The readings, postings, and suggested websites in our "Web Skills" course provided a great deal of food for thought this week. Like many others in the course, I have embraced the practice of social bookmarking after being introduced to Delicious.com. Delicious.com. The practice of saving bookmarks to a public web site and 'tagging' them with keywords has many benefits. First and foremost, social bookmarking allows me to access my bookmarks in an easy and efficient way regardless of where I am located or what computer I happen to be using! Being able to share my bookmarks with friends and colleagues represents another benefit. I can now share my social bookmarking URL and allow my friends to follow my updates on a voluntarily basis. I'm really enjoying visiting the Delicious.com sites that my fellow class members have created. I feel like I have a team of people helping me locate fantastic teaching and learning resources! When my teaching duties resume in the Fall I will be eager to make use of these great sites.
In addition to the course readings that were provided this week, many of my colleagues have been reviewing and recommending websites for aural/oral skill-building. I'm finding the published information on this topic area to be very interesting and I'm starting to get very excited about the opportunities that exist for using computer technology to expand and reinforce aural/oral skills. In particular, I have been thinking about how I might be able to incorporate web-based audio recording tools as a means of enhancing speaking competencies. I ended up spending a considerable amount of time this week exploring Larry Ferlazzo's list of The Best Sites To Practice Speaking English. Although I found Larry's reviews and recommendations to be very helpful, I realized that not all of the sites he lists are suited to my students. It is essential that I evaluate resources with an eye to what would work for my own class and students. Reading about how my colleagues think they might apply specific website tools to their specific teaching contexts has served as a reminder that what works for some classes might not necessarily work for others. Technology integration always needs to be appropriate for student age, appropriate for language level, and aligned with learning outcomes.
On a more general note, I feel that the "Web Skills" course is itself modelling good technology integration. From my perspective, the productive dialogue that has been taking place within Nicenet.org, on our blogs, and in personal communication is a clear indication that a community of online learners as emerged. I'm enjoying being part of this community where rich ideas, thoughtful reflections, and high-quality resources are shared regularly.
Regards,
Stephen
Hello, Stephen. I think this is the first time I'm going to make a comment on your blog, so nice to meet you.
ReplyDeleteI have the same feelings are you when it comes to this online course. It's been really exciting for me to take part and to experience the online community we've been forming along these 3 weeks of tasks. Delicious.com was also a great discovery for me. A nice way to share intersting links we come across every time we search for things on the web.
Well, nice metting you and "see" you around.
Hi Stephen,
ReplyDeleteAs usual your post is full of insightful ideas. I like your idea of using audio recording tools to enhance students' speaking and pronunciation. I think students will like to record their voices and listen to them again. This makes them involve in their learning process. Your innovative ways motivate them internally to learn and improve their skills.
Also, I do agree with your point of view that when we select websites for our students, we should put in mind many factors: their levels, needs and the context in which they live.
Thanks again for your post.
Yours,
Azhar
Dear Stephen,
ReplyDeleteIt's always a pleasure to read what you write, though I had never commented on it before.
I totally agree with you when you say that "what works for some classes might not necessarily work for others" and that is one of the reasons sometimes looking for materials and suggestions on the Internet can be so time-consuming and frustrating. Sometimes I find some very nice things but then I just can't use them either because they do not suit the topics I have to teach or because they wouldn't work with my students...
Best wishes,
Elsa
Johwyson, Azhar and Elsa,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your positive comments. For me, the best thing about posting a reflective blog each week is reading the feedback it generates. I find our community of online learners to be a major source of ideas, connections, and inspiration for further reflection. This is what learning is about! Through the process of blogging we are discovering the educative value of blogging. This is the kind of experience Hanan referred to (earlier this week in a Nicenet discussion) as "learning by doing." As teachers, it is important that we experiment with using Web tools in our own learning contexts to begin to understand how they might apply to the learning contexts of those we teach.
Kind Regards,
Stephen