One of the groups I visited is EFL CLASSROOM 2.0. As an EFL teacher, it definitely a must visit platform. The group provides materials not only from teachers’ perspective but also from students’ perspective. For instance, from the tag –TEACH and LEARN at the top, no matter teachers or learners could fit in this EFL CLASSROOM 2.0. One of the categories I love is TEACH phonics, on the one hand, it has flashcards as teaching aids to print out, and on the other hand, it has interactive function for learners to learn it online. Under a certain category, it has lots of resources such as links to the other website, interactive program; in addition, it has attached files sometimes. Besides, visitors could comment every subgroup in this group. Moreover, it is a platform for everyone to discuss different issues. I also found that Teacher’s tool box is really amazing. It is well organized into different categories. There are interactive learning programs, power points, office documents as well. I love interactive learning programs a lot because they could be very vivid teaching aids in class. Because everyone could share information and discuss on this group, thus, what we can get is fresh. The group has the properties of knowledge economy: creating, preserving, and utilizing.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
A learner is like a living Wikipedia
A learner is like a living Wikipedia that could always update information within it. Siemen(2005),connectivism perceives that “creating, preserving and utilizing information flow should be a key organizational activity.” I think that a learner as a living Wikipedia functions creating, preserving and utilizing in the information flow. In addition, Siemen(2005),
“Personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into organizations and institution, which in turn feed back into the network, and then continue to provide learning to individual.”
A living Wikipedia shares the above properties.
First of all, knowledge is created and discovered by human beings. Information within Wikipedia is edited and influenced by people around the world. On the one hand, people create new ideas, on the other hand, others share these ideas on Wikipedia. Thus, a learner is as a living Wikipedia creates and discovers information as well.
Second, Wikipedia preservers and therefore shares information with the world. I, as a learner, get new information which is shared by others from the external world from time to time. Thus, I update my knowledge every now and then which is the same as Wikipedia. This is the situation that mentioned in the video The Changing Nature of Language; there are two types of knowledge: one is internal neuron network happens within individual, and the other is external component of network learning that we form and make connections with each other individuals. The information I get from the external world is the result of my connection to the world, and the knowledge within me is my neuron network in myself and I could share what I have with others. In addition, Siemens (2005), “learning is a process of connecting specialized node or information sources.” Accordingly, a learner is like a living Wikipedia that could preserve and share information.
Third, a learner is like a living Wikipedia that utilizes the information. As I mentioned, we get new information from the external world. The external world provides information for me by any form of mediation. According to Vygotsky, mediation includes physical and symbolic tools. I personally argue that these tools are all created by human beings; thus we have Wikipedia, a product that people utilized information from it. What’s more, since there is always new information uploaded to Wikipedia, it changes all the time, at the same time, what the learners absorb changes too. As a result, a living Wikipedia utilizes the information forms the cycle of knowledge development, Siemens(2005).
At the same time, the video The Conflict of Learning Theories with Human Nature mentioned that “we externalize our thought in order for us to connect with other individuals.” It best explains that a learner is like a living Wikipedia. We learn, we create, and we share. As a result, a learner as a living Wikipedia functions creating, preserving and utilizing in this knowledge economy era.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Video Reaction
First of all, I would like to talk about the video Educational Change Challenge The prologue “Who seriously believes that locking 25 students in a small room with one adults for several hours a day is a best way for them to be educated?” intrigued me to watch this video several times. As an educator, I’m ashamed that I barely think of this question. On the one hand, however, I did think of “If students in Taiwan, my hometown, could choose what they want and are required to learn during high school, wouldn’t that be great?” On the other hand, the video Pay attention referred to Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences reminds me that individual differences do exit. Everyone has his learning styles. From this two concepts, I think that educators should bear in mind that the best way for one to learn might be the worst way for another, that is, everyone has his suitable way of learning and it may varies from time to time as well. For example, I sometimes want to study alone but sometimes want to stay with others, and when I was in high school, I did math in the morning, but others might like to do that in the afternoon.
At the same time, in Educational Change Challenge stated that the greatest hurdle in education reform is that society doesn’t have a clear vision of what school is for. I have a question that how do TADO, this video maker, define what school is for. Schooling is not a must, but leaning is a must, and school is the major place that provides any kind of learning. My philosophy of what school is “It’s a place that offers students acquire knowledge in a systematic way, learn how to learn and learn to deal with people.” I think the most important thing for students in school is to learn how to learn, accordingly, as long as they know how to learn, even they’re not at school, they would learn. In this way, they become the lifelong learners, which is also a central concept advocated by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education. In terms of lifelong learners, in the videos Pay attention and A vision of k-12 Students Today, both of them mentioned WWW, which stands for whatever, whenever, and wherever; I love this new interpretation a lot. Lifelong learning takes place anytime and everywhere in the world.
In addition, I totally agree with the idea of “understand students’ culture” in the video of in Educational Change Challenge. It is human nature that people choose to pay attention to what they like, especially developing children, the more they like the teacher, the more they want to learn from this teacher. Therefore, understanding students’ culture may be the way to catch up on what’s in students’ mind.
In conclusion, the video Pay attention pointed out the key objectives of education by Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy which creates is the last domain of it. “These teens were born into a digital world where they expect to be able to create, consume, remix, and share material with other.” The basic amazing thing of this digital world is that we could share and know the information immediately from all over the world. In respond to Multiple Intelligences, I personally think that people could benefit from the digital world, and some people do definitely achieve the level of creation by technology but there are also others achieve creation in other forms such as drawing and dancing. I think we should bear in mind that there are various ways of learning, and using digital media is just one of them. However, digital media could possibly be the most popular way of leaning.
This image is fabulous. How amazing of its' creativity to combine Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy with this digital world.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Internet Safety!
The internet is an amazing resource; however, it could result in hazards for people. Prevention is better than cure. Before students start using blogs, it’s necessary to build proper concepts of internet usage for them. The following are the lists of things that I would teach my students.
1. Take a rest after half an hour usage. Since students are still under the phase of body development, it’s important for them to take care of their eye vision and body.
2. Create an e-mail account such as Google account to prevent lots of trash mail which have a bunch of pornography websites included.
3. Talk about piracy in the class to learn what the illegal download is.
4. Make sure the software or program you use is illegitimate.
5. Never share names, schools, ages, phone numbers, or addresses on line.
6. Never send pictures to strangers.
7. Keep passwords private.
8. Talk with parents or teachers if you find something wrong.
9. Minimizing chatting with strangers.
10. Using appropriate words online to show respect to others.
11. Sharing what you do on the internet with parents or teachers.
As I know, the schools in Taiwan use more and more blog as a learning tool now. Each class has their own homepage. It depends on teachers whether they use it or not. For the school I taught, it also emphasizes high-tech learning; as a result, most of the students have the experience of using blog as a learning tool. Some students even can upload their learning materials to the server of the school by using their own account. It’s glad to see that some parents also work with their kids. Advocating for parental education will also bring positive affect for children’s learning.
1. Take a rest after half an hour usage. Since students are still under the phase of body development, it’s important for them to take care of their eye vision and body.
2. Create an e-mail account such as Google account to prevent lots of trash mail which have a bunch of pornography websites included.
3. Talk about piracy in the class to learn what the illegal download is.
4. Make sure the software or program you use is illegitimate.
5. Never share names, schools, ages, phone numbers, or addresses on line.
6. Never send pictures to strangers.
7. Keep passwords private.
8. Talk with parents or teachers if you find something wrong.
9. Minimizing chatting with strangers.
10. Using appropriate words online to show respect to others.
11. Sharing what you do on the internet with parents or teachers.
As I know, the schools in Taiwan use more and more blog as a learning tool now. Each class has their own homepage. It depends on teachers whether they use it or not. For the school I taught, it also emphasizes high-tech learning; as a result, most of the students have the experience of using blog as a learning tool. Some students even can upload their learning materials to the server of the school by using their own account. It’s glad to see that some parents also work with their kids. Advocating for parental education will also bring positive affect for children’s learning.
How I could use blogs in my class…
Learning by using blogs provides another way for students to access and exchange more information in this knowledge-based economy world. Language is an essential factor for communicating, that is, the bridge for conveying ideas. Learning language by using blog could be the mediation of communicating. It responds to what Richardson stated “Class Portal.” The teacher could post any related documents on the blog. The key point is that how learners learn efficiently to achieve the standard of learning by using blogs.
First of all, I think organization is the vital element of using a blog. Since I teach in elementary school, the simpler the better. There’d be four main sections of my blog: student’s own blog link section, in class section, homework section, and materials section. For the first section, the students will post what their URL is to let others have the quickest way to access it. The students might be asked to write or voice recording two to three diaries each week on their blogs by using English. This could be done by using “Voice Thread.” For the in class section, I’d like to post what the coming topic is on the blog beforehand, and write the feedback after class. The feedback could include the solution for the problem solving task in class, the difficult concept or important information, and the recommendation for the whole class. With regard to the homework section, I would list what the homework is on the blog and the student could upload an attachment for their homework. Besides, this section could be a form like discussion board that students reply directly to others. In terms of material section, I would have useful websites for my students and also materials they could download.
Standards for the English Language Arts ( by Richardson)
- Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions.
TSLT Goal 2:Standard 2
Second, individual works for students by using blog. In Taiwan, students have three English classes per week and forty minutes for a class in elementary school. The objective students are sixth grade. I’d use fifteen to twenty minutes to have my students using blog as a learning tool in class. As I mentioned, they would need to write or voice recording two to three diaries every week. During this phase, they could write down or record what they’ve learned for today’s class or what’ve happened in their recent daily life. For more advanced students they will be asked to write or speak at least 150 words but for lower level students they could just write down fifty words. Moreover, students could apply “Voice Thread” to complete this task. They could either give comment or write diaries by typing or recording since each individual has his or her own learning style. In this way, they practice writing, listening, reading, and speaking.
Standards for the English Language Arts ( by Richardson)
-Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes.
TSLT Goal 3 Standard1&2
Third, cooperative works for students to have a chance to observe others. I would also assign them a problem solving or decision making project for group works. People view things in different ways. From a cognitive view, imitation is a prerequisite of internalization. Here, imitation is not mimicking but learners are able to reproduce language by their own. Besides the verbal discussion, students need to write down what they’ve discussed on the blog, as a result, other group members have an access to know how the other group work. In this way, leaning happens.
Standards for the English Language Arts ( by Richardson)
-Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
TSLT Goal 4 Standard 1
To sum up, using blogs for learning a language is a way to motivate students. In order to have a balance for listening, speaking, reading, and writing, I personally think that using Voice Thread on the blog could be a practical tool. However, I’m still a novice for Voice Thread; hopefully, I could become an expert after the class.
First of all, I think organization is the vital element of using a blog. Since I teach in elementary school, the simpler the better. There’d be four main sections of my blog: student’s own blog link section, in class section, homework section, and materials section. For the first section, the students will post what their URL is to let others have the quickest way to access it. The students might be asked to write or voice recording two to three diaries each week on their blogs by using English. This could be done by using “Voice Thread.” For the in class section, I’d like to post what the coming topic is on the blog beforehand, and write the feedback after class. The feedback could include the solution for the problem solving task in class, the difficult concept or important information, and the recommendation for the whole class. With regard to the homework section, I would list what the homework is on the blog and the student could upload an attachment for their homework. Besides, this section could be a form like discussion board that students reply directly to others. In terms of material section, I would have useful websites for my students and also materials they could download.
Standards for the English Language Arts ( by Richardson)
- Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions.
TSLT Goal 2:Standard 2
Second, individual works for students by using blog. In Taiwan, students have three English classes per week and forty minutes for a class in elementary school. The objective students are sixth grade. I’d use fifteen to twenty minutes to have my students using blog as a learning tool in class. As I mentioned, they would need to write or voice recording two to three diaries every week. During this phase, they could write down or record what they’ve learned for today’s class or what’ve happened in their recent daily life. For more advanced students they will be asked to write or speak at least 150 words but for lower level students they could just write down fifty words. Moreover, students could apply “Voice Thread” to complete this task. They could either give comment or write diaries by typing or recording since each individual has his or her own learning style. In this way, they practice writing, listening, reading, and speaking.
Standards for the English Language Arts ( by Richardson)
-Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes.
TSLT Goal 3 Standard1&2
Third, cooperative works for students to have a chance to observe others. I would also assign them a problem solving or decision making project for group works. People view things in different ways. From a cognitive view, imitation is a prerequisite of internalization. Here, imitation is not mimicking but learners are able to reproduce language by their own. Besides the verbal discussion, students need to write down what they’ve discussed on the blog, as a result, other group members have an access to know how the other group work. In this way, leaning happens.
Standards for the English Language Arts ( by Richardson)
-Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
TSLT Goal 4 Standard 1
To sum up, using blogs for learning a language is a way to motivate students. In order to have a balance for listening, speaking, reading, and writing, I personally think that using Voice Thread on the blog could be a practical tool. However, I’m still a novice for Voice Thread; hopefully, I could become an expert after the class.
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