WEEK # 10: TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION, ADVICE TO FUTURE PARTICIPANTS

We are at the end of the course. How fast has time gone ! We have spent ten weeks together, learning many things by doing. It was wonderful. During this last week, we have worked on assessing the integration of technology in our classrooms.

TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION


After reading the Tiers of Technology Integration Indicators (T T I) from the State of Washington, and the Levels of Technology Integration Matrix (T I M) from the University of Southern Florida
I would say I am at tier 1, tending to reach tier 2,and at  the level of Entry, tending to reach Adoption.

It would be good to notice that there are some internet limitations that we struggle to overcome and that bringing a computer into classroom has not become "an everyday life" habit yet but remains "an event" in my teaching environment. Moreover, from what I lived during this course I have provided some advice to new participants.

ADVICE TO FUTURE PARTICIPANTS

Drawing from the experience we have gained from this course we could help others in some way.
To succeed and get the most of the course, I would advise future participants to:
- carefully plan the weekly assignments
- read required readings and resources, and follow the instructions step by step while doing the tasks to avoid losing time
- ask the instructor for help when at lost
- take part in discussions and ask questions to get the others involved.
Besides, before the beginning of the course they should manage with their supervisor or headmaster to get enough free time in their school timetable so that they could devote much time to the course and their classes as well. Otherwise they will probably spend many sleepless nights. Since they will need much more than the required 8-10 hours per week.
Whatever the difficulties they might encounter, this course is worth taking because there are so much and interesting things to learn.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED THROUGHOUT  THE COURSE
  

Throughout this course, many important and interesting things have been learned, among which I can mention:
- the needs assessment survey that helped me to identify my students needs
- the writing of ABCD objectives
- the creation and use of platforms such as blogging, Delicious pages, and Nicenet
- the writing of a technology-enhanced lesson plan
- the creation of rubrics to help teachers assess learners work
- the use of PowerPoint for presentations
- the use of Padlet as a classroom wall
- conducting a Project Based Learning
- the one-computer classroom strategies
- many tools for creating online or off-line exercises such as HotPotatoes which has proved very effective in my teaching environment.



In a nutshell this course is a real "gold mine" that has helped us dig and find true "gold nuggets". It is definitely rewarding and beneficial for our professional development.


             Thank you and good luck to everyone!

Week 9: Final Project Report - Learning styles - technology connections

Completing my Final Project Report had been the most stressful task. I have worked on using technology to make a change in my students motivation and self-confidence in order to get them involved in my lessons, turning those ones into learner-centered ones. It has been exciting and challenging as well since I could not predict the reactions of my students. Even though, before starting the implementation some had successfully completed some technology-related tasks such as creating their e-mail @gmail.com and send me answers to some questionnaire related to their difficulties in learning English. I could not asked them more at that moment since using a computer was totally new for many of them.

I am greatly indebted to Alba Vargas, my peer, who gave me some valuable advice during the report draft review.

Due to time constraint, I implemented the project over just one week, which means three sessions of fifty-five (55) minutes each. Week # 7 of the current course overlapped with spring holiday in Cote d'Ivoire so I could not get my students for the second week of implementation.

LEARNING STYLES AND MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

                     Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences   

I have read about the nine learning styles and intelligences as described by Gardner, explained and expanded by others such as Richard M. Felder and  Barbara A. Soloman. 

I remember that learners are different in the way they learn and demonstrate or express their competences. Some are better at a field and weaker at another. Being aware of these learning styles and strategies can strongly be helpful in designing curricula and course activities. Therefore it is up to teachers to carefully and usefully select and use as varied  activities as possible in order to address learners needs appropriately. 

USING TECHNOLOGY TO ADDRESS LEARNING STYLES

 






 Many activities that we have learned through this course can serve different learning styles at best. For example using a blog (https://www.blogger.com), a Webquest (http://zunal.com/), Padlet(http://es.padlet.com/) and Nicenet (http://www.nicenet.org/) can help learners with different styles demonstrate their best competences and develop other learning strategies.