Putting up something about my web site was something I have been thinking about since last year. I felt I needed to publish something, anything. This is still a learning process for me. I've decided to put up my planning stages because it would also help me stay organized and clear my mind for some other things I am trying to do now. I'm sure I'll return later and revise it. Like just now, I need to add a place for an update date. Look at my Favorite Links for the link to the planning page.
As I work on my lessons for next year, my mind is continually working in the background in trying to figure out what else I could do to make the site more efficient. It never fails that an idea will just pop up all of a sudden. One of my goals for the OWELL site is to use less paper, and, of course, an idea suddenly came to me. I will have to add it to my TO DO list for this summer. I usually print out grammar activities for the class to use to practice with and inevitably, there are always left overs that never get used. I'm planning to scan the worksheets and make it available online so students can print them on their own. Eventually, I would like to make them into e-forms so they wouldn't have to print them. One thing about OWELL is that the construction of this site never ceases. It seems like there is always something that keeps me occupied to try and make it much better (new programs, software, ideas, etc.).
We are into our 5th week of class and all of the preparation during the summer is paying off. I did put all of the grammar activities online making them available for all of the students and it has cut down on the use of paper. The online test and quizzes were put up using QUIA and this has been working like a charm. I had to make a few tweaks since I'm still learning how to use this testing site. This has also helped to cut down on the use of paper and I can get the results in different formats.
I've decided to write more about the Online Web Enhanced Language Learning process. What does it take to get started? How much time is involved? I think there is a lot to discuss if we are to get other teachers involved in this process. If we want to teachers to take up the challenge of integrating technology into the classroom, I think we need to have a serious discussion about how we can do this. There are so many different aspects to the online learning environment that needs to be addressed if we are to move forward. What questions do we need to answer first? What areas should we address? What is the mindset of a teacher that prevents them from getting involved? OR is it just a matter of time as teachers retire and new innovative tech minded teachers come up through the ranks?
One aspect of online learning is the plethora of tools that are available to use. I just learned how to transfer video from a digital camera to the computer and from the computer to a flash player. I use the digital camera a lot, taking pictures of the students engaged in various activities. One way students practice their oral skills is to give dictation to the class. Each is required to give at least 4 dictations a semester. I can hear their improvements throughout the semester, but I didn't have a way of documenting their improvement. Since the digital camera can take videos, I videotape their dictation and then publish it to the web. The entire process is not time consuming and the students have access to these videos and digital recordings. I think it's a wonderful tool to use.
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
7 comments:
Putting up something about my web site was something I have been thinking about since last year. I felt I needed to publish something, anything. This is still a learning process for me. I've decided to put up my planning stages because it would also help me stay organized and clear my mind for some other things I am trying to do now. I'm sure I'll return later and revise it. Like just now, I need to add a place for an update date. Look at my Favorite Links for the link to the planning page.
As I work on my lessons for next year, my mind is continually working in the background in trying to figure out what else I could do to make the site more efficient. It never fails that an idea will just pop up all of a sudden. One of my goals for the OWELL site is to use less paper, and, of course, an idea suddenly came to me. I will have to add it to my TO DO list for this summer. I usually print out grammar activities for the class to use to practice with and inevitably, there are always left overs that never get used. I'm planning to scan the worksheets and make it available online so students can print them on their own. Eventually, I would like to make them into e-forms so they wouldn't have to print them. One thing about OWELL is that the construction of this site never ceases. It seems like there is always something that keeps me occupied to try and make it much better (new programs, software, ideas, etc.).
We are into our 5th week of class and all of the preparation during the summer is paying off. I did put all of the grammar activities online making them available for all of the students and it has cut down on the use of paper. The online test and quizzes were put up using QUIA and this has been working like a charm. I had to make a few tweaks since I'm still learning how to use this testing site. This has also helped to cut down on the use of paper and I can get the results in different formats.
I've decided to write more about the Online Web Enhanced Language Learning process. What does it take to get started? How much time is involved? I think there is a lot to discuss if we are to get other teachers involved in this process. If we want to teachers to take up the challenge of integrating technology into the classroom, I think we need to have a serious discussion about how we can do this. There are so many different aspects to the online learning environment that needs to be addressed if we are to move forward. What questions do we need to answer first? What areas should we address? What is the mindset of a teacher that prevents them from getting involved? OR is it just a matter of time as teachers retire and new innovative tech minded teachers come up through the ranks?
One aspect of online learning is the plethora of tools that are available to use. I just learned how to transfer video from a digital camera to the computer and from the computer to a flash player. I use the digital camera a lot, taking pictures of the students engaged in various activities. One way students practice their oral skills is to give dictation to the class. Each is required to give at least 4 dictations a semester. I can hear their improvements throughout the semester, but I didn't have a way of documenting their improvement. Since the digital camera can take videos, I videotape their dictation and then publish it to the web. The entire process is not time consuming and the students have access to these videos and digital recordings. I think it's a wonderful tool to use.
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
Great post thanks for sharing such informative post.
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learn language online
Keep it Up
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