WEEK10:TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION, ADVICE AND FAREWELLS

Week 10: Wrap-up

This week is the last one but not the least. We discuss about the integration of technology in teaching.

http://www.k12.wa.us/edtech/techliteracy/techinttiers.aspx

http://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/matrix.php

Of course integrating technology in teaching is a plus value and a necessity today. Integrating technology in a given lesson helps increase students’ motivation for learning, enhance their communicative skills, and facilitate higher-order thinking skills…

We also provide future participants with some pieces of advice. I think to summarize the advice that I provide them with that they need a strong will. 

I can’t help myself to congratulate Courtney and all the lovely staff for their patience, their love of what they are doing. Congratulation to us dear participants of the Webskills 2013, for our successful travel. Million thanks to the organizers of this great online course. 

During 10 weeks, I learned tons and tons of new things: creating blog, wiki, Padlet, delicious…, new websites. I am so satisfied and so grateful. I can confess that I feel myself changed; my teaching practices have hugely changed from traditional lecture to learner centeredness and learner autonomy. Now, I have unlimited ways and means to engage students, to motivate them. I discovered lots of techniques to teach my large larges without killing myself and at the same time giving the learners fun to learn. My students impressed and surprised me with their openness to changes. 

The course as a whole was successful and useful, but if I consider my teaching context I may choose learner-centeredness, autonomous learner, effective large classes teaching, one computer classroom as the most successful and useful topics. I am decided to experiment all the tools learned during this online course, not in a single lesson but gradually in different lessons.

I suggest that next time if it is possible to introduce Skype especially how to make a conference through Skype.

Farewell to you all,

Big hug, missing you already.

Bernadette

What Is Your Learning Style? | Edutopia

What Is Your Learning Style? | Edutopia

Week 9: LEARNING STYLES AND TECHNOLOGY

Week 9: LEARNING STYLES AND TECHNOLOGY

Hello everyone!

This week we had a discussion about learning styles and technology. I learned very useful information through the readings. I learned about different styles and strategies. I read about technologies that can match with each learning style.

 

http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

Gardner distinguishes 9 types of intelligences nowadays which are:

1.      Verbal linguistic

2.      Logical

3.      Mathematical

4.      Kinesthetic

5.      Visual

6.      Musical

7.      Interpersonal

8.      Naturalist

9.      Existentialist

Knowing all these intelligences helps the teacher design a course by integrating all of them. Students are different from each other. So, taking into account this difference may help the students. A variety of tools are available to help us or to sustain: PPT, movies, video, photos, blog, social network, puzzles.

Another very important point is to vary the activities in a given lesson. In doing so we are sure to cater for learners with different learning styles.

Http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learningstyles-quiz. Through this link I learned my own learning style. Here is the link to access to my learning style: http://www.edutopia.org/node/6140/done?sid=3893146 The result shows that I am a naturalist learner, while I was thinking I am a visual learner.

I tried with the help of my peer reader to polish my project report. I have posted the final project report in our class wiki. The project is about how to enhance students speaking skills using technology.

I also fill out a course evaluation form in which I expressed all my gratefulness for this online course. Million thanks to our brave INSTRUCTOR Courtney. Thanks to you all dear colleagues.

Best regards,

Bernadette

Week 8: Project Report Draft

Week 8: PROJECT REPORT

As usual, week 8 started with readings. But let say it was mainly characterized by the project report draft. We’ve done also various tasks such as creating a class site. I created a space for the students to record their voice and post it. 

In my discuss I focus on many online tools very good for learner autonomy. And I chose creating a blog for example to be feasible with my context and the intermediate students. This blog will be useful for out of class activities because, we do not have a computer in the classroom. So, students can go to cyber café, if there are activities. They may also find there their topics.

I learned more about ANVILL, a useful tool for language practice. This material is set by Jeff Magoto, Director of the language Center at UO, our honorable guest this week. I would like to familiar with it because I want to enhance students speaking skills. It has text, voice and video recording that will be useful for the students. I am still thirsty because I did not exploit ANVILL as I wish due to the bad Internet connection.

As for the project report task, this week we were called to write a draft of the report and send it to a peer reader and in return to read and give feedback to a partner’s report.

I posted my first draft and I have given feedback to my peer reader. My project is about how to enhance the intermediate students speaking skills using a technology tool (voxopop). There are many things to add and restructure. 

I do believe that with the collaboration of colleagues I will come up with an acceptable project report.

Bernadette