I must say that I am proud of myself for trying out new technology as
it becomes available. This pride is yet another encouraging factor that
keeps me loving my job and looking forward to how it continues to
change under Web 2.0.
Please understand this raving about online tools doesn’t mean I never
get overwhelmed by them. When I attend a tech-heavy professional
development session, I still leave with my head in a cloud and
experience the same amount of panic all of us feel when something new is
put on our plates. What I have learned about the benefits of embracing
these tools is that I just need to always be on the hunt for technology
that will make me a more effective and more efficient teacher. “Doing
technology” just for a check-mark on my summative evaluation is not
going to achieve anything substantial.
13 Free Teacher Downloads for Back to School:
All of Edutopia’s downloadable and printable back-to-school resources are collected here for easy classroom reference.
For my students.
Let’s look at some ways you can retain the richness of social learning as you make the move to online.
The magic of people in learning
Well-designed face-to-face learning has some great features going for it:
Stories and example sharing: rich sources of learning that tend to stick in people’s minds
Observations: people can practice a skill and be observed by peers or an expert, who provide feedback
Collaborative learning: where people work together on a task and learn from one another
Expert guidance: facilitators who provide knowledge, demos, and feedback
Competition: there might be some competitive elements that encourage learning to take place. Whether it’s formal or informal, people often try to perform well in front of peers, especially when given tasks to complete and share with others
Informal learning: never underestimate the power of the ‘down time’ chats and the networking that inevitably take place— these all work toward the learning goals
The big question is WHAT IS YOUR LEARNING STYLE???
In order to make meaningful improvements in our work, one must be reflective, learn from others, take risks and measure success in our teaching.
Compare the number of websites, journals, etc. where teachers can find research, new ideas for:
•face to face teachers
Through creating a consistent and transparent teachers’ learning and performance management process, we aim to support quality in the classroom by focusing on:
•Providing tools for e-moderators’ professional development
•Enhancing & maintaining teaching quality online
•Managing and recognising performance
•Enhancing career support for e-moderators
online teachers / E-moderators.
Through creating a consistent and transparent teachers’ learning and performance management process, we aim to support quality in the classroom by focusing on: •Providing tools for e-moderators’ professional development
•Enhancing & maintaining teaching quality online •Managing and recognising performance
•Borg, S. (2015). Teaching for Success Contemporary perspectives on continuing professional development A report written for the British Council.
•Walter, C. & Briggs, J.G. (2012). What professional development makes the most difference to teachers? A report commissioned by Oxford University Press.
Many people assume that a training course is valuable – even essential – preparation for professional English language teaching. But does training really help ... or is it just a waste of time and money? Should we call a halt to teacher training? Our two speakers will debate the issues. Please come along, have your say, ask questions – and join in the vote.
Speakers: Peter Grundy & Penny Ur
Chair: Graham Hall
Technology is everywhere in education: Public schools in the United States now provide at least one computer for every five students. They spend more than $3 billion per year on digital content. Led by the federal government, the country is in the midst of a massive effort to make affordable high-speed Internet and free online teaching resources available to even the most rural and remote schools. And in 2015-16, for the first time, more state standardized tests for the elementary and middle grades will be administered via technology than by paper and pencil.
Every day, a sea of decisions stretches before us, and it’s impossible to make a perfect choice every time. But there are many ways to improve our chances — and one particularly effective technique is critical thinking. Samantha Agoos describes a 5-step process that may help you with any number of problems.
What is one advantage of critical thinking?
What is the first step (of five) in the critical thinking process?
I taught Polish as a foreign language in traditional settings at the Wroclaw University of Technology for about 41 years. I have been teaching English to speakers of other languages for over 25 years.
In 2000, I became an American Citizen.
In 2010, I started my online adventure mainly on WizIQ. Since that time I have been using technology in my classes.
I have been training in both face-to-face and blended learning arrangements.
Overview
Are you unsatisfied with your level of Spoken English?
Do you want to become a forward-thinking speaker and reach to a greatextent fluency?
Is joining English meetings very challenging? Is it difficult to participate and communicate efficiently?
If so, my course is for you!
Target Students
·Are you nervous about communicating in English with foreign colleagues?
·Do you have a good command of English, but feel like your flexibility may be lacking?
·Would you like to learn how to sound more natural when making small talk and discussing problems?
·Do you feel the need to improve your conversational skills?
Teacher extraordinaire Mr Keating appears as the epitome of the charismatic teacher – one that his students are sure to remember long after their school years are over. Way over the top as this might be (though I am sure that, whatever we may say, many of us would love to feel we are a little bit like Mr Keating) it is only natural to ask ourselves: does the personality of the teacher matter in this Brave New World of technology and on-line courses? As teachers we are in the business of influencing people. How can we do that? It helps if we imagine each individual as a big elephant with a rider sitting on top of it (a metaphor first used by J. Haidt 2006). The elephant is our emotional side; it is big, strong, somewhat impulsive and not as predictable as we would like it to be. The rider is our rational side; it can guide the elephant and the latter usually allows itself to be directed by the former (but if there is a disagreement, we all know who we should bet on! J ) So how can we influence people? There are 3 ways: a) We can motivate the elephant; this is what charismatic teachers do – they inspire their students, and this clearly works best in a f2f context. b) We can direct the rider – appealing to the logical part of our students and telling them what to do. This can work equally well in a f2f and an online context. c) We can shape the path down which the elephant and the rider will walk (an idea first proposed by Heath & Heath 2011 – click here to watch a 2-min clip). By careful use of choice architecture (see Thaler & Sunstein 2008), we can ‘nudge’ the duo in the direction we would like them to go. * An on-line environment is ideal for such an approach. However….
References:
Bloom, P. (2008) Introduction to Psychology. Yale Courses, You Tube
Haidt, J. (2006) The Happiness Hypothesis. London: Arrow Books
Heath, C. & Heath, D. (2011) Switch. London: Random House
Lieberman, M. (2013) Social. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Thaler, R. & Sunstein, C. (2008) Nudge. Michigan: Yale University Press
In the mid-1950s, humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow created a theory of basic, psychological and self-fulfillment needs that motivate individuals to move consciously or subconsciously through levels or tiers based on our inner and outer satisfaction of those met or unmet needs. I find this theory eternally relevant for students and adults, especially in today's education.
Learning means bringing changes, by learning human enters new society and culture. When they learned new understanding, they perform on it. Otherwise, they lose it.
As stated earlier, learning transfers changes (behaviorism) and creates new knowledge or increases information (cognitive skills).Education empowers our brain and beliefs, so it encourages our intellectual power to improve knowledge.
Most important theories related to language learning.
1.Behaviorist,
2.Cognitive,
3.Constructivism,
4.Chomsky’s Universal Grammar
5.Schumann’s Acculturation / Orientation in a new culture,
6.Krashen’s Monitor
7.Conversation
The conversation theory is a transdisciplinary learning theory. Developed by Gordon Pask in 1975, it is influenced by a range of cybernetics, linguistics, computer science concepts, cognitive psychology, and neurophysiology.
What learning theories do you follow and why?
How do you incorporate them into your teaching? Try to be as specific as you can.
I use the mix of different theoriesIt depends on the kind of my students.
In my view, theoretical concepts do not yield concrete prescriptions for classroom application, but the good theory can be used flexibly and creatively by teachers in their planning and educational practice. At the same time, not all learning takes place in the classroom as much of it occurs at home, on the sports field, in museums and so forth (non-formal education), and sometimes implicitly and effortlessly (informal learning).
Non-formal education and informal learning are vital for improving language learning.
How People Learn and What are their Learning Styles?
Nowadays the dominant theory is socio-constructivism which can be defined as an approach according to which individual knowledge relies on its social construction of it. (Piaget, Doise and Mugny, 1984). Particularly relevant in this respect are the communication processes (learning dialogs) occurring in situations where at least two persons try to solve a problem. The social world of a learner includes the people that directly affect that person, including teachers, friends, students, administrators, and participants in all forms of activities. Accordingly, learning designs should enhance local collaboration and dialogue but also engage other actors (e.g. domain experts) to participate in certain ways. Research on collaborative learning is particularly interested in learning mechanisms that are triggered by specific collaborative activities.
Key functionalities of a socio-constructivist learning environment are:
Theoretical concepts do not produce actual prescriptions for classroom application, but the good theory can be used flexibly and creatively by teachers in their planning and educational practice. At the same time, not all learning takes place in the classroom as much of it occurs at home, on the sports field, in museums and so forth (non-formal education), and sometimes implicitly and effortlessly (informal learning).
In the mid-1950s, humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow created a theory of basic, psychological and self-fulfillment needs that motivate individuals to move consciously or subconsciously through levels or tiers based on our inner and outer satisfaction of those met or unmet needs. I find this theory increasingly relevant for students and adults, especially in today's education.
Additionally, I would like to highlight Constructivism as one of the hot topics in educational philosophy right now. It potentially has profound inferences for how current `traditional' instruction is structured, since it goes with several highly exposed educational trends, for example:
the transition of the teacher's role from "sage on the stage" (fount/transmitter of knowledge) to "guide on the side" (facilitator, coach);
teaching "higher order" skills such as problem-solving, reasoning, and reflection (for example, see also creative learning);
enabling learners to learn how to learn;
increasing flexibility in the evaluation of learning outcomes;
cooperative and collaborative learning skills.
For me, language learning through conversation and open communication is the most effective teaching technique.
I want my students tobecome active learners. As the brain works on a use-it-or-lose-it style, means students must apply whatever they learn.
It is necessary to use the new phrase or character in a real situation. Also learning the words and phrases through original videos helps to learn faster.
Moreover, I encourage my students to make language learning a passion.
I combine the fun of language learning with the commitment to follow through. They should remember that feeling the need to learn a new wording is not enough to take an action. Give yourself clarity on what exactly compels you to learn a new language.
My tips are;
Figure out the how to comprehend a desire to learn.
What’s the goal behind it?
What’s the bigger picture?
How will learn a new language open opportunities in future?
Just answering these questions will motivate learners to get to the much higher level to take action when necessary.
