Week Ten - Time to Say Goodbye

So finally it’s time to say goodbye, to all my fellow voyagers on this eventful journey. As I bid adieu to my friends and Captain Courtney, my heart is filled with mixed feelings. I am happy at my new found treasure of knowledge and wisdom, but at the same time I am feeling sad to think that the course is going to end. But, as they say, all good things must come to an end.

I wonder if this is an end or a new beginning. Perhaps both. The course is ending, but the challenging task to implement the technology change successfully and effectively into my teaching is just beginning. I’m sure that I will be able to achieve that pretty soon.

Even before the course ends, I have got a good opportunity to share my new found knowledge of web tools with my fellow English teachers working in the Department of Education in my state. I’ve been invited by the State Institute of Education, Jammu to deliver some lectures in a training program for Master Trainers in English, under the aegis of National Secondary Education Campaign, Govt. of India. I am hopeful of having a good and fruitful discussion with the participants.

In this amazing course, there was so much to learn during the past ten weeks. It would be wrong to call it a course only in web skills. It was a complete teacher development course in itself - big learning in a small package, or what we call ‘Gagar mein sagar’ in Hindi, which literally means ‘Ocean in a jug’. I have done many teacher development courses before, but none was as transforming as this one. I feel so fortunate to be able to attend this course. I also feel grateful to the developers and instructors of this course as also to University of Oregon, American English Institute and Regional English Language Office (RELO), US Embassy, New Delhi India.

I have had many sleepless nights during this course notwithstanding the fact that I am not accustomed to doing this. But what I gained by sacrificing my sleep was really worth it. Now, since the course is going to end, and ‘the essence of winter sleep is on the night’, am I thinking about a long-night sleeps from tomorrow? I would answer and end this last official blog post with my all-time favorite lines of Frost:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Goodbye!

Reflections Week Nine - The Last but One

Week nine is ending, and ‘the last week’ is about to begin in a few hours. Final project reports have been submitted. Our adventurous and rewarding journey is in the final phase; the shores are approaching nearer.

Week nine was full of valuable information and profound insights on Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences. Like always, there was a nice discussion on Nicenet, regarding learner styles and use of technology. Discussion is a good way of learning, but let’s not forget that not all students would be comfortable with this tool. I enjoy discussions, anyway.

A teacher ought to be conscious of the learning approach of his learners without which learning cannot happen. I was very impressed by Howard Gardener who suggests educators to individualize and pluralize their teaching. He explains that instead of “one size fits all,” they should learn as much as they can about each student, and teach each person in ways that they find comfortable and learn effectively. Important materials should be taught in several ways, to suit the learning style of each student. Also if we teach only in one way, our own understanding is likely to be thin.

Submission of final project report in time was a big relief. I am so satisfied with my project and the implementation of technology in my classroom. So it wasn't like you learn it first and then experiment it in your class later with your students. The simultaneous implementation of technology in the classroom with the help of this project was a wonderful idea. This meant that much before the end of this course, we had started experimenting with technology in the classroom, with our instructor and guide Courtney by our sides to help and guide us through any difficulties.

The project benefited me in more than one ways. In addition to bringing about the technology change in my classroom, it helped me in finding about the learning styles of my students. In order to implement the technology effectively in the classroom, one ought to know about the learning styles of their learners and then decide about the tool(s) to be used. This is not going to make things easier for teachers, but it’s definitely going to make them better.

Thanks Week Nine! Come Week Ten!

Darshan

Week Eight Reflections

Another week, another Learning Enrichment! How very right - We live, We learn!

This week we got an excellent opportunity to interact with Jeff Magoto - the director of the Language Center at the University of Oregon. There was a lot to learn from his experience and vision. His innovative ideas and the different ways in which teachers of English can use a wonderful technology tool ANVILL, were simply great. A valuable addition to my long list of amazing tools!

The most important part of this whole course has been the ‘Project’ and the technology change that I have implemented in my ESL classroom. Though I faced more problems in making the technology work than I had expected, the results have been nothing less than encouraging. Those of my students who were not able to access VOCAROO on their cellphones for different reasons were upset at not being able to use the new tool. Some of them are even demanding new computers and fast internet access from their parents. The enthusiasm of the modern day youth about technology is unmistakable. Now it’s our (the teachers’) duty to maintain that enthusiasm and not let the students get entangled in this complex world of WEBsites.

I’m waiting for the peer review of my draft project report and then I will give it a finishing touch before the final submission next week.

One thing that has impressed me a lot in this course is the amount of energy and activity shown by all the Webskills participants in the discussions threads. Some of them are extraordinarily active and always have a lot to say. My participation in the discussions has been more as a listener than an enthusiastic speaker, but at the same time, their views have really added a lot to my knowledge about the ways and manners of teachers from different parts of the globe.

Creating a site class site on Nicenet was another enriching experience. There were so many readings on different ways of using online resources, like creating class sites, class wikis, class blogs and class surveys etc. The discovery of new exercise generators and other web based activity generators was also wonderful. There is so much to choose from; absolutely no dearth of anything. And above all, most of it FREE! WOW!

Looking forward to Week Nine,

Darshan.  

Week Seven - Reflections

New Learning, new ways, new ideas; day after day, week after week! Tomorrow, week eight will start with new expectations, leading to new achievements. This journey has so far been so adventurous, so rewarding. Thanks to our able guide, Courtney Cunningham!

This week’s biggest achievement for me is my deeper understanding of the idea of Learner Autonomy. Before this, I used to discuss with my fellow teachers, in a very narrow sense, about the amount of freedom students should be given in the classroom. I’d never thought that a whole field of study on Learner Autonomy exists, with lots of resources and materials. Our Padlet wall is full of such useful materials and resources on Learner Autonomy. Padlet has been an interesting and wonderful discovery. My students and I have liked it and are already using it.

Teaching in a one computer classroom is what I do in two of my classes and I think it’s really useful in making them more interactive and more learner-centred. Using mobile devices in the classroom is the next think I will be working on, as I think they can prove to be very useful in PBL and can also promote learner autonomy.

The article EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, Going to the MALL: Mobile Assisted Language Learning by George M. Chinnery is very informative and useful for those who intend to implement MALL in their classrooms.

The implementation of the technology related change in my classroom has been so encouraging. Though my students are more excited about using the internet and less about the speaking assignments, it is working like stimulus variation nevertheless. I’ve made some changes related to the use of new technology in my classroom. We will be making use of Padlet in different kinds of integrated activities along with VOCAROO for speaking assignments. Also the students will be doing self-assessment or/and peer-assessment of their audios before my feedback. That will ensure their better involvement in the learning process and prepare a ground for further classroom discussions.

I have paired with Domingo Cadima for peer review of our projects. I’m working late every night preparing the first draft of my project report. It needs a lot of hard work and time. I am very hopeful of bringing drastic technology changes in my classes that can help students in the development of self-awareness, critical thinking, creativity and the sense of responsibility for their own learning.

Goodbye Week Seven; Welcome Week Eight!

Week 6 - My Reflections

This week has been very important for me as it was dedicated to teaching large classes and making them interactive through different tools and techniques. I have been teaching large classes for many years now and have faced many challenges in almost every session. The biggest challenge, however, was to change the process of one way dispensation of knowledge based on traditional methods. It has always been difficult for me to make large classes interactive for different reasons. There is every chance of students straying from the topic and indulging in useless talks. The challenge of involving maximum students in a discussion is also big. It requires lot of time and the lesson may remain incomplete. Moreover, in the schools where I teach, it is not really desirable to have much noise in the class and even today the teachers who can maintain a pin-drop silence in their classes are considered most efficient.

In situations like this, technology can definitely offer solutions to the problem. So from the many useful articles this week, I learnt about many ways and techniques which will help me in improve in class discussions and promote interaction in the classroom. Use of interactive elements in PPTs is what I consider my biggest achievement this week. In MS PowerPoint, there’s a great possibility of incorporating many interactive tools like ConcepTest, QuickWrite, Audio/Video, Hyperlinks, Jumps to other slides, Blank slides, etc. with easy and interesting animations and no need for online access. I loved our course instructor Courtney Cunningham’s idea of one question per slide in a PPT. I would certainly incorporate it into my future PPTs.

It was also very interesting and useful to read about the Principles of priming, integrating and reinforcing to improve in-class discussions and the use of Blackboard as a tool to support these principles. I can see that my future large classes will be really interactive and beneficial for all the students, the way I have always wanted them to be.

This week was also very important because of a very crucial project step, where we had to implement the technology related change in our classrooms. So I had decided to improve the speaking skills of my students by making use of voice recording tools like Vocaroo. By bringing about this change, I hoped (and still do) that my students will get more time to practice at home and also they won’t feel the hesitation of speaking in the class. My students were very excited when I told them about online voice recording tools like vocaroo and that we will be using these for our speaking assignments. Some of them were already at heels to try their hands at these tools. I gave them small speaking assignments and the results were very encouraging. They responded well and their enthusiasm was reflecting in their recordings. Though they were facing some difficulties in using online voice recorders on their phones with slow internet, I advised them to use the offline voice recorders on their phones and play the recordings in the class next day directly from their phones. I heard some good audios made by some otherwise silent students in the class. I had asked them to talk about themselves, about their likes and dislikes, their interests and hobbies etc. for this week’s recordings. Another topic was “ The use of ipads in Classrooms”. From the next week, they will be e-mailing me the recordings and I will send them the feedback.

 So this week was also very productive like the previous weeks, with the difference that it was also productive for my students.

Looking forward to a more fruitful week.

Darshan 

Week - 5 Reflections

So we’ve reached the halfway stage in our journey and how changed we already are! I wonder how the rest of it is going to affect us.

This week brought about a great change in my thinking and attitude. My skepticism about the use of rubrics for student assessment changed into my admiration for them. After reading a lot of articles on alternative assessment and use of rubrics, I finally changed my views about rubrics. NCLRC's article is really impressive with pop-up examples and a detailed information on alternative assessment. It is mainly responsible for my changed attitude towards rubrics. And when I created a sample rubric on RUBISTAR with unexpected ease, I was compelled to think if my laziness wasn’t partly a reason for my disliking of rubrics.

I have always believed in the learning-by-doing technique and PBL for that matter. But I didn’t know many ways of implementing it in an ESL classroom. Now, I have discovered many ways of using PBL in ESL classrooms, which I previously thought wasn’t much feasible. Susan Gaer’s article is wonderfully informative and full of insight about PBL. A carefully planned and managed project can definitely involve the students in the learning process to the extent of educating them according to the course objectives.

Creating a webquest was a unique experience. I’d only heard the word before, but didn’t know what a webquest was. Now I have created one and I strongly feel that I will be using them a lot in future.

This week was also important from the project task point of view. I hope the technology related change I have thought of implementing in my classroom works. If it does, my students will be able to make a better use of their smartphones than making calls or listening to Bollywood songs.

REFLECTIONS - WEEK FOUR

OK! That’s was some hard work this week. Lots and lots of web searching, exploring, revisiting, reading, planning, writing, and what not!  It was really a busy week. This internet is a big jungle, having a number of different roads, one leading to another. People often get lost here in search of the right path for them. When I see many links on the homepage of a new found website, or many sites on a portal, all equally attractive and inviting, I am reminded of these lines of Robert Frost,

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

How I face the same thing every week, every day. After hours of surfing, one link after the other, I find that I have lost my way. Then I want to come back to the original web site from where I’d started, but feel tired, give up and go to sleep. But then there are times when we discover exactly what we are looking for, and feel very excited, energetic and blessed.

The discovery of ‘online corpora’ was one such moment for me this week - millions of words to search according to the context.  It can be very useful in developing students’ vocabulary and writing skills. Online corpora have an immense scope in ESL teaching, I feel.

Jarek Krajka's article presents a detailed account of using the internet for teaching English Writing. The writer has analysed, in detail, the different genres of academic writing, giving some ideas for tasks and techniques done with the help of the Web. I found this article very very useful for my present students and I am sure I will be soon using these ideas and techniques in my classroom.

From Larry J. Mikulecky's article, I explored  http://www.magickeys.com/books/ and found it wonderful. It is really a great site for children's illustrated literature. I found a few 'talking e-books' on this website also. They are good for listening activities. My four year old daughter liked it very much.

And finally, the Technology Enhanced Lesson Plan looks like a successful experiment. I have integrated technology into my lessons in the past as well, but in an entirely different manner. What I did this time was something new for me.

As a whole, this week was a little hectic but very productive.