Week 10: Moving Forward

I was reading my very first blog, expressing my hesitation to try this new writing platform, and realized how far I have come in this brave new world of technology. Starting a blog was the perfect first assignment for me, since from that point I have determined to do everything I can to make this learning experience worthwhile. Thanks to Robert and all the wonderful colleagues, I was able to keep going, and I enjoyed literally every bit of this course.  I have been honored to interact with passionate teachers from all over the world.  We are teaching in a very different environment; yet we all are working hard to achieve the same goal.  The participation in this course was a unique experience, and it was really empowering.

Now it is our turn to empower students.  I mentioned several time the possibility of starting an international project, and I have decided to host an "International Online Discussion Week" at least once a year starting this February.  The Taiwanese teacher who participated in my experimental project agreed to try it again with me, and I am hoping to have at least some of you can join us.  I wrote up a tentative plan to show what the project might look like.

• Aim: To provide Learners of English to have authentic international communication using English.
• Participants: Intermediate to advanced learners of English
• Size of a discussion group: one discussion group should have 10 to 20 students.  It is possible to have more than one group.  It depends on the number, but teachers may be asked to select representatives.
• Platform: Moodle (http://eiko-moodle.com/) or Nicenet
• Duration of discussion: one week (February 18-24)
• Possible preparatory activities: self-introduction, initial poll, quick survey, WebQuest, 
• Possible follow-up activities: summary writing, final poll, project survey
• Topic: Internet in general or digitization of textbooks

I am planning to create a folder in Box.com to make the collaboration easier.  I will send out the invitation to all the participants this weekend. If you are interested to join, please accept the invitation.

Again it was a great pleasure to be with all of you.  I wish you all the best for your good health and continued success and look forward to our path crossing again soon.

Sincerely,

Sam

Week 9: Complexity of Learning

Now I have learned to use interactive web tools and found that such Web tools as online quizzes are very effective especially for a large group. The automated assessment saves a lot of teacher's time, and the immediate feedback can so powerfully individualizes learning.  I started a project in our school to create an online assessment tool that covers vocabulary and grammar items from each chapter of the textbook we use. I thought it was the best way to introduce Web tools to my colleagues who haven't used computers in class, because it is easy for them to see the potential benefit of the online assessment. But maybe I shouldn't be too confident about it.

I strongly believe in the benefit of those Web tools, but I may have to examine it more carefully.  I feel that way especially after reading the NYT article, "Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits". It reminded me that learning is much more complex than I think. When I gave a completely individualized lesson in a computer room, students stayed focused by doing tasks at their own pace for 45 minutes. They finished a lot of tasks and they liked it. But the question is, have they learned what online tasks are designed for them to learn?  The article says, 

"The brain makes subtle associations between what it is studying and the background sensations it has at the time, the authors say, regardless of whether those perceptions are conscious." 

The online quizzes can individualize learning, but it takes away a lot of background sensations which make the learning rich and profound. I tend to focus on the benefits that technologies can bring, but I also need to pay attention to the things that are lost by using such technologies. When new technology is introduced, the sheer novelty attracts students, which may blind me from seeing how effective or not effective it really is. Since my goal is not introducing new technology, but enhancing learning, I have to scrutinize what is happening in my classrooms, because learning is a very complicated process.

(I am still considering holding the international online discussion, which I mentioned last week. I hope to share more with you next week.)