Fourth Workshop

As we have noticed during these 3 previous workshops, we have approached the basic things of what technology is about,how to use and take advantage of it through internet like chats, e-mails, wikis and podcast; and how to teach through Project/Internet-Based Learning like webquests.

 For this coming workshop, we are reaching the top of the book by taking into account some useful tools for both sides, teachers and students. Translators, encyclopedias and dictionaries, CD Roms, DVDs, interactive whiteboards and what called my attention best: electronic portfolios ,are examples of these excellent tools we must know about well in order to  foster a good environment in the English class with the assurance that students are going to learn, motivated by the things they like best.


 On the other hand, it is almost mandatory to know how to produce our own electronic material to personalize the acitivities according to our students' culture so that they feel identified with their previous knowledge and become critical thinkers about their real world.

It has been not only interesting and motivating but of a great support having those tools in order to plan differently and from a distinct point of view in which our way of thinking makes us be aware of how important is to update our knowledge as teachers and encourage students' needs and interests through the kindness of the technology.

Web 2.0 has brought a lot advantages for teachers and students as well. Through the video below, it is possible to see the difference between web 1.0 and web 2.0.

The technology demonstrations were very interesting. My partners talk about different tools in which they can use technology 2.0 such as voki to improve listening skills, prezi to foster book reading, key pal projects to improve writing and social skills, hot potatoes to design quizes, blogs to be in contact with your children's parents in order for them to have an idea how to study with them and provide information about the topic being studied, chats to reinforce a topic and their interests, useful websites with good materials on line.

I would like to share this video I created about xtranormal tool. It talks about how and why to use this vodcast.

Communication through e-mails, chats and social software

In teaching issues, few tools have been explored by teachers by different reasons. Some feel incapable of using technological devices such as the computer, some feel struggled because of the time and some others simply do not want to make a real effort to research and apply them in the classroom.

However, once a teacher has tried to get immersed into the technological world and the benefits for students and themselves, they think about the way they are teaching and the great possibilities students could find in order to grow academically and emotionally. What matters the most is the attitude, once again, of the teacher and the open mind s/he has in order to foster technology in the class.

E-mails, chats, blogs, podcasts and wikis are useful tools not only to motivate our students but to awaken the curiosity, inquiry, critical thinking and collaboration in their minds, so that they become self dependant, critics and problem solvers. It is important to take a quick look at each of them.

First, in order for teachers to foster e-mails in the class is important to know how exactly they work and be sure students know and apply the technical skills of using them and the importance of rules of netiquette such as respect for others’ opinions, use of capital letters and avoid flaming among others. Besides that, teachers should organize e-mails either in a synchronous or in an asynchronous way and give instructions the better possible to avoid confusion.

(Video)Chats are not only motivating but useful in the extent that they can provide a lot of opportunities to write or talk in a synchronous way. In the various ways they are: text chat, audio or voice chat, public chat or private chat; they promote communication skills. Chat classification must be taken into account for teachers because chats can work for different purposes; for instance: free topic; collaborative, task-oriented; informative or academic, and practice chats. One of the most popular is skype.

Blogs, wikis and Podcasts are examples of social software in which people interact, communicate and collaborate online(Dudeney, 2008). Blogs can work as journals; wikis is a collaborative web space and Podcasts are audio files to watch, share or download. Blogs can help teachers to plan writing skills and the format of different papers and students to improve technical and writing skills; wikis can help students to interact with other and find solutions together. Finally, Podcasts help students to improve and develop listening skills, even they mean real medium or not.

To sum up, as teachers, we have a long way to go over in technologycal matters. There is no doubt that the tools are on hand. However, we need a big change from the top of our system to the tecniques used by teachers; even more, to the teachers' minds.


I would like to share this short video about an important tool just to try it!!

I'd also like to share this url becasuse of the importance of the information it contains about IBL.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1125774/

 

Uses of knovio and first forum

There is no doubt that the use of technology is an exciting technique for the children in schools. So was confirmed by the different activities my colleagues brought to classes through knovio and power point presentations. Although I was a little confused about my presentation and the instructions given, I felt excited and satisfied how to use knovio for teaching purposes.

Besides that, my experience in the first forum was easy and comfortable though we did not have a mediator. We got a bit confused about it and we commented without any guide. However, the task was accomplished in a good way and the answers were clear enough and so similar among us that it was not need to clarify or refuse ideas. Maybe the only limitation was the time to enter our entries because we must have commented the others' twice and that was possible when everyone posted the answers in the last two days of the forum. therefore, I suggest to post our answers right after the begining of the forum, that way all of us have chance to comment without any pressure.
In the class, I liked the activity to share our own ideas with the rest of the partners. I felt identified with it and I learned from their experiences a lot.

In the first workshop, we also discuss about CALL(Computer Assisted Language Learning), which is about computer-based materials such as gapped texts, matching sentence halves and multiple choice activities.

Besides that, TELL (Technology Enhaced Language Learning)was also a topic of dicussion. According to Gavin Dudaney "it was born in response to the growing possibilities offered by the internet and communications technology."(Dudeney,2008)

As I commented in the forum, I invited you to get rid of technophobia and have a positive attitude towards the devices in order to use them with our students for learning purposes.

References
Dudeney Gavin(2008). How ot teach English with Technology. Pearson     Longman. England

Second Workshop

Hi everybody!

I have been so excited to share my new creations using technology. I must confess that I like to use the computer and I love to chat through facebook, skype and send and receive e-mails but what we're learning so far is amazing. Sometimes I have felt so technofob because of a lot of accounts, clicks, applications and new things that can consume a lot of my time but I'm really willing to learn and get acquainted with them and use them in my classes.

There's no doubt that many of them have computers and access to internet at home but what about the ones who don't?. Besides that, it is a great risk to have them work in pairs and meet for a specific homework.

Well, I also know things would be arranged in some way in the future!!!

 During this worshop, we discuss about internet-based Learning and how to use and find some useful websites.Though I was familiar with the last one, I must confess I learned a lot about search engines and the characteristics of a good website, such as accuracy, currency, content and fucntionality.

As teacher, internet has become a basic tool for me, not only because I find a lot of useful resources like pictures, videos, games and worksheets but because It is a way to update my knowledge in favor of my students' interests, which makes me include funny, motivating and educative procedures for them.

Webquests scares me a little because I haven't got it completely but I'll do my best!