Reflections on PP107

Having made a list with all the tools I can use, made me realise how much I learnt in this course, and also that there are many others  that I need to learn. I believe PP107 has worked as a trigger for me, since it created a positive need to learn and explore more about it.

 During these four weeks, I have experienced different feelings as a result of not focusing on what I actually needed. It was not until I read Vance’s comment that it dawned on me what my objectives were. Fortunately, I was able to set my objectives and at this point , I can say I have achieved them.

Web 2.0 tools + examples

The following GoogleDoc contains all the information. Please click here to view the file.

I have included all the tools and some examples of the things I have done so far.

Web 2.0 tools

This presentation shows the Web 2.0 tools I am familiar with as a result of doing TESOL PP100 - PP 105 – PP107.
I have included a brief description of each tool.

Web 20

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Are we edupunks?

What's an EDUPUNK?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edupunk is an approach to teaching and learning practices that result from a do it yourself (DIY) attitude.^[1][2] The New York Times defines it as "an approach to teaching that avoids mainstream tools like PowerPoint and Blackboard, and instead aims to bring the rebellious attitude and D.I.Y. ethos of ’70s bands like The Clash to the classroom."^[3] Many instructional applications can be described as DIY education or Edupunk.

Jim Groom as "poster boy" for edupunk

The term was first used on May 25, 2008 by Jim Groom in his blog, and covered less than a week later in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Stephen Downes, an online education theorist and an editor for the International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, noted that "the concept of Edupunk has totally caught wind, spreading through the blogosphere like wildfire".

Click here for more information.

Porfolios work as another tool for assessment

How would ePorfolios work as an assessment system where you teach, as opposed to the standardized testing and other exam-based criteria that might be driving your curriculum now?   
Please click here for the answer.

Reflections on Play, Pedagogy, and World of Warcraft

While tweeting , I read Mark Pengrum's link on Reflections on Play, Pedagogy, and World of Warcraft by Landon K. Pirius and Gill Creel. As I read World of Warcraft, I immediately remembered my students (who are doing their second year at the Polytechnic School in Escuela y Liceo Elbio Fernández in Montevideo) and I thought it might be good to have a look at the article . At the same time, I posted the key takeaway part of it in a note on FACEBOOK.  No more than half an hour had passed when they started posting comments about it. They became really interested in knowing more about the article, I 'm going to work with it in our next ESP lesson and see what their reaction is. 

I believe the way the instructor approached the game was really holistic, I would dare to say that he squeezed WoW dry. Unfortunaley, I cannot work with WoW in class at the moment, since we are about to finish the term. I`ll show this project to my Coordinator and see how I can adapt it in order to work with it during next year.

 

talk by Jennifer Verschoor

talk by Jennifer Verschoor at http://connect.pi.ac.ae/p57572846/

I have attended Jennifer’s PPT and I can say it has been very fruitful. During her talk, she showed us the way she uses technology to teach English, she mentioned that she teaches both technology and English to do this she uses blended teaching in order to foster learner’s autonomy, through technology she opens the classroom to the world.

She quoted Michael Kapor “Getting information off the internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant “and used a similar picture to this.

I would like to include a picture which shows how I sometimes feel while doing this course.

This picture clearly depicts my feelings when I come across all the information we are provided. But then, as I sit in front of the PC to process the information I can see it is not like that. I have to select what I consider is going to help me in my classes. (this, was also mentioned by Jennifer).

(While googling these pictures I came across this article:  Information Overflow, though it has to do with Marketing , I believe in some way can be applied to teaching.)

Going back to her talk:

She showed different tools she uses in her lessons:

• ·       Glogster
• ·       Voki
• ·       Animoto
• ·       Voicethread
• ·       Mixbook

Jennifer also mentioned some of the characteristics of Digital Natives

• ·       Graphics come first –> they need to see, everything should be through images.
• ·       Multi- taskers  -> they can do different things at the same time.
• ·       Instant Feedback -> they want everything straightaway.

She explained why she created a blog for her daughter and she also showed us the wiki she has for her students. Through these two examples she told us about the way learners work, learn and play on their own blogs/wikis.  She has noticed a change in classroom management, as students are constantly asking questions.

I’d like to finish this, by including two quotes she used In her PPT :

“Don’t try to innovate for the future, innovate for the present” by Peter Drucker.

“If you are not failing every now and again, it is a sign you are not doing anything innovative” by Woody Allen.

All in all, If I take into account Woody Allen's quote I can say I am doing something innovative. 

My objectives and what I have achieved

After three weeks, I am still completely overwhelmed by all the tools that are available to use in e-learning. I can definitely say that the more I advance in this course, the less I feel I know. But looking on the bright side, there is something positive behind all this, and it is the desire to learn more and to become familiar with all these tools. I know it will not happen overnight and I am not sure if I will be able to accomplish it before this course finishes, but I am sure I will keep on working to make the most out of these tools.

Looking back

I can say that I have learnt to use different tools.

Delicious.com has proved to be a very effective tool for me, since I normally use three different computers. I tend to bookmark any useful website I come across and it becomes really tedious when I have to repeat the same thing in all the computers I have access to, so using Delicious to bookmark all my favourite pages has been really practical.

I have become familiar with blogging. I had never tried even to create one, I just looked at them without wondering if they would be useful for me or for my classes. During this course, they’ve proved to be really effective.  From “7 things you should know about microblogging” I can list some of the uses:

• to offer a backchannel forum during live classes,
• to send reminders of test dates and project deadlines,
• to build online community, and
• to offer notification of class cancellations due to bad weather.
• to offer multiple points of view on a topic,
• to conduct research from different library locations, or
• to send a virtual shout-out to colleagues about a discovery or the results of an experiment so that all members can discuss what that means to the project at hand

 

I have started to use Twitter with a different purpose. Before PP107, I just posted comments as an alternative to Facebook. In this course I have learnt that it can be used as another tool. I have read the article “7 things you should know about Twitter “ and  there are some aspects I’d like to comment on. I agree on what is expressed about being in touch with a certain group of people in a shared space, sometimes we do not have enough time to go over different social networks, web pages, wikis or blogs to see what is going on around us, so using Twitter could be an alternative, since you can access it through different means. It is also stated that it enables “interaction about a given topic. Twitter can be a viable platform for metacognition, forcing users to be brief and to the point. “The fact of forcing the user to be brief is something positive, sometimes learners tend to start beating around the bush when writing, and this can be good practice for them.

I have yet to learn more things, it will take some time and a lot of practice, but I am sure I will achieve my goals in order to provide my students with the best.