Week 3- the end!

I would like to finish my Week 3 posts by uploading a video I had seen in another learning event! It is hilarious and, at the same time, it makes me wonder whether with so much technology around we will still remember the simple things... Enjoy!!!

Week 3- some thoughts

Week 3 is coming towards its end... A lot of reading was involved (and this means not only article reading but also Nicenet posts reading-which were loads!!).
 I managed to create my Delicious account but I still have a long way to go since I need to organize my links into neat stacks so that my "place" isn't so messy.
 I found some time to read all 3 articles on speaking/listening teaching. I was amazed/confused by Busa' article! No, it was not her fault that I was confused. It is the technology which went so far into analyzing someone's speech, comparing it and finding its weaknesses that confused me and "shocked" me. So much research has been done which proves the necessity for teaching pronunciation and intonation as well... Nowadays, learners have so many tools at their disposal in order to learn that they are "unforgiven" if they don't succeed in doing so.   But, no matter what a learner does, a teacher must always keep in mind this learner's L1, as this affects his pronunciation of the L2... And, at the same time, no matter what s/he does, a learner should  always keep in mind to LISTEN to as much as possible to L2 and to SPEAK as much as possible in L2. After all, "practice makes perfect", doesn't it?  

Week 3- To teach an old dog....

Here we are! In the middle of Week 3 already! So far, I have created my Delicious account (http://www.delicious.com/georgia_maneta) and did my reading...
"Delicious" seems a great tool! It's like a portable cupboard where you can store your favourite "tickets" for your favourite destinations. No "favorites" in the Explorer, no small notebooks where you write your links. Just an account and that's all. However, I can't help feeling like an old dog (I am not that young anymore) which they are trying to teach new tricks to! All these links and things, generally sound and seem really great, but will I be able to manage to acquire the skills needed to handle them? On the other hand, times are changing and we, as teachers, have to keep up with them or else we will not be able to teach our little digital natives successfully. Keeping them interested is the key... And keeping ourselves updated with the newest educational and technological trends is the second key!
 Can I hold both keys???? I still wonder....

Week 2- A glimpse of the future

As a final word for the week to go, I would like to comment on the article I read about the future of search... In a way, it was terrifying, in the sense that it described that I had never thought of... (10 years ago, I didn't even know of the existing possibilities of a Web search!). What struck me was the "personalized information"... I mean, can you imagine looking for a certain Mr. Smith and because the search engine knows that you, in the past, were involved with a certain Mr. Smith, gets rid of all the unecessary information and gives you only the one needed for the person being looked for? How far-fetched is that? And, at the same time, how much time and effort will this type of search engine will save you form? What else will we ask from technology after all?
 As a conclusion, I am uploading a video I had seen in a previous seminar which is about life in future.. is that kind of life so near nowadays? And is it more preferable to the one that we are experiencing now? Enjoy...

Week 2- Towards its end...

After many efforts and lots of help (so that I could paraphrase it) from Jodi, I managed to find my ABCD objective: "Being divided into teams and being given a project where they must present 4-5 English speaking countries (depending on the number of teams formed) (condition), the students (audience) will be able to talk about the country of their choice (up to 80%) by using specific pre-taught relevant vocabulary (borders, rivers, culture etc.) and learn a few things about the countries presented by the other teams (65-70%)(Behavior, Degree). Assessment on what they have learnt can be done through an online quiz I will make with multiple choice questions.." I must say once more that defining an ABCD objective clearly is not easy at all... This week has, also, made me think to what extent we, teachers, define our objectives since we are provided (at least in Greece) with books which contain everything: What grammar to be taught, what vocabulary etc. Of course, anyone will say that a textbook is just a tool and not the basis for our classes but what I worry about is that all kids in Greece must be taught the same things in order to get the education decided for them by the Ministry of Education. So, to what extent, are teachers free to use other materials and different structure from the one shown in the textbooks?
  going back to Noodletools now, and after reading my classmates' comments that Google suits them since it provides them with more links, I must say that I do agree with them but (there's always a "but") Noodletools offers you anything you might need in front of you... Do you need Grammar, Geography, Languages, Maths? You just press the correct link and everything is there... So, Google is indeed easy (and well-learned since we have used it for so long) but it won't take us too long to get used to Noodletools and its "philosophy".
  A last, but not least, comment about my classmates: I can't but say once more how much I admire them... They know so many things, so many web addresses and they are really willing to help you with any question you might ask.. Sometimes I feel so "little"... But, I guess it's this feeling which makes me want to go further and push myself more..... 

Week 2 - In the middle

I just LOVED the www.noodletools.com! A really, really helpful site for teachers who know exactly what they are looking for and do not have time to waste. I only had the chance to do some "research" in the CIA site especially made for countries (facts, history, photos etc) and the INFOMINE which provides you with specific information on anyhing. It didn't come as a surprise after all, the announcement that Encyclopedia Brittanica will never be published again... No one will ever need paper encyclopedias anymore, since the Web is the soul provider of anything. That's why today's kids are called "digital natives". That's, also, why more and more people opt for online learning: it's more easily accessible from the comfort of their home, and they can find information on anything they may think of or need for their assignments. It makes me wonder, though... Wil we ever feel the nostalgia of the old times when we had to go to the library to get the badly needed book or when we could not afford to buy a new dictionary? It's all (or most of it) for free now. And, the most important, you don't have to go anywhere!
As far as my reading is concerned, I have finished most of it (the parts which I considered more important for my posts on Nicenet). At first, I found the ABCD method really easy to understand and implement in my lessons, but now I realize that this is not the case... You have to be specific in what you expect your students to be able to do (and to what degree) after the class, and this is not easy at all. I am about to post my plan in the Nicenet thread and I hope I will get some feedback from Jodi in order to see whether I have made it so far or not.
This course is a real challenge for me.... It contains both unfamiliar things to me (keeping a blog, do "serious" and specific Web search) and,also, a lot of motivated and well-informed classmates whom I have to keep up with.....

Week 2- The beginning

It's Monday midnight here in Greece and so quiet in the house... As I am getting ready to start my weekly readings and prepare myself for the first step of the project, I need to express my anxiety and the small amount of stress I am feeling... It is really exciting that I have to read (and remember,also!) about all this interesting stuff... Yet, as I am a person of a more theoretical background, I can't help feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information you can find on the internet about so many different things. I DO hope I will not mess it up. However, I,also, DO hope that I will start acquiring the webskills which will help me feel much more confident when planning my teaching and a bit more "technologically" advanced!

Week 1

After MANY efforts to design and redesign my blog...well this is it! This is the blog where I will record my thoughts for 10 weeks... I must admit that although I have known for a long time the necessity and the use of blogs, I've never "seriously" kept one.

Now, it is the best opportunity for me to become an ardent blogger.

Jodi and Celeste, you are my new best friends now! Can't wait to meet you all!!