week 10 - reflections

10th and last week of eTT informed about Lo Ti (Levels of Technology integration):
http://www.loticonnection.com/


The survey was interesting to do. Concerning the questions in the survey, my results in my particular teaching situation depend on availability of internet in class. Very often I had to answer "never used" due to the fact, that I don't have internet in class, although my learners are highly motivated in using technology for learning. I have to introduce technology outside of my class in extra lessons from home "online tuition". If the questions had been based on technology for learning in general (inside and outside of classroom) I would have answered "few times per week" or even "daily".

The Survey platform also offers a lot of useful material - tutorials for programs and tools, such as: 
http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/
http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/NET/vbNet.html
video tutorial: http://www.cbtcafe.com/powerpoint/index.html


teens & stress - how do they react: "very good video" from science nation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=42t51w63jCs
more useful links:  http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2011/06/19/the-best-resources-for-learning-about-teens-stress/
BBC stresstest: https://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/stress/


More good links for extras, ideas, lesson plans and interactive teaching material: http://www.learner.org/
interactive teaching material:  http://www.learner.org/interactives/


Looking back and thinking about the 10-weeks-eTT and if I did it again, I would start to create an Excel sheet right in the beginning. An Excel sheet to collect all the useful links about programs, texts, videos, tools with a short description what it is all about and the passwords, so it is easy to overview and quick to enter and simple to search and choose a specific program for special purpose. An Excel sheet, which can be easily updated and completed, also always ready for use off-line and to regularly upload it to a site for on-line use.
This is some kind of system that I would need for my daily work as language trainer in online and offline class.

week 9 - reflections

In week 9 we switched back on a theoretical input - Howard Gardener's Multiple Intelligences concerning learning styles. I am very familiar with this issue, but it was good to revise it and take a further look at my project report and correct it critically with the multiple intelligence issue in mind.

With a chart list of each intelligence I questioned my activities and did some changes and adjustments, which suddenly seemed necessary in the means of a motivatind, effective and active learning situation. 

As I learnt from my English students, that the quantity of used web tools is unimportant, the learning activity, that meets students' learning styles best, should be much more focussed on. I was too much worring about the technology, which should actually just be  a helpful tool and not the issue itself. 

I also learnt that it is important to foster learning content and design lessons, that can be easily stretched out, in case students need more time and more practice. To make it clear and simple, I have to keep learners busy throughout the training with motivating tasks and invite learners to design and plan lessons the way they would like it as well, so I can find out about activities they prefer, enjoy and especiall their learning style. 

Actually I had planned to introduce ANVILL to my voluntary students (= guineapigs to practice my first web tool training) , which they suddenly refused to sign up. I reflected on this to find out the problem and I am sure I taught too many tools within a short time. Adult learners don't like to register averywhere. They think about the consequences and do hate spamming and unpleasant email, adverts, pop ups........
Unfortunatel they said, that all the technology was a bit too much in such a short time, which I think they were right. I didn't leave enough time to foster English content and allow time to get familiar with specific technology tools in a playful way.

If I had introduced ANVILL in the beginning, I am sure this would have been better, because they would have learnt to work with the advantages of a learning management system from the very beginning and would be working with it passionately now.

Now, I would leave a bit of time to work creatively with what learners already know and after some week, I would invite my students to do a poll about expectations in class, ideas to look at and if they feel ready for new tools and platforms or if they would have any other language expectations and need.

This survey can be done by www.kwiksurveys.com, a free and easy to create web tool for surveys. The survey link is easily embedded into the homepage/site/learning platform. 

http://kwiksurveys.com/s.asp?sid=g3sqxsieq667co4107231 
I enjoyed exploring this web tool.

There is one issue that I really learnt in week 8 and 9. When we had to set up our blog at bloggers, I decided to prepare an empty page for each week, because I love planning ahead. With blogs this turned out to be a bad idea.
An added blog post is listed beyond the latest date and not entry, which I did not think of in the beginning. If I prepare the template for all pages right in the beginning but post it with comments later on, it would not be rearrange and relisted beyond the latest entry, it would just mix up. This is very annoying for me, because my blog entries do not come up in the order I would like to have them and with blogs, this cannot be corrected afterwards anymore, blogs are not as flexible in template design as homepages. I feel very sorry, that my well planned strategie turned out to be a mistake. Now I know it better and will be able to prevent my students from making the same mistake.
Grrrrr!

I also did some changes to my final project in the rubrics and the deadline for students' homework. I think this should be just a guideline to get learners to start work more regularly. Due to some live circumstances, technology,... I will have to be prepared to slight chances, so that learners have the chance to meet goals and do work successfully, which is pure motivation. Not all learners have the same potential, positive learning background and attitude and will to learn studiously. Well, it must be said, that we still have to keep in mind, that we teach humans and no machines.

Home

WELCOME

Hi

I am Brigitte Falkner, an English language trainer in Austrian adult education centres and I am proud to be one of the attendees of the US e-teacher training program.

Feel free to immerse into this very unique web-skills-issue by following my blog, reading my summarizing entries and my followers' comments and gain information by viewing these very useful links about the e-teacher program.

Enjoy reading for full immersion:


http://aei3.uoregon.edu/eteacher/

http://aei.uoregon.edu/

http://uoregon.edu/

Week 8 - reflections

Dealing with project drafts in week 8 was a real challenge for me. Not only writing my own draft, but also
doing the checklist seriously and making suggetions.


I though, doing the checklist about the peer draft would be much easier and quicker, actually evaluating is hard work in order to try to see it through other class mates eyes.

At first, I read Nguyens draft. She teaches 6th graders in Hanoi/Vietnam.

Reading and evaluating my peer's draft made me feel a little bit ashamed:

1.) I realised that I should also have had a close look at the checklist (it's function seems similar to a rubric), which I did not do before writing the draft,

2.) I left out some very important details,

3.) I did not mention the issue, that adult learners do not learn in the same pace and playful way as young learners. Due to the fact that most participating teachers in this web skill training teach young learners and teenagers, my students are much older and I could face the problem that some of my older students "could/would" need a bit more time to work on the PC than teenies. 

4.) Recently I found out that one of my eldest students in class, a 58 year man, has problems with reading small-sized letters/writing and also has troulbes with listening, due to ear problems. He cannot listen to audios without a tapescript, because he would miss a lot of important information. I think we have to keep in mind, that there can be participants who can fall behind in learning due to their physical health condition. I am sure we as teachers are able to search, explore and find tools and solutions to cope with this in order to help people with special needs to also improve and succeed in learning a foreign language, which is a daily challenge for teachers. Plan B or thinking of alternatives in situations of unexpected errors is essential in teaching especially as teacher in the role of a "facilitator and learning guide".

To summarize this week, it was a fruitful and web tool enriched week with big variety of easy to use quiz tools, puzzles, test tools, exam creators, survey tools like hotpotatoe and especiall Anvill, an online learning/blended learning platform but it was also a little bit disappointing because I faced the limit what one can expect from adults and partly senior learners to learn a language plus new web tools within a short periode.

  This is the first time, that I really had to change all my plans. I asked my students to find out about Anvill after I had introduced them to quite a lot of very useful and interesting web tools. Due to the fact that I don't have internet in class, my learners have to do step by step at home after I had introduced them to a theoretical power point introduction. 

As I wanted to ask about the result, they were rather disappointed because I found out, I had introduced them to too many tools within a short time. Most learners said, that it is difficult to remember all tools, its function, purpose and access keys. So I had to cancel the ANVILL activity, because I was too diligent and too fast for my students. They need time to practise and foster each tool for a while, until I can go on and introduce a new one.
Then I decided to design a simple homepage with blogs, links, tools, embedded, that looks nearly the same homepage as they are used to look at, when they practice exercises and download material. There are two learners who already need a bigger writing for better reading and if the audio quality of voiceboard were not be perfect, they would have major difficulties with understanding.
I uploaded some of the prepared quizzes and cross word puzzles, which was fairly easy for them to download.

I think I would have to be more patient and allow more time for each activity and espacially enough time to practise.

So far the learning platform which I created as an additional platform to ANVILL is 
          www.brigittefalkner.jimdo.com


                www.jimdo.com
is a free homepage designing tool and also allows to embed blogs. It is very simple, clear and easy to use. Manual is explained with voice description within a few minutes.

A short comment on Anvill, it is a brilliant tool, similar to moodle, but Anvill offers voiceboard which is very helpful in making students pronounce properly and clearly in order to record, listen, speak and understand spoken instructions. I like it.

regards 
Brigitte