Week10

Coming to the end of the road

It's been a great opportunity to be part of the course and it's a most fruitful course I have taken. I have learned many new aspects concerning technology-related practice and experienced many learning activities useful for my professional and personal development. The course has built and strengthened my teaching skills little by little. It has also broadened my horizon because it made me find new ways of looking at the world outside the classroom wall. The course participants from different parts of the world have joined and shared their teaching experiences and knowledge. Next, I'll try to share myself as much as I can to cover the following questions.

- During our course, what topics were most successful? Most useful for you?

Actually all topics are useful and helpful in enhancing teaching skills. Considering what topics were most successful I would like to mention firstly ABCD objectives. I think I have learned to write better and clearer learning objectives. With clear learning objectives, it will not hard for me to lead my students in the right path of learning. Secondly, I would say that sharing links and discussing English skills-building websites were very useful and Delicious.com is found to be a practical and effective tool to make an online search more convenient for a teacher. Next, I would say that the course has provided many useful articles to study and they have widened my views towards teaching and learning in some ways. Many assigned reading articles and other resources provided on various topics like learner autonomy, MI and learning styles, and PBL have made me become more aware of importance of the students who are one of key components of the classroom teaching. For additional reading articles and related resources, they are also available for all participants to make their own choice for further reading and studying. That's good indeed. The last task, self-evaluation of technology use, is in the right time to have me evaluate myself how technology is integrated in my classroom, in which level I fit and how to develop to the next level. All in all, the course is well-organized and supports better learning of the learners to reach the course goal. 

- Which tools will you use in your classes?

There are many different tools that are going to be very useful for my class. However, the tool that I have implemented lately is Padlet. Personally, Padlet is a nice board which I have found to be an appropriate learning space which can be applied and modified for many educational purposes. It can be a place where the students and me share information and related content to the lesson by posting a reading article or video (just like we did in Week7). To practice writing skill, the teacher may use it to encourage written activities such as getting students to write short notes to introduce themselves, write short stories, and even get students write some short reflections. To apply Padlet, it depends on the lesson objectives and the teacher just learn to apply it accordingly and creatively. Blogging and Nicenet are also two interesting tools to hear students' voice and offer more choices for online participation and interaction.

- What other tools might we have covered or would you suggest that we could have looked at?

Since social networking is a trend now, you could have looked at how to make use out of it for classroom benefits. I may suggest Edmodo, a social networking site for educational purposes to be considered. It is user-friendly and provides a convenient way for teachers to manage online class participation and students to be exposed to online learning experience. Moreover, Edmodo offers a learning community space where teachers from all over the world can share and exchange useful teaching resources, ideas and suggestions together to move forward the teaching and learning achievement.

- Which, if any, do you think were not relevant to what you do or will do?

To be honest, I have found all what I have learned throughout the course very useful for me and my EFL students. All of what I have learned and done through the course were relevant to what I do and will do. Now, I have already obtained some skills and knowledge concerning technology integration and it is my job to keep practicing and improving myself to make use of what I have had to benefit my class and share it with other colleagues as to make EFL classrooms more productive and fruitful.

Now, I would like to express my gratitude to E-teacher Scholarship Program staff, University of Oregon, for a great determination to make learning accessible and possible for all. I would also like to expand my deepest gratitude to the course instructors, Robert Elliott and Russell Moon for their kindness, hard work and patience. Last but not least, I thank all classmates who have made valuable discussion and shared comments and suggestions throughout 10 weeks of the course.

Teaching is a rewarding job. Wish all teachers be happy with their job:)

Ta, Thailand

Week 9

What's your learning style?

This week, we have been assigned to read articles about multiple intelligences, learning styles and strategies. We as usual have shared and exchanged many useful and helpful ideas on Nicenet to see how a technology can be combined in a language classroom to address students multiple intelligence and learning styles.

Reading the article "Learning styles and strategies" by Richard M. Felder and Barbara A. Soloman, it emphasizes importance of learner differences and allows us to know how to design classroom activities and offer learning opportunities that would facilitate each individual student in effective learning. It is a teacher who has to understand their students and provide a range of activities and experiences that serve the students' needs and the students themselves need to make aware of their strengths and weaknesses. A link to an online quiz http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-assessment may be tried out by both the teacher and students.

Moreover, from a text document, Learning Strategies by Shaping the Way We Teach English, I have realized that it would be very beneficial for my students to be provided a learning strategy training course. In my actual language classroom, I have included an explicit strategy instruction for the students to learn some strategies that are required and relevant to the course content and activities. But I realize that is not enough. As I have observed most of Thai EFL students for many years, I have made a conclusion they are not well-equipped with good learning strategies and that they will not be able to become strategic learners who can take charge of their owning and develop to lifelong learners. I,thus, have asked myself if it is time to propose the idea of foreign language strategy training to be implemented in a curriculum. I think it is necessarily important to offer students a course which provides foreign language strategy training. From the reading. seven instructional models are suggested and in the first place, I have found "Strategies in Language Textbooks" the most possible. The model of Strategy Workshops sounds great, too. SBI or Strategic-Based Instruction is new for me and it may require more time and more studying to learn how to conduct it.

At last, the project report was done! I have to thank Lina for her valuable feedback and comments.
It's been a productive and happy week for me:)

Ta, Thailand

Week8

Exploring more tools and finishing the 1st Draft 

This week's task on Nicenet is to select the most appropriate tool to create some exercises to get students more opportunities to collaborate with a teacher. As I have already had my own class website on Google Sites, I tried a new tool which is Padlet. It is going to be an online class board for sharing and posting interesting files, videos, downloadable handouts relevant to my English class.The link to my classroom Padlet board is http://padlet.com/supapornm1/uuy2fwjf45z1 . It is easy to creat a Padlet and easy to use, too. Moreover, I made vocabulary exercises online to print out from http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/general_content/free_resources/teachers_corner/wordsearch/wordSearch.jsp, which is easy to use and allows me to create vocabulary puzzle just a click away. There are many suggested websites to facilitate material preparation of the teacher who wants to make a classroom funnier with games and to offer students interactive online activities. I hope to explore more next time.

This week, most of my time has been spent on finishing my first draft of the project report and peerreviewing. I would say that time flies so quickly -- I can't believe we are approching the finishline. I just finished peerreviwing Lina's 1 st draft report and she did an excellent job to make her report clear and elaborately written. Following the project report checklist for a peerreview, I have realized some weakpoints of my report. I've not made my report clear enough and missed to answer several questions. Lina, I am sorry -- please be patient with me and my report:)

Regarding using infographics in my class, I'm sure that I will incorperate it in some other language learning activities in the future. Fortunately, I've found a website for interactive infographics and it must help make my students more excited to learn English with interactive infographics. Here is one (http://magazine.good.is/infographics/vitamin-atlas#open)  that I'm going to bring to my class in the near future (after a mid-term exam week), please have a look and think about how you would apply it into your classroom.

Ta, Thailand

Week 7

Keep learning and shining

To encourage learner autonomy in language learning, Little (n.d) proposes three pedagogical principles: learner involvement, learner reflection and appropriate target language use. That means the teacher should involve students in good learning activities that allow collaboration among students and are motivating and meaningful to the students. The teacher should promote students in planning, monitoring and evaluating learning by their own, for example, by making them complete a journal entry to assess the past learning and plan for future action. Most importantly, a target language should be a medium of language learning both inside and outside the classroom. In practice, to make students autonomous learners who can take charge of their own learning may consume time and need contribution from both teacher and students. The students need to be guided and supported by the teacher and then they will gradually move toward an independent learning.

Language learning activities that allow students to freely exercise their voice and choice should be included in the classroom. Through an activity such as writing a learning log  or reflection on an online blog, it will also enable the students to develop to autonomous learners bit by bit. Moreover, creating positive attitudes towards English language learning must be concerned and by making language fun, motivating and meaningful, the students will enjoy learning English both in a formal classroom teaching and outside the classroom on their own pace.

To sum up, fostering learner autonomy is an important goal in language learning classroom. We as language teachers should create classroom learning which helps our students become more autonomous as we are not going to nurture and accompany them throughout life.

Regarding the technology-related change I have implemented with my class, I can say that my students did quite well in trying out using Canva's drag and drop tool  to create their first infographic. After watching a brief Canva tutorial presentation (available from Youtube), they learned quickly to use the tool and make use of elements available. However, some of them asked for more time to make the better-looking one. I allowed them to continue their work as homework. In addition, I spared half an hour to prepare them for the next activity "Creating infographic" which requires them to do online search gathering reading texts and presenting what they learn into a comprehensible infographic. To begin with, I divided them into a group of 4-5, then I had them select one "eco-jargon" from the list to study (this is part of a "Beyond Classroom" assignment, Unit 2 Environmental Issues) , afterward I assigned a leader of the group to create a file on Google Docs and share it with the members and me. Using Google Docs allows group members to collaboratively work together gathering reading texts to study and prepare contents to present, and finally we talked about the rubric so that the students can use it as a guide to reach the set criteria. I can't wait to appreciating their infographics.

Keep going and learning. Always have a smile on your face:)

Ta, Thailand

Week 6

Project Step

This week as usual I have learned new things useful for me and my students. Many interesting teaching techniques for managing a large class have been shared on the discussion board. Clearly, it is important that teachers should employ teaching techniques that can foster active engagement to help the students learn better and enjoy learning. Cooperative and collaborative learning activities, for example, allow students to work together and construct knowledge. In addition, small group activities not only reduce students' anxiety but also promote social skill development. Apart from those creative techniques, the content of language teaching materials has to be relevant to students' needs and interests to make learning meaningful to them.

Again, technology like PowerPoint can be included in the classroom and by making it become an interactive presentation, it could be a tool to draw attentions and increase students' participation in learning process. Different kinds of media should be wisely included in PowerPoint to appeal to different learning styles. Personally, I have learned a method to make PowerPoint presentations interactive with games using action buttons. It is the first time for me to be able to make a plain-looking PowerPoint become more lively and interactive to get the students more engaged with what is being taught. I intend to learn more about different ways to make PowerPoint presentation interactive.

Regarding the implementation of technology-related change, I have chosen 'infographics' to resolve my students' reading competence. After spending time to search about using infographics in education, I have become clear to begin my plan.

This week I have introduced my students an overview of infographics. I have used a PDF file made by Short (2013) from http://www.cabarrus.k12.nc.us/cms/lib09/NC01910456/Centricity/Domain/6052/exportable_infographic.pdf to present facts and details about infographics to my class. Due to time constraints and a tight schedule making it impossible to complete the first task in the classroom, I have assigned the students to do an out-of-class activity, Exploring Infographics. This task aims to have students take their time noticing different models of infographic designs and layouts meanwhile getting them engaged with the reading texts of their interest.

The objective of  the first task is: Exploring infographics samples from http://dailyinfographic.com/, students will be able to choose one infographic, draw at least 4 information/facts they get from it and state at least 3 statements how the use of graphics including the design, the use of fonts, color can contribute to how they feel about the information.

It is expected that after exploring a variety of infographic examples, the students will be able to create their own infographic to present an issue or topic they are studying.

Next week, I'm planning to involve them in a step to create an infographic.

Week 5

A half way home

The 5th week's reading assignments have given me a clear picture of the implementation of a Project-Based Learning in EFLsettings. To implement PBL in the classroom, it requires a careful step-by-step collaboration between a teacher and students. I think that when involving students in a learning process, we as a teacher have to work so hard to handle and manage things well enough. In practice, it is possible that we cannot make every single student satisfied, so it may be alright to just look for better, not the best. To successfully implement PBL, it also means that our students have to prepare themselves to be active learners. They need to stand up to express themselves and share their voice. However, many Thai EFL students are dependent learners and they rarely express themselves confidently in the classroom. That's going to be my job to tackle this problem finding a way to encourage them to participate more in PBL classroom.

Besides, to make students participate more in classroom, the role of authentic assessment or alternative assessment is important. By focusing on students' performance, it gives students more opportunities to gradually develop themselves along the way to the learning destination. A rubric is therefore needed to help guide the students to self-check whether they are moving to the right way to the expected learning outcomes. There are many tools online to help teachers create a rubric. Many rubrics shared make it easier teachers to choose and make use of ones they are interested in. Honestly, I would like to thank all teachers and educators who have shared their experiences and provided many useful materials, instruction ideas and the things relevant to English language education, including rubrics online. They are all useful and helpful.

About a technology-related solution that I am going to implement to help my students increase their reading skill, I have decided to use "infographics" to be as a learning tool to extend my students' reading experience and ability. Apart from improving my students' English skill, I have my own expectation to make my students have some content knowledge so that they can catch up with what is going on outside of the classroom wall. An infographic presents contents in an attractive way and can surely attract my students's attention. They then will be motivated to read and learn in an enjoyable way. However, I expect them to be able to share thier knowledge by creating infographic as a way to check their understanding towards what they have read, too. It's going to be a right tool for my students, I hope.

Now, I'm learning how to creat an infographic using www.canva.com, though I find http://piktochart.com/ and http://www.easel.ly/ more user-friendly. Well, I've chosen 'canva' because it is more challenging. Anyway, I may change my idea -- I am not sure. Just give myself a trial and error.

Ta, Thailand

Week4

Please be well-prepared!

Again, this week I've learned many things from experienced teachers and educators and also learned by doing. I've studied two assigned articles and realized why and how technology integration should be encouraged in educational settings. Clearly, technology can assist in English skills improvement as well as encourage students' interaction, participation and collaboration. To implement technology into classroom, a well-prepared lesson plan is necessary. A lesson plan not only guides teachers, but it also helps teachers become more confident and comfortable while teaching the lesson. When less stressed, a happy teacher and happy students enjoy together!

In addition, it is an article "Weaving the Web into an EAP Reading Program" by Ellinger et al (n.d.) that has reminded me about "flexibility and adaptability". It is a fact that the websites change regulary and a well-planned teacher has to admit this changing nature of the Internet. Teachers have to learn to adapt the material or revise a classroom activity accordingly. Moreover, Ellinger et al (n.d) found that flexibility of the material is important to support learning styles or needs of each individual learner. I agree that if we aim to integrate technology such as the Internet into the classroom, we should revamp the materials and learning activities in order to make learning experience meaningful and enjoyable for our students.

One more thing I've come to realize while working on writing a lesson plan with technology is that "I need to include a back up plan." It is possible that technology may not work correctly when we need it. For example, the Internet connection may fail, or the low speed Internet may become a problem right while we are teaching. That could be a disaster for a teacher who is not well-prepared. Things may get stuck and everyone in classroom becomes frustrated. I don't want to imagine that to happen in my class. Therefore, to keep the classroom going, a back up plan is needed. Remember -- a back up plan.

"Keep learning and shining."

Week 3

Delicious week!

Teaching aural/oral skill is a main topic of the 3rd week of the course and we shared a lot on a discussion board for the websites we think they provide effective resources for aural/oral skill development. In fact, aural/oral skill is supposed to be the skill EFL learners found difficult due to some differences in sounds and features. Moreover, they rarely or scarcely have a chance to use or practice English with English speakers. Since this skill is a basic foundation for communicative competence, the students cannot turn their back on it.

Fortunately, many websites online have a vast variety of aural/oral practice exercises for teachers and students to try. And there are many authentic videos and audios for teachers to choose for their class. Many websites present listening activities in a more motivating and enjoyable way. This would help encourage EFL students to join in practicing listening and speaking with English speakers around the clock. Students can expose themselves to authentic language use and at the same time they become aware of stress, intonation, and rhythm. But the fact is there are many websites to be used, and teachers have to be selective to choose the right ones for their students. Well, to find ones to my class, it's very easy because we now have our own Delicious!

Links to Delicious of each individual classmates have also widen my views toward the WWW world where people all around can interact and share good things to one another -- just like the classmates and I have shared useful links for educational resources. It seems to me that the more we share, the more we get.

Also, this week we've shared what we've learned from studying the previous course projects. It's a good activity to let me see the overall concept of the final project of Webskills course. It seems that I have to make myself ready to exercise my creativity for the upcoming project. It may not be easy to come up with something creative at once. More reading, learning and observing are required. The first thing I can do now is make it clear about the learners and the setting. The project by Prem Bahadur Phyyak which I referred on the discussion board is going to be a good sample. It'll be good to do a needs survey to gain some information that would help for designing a right project for my students. There is still a long way to go. Cheer up, everyone.

Week 2

ABCD objective task

We as teachers all realize importance of a learning objective and so writing the clear one is necessarily important. Using the ABCD model has guided me a direction of writing a well-written objective. All components of ABCD model are related to one another. We have  Audience, we expect some Behaviors to be performed by them under certain circumstance or Condition and we need criteria or Degree to assess the behavior. When the objective is well set, we won't get lost on the way taking our students to reach the destination. Moreover, writing a learning objective, I think 'B' must be carefully written. It's important to look for the action verb which we have to keep in mind that it must be observable and measurable. Also, it is Bloom's taxonomy that can help and guide for a clearer and more specific performance we expect our students to perform. To be honest, it's good to have learned ABCD method along with Bloom's taxonomy.

Week 2

Keep searching

From now on, for me, "Google it", a familiar phrase of today's digital society, will not mean just using Google search engine to get some information anymore. That is because this week I have learned to use other options for doing a computer search. Many options provided on NoodleTools are new to me and I've tried several of them. It is 'iSeek Education' which I found the most interesting choice for me. Interestingly, while making a trial on Sweetsearch search engine, I came to realize that Sweetsearch provides more links that are very resourceful for education. For example, 'SweetSearch2day' provides many interesting topics such as today's news, word of the day, question of the day, all of these can be assigned as online learning activities for students to keep practicing their English bit by bit or day by day.

Actually, search engines available on the Internet as other Webskills classmates have shared, each of them may have benefits and weaknesses. I think we can add benefits and limit weaknesses by learning to try something new and welcome some changes for the better. Most of us are familiar with Google and tend to stick to it, but if it doesn't work well, try look for other options (choose the ones suggested by the kind classmates first).

The Internet has provided a plenty of interesting, authentic and updated materials and information. As an EFL teacher, I depend very much on search engines to find and gather information/ideas to be used and applied in my class. Thus, it's necessary for me as a teacher to be able to select the right ones to get the right information. Besides, introducing the students some optional search engines other than Google will be beneficial for them, too.Teaching students how to use search engine successfully is also important as to prepare them to use and make use of technology for better learning and ideally for a lifelong learning.

It's my job. I'll do my best.

Week 1

My first blogging 

One of the 1st week tasks is creating a blog at www.blogger.com and bit by bit I have been introduced to the world of technology. I would say that the Internet, in particular, has given a great challenge by letting me learn new things every day. A blog is one of those new things it has provided. As I am new to it, I was excited and a bit nervous along the way of creating the blog.
By following the instructions on the handout step by step, my blog has come to life! It's clearly seen that informative guidelines and clear instructions are necessary and important for students.
Here, I have become one of the students of the online learning and I think that if students are equipped with basic and proper tools, plus guidance and attention from teachers, online learning classroom could be an interesting choice.

Regarding to the use of blog for course reflection, it is a good way to let us (as students) express our thoughts towards the things we are learning in the course, exchange perspectives, and learn from one another. Personally, the blog provides me a space to practice and improve my writing skills. I have to be thoughtful and be more aware of what and how to write as it is published. It may take a lot of time and effort at first, yet I hope that I will enjoy writing a reflection online sooner or later. Moreover, I think a teacher is able to gain some benefits from students' class reflections. S/He will be able to get to know their students little by little, understand more about them as well as hear some feedback that would be useful to make the class more effective and productive.

Writing a reflection is a good way to self monitor and self assess yourself and when it is shared on the blog, you make use of online tools to exchange yourself with friends just a click away.

Week 1 has been a good starting step toward learning beyond the classroom walls of mine and I hope to have a happy time learning new things with all new friends. We are going to be happy students and happy teachers:).