last class

I cannot believe that this semester is almost over. Seems too fast. We have only one final class with final presentations left. Last task is complete, reflection paper is written, website is ready. Feels weird, but I like this feeling;)))
During the previous class we discussed the podcast about technology and standards. Technology is changing rapidly, it is hard to keep up with it. It is good to have standards that focus on what students need to know and what students need to be able to do, but it is very challenging. Attention should be payed to all details. Nevertheless, the interviewees had good ideas and interesting points, but I think that standards should be improved.

plan

Inna’s plan

Week 13: Work on my web page. Work on Activity 5 draft.

Week 14: Work on Activity 5 with KarinKa and ChrisKa.

Week 15: Finish my web page and Activity 5.

What I did

Week 13: I did not work on my web page, but I did work on the Activity 5.

class and no class at the same time

For the final project Chris, Karina and I decided to work as a group. During the class we came up with the topic and activities we want to do. Also, we split the labour, so no one ends up doing everything, or almost everything. Each of us will do two activites, and everything else (organization, final look, presentation) we will do together. I feel that it is very helpful to work on final project in class, this is the time we can get together and actually work; besides, if we have problems we can ask for help any time.

Chapter 9

I found this chapter to be very informative. Very helpful tips for teachers. The author referred to the reference list at the end of the book, so I decided to look through it. I particularly liked the whatis.com. It has lots of helpful information, which I will use myself as well. I also looked at Charles Kelly article (listed in internet references at the end of the book), which might be helpful in creating our web page. Another very very useful web source is www.techtutorials.info (also listed in the reference list). There are lots of tutorials about how to use, for instance, Adobe Acrobat, email tutorials, etc.

class...Linda Jacoby...presentation

Linda's presentation was the best of all the others. I was trying to catch every word, it was very interesting, understandable and very helpful. I was very surprised that she mentioned Facebook as a teaching tool. I think it is not very appropriate. Many student have their Facebook accounts and I think they won't take seriously any activities using Facebook.
Another thing that caught my attention and interest was Second life. It looked very very interesting and exciting. I created an avatar in second life; it is so much fun. Bur I still do not know ho to use it in teaching. I don't think I would ever use it as a teaching tool.

hot potatoes

For the first time in this class I was able to work with a software without any help (except tutorial;))))!!!! I think that hot potatoes is fun; I enjoyed creating different exercises. I tried to do all the exercises: match, gap-filling, crossword, quiz, etc. I liked that the instruction for the students were displayed. I also liked that this program allows to insert pictures if needed. Hot potatoes is a good resource for creating interactive language learning
exercises that can be used in the classroom. Hot potatoes provide teachers with flexible, easy-to-use language exercises that students can work on while also receiving feedback that will direct them towards correct answer.

copyright

Karina already mentioned what I wanted to say, so I won't repeat. For us it does sound too serious, but I think that if we are in a different society and culture and we teach here, we have to take all the rules into consideration and take them seriously.

more about class last week

It was hard to remember the name of the new software we used in our class, so I logged in to d2l and downloaded week 9 agenda;))) As far as I understood, Webinar occurs over the Internet and you don't have to travel in order to participate in one. You can take part in a Webinar from anywhere. Besides, Webinar does not occur in real time, which gives an opportunity to participate when you have the time, which is very convinient. The thing that I didn't like is that only one person can talk at a time, and you have to give a permission to do that. Nevertheless, I think it could be a very useful additional tool for teachnig.

class

The online conference was very informative. I could concentrate better than the last time, becuase I could see a person.
I think that by taking courses online, you're able to decide when you study and for how long. You are also able to schedule your studying around your work or social schedule.
Since you're not bound to a classroom, you may do your work wherever you have access to a computer and the Internet. You'll be able to set your own pace and decide exactly how fast you want to go over the material.
On the other hand, since you're not on campus or in classes, you may lack opportunities to meet other students. You will not have many opportunities to interact face-to-face with your professors, so they may not have a real sense of who you are as a person. It is very hard to tell if online learning is good or bad; it depends on personal preferences.

readings

I agree that students might benefit from writing emails, as well as from key pals. Students have chance to collaborate and work together with other students. Electronic communication might also help in developing and improving language skills, it helps student to create and analyze information and ideas more easily and efficiently, which influences their motivation and confidence. On the other hand, using these types of activities might be time-consuming. Teachers should be aware of technical problems and should be able to fix them (if possible).

last class

I liked Lily Compton's presentation, I've learned a lot about virtual schooling. Besides, I liked that it was in power point, it made it easier to concentrate.
I think that virtual schooling give a student an opportunity to attend a class whenever he/she finds time without leaving his town or stopping his work. It might be very helpful for married men and women. Also, virtual classes provide an opportunity for people of all ages and nationalities to attend classes from anywhere in the world.
Although virtual schooling provides flexibility to students it doesn't mean that it is easier than coming to a traditional classroom. An online student has to be more responsible for his own studies. He/she should be self disciplined, self determined and self motivated. To me a face to face interaction with an instructor is always more helpful than the online discussion.

class

Now I think that podcasts, Audacity are nothing compared to creating a web page. Forget that I said that I was overwhelmed. I am overwhelmed NOW. I'm thinking "What's going to be next?". I think that creating a web page is fun though. It took me a while to change colors on the web page, so I'm not sure how long will it take me to create the WHOLE web page. I was thinking about it after class. I remembered that my brother is a web developer, he creates web pages for MSU. Guess what I had in my mind?;))) I don't think he's going to be very happy about helping me. Besides, I don't think I'll live throught it;))). He is a perfectionist. If I do something he doesn't like, I'll have to change everything;((((( On the other hand, he can teach me a lot of things. Besides, he is very good at explaining things. Hopefully he will help me and won't be very strict.

readings

I was very happy to find out that I did not pay attention to the syllabus last week. I didn't see that Chapter 5 was divided in two parts, so I read the whole Chapter for the previous class;)))))
So, I going to talk about blogs. I've heard about blogs, but I've never used them before CALL class. I think that blogs are valuable in creating and editing any number of personal or classroom learning materials. Blogs can easily be used as a collaborative environment to express themselves and receive feedback from peers and the teacher. They also enable teachers to verify posting dates and access student work. In addition, blogs promote analytical and critical thinking and encourage students to be more aware of the style and content of their writing. I guess, understanding that others are going to read and comment on blogs also increase their motivation.

articles

I think that films are a valuable resource for the EFL classroom. Films enhance students' motivation and provide an enjoyable experience for students and teachers. It is time consuming to view a full-length film. More time needs to be allocated for post-viewing activities,and these activities need to be done on the day of viewing or at least the day after to maximize language output. Nevertheless, film is a great way to bring real world into the classroom.
Using T commercials is also a great idea. They contain authentic content. Besides, TV commercials are created in many different English speaking countries which makes it possible for students to have exposure to a variety of English accents, dialects. It is also a good way to practice listening skills. Moreover, students with low proficiency level will be comfortable watching them as well, because they will be able (if they do not understand something) grasp the main idea from the mimics or gestures.

class

I enjoyed last class more than the previous one. Everything worked pretty well for me. I pretty much understood how to use GCast and Audacity. It was a great idea to combine chapter discussions (answering the questions) with Audacity. We were learning how to use the program and at the same time reflecting on readings. I always have headaches when I work with the computer the whole time, so it was very nice to have a face-to-face discussion.

Chapter 5, 7

Activity 4 from chapter 5 reminded me of what we did back at home. We had pen friends and we were supposed to write letters to them. When I was a kid I really enjoyed this kind of activity, I remember I was so proud to have a non-native friend that I was telling everyone about her. I think that this type of activity is a great chance to practice language skills. Besides, students learn the format of the letter. Moreover, it is very authentic.
In Chapter 7 the author described different project activities. Evaluating the web pages might be helpful for those who are doing research to differentiate authentic from untrustworthy ones. Other project activities mentioned in this Chapter are very interesting.

chapter 6

The activities mentioned in chapter 6 were very interesting. Besides, there were tips for teacher that might be very helpful. The one thing I was thinking is that having students record themselves during class might be very time consuming, you can never predict how they will do that and how much time it will take. Another thought is that in order to do activities mentioned in the book a teacher has to know technology very well.

last class

When I downloaded iTunes in class I thought that it looks different from the one I have at home. When I got back I saw that it is the same, it has the same layout, etc. I've just never paid attention to it. I've never used podcast before, but I've heard about it a lot. It was interesting and fun to learn something new, though I had troubles saving link.

readings

The two articles were pretty interesting. I think that Internet is a great source for teachers and students. The internet can act as a motivating tool for many students. Young people are very captivated with technology and educators must use this interest, excitement, and enthusiasm about the Internet for the purpose of enhancing learning. Moreover, internet allows easy access to information all over the world; it complements the library.
It was also interesting to read about Standards for Foreign Language Learning. For me it was very helpful to read suggestions on hot to do search correctly, how to narrow it, and what keywords to use.

September 17th class

Last class was very relaxing for me. I really enjoyed Chris' presentation. I was very surprised when he started to use Spanish. What was even more surprising to me was that I could understand almost everything, though I've never learned Spanish before. Thanks to Chris, I've learned some Spanish!!!;)
This class was useful and fun at the same time.

class, September 10

The assignments we were supposed to do for the class were very interesting, but I felt overwhelmed, because it was too much. I would prefer to do them separately, justs because I didn't have time to prepare them how I really wanted.

As to the class activities, I liked them, even though technology was doing shabby tricks. I've never though of using Skype in teaching; our discussions on this point were very useful.

Kanel and Oishi

Using songs in teaching is an effective way to have students embed anything they need to learn for mastery or to memorize. Using this type of strategy might help in acquiring target language structures and vocabulary, it gives an opportunity to expose students to authentic language and native speakers. I also think that teacher needs to choose songs that are appropriate to students' proficiency level and try to avoid songs with lots of slang. Some slang might be inappropriate.

I really liked the "Mentos and Coke" video. It was entertaining and very creative.
I think that watching videos is a very creative activity that encourages discussion and planning, as well as communication, technical skills, and the development of ideas. I think it also inspires the ability to discriminate and to evaluate.

I believe that video should not be more than 10-15 minutes. Anything longer and students might get board and loose all the attention.

Appendix

Reading the appendix was very helpful. I was very excited to find out that I know a lot of computer terms. Though some of them I've never heard about:(

week 3 readings

I found the online articles very interesting. Warschauer & Meskill seemed to be very skeptical about using technology in class. They have mentioned that no one did a research on "whether the book or the library is beneficial for language leraning". I believe we don't need a research on that just because it's obvious. "Computer is a machine, not a method". I agree that computer is a machine, but it can be used as a method! Technology should be used, but within reasonable limits, and together with books.
I enjoyed reading Chapelle, it was very interesting and informative. I didn't know much about voice chats, text chats, etc. before. It was exciting to know that chat made students feel more prepared and more willing to communicate. This article was attention-grabbing for me.

reading

I really like John de Szendeffy book. There are lot of thing to read and learn about. I found ten tips for teachers very interesting and useful. To my mind if a teacher will follow those suggestions he might have less problems. I liked the idea about focusing on activities, not software titles. I know lots of people (not only teachers)who try to remember all the program titles and don't know much how to use them. I would also agree that paying attention to training is very important. Clear and understandable explanation will make things easier for both teacher and students.

CALL

When I registered for the Topics class, I wasn't sure what is it going to be about. I really liked our first class. I was glad to see my old and new groupmates. When I realized that is going to be about computers in language teaching, I was very excited (I still am). What I've leraned from the first class is blogging. I've heardabout blogs before, but I've never used them. It is a new thing to me. I'm hoping to know much much more and get used to blogging.