Hi there,
http://www.piclits.com/viewpoem.aspx?PoemId=212378
This week's reading highlighted one common advantage that technology enhanced teaching brings and that was bringing the whole process close to reality. Coursebooks do not always provide the most recent information, they do not aim to develop real-life skills.
We all should share a common goal i.e. developing higher-thinking skills among our students. The traditional way of teaching did not develop them as students were mainly asked to produce the information that the teacher gave. They were never asked to process, analyze that information and then create something of their own. We took our students far from the reality and locked them in some artificial classes.
Teaching a foreign language was even more artificial. Students just read, answered some comprehension questions, rarely discussed and never communicated or created something of their own. These classes did not accommodate their different learning styles. Some of them failed just because the environment did not allow them to develop.
Nowadays, things have changed. Technology has its word to say in every area, including here teaching. Students can write without having any fear of their mistakes. They can do their homework by simply writing to a friend. They can bring to class their own ideas and write them on personal online journal to share them later with friends. They can be part of the world by discussing the same global issues with their peers anywhere in the world.
They can watch and listen about places, culture and history of countries they have never visited. They can virtually do anything and learn while doing it.
And this is technology! So let us develop it further and make it part of our "old" classes and colleagues!
Regards,
Daniela
This week's reading highlighted one common advantage that technology enhanced teaching brings and that was bringing the whole process close to reality. Coursebooks do not always provide the most recent information, they do not aim to develop real-life skills.
We all should share a common goal i.e. developing higher-thinking skills among our students. The traditional way of teaching did not develop them as students were mainly asked to produce the information that the teacher gave. They were never asked to process, analyze that information and then create something of their own. We took our students far from the reality and locked them in some artificial classes.
Teaching a foreign language was even more artificial. Students just read, answered some comprehension questions, rarely discussed and never communicated or created something of their own. These classes did not accommodate their different learning styles. Some of them failed just because the environment did not allow them to develop.
Nowadays, things have changed. Technology has its word to say in every area, including here teaching. Students can write without having any fear of their mistakes. They can do their homework by simply writing to a friend. They can bring to class their own ideas and write them on personal online journal to share them later with friends. They can be part of the world by discussing the same global issues with their peers anywhere in the world.
They can watch and listen about places, culture and history of countries they have never visited. They can virtually do anything and learn while doing it.
And this is technology! So let us develop it further and make it part of our "old" classes and colleagues!
Regards,
Daniela
Hello Daniela!
ReplyDeleteI like very much your reflection on Week 4 and cannot agree more with you. It is a "crime" to stick to our course books and make numerous exercises they provide without using a variety of resources technology brings about. But we ALSO should remember that technology is a supplement not a substitute to traditional learning! Having this idea in our minds we will be able to educate fully-fledged members of contemporary society.
Best regards,
Viktoriya