Final Reflection of the Course

I honestly liked the course a lot.  It was a fun way of learning how to use tools that we will use throughout our teaching careers.  Honestly, every class passed by really fast because we used to be really entertained trying the new tool that we were not paying attention to time. 

Now I have a lot of accounts, so many that I honestly do not even remember a number; however, we all must try to continue using them in order to become experts and make our classes interactive whenever we have the opportunity to be in front of a group of students.

Technology is very important nowadays, especially when teaching young people.  They are not interested in a book anymore, they prefer technology and it is extremely necessary to use it in order to catch their full attention.

I enjoyed the classes, the course and had fun with the final project.  I really hope we have the opportunity to have more classes like this one, thank you Ms. Natz! :)  

Final Project

Background

• Who are the learners?

They are a group of eight students who are currently studying English as a second language in a private school.  The program that they are studying consists of 20 courses, each one is of one month and they are at this moment in course 2.  As it can be noticed, they are barely starting their learning process and I want them to enjoy it by giving them other ways of practicing the topics that are seen in class.

• ·What is the setting?

They are studying at Harmon Hall and I am currently their teacher.  I’ve had this group before, so I know their weaknesses already.  This project will be taking place during class and also outside of class.  I will give them the website’s link for them to practice at home. I will also receive feedback in class and will try to come up with exercises so that I can check and evaluate their improvement.  Class time will also be a good time to receive feedback regarding how they feel using the website and if they feel any changes in the development of their skills. 

• ·What are the course goals?

The course consists of three units where they include the following topics:

- Unit four: Students will learn to use simple present statements, yes-no questions, and short answers; Talk about your daily and weekly routine; Answer more than yes or no to be friendly and use Well to get time to think.

-Unit five:  Ask simple present information questions; Say how often you do things; Talk about free-time activities and TV shows; Ask questions in two ways and use I mean.

-Unit six:  Use There’s and There are; use some, no, a lot of, and a couple of; Talk about your neighborhood and local events; Ask for and tell the time; Use Me too or Me neither to show you’re like someone; Use Right and I know to agree.

• ·What are the student needs?

The book includes “speaking naturally” activities (where students learn to pronounce or say phrases in a more natural way) and a lot of listening activities as well.  However, this group of students needs a lot of help in their pronunciation; they sometimes do not feel as comfortable as they should while speaking which does not let them become fluent. They also say that they sometimes are not able to understand the listening part of the quizzes or exercises.

• Describe anything else that is significant or relevant about the course that may potentially relate to your project.

This group of students is really into technology; of course I am now totally sure that all of them have access to the Internet, which will be essential.  They all are adults older than 19 years of age; some of them are from Springs Window Fashion which is a very important factory located in Victoria; they have told me that they are sent from their job to learn English because it is essential since they have videoconferences almost every day in English and they need to participate in them. 

I believe most of them are very motivated towards learning since they want to learn the language for an important purpose.  Most of these students want to learn English as a second language to have better job opportunities, others for personal success or for school.

Issue or problem that started your project

Students sometimes mention during class time or after oral quizzes that they feel ashamed of participating and of speaking English because they feel that they are not pronouncing words correctly.  I always tell them that it is a matter of practice; I want to prove this to them and to myself by putting this project into action.

Initial solution and expected response

·         What you decided to try:  I developed a website especially for them; this tool will be included in their learning process, I will upload information for them to practice the topics that we are covering in class at any time.  This website will be based on videos related to the class’ topics to help them relate this information to real life, but also for them to listen to someone else explain the class.  I believe that checking out this website will help them to practice their reading, listening and of course their speaking skills.

Another important aspect of this project is that I will include a special class for them to experience the use of technology while learning grammar.  Grammar is boring and hard sometimes, but learning it with an interactive and striking method will make the process easier.  What I usually explain with the board will be explained by me using a dynamic Prezi presentation covering the topics of the class.  After this, they will be able to continue practicing with the exercises in their books and their normal listening exercises.

Finally, I will use SurveyMonkey to ask them to answer a survey telling me how they felt with the experience.  By answering this survey, they will also let me know if they want me to continue uploading information to the website or if they do not feel comfortable using this tool.  The questions were in their mother tongue and were exactly as follows:

1. ¿Qué tal te pareció haber usado un método tecnológico como una herramienta extra para tu proceso de aprendizaje?

2. ¿Te gustaría que se implementara más tecnología dentro de tu salón de clases?

3. ¿Cuál fue el tema que más se te complicó aprender?

4. ¿Pudiste reafirmarlo al hacer uso de la página web?

5. ¿Te gustaría poder seguir utilizando la página web en tu siguiente curso para poder tener referencia a los temas en tu propio tiempo?

·         When and where you decided to try it:  The website’s link will be provided to the students on the first day of the course.  I will explain to them that I will be uploading information about their course for them to practice and that I will ask them for feedback at the end of the course.  The Prezi presentation will be on the day of the review which will be two days before the last day of the course.  The survey’s link will be posted in the website at the end of the course for them to answer it. 

·         Why is it different from what you have tried before?  This method will be interesting and different for my students since they love technology and only have experienced their first course with my personal lessons and with the use of the book only.  Introducing this method to them will help them to be motivated and more interested in the class by doing and using tools that they like.

·         My hypothesis: I believe that the students who are motivated to learn fast will take the time to enter to the website.  I will ask them to give me feedback whenever they can about their experience of using this tool.  I believe that the experience of doing these three activities that I will implement will all be good.   The students will be able to enter to the website and practice whenever and wherever they can and review what we saw before the last exam with an interesting and enjoyable presentation.  I think I will receive good feedback, interest and motivation towards the website.

Response and reflection

·         What happened: My students were very motivated towards using the website; I saw them interested because they asked me when I was going to upload information about the class’ topics and by making comments during the class of what had seen in class.  They were also very excited with the Prezi presentation, they told me they had never seen that tool before and that they loved it.  The students commented that the presentation kept them very interested and that they were really happy with it because it helped them remember the topics before the quiz.  They also responded very well with the survey, all of them answered that they loved the experience and that Harmon Hall should implement the use of that kind of tools besides the ones we use for them to be motivated, awaken and interested.  I also believe it needs to be more dynamic, however, it is illegal for teachers to change the methods that we were told to follow.

·         What you thought about what happened: I am actually really happy that my hypothesis became true, my expectations were the results.  All of my students were very motivated after the review and were very optimistic while taking the final quiz.  They also said that they think that their results were excellent because of the use of these tools, that maybe they would not have had them without them.  They were really happy with the results also since they love technology and enjoyed using it.  Finally, they asked me to please continue uploading information to the website and that is what I will do.

·         Timeline:

March 11^th: First day of the course and explanation about the website, my project and instructions on how to use it.

March 12^th- April 2^nd: The students were using the website and giving me feedback about using it.

April 3^rd: Review using the Prezi presentation.

April 4^th and 5^th: The students had their final written quiz on the first day and oral quiz on the second day, final feedback session and answered the survey.

Changes made or changes planned

·         What you tried next or what you plan to try next: I will continue using these tools as much as I can with my groups and will introduce them to them so that they learn how to use technology to learn, not only to converse or entertain them.

·         What happened or what you think will happen: I think that other students will feel motivated as well as interested in the class whenever I use this method.  They will also feel that they learn more if they are having fun while taking their courses, we all get that feeling when this happens.

Conclusion

How what you observed will affect the way that you teach: I sincerely now feel that a book is not enough to teach, motivation is essential.  What I believe that I am doing well is that I am very enthusiastic while teaching; we all need to be like that because we transmit that positive attitude to the students.  I also believe that all schools should implement the use of presentations, overhead projectors and computers in the daily lessons to keep students interested in the class, not in their cell phones.  

Overall suggestions for others as a result of the project: I believe this could have worked better at a school where a teacher can use any method besides the book to complement the class.  Most of what I did was outside of class because I am not allowed to use any other method besides what has been established by the DNA of Harmon Hall.  Being free of using any method would be very convenient.

Resources

Barrientos, L. (2013, February 24). Retrieved from http://learningenglishiseasy.webs.com

Barrientos, L. (2013, April 8). Retrieved from http://prezi.com/dnahhyejhblk/unit-4-lesson-a/

Barrientos, L. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NDDP669

Week 9

This week's classes were extremely interesting.  Our classmates taught us how to use a website called "Story Bird" for Digital Story Telling.  It seemed hard at first, since none of us knew about the website, however, after we started working on it, it became easier.  

We created an account and created a story, they have lots of themes we can choose.  It is important to have the idea of what we want to create to make it easier, if not, it takes longer.  We all had to create one right away, so mine was mostly about how I felt in the moment.  I believe mine was very cute and I liked it a lot.

We also gave the teacher the first part of our final project, which was to evaluate and set the background of the group of students that we will be using for it.  The group of students that I selected are my students at this moment, which made it easier.  I believe my idea will help them a lot, it will be mostly focused on listening and speaking.

Digital Story Telling

http://storybird.com/books/whenever-life-gets-tough/

Week 8

We only had one class in week 8, however, we learned a lot in it.  Our classmates gave us a presentation on how to evaluate websites.  Evaluating them serves us (while teaching a second language) to select material which can be useful for our class' approaches.

During this evaluation our classmates gave us a website, we entered and had to find the goals, presentation, appropriateness, outcomes and evaluation that this website offers us.  We also had to describe it in the post under this one titled "Evaluating Websites".

I believe that learning how to do this through our teaching processes will help us a lot.  There are millions of applications, websites, podcasts, wikis and many other tools on the Internet, however, what we have to ask ourselves as teachers before using one is: what does it offer my students? What do I need it for? What will they learn from it?

Evaluating Websites

We evaluated the following website in class:

http://www.weebly.com/?lang=es

The most important factors while evaluating are:

-Goals: what can the software or web site do and how does this meet pedagogical goals?

We can use this website to create a blog for our students and share important information about the class.  We can post text, pictures and videos for them to practice the skills that they are learning. 

-Presentation: how does the software do it? Is there context? Are the exercises, quizzes, multimedia presentations or something else? Is this appropriate for the students and goals?

It is appropriate for students since we can post any type of information related to the topics we are teaching, we can also post links that may take them to quizzes or exercises.  I don't think we can post them directly, however, they can just click on the links and practice.  I believe it can be very useful to reach the students' goals.

-Appropriateness: how will students be able to use the software to meet goals? Can students understand it? Is the level appropriate?

First of all, it depends on the level of the students that we are teaching.  We have to select material from here which will be useful for them, not too hard (because they may suffer), not too easy (because they may get bored). 

-Outcomes: what do students produce with only the software or website? What could students produce with additional documents?

They may check their teachers' website everyday, the teacher will have the compromise of uploading information whenever it is possible for them to visit.  We can upload there videos related to the class, reviews of the class, images and maybe also make a forum for them to practice their writing skills.

-Evaluation: what kind of appropriate feedback and evaluation does the website offer?

Teachers can give feedback through posts or in class, it is important for the teacher to make the time to do it, if not, students will get bored and will not participate anymore.

Week 7

During week 7 we had very entertaining classes since they were practical.  Our classmates gave a class about dictionaries, we learned some useful websites containing the most important dictionaries on the web. 

We entered to the dictionaries' websites and explored them, then, our classmates gave us an activity, we had to look for some words using all of the dictionaries and post the definitions in our blogs.

It was fun and (as I mentioned before) entertaining, time passed really fast while we were busy looking for words, comparing definitions, choosing the best one and posting them.

I really like this kind of classes, because we do not feel time pass by, it is also fun and good because we practice using these important tools.

Creating a website

The homework for this week was to use one of the tools that we learned to use to help our students practice or to continue teaching them outside of school.  I made the following page with the intention of helping students learn the basics of English watching interesting videos, they are just an example of what we may use to teach.

Please copy and paste the following link to see it:

http://learningenglishiseasy.webs.com/

Week 6

I worked in a presentation with Anabel, Lorenelly and Pedro which was titled "Creating and using your own resources".  It was pretty interesting, because we introduced the different tools we can use to create material to the class such as wikis, podcasts, blogs and other websites.  They are very useful because they attract the students' attention to the class and we can get better results from this, it is also easier to prepare the class and students love technology, so why shouldn't we take advantage of that?  

I'm sure my classmates learned at least something from the presentation, if not, they found out that they can use it for their second language classes in the future.  Click on the following link or copy and paste it to go to the presentation:

http://prezi.com/tqmxlidtjior/untitled-prezi/ 

Week 5

We worked in the writing lab in some websites which can help us create materials for our Second Language Classes, between those, it's Quia.  We were able to create one or two activities of a random topic and post them here, in our blogs.  I selected the hangman and the cloze for the two activities I made, one about animals and the other using simple present verbs.  Students had to write their guess and then check if their answers were correct.  I discovered that at my work, we have some predetermined activities from Quia to help students practice more than only by using the website we have for our courses.

Quia Activities

The following exercise is a hangman game which has to be completed using names of animals.  Please click on the link to open it.
http://www.quia.com/hm/833075.html

Now complete the following paragraph with simple present verbs.
http://www.quia.com/cz/466654.html

Reflection on the video: "Ciberestrategias para la enseñanza del inglés"

As I mentioned in my week 4 journal, it was a very interesting video since we learned the uses that Second Language teachers give Wikis.  Teachers from Centro de Lenguas of UNAM include them as part of their classes.  They mentioned that they dedicate the first class to present the course objectives to the students and to teach them how to use the Wiki and what they will have to write or find in it.  

I believe it is a great tool for everyone, since the teacher will be able to cover more topics than the ones given in class or will be able to share with the students more information and/or exercises for them to do at home.  For students, it is very useful since they will be able to see what the class was about in case they were not able to go to the class.  

It is a little hard to include it in every language teaching program, however, I really hope we will be able to use them in the future.  

For our Wiki, I believe it is a good idea to do what the teachers said, to write about the class, what we saw and the homework, just in case someone has missed it.

Week 4

This was an exhausting week since we only went to school two days. :P  However, our Monday's CALL class was very interested.  We saw a video from UNAM that talked about the importance of having a WIKI in class.  We sometimes use them in different subjects and for me, they are a little confusing, however, they are useful.  We may have access to information outside of class, since of course, it is hard to cover all the important aspects of a subject in 4 hours a week.  

Teachers who have been using Wikis said they have been of great help since students have responded well towards using them.  Of course it was hard at first, because we all are afraid of changes, but now, as students practice using them (like we have been practicing too) it is getting easier every day.

I believe it is of great importance to be able to have access to the information covered in class.  Like the teachers mentioned in the video, if it was not possible for a student to assist to the class, he/she can enter to the Wiki and check the what the objectives of the class were, the exercise made in class and of course, the homework.  However, I think it is hard to include this kind of tool into every teaching program.  I honestly think it is not possible for me to have one with my students for policy reasons, however, I really hope that this may become possible one day.

Forms of Computer-mediaded Communication

Text Chat: Like the book says, it involves a synchronous form of communication.  Students use this tool in their regular lives to communicate from friends who live in the same city or with people from other countries.  They just have to sign up to an instant messaging program and add your friends to it.  You can have conversations with one person or with many at the same time.  
In Computer-Assisted Language Teaching, this is a great tool since students may use it for instant-communication to share ideas about the class with their classmates and the teacher in a fast and easy way.  It is easy for the teacher to give feedback since students will see it right away.

Video Conferencing: Video conferences are a great tool too, they are very similar to text chats, the difference is that with video conferences, you can see the person and listen to his/her voice.  They are more commonly used in the business market, it is cheaper than traveling to have a meeting and it is as instant as being personally. 

Language teachers can use them to communicate with their students, sometimes it is not possible to be in a classroom, this way, students can take the lesson wherever they are and it is also easy and cheaper than moving from one place to another for teachers and students.  With video conferences, students can participate and they usually also have a chat to share information.

Week 3

During week 3 of classes we continued talking about chapters 1 and 8 of the book, we reviewed our points of view dealing with "blended learning" and we learned that video conferences are excellent tools to communicate when learning a second language.  

We also have been presenting about the topics and which has helped us remember information from the beginning of the chapter.  I liked reading them because I learned a lot from them, the use, the advantages of using technology in a language classroom and many other things.

Week 2

     In week two we went through chapters 1 and 8 of the book, talking about approaches used in CALL classrooms and the use of technology in them.   

     We concluded that teachers are a key to success, of course there are some students that are responsible and autonomous learners, but we all need a guide and the help of teachers.  Technological tools do not substitute nor replace teachers, maybe they will at some point, however it will not give students personalized feedback and attention.

     I believe that with the tools that we will learn to use, our classes will be much more interesting and easy to understand, not to mention that technological tools will make the teacher's and the students' lives easier by learning and to teaching while using them.

     I can't wait to start learning them! :)

Blended Learning Chapter 1

Blended Learning (an introduction) Chapter 1

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A Brief History of CALL

A Brief History of CALL

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Week 1

During the first week of our CALL classes the teacher introduced the subject in the first one, we discussed the grading criteria, we made an account on Edmodo, this, my second blog and other accounts that she told us.

We also read an article and commented about it in Edmodo, made a comment to a classmate's post and then read the second chapter of the book and did a summary which was posted in our blogs too.

During the second class we reviewed the second chapter of the book and we have to prepare a presentation for the next class.

I believe it's going to be a very interesting subject since we will learn to use different electronic tools. :)

Chapter 2- A Brief History of CALL

In the 1950's computers were big and it was hard to be able to use one since they were very expensive, only universities had some and not enough.  The use of computers for language learning was not very common, even though tools like the ones used to translate became useful.  It all started in the three most important and recognized universities: Standford, Dartmouth and a last one; they developed a CALL program which was used to teach Russian, more languages were involved later.

An application appeared after that, the PLATO (Programmed Logic/Learning for Automated Teaching Operations), which made a combination of approaches used in CALL programs from other universities but also focused a lot in using a grammar translation approach.  They translated Russian scientific documents, "their work in language teaching and learning included grammar explanations, vocabulary drills, and other drills and translation tests over a course of sixteen lessons requiring 70 hours to complete".  Some of the tools used in that approach are still used.

With simulations or tasks they taught students not to be afraid of being wrong and that they had to continue practicing even if they weren't good, but that they would learn from those mistakes.  They would also create real situations and scenarios using "multimedia-enhanced CALL" using realia and videos, this let students experiment in real life situations.  

Microcomputers were sold in 1975 so more applications were developed although they weren't that good yet, their processing capacity was of 16K.  Now we have extremely powerful computers compared to those, they are also more accessible, so we are able to have one easier and use it as a tool.  In 1989 Macario was developed, a program to learn Spanish at Brigham Young University.  

The ALLP which began in 1983 explored the role of the computer in education, from here, the "No Recuerdos" and "Recognizing Phillippe" were also developed; they were programs which let students enroll into simulations, games and other language simulations.

The Macintosh from Apple appeared in 1984, it had icons and a graphical user interface, a program was developed from here too, the HyperCard.  It was easy to manage and facilitated students and teachers' learning and use easier.

In the 1990's Murray, Morgenstern and Furstenberg provided guidelines which were useful in "multimedia learning environments" they were:

1. The multiplicity of protagonists.

2. Multiplicity of plot events.

3. Knowledge-based choice points.

4. Choice-points based on temperament of the learner.

5. Whimiscal surprises.

6. Multimedia for presentation.

7. Intrinsic rather than extrinsic rewards.  

As a conclusion, it was practically impossible for students and teachers to have the facility that we now have to have access to a computer and use it for many purposes, entertainment, researching, etc.  Using computers and the programs or applications for language learning has been of great help, since students may interact with language in many different ways.

About Myself.

Hello, my name is Linda Barrientos, I like to go out with my family, friends and boyfriend, going to parties, but honestly, by the end of the week all I need is to sleep a lot.  I'm a kind of busy person since I study and then work all day, so it gets a little tough at the end of the semester for me.  

I consider myself a very positive person even though I've been through very difficult situations in my life, although, I prefer thinking that everything will be all right at the end of the path.

I love my BA and I consider that I found the reason of my existence, because it is all I want to be.

I love music, reading, teaching and also meeting new people. :)