Week four has come to its end. During this week I worked really hard. This is because I engaged in too many things, thinking I can manage everything. As a result, I was bound to my computer during the whole week. But finally, I finished almost all the work (having two more tasks to accomplish before the midnight) and now I can write a few lines on the blog.
I tried many sites which provide multiple skills activities, most of all I like the speaking frog, as it suits the needs of my students in translation class. When they come back from their practice I will introduce them to this site, for sure. Among other things, I found really interesting sites for work with kids, like crossword puzzles, which train past forms of the verbs and many other useful things.
During this week I tested some of the activities with my students and I came to the following conclusions.
1. If you think that using technology in the class makes the teacher's life easier, you're mistaken. This kind of class requires a detailed planning and most importantly, the teacher has to do all the activities at home beforehand and remember all the steps the students have to follow. It definitely takes time and effort, at least, before you get used to the site you work with.
2. Technology should be just an element of your lesson. It's not worth spending the whole lesson working in the Internet.
I shall make myself clear. I had a writing class using the sites, which are designed for this purpose. I must admit that it took me great pains to schedule the lesson in the computer lab, as we don't have computers in all the classrooms. The students worked diligently and did the exercises, but .... I was disappointed. The lesson was silent. Well, there were my directions, explanations and that's all. The students were busy with their tasks, they wrote, asked each other questions, but there was no discussion. Hence, I drew the conclusion, technology should take just a part of the lesson, it's good when it is combined with other activities.
So far, these are my observations. I hope they will be useful for you, too.
P.S. I'm really sorry, I can't be very active in the discussions in the Nicenet. That's not that I'm not interested, I'm really pressed for time. I feel a kind of white envy for those who have the time to reply to every post and give suggestions. And I'm really thankful to them as their suggestions and links are of great help.
Best regards,
Ludmila.
Ludmila,
ReplyDeleteI say "YES" for both your conclusions!!! You are right here, saying that it's a mistake to think that technology makes the life of a teacher easier - vice versa. And then, I have already expressed myself in the conference, when I said that best of all I like classes that aim at all the four skills (saying this from my personal experience). I am happy you think the same way as I do concerning the points.
Hi Ludmila,
ReplyDeleteI hope you manage to meet the deadline with all your assignments.
I sympathize with you as I had a hectic week too and Sunday was a stressful day trying and pressing to meet the deadline.
I second Yuliya here. She said it all. Working on all 4 skills in one lesson is ideal, not only for the variety of the exercises but also to ensure a balance in all skills through out the course. On the other hand, technology enhanced teaching require some addition, sometime substantive, effort form in the teacher in the preparation stage. Is it worth it? Does it save some time and efforts in the delivery? in the assessment? Let's hope that by mastering the technology and using it smartly, we can save some efforts in all stages. What remains is the hope that such technology brings efficient and better quality learning to the students. I guess seeing their success is satisfying enough to forget all the extra efforts.
Best,
Hassan, Lebanon
Hi Ludmila,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I liked the image you posted since it correlates with the course objectives.
In addition, I should never envy you for being bound to your computer last week. I know well what this means because I experience it quite often these days.With lots of demands everywhere, you have no other solution except being "captivated".
I agree with you that the Internet is not designed to facilitate the teacher's life- because of the unrelenting preparations- but I have to admit that the teaching sessions become more effective since with its variety it creates motivation among students. And as Hassan said, it will be satisfying to us when our students acquire the skills and succeed!
I enjoyed reading your comments.
Have a less hectic and enjoyable week.
Regards,
Nihmat
Nihmat, you're right about motivation. And one more thing, we have to select the activities properly to suit the needs of the students, if we want to get positive results.
ReplyDeleteDear Ludmila,
ReplyDeleteAs you said, this week had been so hectic that we were not able to turn our heads. Web Quests and Rubrics required lot of observation but they had their own impact. I have not so far used Web Quests and I will try and share with you the result. But I know that all our hard work is going to reward our students.
Best,
Vijay