So finally, a couple of hours ago I submitted my project by uploading it on our course wiki. I could have done it on Monday, but due to much work before me from Tuesday to Thursday I decided to it on Friday morning. Fortunately, I knew in advance that I would be free then.
From one point of view, I am relieved to have finished it, but on the other hand, I am thrilled to continue working on it. Even though I went through difficult times to manage it from home because of no personal touch with my students, it has turned out to be a very successful approach which enables my students to become responsible for their knowledge as well as to reflect on their work later on.
The group involved in the project is small, but very challenging. They were asked to write their diary posts - see Week 6 - Project Task #5, but they got bored so early! They started asking to write about things they want and in the third "diary post" some of them did not write what they did in English, but about the music they like, about the book they read or about films they watched. The most positive thing about it is that nobody refused to write their posts, they just wanted to change the topic. I consider this very encouraging.
We were supposed to use no more than 2 tools in the project but I had to use a bit more due to my absence from work. We have encountered so many tools I enjoyed that I have started implementing them when needed. I have already started contemplating what tools I might use and with what groups, but I am convinced that I am going to improve my teaching with the use of technology.
Thanks to this course I have got the opportunity to open new horizons and enrich methods I have used.
Hello Monika,
ReplyDeleteWow! I was impressed when I read you had finished your report on Monday. Well done!
This week has been quite hectic for me and I have to admit I barely made the deadline today. I posted my report probably a couple of minutes before the deadline in Oregon. The only justification I have for this is the fact that at my office today, when I expected to have a 'free' morning as you mention you knew you would, suddenly I had to receive people from other departments that I had been expecting another day, not today. So, I had wanted to have a last review of my report today, and I ended up barely managing to save it and post it.
I am a bit embarrassed because of this, because I always ask my students to organize their time well so that they have plenty of time to complete assignments, and, well, their teacher did not do well with her organization skills today, hehee.
Anyways, I did not know you were not going to school these days. I hope it is a planned event and not due to illness.
Yes, as you say, even though we were supposed to use 1 or 2 technology tools, it is tempting to use more. Honestly, I know I need to use a database similar to a wiki or something like that to complete my project, but the main changes I am implementing are the interactive presentations and the blog, so I focused my paper on those two. Hopefully, the final report will not disappoint our instructor. We'll see.
Now, you mentioned that your students wanted to change the topics to discuss in their posts. I am sorry, but I can't remember if you gave them lists of optional topics in the beginning, or if they had a set list. Your comment is important to me since I am going to use a blog and I had thought of having a set list (the topics would be student-centered, and about things young people like).
Thank you,
Maria