Week 10- New Horizons for Netizens

In the virtual world you don't meet so you don't part. We will just be rearranging our network. Inhabitants of the WWW, we are just a-click-away from each another.

What a productive phase of life, rolling from one week to another, gathering knowledege and experience. Learning so many skills of technology and language, making international social contacts through each stretch well lived. At this moment, having moved beyond ten such stretches, I feel I have become a worthy netizen of the cyberspace. As I speak about the current course with web-based technology embedded in ELT and Linguistics, I want to bracket the course content into four sub-categories. Since each category works in conjunction with the other, it is difficult to measure their relative importance in an ELT professional or any other educationist's life. I learnt to use the following web-based resources as ones interdependent:

Forums: Nicenet, Delicious, Wikis (Jupitergrades and other pages), Blogs which served as platforms/ classrooms/ offices. Essential for any course. I have already started to use them in my PGCTE techer education classes. I can introduce college teachers to them.

Search Engines: Noodletools.com, google, etc which serve as vehicles of investigation threw open several resources like state govt documents, newspaper archives, libraries, etc. I used a few for my research project during the course and plan to use a few for my speech on Teachers Day on 5th September to begin with.

Modes: Websites which carry audio/video features for instance, Youtube or news features for instance various channels like discovery, ndtv.com, etc. Each a conduit of information of a specific type. 

Templates and Formats: Webquests (Zunal), Rubrics (Rubistar) etc which have information in prescribed formats. 

Generators of activities: Hot potatoes, Crossword Puzzles  and many others we learnt in Week 8. Tools which helped us produce activities, lessons, projects. These should be very useful for my teacher trainees as they won't waste time reinventing the wheel but have access to tools which give them readymade material of their specific requirements.

Content and Labs: Like Randall's ESL Lab. They are again like resource centre of specific courses, skills and subskills. I have already started to use Jennifer's ESL Lab in the class.

If anything out of these had been left out, we would not have had the confidence to operate as ones fully equipped. Varieities within each sub category were always there and we did leave out some due to paucity of time. I do wish we had more time to practise the others we left out like ANVILL. I will always have regrets till I learn it and use it. All we need to do is adopt them and practise them with our students.

The topics taken up are not only useful but they also created a great impact. The Nicenet discussions are a witness to this fact. Large classes (pedagogy and class management), multiple intelligences (some psycholinguistic insights), learner autonomy (pedagogy and class management), new technology in teaching listening, speaking, reading, writing, LoTi to assess one's technological strengths, they all initiated or updated the learners. The presence of guests like Racquel, Jesse, Jeffe, experts and creators, added value to the interactions bringing in new dimensions. The fact that participants were from different parts of the world  various politico-sociolinguistic perspectives emerged. It was good to find out about the peculiarities, the variables, which determine teaching and learning in different parts.

I feel like a child who says, 'it's nice' for everything and does not use critical faculty as he does not have one. But then given the amount of time, I don't see how anything else could have been added. 

I only wished that if there had been a Pre-launch session, we could have familiarized ourselves with some reading material and technology. Also if there was a Post-course completion session, we could have consulted the teacher as we honed our skills. Also the entire website for the class should have been left open for us for about a week. Due to the hectic schedule it was difficult to download and save a few important files.

Overall, I feel truly in sync with the current times. I can carry a lot of learning to the students in distant areas through my teacher trainees who I have included in the dissemination of learnings from this course. 

Robert deserves a special vote of thanks for bringing in not just his expertise and involvement but also that extraordinary zeal and spirit which motivated us to learn more and more.  

Will meet again Online.

Week-9 Finishing Line

“We are judged by what we finish, not what we start.” — Anonymous

It felt great posting the Report, as is true of most creative acts we take up. Strangely though I felt even more charged up after submitting it. Was it the effect of being a student in a virtual classroom? The project had progressed very smoothly. My trainees, the subjects of the project and I had enjoyed trying out different tools of technology. And later writing the report gave me a great sense of satisfaction. 

And now over to the weekly schedule of tasks and discussions:

To talk shop at social events may be bad manners but I can't help doing it. Like it or not, thanks to the course I don't just have lots to do but lots to talk about too. Such are the wonders of technology or its obsessions. 

Besides multiple intelligences, there was plenty of information on learner types. Learning styles, learning environments, learning tools. Together, they should prompt teachers to determine learning strategies for the classs. There was Teacher Tap with information on technology and multiple intelligences, and then there were Felder's and O'Connor's and Montgomery's articles. One of the articles took me to Howard Gardner too.  But the essence of them all was captured in the NYTs article. It addressed teachers' approach and learners' learning style, the importance of study locations, modes and materials. The best quote was the comparison of cramming (of the traditional style of learning) with a hurriedly packed cheap suitcase which will burst open spilling out contents. 

I plan to make a grid of the important contents from the articles but after the course. Their application is a reality for all of us. Almost all teachers shy away from them - are on denial mode . Higher education teachers in colleges teaching literature and other subjects have the gumption to question the very need to use even the one-computer classroom. Many of them detest the idea of having to make PPTs. They call those using them being 'dependent' on technology. For them a teacher is complete and the ones using other tools are doing so because they are not self-sufficient. How do I convince them that technology augments what the teacher does not substitute or replace them? Amidst such reservations vis-a-vis technology, recognition of multiple intelligences, learners possessing individual learning styles, convincing teachers to use technology is a tall order. It makes my task daunting but I won't stop trying.

So, I have a rough plan or rather plans:

1. Have my PGCTE syllabus converted to digital (ICT) format and offer it online to not just school teachers but college teachers too.

2. Incorporate ideas of ICT-based learning in the syllabus.

3. Offer the courses to many more groups of teachers directly or through organizations like RELO, British Council.

4. Guide those in material production.

5. Organize a series of seminars on ICT based learning.

6. Create Webquests and websites/ forums for managing courses, educating others on methods and preparing materials. 

Doing this course feels like I have found the next purpose of life. I have always been a very application oriented person so I would like to see myself implementing all that I learnt.  

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During the week I systematically went through almost all the blogs and found some of them to be carrying interesting video clips. I plan to save them for future use.

That is it from me. More next week.

Sharda   

Week-8-Treasure Trove of Technology

My proposing the analogy of Treasure Trove with the words 'Open Sesame' as its key, for the assortment of sites and tools of technology, met with some opposition from Marisol who looks at technology as an organic substance and would rather compare it with clouds and the universe in general. Every week brings in a fresh assortement of technological tools. So did this one. ANVILL was the most popular choice what with its creator Jeff on the Nicenet site extending support to the new architects in the fray. I determined to venture into it at a later date while I experimented with hot potatoes and crosswordpuzzlegames and easytestmakers and all the others. It is amazing to discover the resources teachers have at their disposal. I now have a blog, a wiki page, a sidewiki and a nicenet site to interact with trainees. 

And this brings me to a vital observation:

When I did MA TEFL in 1990, I told my professors that there were so many theories on teaching language but not much material for students to learn from. The last 2 decades saw the market get flooded with customized material. I have myself contributed to it with a dozen odd titles.

Then came the time, 10 years back, when everyone began to speak of ICT-based learning. And I would say, 'but where are the materials?' ... Now Robert has shown us there is no dearth of Online teaching/learning tools. I once again want to pose a question to my professors and colleagues, 'But where are the course designers-syllabus planners-material organizers?'

Adopt, adapt, create, refine. There's plenty to do. Learning will never be the same again if we learn to plan things for students.

The project work was a bigger obsession. I felt happy to work with Hala and Nagwa. It also felt getting close to the two girls, a great feeling of bonding. The feeling that this would be a long term association. That we would continue our professional association. That I would meet them in Egypt when i went there for a holiday and that they could visit me in India. 

Well, I need exactly 3-4 days to finalize my paper. My trainees loved all the technology we used. From video voice (new speech training technology) to video recording. They just love me for bringing it to them. They are a motivated lot and my hypothesis has stood the test. 

I have divided the classroom work into three sections:

1. Needs Analysis (Survey on and Sensitization to Prosodic Features)

2. Lessons

3. Assessment and Evaluation

And all this involves the trainees in planning, selecting, using and reflecting.

So Robert and all my classmates, we will meet each other with our Artifacts towards the weekend. Until then let me get back to the project.

Sharda

PS: I am learning to be brief.

      

Week-7:Technology at its Modest Best

Week-7

Technology at its Modest Best

Technology, kind of took a back seat this week, this is how I perceived things, as far as the lessons from Robert were concerned. The One-Computer lesson plan was something one could manage more easily compared to Rubistar and Zunal, or even PPTs and the first lesson plan... and also the initial stage of blogging when my posts to peers protested no end before making imprints on peer possessed blogs. However, had one had more time to spare, there was lots to try out this week too.

I enjoyed reading other people's lessson plans; some of the ideas I couldn't have thought of myself. PK introduced me to some lessons on prosodic features on youtube and Nagwa had a research based game. Can be applied in my trainees' class. 

The articles categorized the use of computer in the class very systematically: I might as well make a list for ready reference: Computer as a (i) Teacher tool, (ii) Multimedia chalkboard (iii) Student tool (iv) Learning centre (v)Cooperative learning forum (vi) Individual S-assessment, etc and then  (vii) Administrative tool (viii) Communication station (ix) Information station (x) Publishing tool and (xi) Simulation centre. I undestand most of them but to learn to use them and then to internalize them will need time.

And then there were articles on Learner Autonomy and learning strategies. I had read about learning strategies in a chapter by JC Richards. He talked about different strategies learners employ, i.e. meta-cognitive, cognitive, affective, social, intellectual and compensatory strategies. Thanasoulas takes up some of them. For me her best in the article is in the detailing of what is Autonomy. I just loved her reference to, "actively seeking meaning from events". I have done it all my life. And not just in the academic contexts. Even life skills are learnt that way.  I also like the way she strings together a few approachs to teaching English including my favourite, "Monitor Model ...".

And here lies the beauty of this course. It takes up Technology the "hands on way", i.e. training us in its use in all the different ways and means that it can be exploited in. The tools we have learnt to use, when combined, can be used very well to bring the real and the virtual classrooms together. The course also gives a lot to the learner by way of Methodology. Hardly going into the theoretical constructs, it follows the "bottom up approach" by addressing issues like large classes, small classes, learner autonomy, multimedia lab, lesson planning, project-based approach, alternative assessment, rubrics and then each of the language skills like LSRW and of course loads of technology. The syllabus couldn't have been better what with the activities designed creatuvely, the reading selected so thoughtfully and the tools of technology taught well (let me quickly revise what I have learnt while I am at it: Nicenet, Blog, wiki page for PPTs, LPs, Signing Partnerships, etc and Delicious, Google Page, Rubistar, Zunal, PPT, ... am I forgetting anything?. All packed into 10 weeks.

But the course organizers have an advantage over many of us vis-a-vis our students: their learners are comfortable using English language skills and basic computer skills. So the learners deserve compliments here:)

This is running long, it's 3 a.m. at night and I have to go to work at 9. And I still haven't talked about the main issue Robert wants to read about. The Project.

The week was thrilling. I explored the possibility of downloading Prat, and many others. Nothing worked till we found Video Voice. The free sample is limited in range. It doesn't give me the visual display of the original version of the S's speech. Once the S has practised enough to acquire the model speech it lets me print it out. But I have found a way out and will implement it. It is going to be fun with the trainees giving me their print outs of recording tomorrow.

I have already conducted the survey and have prepared a worksheet for them and we will work on them tomorrow. They are going to be marking pause groups, sentence stress and intonation on the worksheets to show thier understanding of the features. I have also found the model speech now and can't wait to use it. I have met the trainees 3 times already. I need another 6 sessions with them, I suppose. I have enough time.

At least 1/3 of the project's first draft is ready. I plan to work on one subhead each day so by wednesday the first draft will be ready. Though most of the research work will be completed by Wednesday, I will be working with the trainees on it even after I have sent my first draft to Hala and Nagwa. I am sure it is allowed. 

I must wind up now. I think this time my blog is a little boring. Can't be helped. I had some official work (editing) to be done today which I had set aside for the blog and the project. Well, the next one will be interesting.

Good Night

Sharda    

  

   

    

Week 6:Project Step # 5: Taking off towards Target (Post 2)

Last Friday, i.e. on 29th, I launched my project even though I am still struggling to get the learning material ready. All along my mind was set on working on prosodic features but never before had such clarity emerged. I think it is so on account of all the recommnded reading I have done, the tools of technology I have  tried out and the interaction I have had with Robert that I now know exactly what I want to do and how. And sure I am most excited about it. In fact I have already taken the first step towards it. 

My subjects of study, the teacher trainees arrived on the 26th. A batch of 52 Sec./Sr. Sec postgraduate teachers reflecting significant mother tongue influence in their speech. Their mother tongues quite varied. 

On 29th I initiated them into phonetics and phonology through our Sky pronunciation suite. Prosodic Features will have to wait for a while as they need to understand sounds and syllables first.

In the meantime I have begun to assemble a few more equipment like the camera in our 31 computer multimedia Lang Lab to be able to record their speech. Additionally, the questionnaire for the written survey is getting ready to help me profile them individually and as a group. If I can manage to get some software Maria Garcia Busa's article talks about or the one(s) Robert has suggested, the profiling will get fine-tuned further. I have started to put together the reference list of all the resources which have set me thinking in this direction and also those I intend using as resources in the classroom. 

I plan to use some video clips from youtube to serve as the model speech and also as practice mateiral for them. My trainees are taking a keen part in helping me transcribe video recordings. Listening for discriminatory purposes, ear training, repeating, marking stress and intonation on scripts, watching the model speech in action intently, etc will be part of the activities planned for the project. I intend to make them refer to a few resources on the websites from the point of view of practising speech on their own and reading in the field to understand Spoken English better. Needless to say the references and resources of the previous weeks of the course will prove to be very useful.

This is something I have never done before--teaching with so much technology. This is something my trainees have never seen--learning with so many resources; helping the teacher assemble learning material. Lack of motivation was an issue of concern to begin with. I can hardly wait to see technology bring about desired changes.

More on this next Sunday.

Sharda          

Week 6: Marking Midpoint of Journey (Post 1)

Marking Midpoint of Journey

The voyage of discoveries continued this week, too. Less technological, more academic, as it felt at one point. But when the PPT assignment began, technology stepped forward to occupy the seat of command. The interactive activities joined in to meet the needs of large classes.  Teaching large classes, the topic of the week, just had to arouse keen interest. Jesse, the guest faculty, had everybody giving close, intense reading to the articles by Rick Finnan and Donna Shaw. Jesse highlighted the importance of engaging Ss in self assessment activities and in using rubrics we had experimented with the previous week. I liked her recommendation about making individual feedback more global than local. Some of the participants, as I see in their posts, said they were overwhelmed by the numerous activities they learnt of to tackle large classes. Truly so. Think-Pair-Share will stimulate Ss to think and speak and contribute just as collaborative learning will hone their problem solving skills. The demonstration of Think-Pair-Share on /www.youtube.com/ really helped. Concept tests, Quick-thinks, Concept Maps  involves multi-sensory learning which will suit Ss with different learning styles. I liked the Minute paper activity. On C-SPAN channel in the US I used to watch senators make One Minute speech in the House… capturing the essence of the problems the public faced in their areas. I was amazed by their brevity, and modified and adopted it as an activity in my classroom situation. There were more inputs on large classes from another article which stressed on the relevance of technology in large classes and gave ideas like making use of video clips, podcasts, wikis, animations, simulations, etc. The best part was that I got to read in detail about all these tools of technology, in one of the links, we are using in this course. Jigsaw variation is another activity which works well in large classes comprising of small groups although in one of the articles it has been prescribed for only small classes. To summarize briefly: we have to create small classes amidst a single large class where Ss learn from participation with the peer group. And for this we have to have interactive activities. technology aids this. It comes packed with several and with tools to make or modify more. Even the brighter Ss who know the answers well can develop clarity and skills of organizing and expressing their thoughts with the help of such activities. I liked Jesse’s Cheat Sheet idea and got clarification on clickers. The former, useful for me as I can be bad with names when the class has 60 trainees, the latter worth acquiring for trainees. Imagine getting feedback from all of them can become so easy; just a click away.

There were sessions on PPT as well. This is one tool, I feel proud to acknowledge, I have been using for 12 years now. But I used to always call my Technical staff to make insertions of audio/video clips when I needed them. Here I did it myself. Tried various interactive techniques like blank slides, etc. for which I found the microsoft.com session the most useful.  A number of doubts I had like inserting hyperlinks, etc got clarified. In fact I even used the PPT I have posted on wiki page with my teacher trainees on Friday morning class. It worked very well. The session became a setting clearly marked with class participation.

Needless to say I will continue creating interactive PPTs with ideas picked up during the week for my teacher education programs which invariably have large classes.

Looking forward to the journey next week 

Sharda

Week 5:Discoveries Galore

This week turned out to be equally eventful if not more. There were two significant digital discoveries. Rubrics and WebQuests. WebQuests can dvelop students' critical thinking skills if they help the teacher to evolve them and also if they keep referring to them as they progress in their projects. These tools will make learners surf the net resources purposefully. I managed my way well with Rubrics through Rubistar.com. Rubrics meant something else earlier. They were instructions written in great detail in tests for students. It is all about scoring guidelines, as discussed in the article from NCLRC, and it can be interactive. It is defined as an "an interactive assessment tool". It serves as a checklist, in a way of guidelienes, covering all aspects of activities/projects and has a vertical scale too. Learners can participate in its development. Such an attitude to its preparation can produce great results. Project-based learning becomes an Alternative Assessment as it is very different from traditional teaching and testing which used to benefit fewer learners. It is closely connected with the real world and projects have a fabulous application value. Since such projects are of such value to people around, feedback can come from different quarters which can be very useful as  learning inputs for learners.  The article by Susan Gaer captures the issues discussed earlier and elaborates on the importance of meaning value in her article. She elaborates on the issue with illustrations of projects which are closely linked with life and therefore carries relevance. If students can develop the feeling of ownership for the projects, the learning will be more effective.

I can use all these tools in my teacher education programs with no difficulty. The Govt. of India is very keen that teachers use such tools to develop materials for websites for easy access for learners. The Project outline for us is evolving well; I plan to take up prosodic features with the help of interviews from various weblinks. Since I will actually develop the project through workshops for my trainees, a lot of learning should take place in class. 

I particularly enjoyed the class interaction on feedback on students' strengths and weaknesses and also on technology supported  project outlines of other class members. I learnt a lot from them. 

I had a very busy week at work as well but now I am satisfied with my involvement and contribution to my course. I managed to find my 20 hours.  

As always, Robert has been supportive of the difficulties I face. I do face difficulties with new technology. Nicenet is perfect but half the blogs I try sending don't go for some reason. I succeeded only in my second attempt of rubrics on Rubistar. I need to go back to WebQuest now. I just have to crack it.

Best of Luck to me.

Sharda