Web skills and online courses
Online courses have different advantages: the student has the choice to adapt the tasks to his/her own regular activities and prepare essays almost anywhere and anytime, not precisely in the classroom. The student has no opportunity to have face-to-face discussion as it usually occurs in the daily life, however. Even though every day, thanks to globalization and ICT, people has been studying, developing, dealing with and solving quite different issues and problems in a virtual way. I have learnt in this course that it is quite necessary to be up-to-date in reference with the web technologies, especially if one, as a teacher, wants to use CALL to enhance the students’ learning and, in my personal case, my own learning.
Blogging is a stupendous way to learn and share our learning, ideas, expectations, projects and researches. Blogging is only a way of communicating with peers or colleagues or students or administrators, but, as I call this site at school, it is the expression wall in which one has the freedom to express with whole creativity, what one has to say. I will share in this blog what I learn.
Fernando
Hello Fernando.
ReplyDeleteYour bio profile is impressive. I see you have had a lot of experience in the arts and humanities which is a valuable asset in any teacher. You and I are both “Digital Immigrants” according to Marc Pensky (Amazon.com, so technology learning is indeed a must for us. As you said it is a condition for survival, unless we decide to keep ourselves away from it and teach the old way, which is not bad at all, but it doesn’t correspond to this time and age. From my own experience, I tell you that I started implementing blogging since September 2011. I do not teach 100% online, like this course; my method correspond to blended learning. I get to see my students on schedule during the week. I agree with you when you say that “the student has the choice to adapt the tasks to his/her own regular activities and prepare essays” but how is that choice made? How do they decide what to learn? Are there any standards or benchmarking for them? How would you proceed, given your expertise in competency-based learning?
On the other hand, a personal path to keep learning about ICT and remain updated is by creating your own Personal Learning Network. I have found it very useful and I think it could be for you too. There, you are really a path finder, going where you want to, and learning to your own liking. I recommend you to use your blog as the starting platform for building your network. The world is now all wired up, unless you want to unplug from “the matrix” :D :D
Hello Julio,
DeletePlease accept my apology for being unable to answer sooner this and your following kind comments.
About: …”“the student has the choice to adapt the tasks to his/her own regular activities and prepare essays…” I would like to add that it is part of the student’s growth assigning priorities to the different tasks he/she has to do. What is the competency I am more skilled and which is the one I am less skilled? It might be a starting point to make a decision.
Kind regards,
Fernando
PD: Fernando, I think it would be a good idea if you add a gadget for following your blog posted on the front page. It is just a suggestion.Cheers.
ReplyDeleteHi Fernando, I have to join you and Julio in the digital immigrants club! I was quite happy being a Neo-Luddite for many years, but then I realized I was actually in danger of becoming a dinosaur, so I forced myself (not always happily) to start learning the tools. I still find beauty in all things non-digital, but it is pretty nice to have access to all these handy tools! Just one more thing for you to add your already impressive CV!
ReplyDeleteJanine
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHello Janine,
DeleteThank you for your comment. I am awfully sorry for my discourteous, delayed answer. Tools appear and disappear just as the sun rises and set every day. Today, they are web tools, tomorrow, may be, the digital ones will pass away and make room for long-distance-mental communication. I use to tell my students —quoting the great architect Le Corbusier: “…just use what you have at hand.”— use what is next to you as a professional tool, and use it in an honest, ethical and masterly way; if it is not a tool, make one from what you have in your hand. Remember Janine what I mentioned about the Neolithic Revolution?
Thank you for your so nice comment about mi CV. I appreciate your words. Many colleague teachers, in this course, have such great qualifications and experience that, at least I, should learn from.
Regards form
Fernando