Week 10: Course wrap up

I truly liked all readings and articles we have discussed because there was always something new in each of them but the articles I most liked and examined were those on how to improve writing and speaking. They even inspired the idea of my final project, not only because my students have to score well in writing in the school final exam but also due to the reality that writing and speaking correct English has become a rudimentay pre-requisite for them to attend well ranked schools after they get their Baccalaureate certificates. So I think I will be using most of the tools we have come across during this program mainly those applicable in a one computer classroom. However, I don't think I will be introducing tools like ANVILL to classroom although it is a rich and highly advanced system. In fact its being rich and advanced are the main reasons why I won't prioritize the use of  it in class. It requires well equipped room, broad-band network and highly qualified students at least digitally.

Week 10 : Sharing

Learning from colleagues is one among many benefits this course has brought about. However, given time constraints and maybe work obligations especially for participants who are currently teaching, I can feel we still didn’t have full chances to read all that everybody wrote. I personally -and many other participants- can’t deny I missed many well thought blogs and posts mainly in the discussion thread. For this I seriously think of gathering in one file all my humble reflections from week 1 up to 10 and send it to mates through their e-mails and I strongly recommend them to consider doing the same because their ideas are invaluable. This way we can investigate the details in our final projects and understand each other’s future teaching visions. This resembles somehow Natalya's proposal to create partnerships among participants in this course, which I see as a professional and committed call for action.

Week 9 : Multiple intelligence and Service learning

The focus on the learners styles and preferences is another manifestation of students centered teaching which is  quite an innovative and venturing choice that goes hand in hand with the requirements of a modern world much in need of students and citizens with highly advanced educational as well as personal skills, ones who are capable of taking initiative, react to the near and far environment  and respond positively to others in  multi-contextual situations .
 In this framework, I would love to share an experience we (teachers of English) supervised in coordination with the Ministry of Health.
 We selected a group of 10 computer smart students and scheduled part time sessions in a local hospital for them to teach the medical staff  word, power point and excel applications needed for administrative archiving, data storage and documentation. Prior to the two weeks schedule we sensitized students to the importance of service learning and how it opens up horizons in front of students to make connections and serve their community. The were also strongly recommended to assume the responsibility with much commitment and dedication. Our students had to visit the hospital thrice a week from 5 to 6 a.m. In return, some of the medical staff organized informative days in our school and gave  presentations about smoking, drugs and sexually  transmissible diseases.
 This experience contributed very much to bringing wide acclamation and praise to our school, expanded the realm of our students’ knowledge and relations and earned them high self esteem and confidence. It also paved way to new partnerships with other institutions like the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Sports and Youth.

Week 8 : ANVILL

  Hectic and tightly scheduled as it is, week 8 has still brought some surprises and too much learning. It was a pleasure to welcome and learn from Jeff. The newly introduced ANVILL system obviously needed much time and team work to be established as it is today. In addition to the information that Jeff included in Monday's post, I  browsed the OU webpage for more and I recommend my mates to do the same.  

http://casls.uoregon.edu/pages/tools/anvill.php

  

  Opposite to many other online course systems (CMS) or learning management systems (LMS) like Blackboard, Desire 2 Learn, ANVILL tends to cater to teachers in traditional face-to-face contexts and those doing hybrid courses alike. To be more practical I created my ANVILL account and enabled my teacher account so it can be possible for me to add  lessons to my own dashboard. This is an opportunity for me to add audio or portfolio lessons as I am presently not teaching but by the time the next semester begins I will have already stored a handful of useful materials and lessons.

Week 7: My project - Data collection and Treatment

The process of data collection is probably the strongest axis upon which research is based. Finding relevant and valid data paves the way towards a correct outlining of the research and guarrantees the success of it. At this step of the project every team member feels responsible for the success or failure of the project and is consequently assigned a role to assume independently.
All found data is treated and categorized in terms of facts, opinions, staistics and arguments/counter arguments. Each member focuses on one category and organizes the data that falls into it. It's worth noting that at this stage the research is not and should not be a copy-paste version nor should it be based on parroting what is being read in the literature. Students can paraphrase, discuss, agree or disagree with the information they come across but also much of their stance ought to be reflected in the product.

Week 7 : About Padlet

The padlet task has been the entertainment of this week because I felt so amused adding materials to it. Familiarizing students with padlet tasks will certainly set a strong purpose for research and sharing, in addition to encouraging reading through making it more enjoyable.  As I was bringing videos and articles to the padlet wall, I thought it will be a great idea to use it with my students as a class e-magazine where they can publish - on weekly or monthly basis - their reflections about the didactic theme under study. 

Week 7 : Teacher-centred learning phased out

One of my last week's posts was entitled  “Collaboration Vs Individualization” and it seems to me that the discussion this week amounts to the same degree of importance as the previous. Here we will be discussing  ‘teacher controlled learning Vs autonomous learning’. It’s mainly a matter of terminology as I feel individualization is another label for autonomy. In his article “What is Learner Autonomy and How Can It Be Fostered?” Dimitrios Thanasoulas even referred to more synonyms like:
'independence' (Sheerin, 1991), 'language awareness' (Lier, 1996;James & Garrett, 1991), 'self-direction' (Candy, 1991), 'andragogy' (Knowles, 1980; 1983 etc.

My feeling is that autonomy is much bigger than a mere educational theory, it’s a social philosophy fed by the inborn human penchant for independence. By nature humans develop a strange inclination towards autonomy the older they get. Yet, after it was first defined by Holec the concept of autonomy encompassed other areas than being an inborn human capacity. It came to be used as the learners right to direct their own learning and bear full responsibility for its processes …, etc.

The thought that granting learners autonomy means turning teachers  redundant is a big fallacy, because the hardest task is to succeed in clarifying the broad goals and objectives of autonomy for students so they can understand the concept and so the learning takes place as fruitful as expected. As Sheerin (1997, cited in Benson & Voller, 1997: 63) succinctly puts it, '[t]eachers--have a crucial role to play in launching learners into self-access and in lending them a regular helping hand to stay afloat' Many teachers claim that they encourage autonomy in their classes while their students learning conditions float on frail ground lacking  of motivation, learning strategies/needs and language awareness. 

We as teachers all presume that the classroom is an extension of the outside world, which by consequence implies that  an autonomous student is the refection of an autonomous citizen. In other words, if  a student is not trained to assume responsibility in their real life, they will certainly misinterpret the notion of autonomy and responsibility when it comes to learning. This explains why many classes turn to chaos once learners are liberated from complete teacher control. This leads us to question the universality of the concept of learner autonomy and the its usability for all cultures and in all contexts:

“ ... learner training and other approaches which attempt to fit learners into preconceived models of the ‘ideal autonomous learner’ may lend support to the criticism that autonomy is a western concept inappropriate for ‘non-western’ students"  ('learner autonomy’ -  By Richard smith)