Thursday, 10 March 2011
WEEK 10: REFLECTION
Participating in “webskills 2011” has been a wonderful experience for me, so I need to start this post by thanking to Robert and all the course members from whom I learned a lot. First of all, through this course I got an idea about what it is like an online training since it is my first online course. Now, I have a clear mind about how to use Nicenet, wiki, google sites and google docs. Additionally, through this course I have encountered with many valuable internet tools that can be used for both professional growth and language teaching. For example, I have learned about various search engines that I have been frequently using since the second week of this course. Now, I have a delicious page where I am continually applying while preparing class materials. It really has eased my work and helped me save my time. All the topics chosen were great, satisfying and up-to date. I especially liked “webquests” and I am going to try it with my students as soon as possible. The tasks were useful as they contributed to permanent learning through their “learn by doing” nature. For one of the tasks, for instance, I tried out creating “interactive powerpoints” which I seriously have needed for my students here. Now, I have been using it and in fact I enjoy playing with ppt files. Considering what I have learned in this course I have made some plans (expressed in Nicenet post) and I am really excited to realize them and continue to learn…
Sunday, 6 March 2011
WEEK 9: REFLECTION
Though I was late to do readings and requirements of this week, I learned a lot again. While reading about multiple intelligence, I remembered a kind of seminar I attended during my early years of teaching. The presenter was showing how to incorporate music in language classrooms and she suggested using music/songs not only as learning activities but also background tools for presenting the lesson.
A few years ago I taught writing to adult students. We were following the principles of process approach. As you all know, it requires a “prewriting stage” in which students just generate ideas through various activities. After that seminar, I attempted to use music at the prewriting stage and the students’ reactions were positive although I was really doubtful at the beginning. Now I have been still using songs in my teaching practice but this time as a kind of exercise. Students are listening to songs and then fill in the blanks or do matching exercises etc.. And most of the students in my classes state that they like these activities. It seems that I have” musical/rhythmic-dominant” learners. Of course, there may be some other reasons why the students love songs as teaching materials, but the kind of intelligence they have also may play a part in their attitudes toward these song-related activities.
To cut it short, I certainly agree that multiple intelligence theory and learning styles and their suggestions should be considered while designing the courses. Creating variety in the activities is a best way to follow what is suggested in these fields. And we all know (as discussed well in Nicenet) computers and internet offers a lot to create variety in our teaching practices….
A few years ago I taught writing to adult students. We were following the principles of process approach. As you all know, it requires a “prewriting stage” in which students just generate ideas through various activities. After that seminar, I attempted to use music at the prewriting stage and the students’ reactions were positive although I was really doubtful at the beginning. Now I have been still using songs in my teaching practice but this time as a kind of exercise. Students are listening to songs and then fill in the blanks or do matching exercises etc.. And most of the students in my classes state that they like these activities. It seems that I have” musical/rhythmic-dominant” learners. Of course, there may be some other reasons why the students love songs as teaching materials, but the kind of intelligence they have also may play a part in their attitudes toward these song-related activities.
To cut it short, I certainly agree that multiple intelligence theory and learning styles and their suggestions should be considered while designing the courses. Creating variety in the activities is a best way to follow what is suggested in these fields. And we all know (as discussed well in Nicenet) computers and internet offers a lot to create variety in our teaching practices….
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