulary quiz that
includes 1.000 to 14.000 words. After the quiz, our instructor started
to teach us how to use some useful internet sites. The aim of using these
sites is to make a brief summary of writings, to highlight the prominent keywords in texts, and to test yourself with good variety of well prepared quizzes. These are all we have done so far.
In my opinion, a well prepared vocabulary quiz is a good way of monitoring students. As an English department instructor, Mr. Neufeld did a good work by starting with giving us vocabulary quizzes. But to be honest, I am not very fond of learning useful internet sites in this course (Advanced Reading and Writing). It may be because I am not very familiar with reading the academic texts on computer but more used to read hand-outs and papers or it may be basically because of having the lack of good wireless connection that has slowed our works in the class down. However, Mr. Neufeld has made a good progress at teaching the materials and overcome the internet problems that we have been facing during the class hours.
To sum up, we were given a good vocabulary quiz and tought useful internet sites by Mr. Neufeld. According to my feedback, I have found them both useful and deficient. Nevertheless, due to the problems that occured during the class hours, Mr. Neufeld managed to overcome them well.
You raise some important issues in your reflection. The question about when to use what technology is always going to be an issue. Nowadays in countries like America and the UK, many school children no longer use books anymore...many are now using tablets in school, and the skills of reading printed material are fast becoming obsolete. Here in Cyprus, even at the best 'technological' university, we have problems getting good access to WiFi in the classroom. There will always be risks involved in using technology, especially in the classroom, whatever the nature of the technology. Should this mean we abandon technology altogether in a f2f situation? Sometimes I wonder if that wouldn't be the best--in fact, I try to balance technology in and outside the classroom with tools like this BLOG and EDMODO.
YanıtlaSilThis is an issue that you will face with increasing frequency when you are a teacher, because the pace of technological change keeps accelerating. It will be really interesting to get your feedback five years from now, and see what challenges you are facing in the classroom with regard to technology, and the strategies you use to overcome them.
I must admit that technology is increasing quite fast and I am afraid we have to get used to it faster. As you say, many countries stopped using books in the schools. Similiarly, we have now digital devices that are connected to the internet and give you the advantage of buying books and some other magazines via internet. I am not sure whether I would use computer in the classroom(except the slayts), but I am sure I would be mostly in need of technology with no doubt.
YanıtlaSilBu yorum yazar tarafından silindi.
YanıtlaSilhe issue of MALL (Mobile assisted language learning) is going to change the landscape of language teaching in the next few years. However, it is impossible for any teacher to keep abreast of every new wave of technology. I have developed a 'methodology' which I call WOVEN TEACHING (as opposed to BLENDED LEARNING). Here is an abstract of a proposal I've worked on with some SFL instructors to give a presentation at a conference about this:
YanıtlaSilStudents, native users of the technology of their youth, are ‘tech-savvy’ but digitally illiterate. Teachers, who feel like ‘digital immigrants’, need not be ‘tech-savvy’ but must become ‘tech-comfy’ enough to apply teaching principles within current technological paradigms. The ability to seamlessly weave established principles with technology is the defining challenge of 21st century teaching.
‘Blended learning’’ has come to describe the integration of technology into the classroom. Reflecting on current teaching practices, teachers don’t ‘blend’ but rather ‘weave’ distinct strands of traditional teaching practice with strands of current technology, employing each for specific and distinct purposes. The resulting educational tapestry woven of these two strands is richer, more colourful and robust than either on its own.
Consider Krashen’s principles of comprehensible input, silent period and affective filter along with Paul Nation’s four strands of meaning-focused input and output, focus on form and fluency. The Internet is awash with texts augmented by rich multimedia content, providing comprehensible input on an unprecedented scale and scope. Interactive features allow free and creative interaction with texts, challenging traditional views regarding input, interaction and fluency. The question is how can teachers weave the old with the new to maximize learning by addressing established principles based on Krahsen and Nation.
A natural outcome of woven teaching is that learning takes place in and out of class, fostering group work, learner autonomy, learner creativity, process learning and moves towards a much more learner-centered classroom