What topics were most successful for you during our course?
I loved most of the articles and resources related to language teaching and learning pedagogy we did in our course, I loved the discussions we had and how my colleagues participated in them and their opinionated comments. I also loved exploring options for incorporating computer-based tools and resources in face-to-face, blended, and online learning environments.
Most useful for you?
Everything was useful and every part and bit we did and studied was the necessary element for gradually molding our understanding of the way we can and should use the technology in our classroom
Which tools will you use in your classes?
I believe I will use nearly all of them or at least most of them. I guess it all depends on the tasks I have to do or the needs of my students but I think we've been equipped with so many resources that there's always something useful to match the needs of every lesson.
Which, if any, do you think were not relevant to what you do or will do?
I can't think of anything that I regarded as optional or unnecessary, all of the tasks and materials were important to improve our understanding of the subject matter.
What other tools might we have covered or would you suggest that we could have looked at?
I regret that we didn't cover the most popular and for me the most efficient and modern tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Skype or Google primarily because they offer the best technical solutions possible at the moment.
Well, I think one of the advantages of this approach
is that we
basically focus on every student in our class,
which means we have a
very student-centered approach to our teaching and it simply means that
every student gets what they need from the lesson. Because of technology
we can be more responsive to those needs and that's a real advantage.
What's more, we can also provide the learners with a range of learning
opportunities and not just courses. They will have reading materials,
DVDs, e-books and also online links which they can use.In this way we
organize and create the environment in which our students' learning will
be more self-directed.
Disadvantages?
I don't think there are any. Technology combined with Multiple
Intelligences Approach can create a classroom where the students
continually expand their ability to achieve results they aspire for and
where the expansive ways of thinking are nurtured. The students are
encouraged to be creative and also to take a holistic view to their
learning. No surprise then that even though this kind of teaching can be
viewed as causing some sort of upheaval, it usually leads to improved
results.
In order to make the most of your lesson and organize technology enhanced learning in your classroom, it's best to use various technology tools that are available. One of such tools and many people believe the best is ANVILL. Indeed it's a tool which should be rated five stars ( in 1-5 stars scale ) for its functionality. Not only is it easy to use but also it's easy to manage and prepare anything you want there. The best thing is that you can easily import any authentic material from the web and simply incorporate it in any kind of a lesson.
ANVILL's forums can be used by teachers and learners as an asynchronous discussion tool on the Internet. They play their function particularly well because everyone can start a new thread and then it allows for infinite media based responses by students or teachers. I especially love the fact that students can use the TCast tool to give audio or video-based responses to a discussion topic.
Finally one of the best things in this tool is that the students can use it both in the classroom lab, where their work can be guided and monitored by the teacher or at home where they can be more independent.
I believe I will use nearly all of them or at least most of them. I guess it all depends on the tasks I have to do or the needs of my students but I think we've been equipped with so many resources that there's always something useful to match the needs of every lesson.
