Week # 3 DELICIOUS AND CALL

It is a social bookmarking. I have used bookmarks in books but never as an internet tool. It is very useful because I didn’t have a place to keep all my websites. They were hanging around in my notebooks, pads o wherever I have the place to write a site. Using Delicious is like a phone or address book where you can keep any website important for you. This is my URL www.delicious.com/avanorton  It was added to the Wiki.

I read the article “Developing Listening Skills with Authentic Materials” by Lindsay Miller. In my face-to-class I used to work with CD-ROM in order to develop the listening skill. I was combining the listening with the speaking exercises plus some video work. Now with CALL I don’t need a CD ROM any more. We use a multimedia program called DYNED, where a computer lab is our main tool in our English classes. The acquisition of the language is based on frequent repetitions where students do speech recognition, pronunciation training and record/play back exercises plus some exercises for reading and writing.   Based on my experience I would use CALL for developing the listening and speaking skills; for reading and writing I would use other tools, internet resources applicable for classrooms.

Regard Ava Norton

Week # 10 Why DYNED? Blended Learning. End of the Course

The university signed an agreement with a company to use DYNED as a main tool in our English class. This multimedia program was settled to be used weekly, three hours in the computer lab and one hour in a classroom. Following these recommendations, students would develop the four skills simultaneously. After a year, we realized that students were developing the listening and speaking skills more than the reading and writing skills.  My proposal, as my final project in this course, is to reduce the hours of computer work to two hours and to have two hours in a classroom. We start doing it this scholar period to see whether it works or not.

These university students are one of the groups that are working under this schema, a blended learning. So they will develop the four skills as we expect. At the end of the period we will see if working 50% with DYNED instead of 75% will be better for the students.

If this schema works, it will be established officially in September.

As a summary of my work, taking this course gave me a wide range of possibilities that we can use in class. All the internet tools can be applied or combined with our English program. I can mention most of them:

-          Outline a course using behavioral learning objectives, following the ABCD model.

-          Web searching options

-          Using delicious to save web links

-          The employment of CALL in English teaching

-          Preparing lesson plans using technology

-          Links to sources for E-books

-          Project-based learning and WebQuests

-          Creating rubrics

-          Creating power point presentations

-          Using technology in teaching large classes

-          Creating a class on a blogger, a  nicenet class, a class survey using google docs, a class website or wiki on Google Sites

-          Be part of a class wiki and to have our own blog

-          How  Learner Autonomy can be fostered

-          Applications for the one-computer classroom

-          Introduction to ANVILL

-          Tech tools that support multiple intelligences

-          Learning styles

-          Create a final report or project

-          Levels of Technology Integration

Some of them will be used in our face-to-face class. Teachers will be trained in those internet tools applicable to our needs.

Week # 7 Self-access: A Framework For Diversity

I am agreed that we all have different learning styles; we all respond differently to different teaching environments; we are different ages, with different attitudes and interests; we respond in different ways emotionally when working with other individuals and groups.

If I would have the opportunity to create my own English course I would include a self-access center. I am a follower of the learner autonomy and I think students can develop this learning method though this center.

I would use it as a class supplement. English course should match to self-access work. Self-access lessons would be scheduled into teaching syllabuses to help students to 'learn to learn independently’. Students would do extra work in their own in other to develop their skills. Materials would be on a computer database with access to the internet. The learning materials would be used by learners at different ages and levels, and with different language needs. Counseling and assessment services would be offered.

Week # 9 Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles

I like how Howard Gardner presents the nine intelligences through his book “Frames of Mind” to demonstrate the intellectual abilities which are linked with the ways of learning. Richard Felder says that students preferentially take in and process information in different ways: by seeing and hearing, reflecting and acting, reasoning logically and intuitively, analyzing and visualizing. According to Felder Teaching Methods also vary: some instructors lecture, others demonstrate or discuss; some focus on principles and others on applications; some emphasize memory and others understanding. How much students learn in a class depends among other things on the match between their learning style preferences and the instructor's teaching style.

These are situations that we face every day in class. I think the key is to find the balance between teaching methods and learning styles. Computers can be good resources with a wide range of activities that we can use in class. Nowadays, the use of technology makes students and teachers interact together stronger than having a class without it.

Week # 2 BROWSERS, WEB SEARCH ENGINES AND ABCD OBJECTIVES

Browsers and Web Search Engines are new tools for me. In the past, searching was a time consuming for me because I didn’t know the correct way to do it. Now, I know.

Noodle Tools provides support to teachers and students during the research process. I am familiar with Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia, but most of them are new for me. I had a look in http://education.iseek.com/iseek/ and Twurdy . I did some searching with satisfactory results.

By the other hand I read about ABCD objectives and my understanding were:

Audience is who your learner will be

Behavior’s what you want them to do

Condition is when and where they will perform

Degree is proficiency, effectiveness, too

It has been difficult for me to be part of the course. I am not familiar with web tools but they will be very helpful for my job.