Week 10, Final Reflection

Dear all,

It has been a wonderful course. Though it has been tough and challenging, it leaves me comfortable having gone through diverse unique experiences learning numerous techniques of computer-assisted language learning. Because of the qualitative contributions of you, my dear colleagues, I have learned so much and I am willed to employ the best of practices in my teaching. The discussions and everyone's comments have added value and changed the way I view e-learning forever.

It has taught me how to look at the web-based language learning approaches with an inspecting look and how I could make the most of them. Also, to maximise the benefit for all, I am planning to pass this knowledge to my colleagues. Thanks very much for you all of you from the bottom of my heart.

Best wishes,
Amjad

Week 9, Online Enhancing Learing Tools

Dear all,

Google is setting an outstanding example with tens of globally free web-based applications such as documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and forms. In addition to several types of wiki sites offered by Google, the essential online office suite that requires nothing but the web browser provides the whole educational community with priceless opportunity.

For example, the project wiki template fantastically fit the groups/team work requirements. With information page about the project team, discussion section, time trackers for members, updates, and many customisable to any teacher's needs, there is no doubt that wiki sites cover all the project areas. It also gives the most active members the chance to contribute even more than what is expected from them, freeing them from traditional project/lesson/participation barriers.

I admire Google for coming up with lots of new creative employments of internet technology and making it within the reach of everybody worldwide. Our role should be making the best use of them.

Best wishes,
Amjad

Week 8, Learner Autonomy

Dear all,

Discussing learning autonomy has brought me some pleasant experiences from my high school and college days. As matter of fact, I had instructors preferring traditional lecturing with minimal interactivity during classes. Therefore, I was fully aware that "these methods were not always encouraged by my teachers in the period of learning English!" I have been asking myself what kept me going up learning English with the lack of adequate attention, care, and reinforcement from my instructors? I firmly believe it was the "self-reinforcement," as put forth by Cook, and the pleasure found in "informal collaborative work," as mentioned by Richard Smith in Interconnections, with my classmates/friends.

Providing the learner with the opportunity to work autonomously, in my opinion, resembles more teaching of the language and less about it! The teacher, aiming at encouraging autonomy, may engage the learners in language activities integrating the media: newspapers, radio programmes, TV shows, movies, and music. The exposure to authentic language, in my view point, is inspiring to more digging and explorations. Thus, confidence is reinforced and self-esteem is boosted pushing learning ahead.

Best wishes,
Amjad

Links:

http://coyote.miyazaki-mu.ac.jp/learnerdev/LLE/8.1/sheuE.html

http://coyote.miyazaki-mu.ac.jp/learnerdev/LLE/8.1/smithE.html

http://iteslj.org/Articles/Thanasoulas-Autonomy.html

Week 7, Teaching Large Classes

Dear all,

Teaching large classes is one of the most challenging situations many teacher around the world go through every day. I am teaching 30 young learners in each of my four groups and find it extremely difficult to address the needs of every individual in every class. How can I give every student an equal opportunity to learn? How can I follow up the progress of every student on every single activity? How can keep in touch with the students on daily/regular basis? How, how, and how? I have been trying to mix up several solutions to form one comprehensive educational utility. I agree with Dilip and Kazumi "there is no one best solution to use for the problems the teacher face."

However, I have found, through practice, the combination of presentation and assessment features in the PowerPoint that are empowered by VBA extremely time saving. Once the e-lesson designed, the computer relieve the teacher from the heavy burden of correcting, grading, and documenting.Adding up emailing technology, the Outlook used to send the students' data, responses, grades, and whatever the teacher deems important. Moreover, a small database, created by Access, is used to store, analyse, and print the students' data according to the teacher's criteria.In my viewpoint, employing these software form a complete e-learning cycle that is completely free of charge.

Using them in teaching large classes would save a lot of time and allow the teacher to spend the most of time designing new learning experiences, contexts, and situations. Have a look at my blog and check my proposed e-lesson to see exactly what I mean.I admire Jonathan idea that we, teachers, have to maintain, as much as possible, a sense of closeness with our students to guide them through their learning. Through automated, well prepared in advanced, teacher's responses/feedback, the student feel what the teacher's thinks of him and what is really expected to progress more.

What do you think?

Best wishes,
Amjad