Technology enhanced teaching and learning

             Technology does not drive change,

                                        it enables change. 

          Technology has become part of our everyday life. It has affected every sphere of human activity. Education is not an exception. Using technology in education can bring many positive changes and improve teaching and learning practices. 

          During the last two weeks we discovered many ways of implementing technology tools for developing language skills. There have been so many ideas and suggestions, and so many useful websites that it is difficult to absorb it all in such a short time. My delicious page has been growing steadily, and I have already started using it to find appropriate material. 

         We have been shown ways of developing  listening, speaking, reading and writing skills with the use of technology that will make the lessons more interesting, engaging, motivational and enjoyable for students. Combining traditional instructional methods with technology will certainly bring better results and will help our students become more independent and autonomous learners. 

         Even if schools are not equipped with computers, teachers can find ways of using the limitless Internet resources and adapting them to the school conditions. It all depends on the teacher's imagination, creativity and willingness to make the learning experience more worthwhile.

       

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What is delicious about Delicious.com?

      It was interesting to hear the first comments of some of our colleagues who thought that Delicious.com was about food. That's the normal association that the name of the website brings to mind. But, although it has nothing to do with food, we have all discovered its deliciousness. It is so simple and yet so helpful and practical. You find a useful page, bookmark it, add a tag, and it's there for you whenever you need it, wherever you are. 

     Another delicious thing about it is that when you need a website on a certain topic, and you don't know where to start, you just look at what others have saved on their page and you get going. It is especially helpful when you have added people in your profession to your network, because you know that you can trust their choice. So, Delicious.com is not only about saving and sharing addresses of websites, but it is also about helping each other and learning from each other. 

      Finally, sharing your bookmarks with your students will be of great help to them. Although many students are skilled in using the Internet, it may not be easy for them to find websites relevant for the subject they are learning. So, looking at their teacher's bookmarks will make it easier for them to find the right websites without wasting any time. What is more, they can be sure that these websites can provide valuable and trustworthy information, as they have been checked and bookmarked by someone who knows more about the topic.
       Delicious, isn't it?

Setting objectives

Setting objectives is the key to successful completion of whatever endeavour you decide to pursue. You need to know where you start, where you want to be at the end, and how you are going to achieve that. Objectives provide a motive, a structure and an aim towards which all activities are directed.

Setting objectives for a lesson is essential, as they show what the students are expected to learn, what activities the teacher should use in order to help students meet these objectives, as well as how to assess if the objectives have been achieved. The ABCD model for learning objectives is very useful as it shows clearly what are the four components that the teacher should consider in setting the objectives.  Using this model helps define the objectives clearly, so that both the teacher and the students will know what are the desired outcomes of the lesson and whether the lesson was successful. The discussions of our colleagues show that we have all grasped the idea and the structure of the ABCD model, and I believe that even if teachers are obligated to use another format for lesson planning, they will include this model as well.

Web searching

The Internet is an endless source of information, but it is important to know how to find the right information in as little time as possible. This week we have seen that there are many search engines which make the searching easier from the start, as many of them are specialized for certain areas or use categories so that information is organized by subject. We haven't had time to explore them all in depth, but what we have seen so far shows that being familiar with these search engines is essential for successful web searching.

It is also important to educate our students how to search for information on the Web. Very often they need to use the Web to find information for their homework or for projects, or to prepare for debates and discussions. Using a general search engine would take more time and might produce results that are not so relevant for their purpose.I have just discovered an excellent search engine for researching current social issues (http://www.multcolib.org/homework/sochc.htm)l, which would be very useful for them when they prepare for debates and discussions as it offers multiple perspectives on these issues.

So far I have used mostly Google and Yahoo, and as Andreja says, some habits are difficult to change, but as we discover the advantages of other search engines, I am sure that we will get used to using different search engines for different purposes.

 

Using blogs in ELT

We’ve had a very successful week discussing the use of blogs in language teaching. There have been numerous ideas and suggestions, discussions on the positive and some negative sides of blogging, so that we now have a starting point from where to build on. I would like to thank all the colleagues who came up with so many insightful ideas and comments and wonderful suggestions for using blogs with our students.

So far our discussions have centered more on what, but now we have to focus on how. So, we have to think of ways of using blogs for different areas of teaching, how to incorporate it in our regular programme and how to make students eagerly participate in the online activities. Having a tutor and a class blog at the same time is a good idea. Teachers can concentrate on the tutor blog where they can post materials, useful links, assignments, important information and instructions, and leave the class blog more to the students so that they can show their knowledge and creative potential and create a blog they can be proud of.

Hello dear colleagues,

I've spent a few hours exploring the possibilities, but there is so much to learn. I'm sure we will learn a lot during this course, both from our teachers and from each other.

I'm so glad we are such a nice group, very professional, enthusiastic and friendly. I'm really starting to enjoy this course.

It's pretty late now, but I wanted to send my first posting. The next one will follow soon.

I look forward to reading all your blogs.

Nina