Dear
Sir/Madam,
The
eighth week of our online training has gone; what about it? What remains from
it?
Well,
I have to acknowledge that it has been tough for me: setting and grading exams
for the second sittings at INATEK; drafting the plan report of Web skills
Course; dealing with the usual tasks of the week,… What are your impressions?
Glory
be to God, I tried my best! First, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I was
drafting my plan report. It took me some time, but I was happy to finalize it
and submit it to the reviewer, in the name of Pablo Garcia. I am glad he has
given constructive feedback that is going to guide me before submitting the
final version to the instructor, Courtney, not later than on August 23rd
(if no change). It was nice to learn from each other to improve our products!
Moreover,
through this week I was happy to welcome the guest named
Jeff Magoto, the Director of the University of Oregon's Yamada Language Center. I have
learnt a lot from him, most importantly
insights about ANVILL. What is this in full? It means: A
National Virtual Language Lab. The following
comment is very interesting: “ANVILL is a web-based
toolbox for language teachers (citing https://anvill.uoregon.edu/anvill2/), which makes it easy to create, assign, and assess
spoken language. ANVILL is free to qualified educators. And I am
planning to use it with my class (https://anvill.uoregon.edu/anvill2/) for oral
communication. For example, I have followed the links given by Jeff and I found
the following video:
Look, watch, enjoy,… learn how learner autonomy is
promoted, how people, taking turns, discuss around the table and exchange
ideas!!! (Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivbo8iGEoYg:
Creating Speaking Tasks in ANVILL)
Another
important thing about my progress this week is that in order to enhance learning
and promote learner autonomy, I have used www.nicenet.org to create a Class. I want my
students get familiar with using Nicenet for their written discussions. The
Class Name is: LEVEL
I_INATEK_ and the Class Key is: _348870QZ4 . Up to now, there are two topics: one
is about short stories; the other one is about writing an official letter. I
have designed the topics for Level I students whom I wish they like the culture
of reading, analysis and discussing with others, then construct their knowledge
together. As it is the first time for my students, we are going to start with
easy things, and step by step, move to the complex matters. Please join the
Class and your feedback for improvement is welcome!
Last but not least, I have liked very much http://www.easytestmaker.com/ because it offers an easy way to make and grade teacher’s tests and
students will get feedback automatically! There are for example alternative
versions sheets provided with no extra work; questions and answers are
automatically resorted in a different order; online tests graded automatically;
building exams; etc. I think using these kinds of technology will reduce the
waste of time and energy. I have created/opened an account there, just to start practicing it.
Best,
Sosthene
Hello Sosthene once again!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to thank you for your time devoted to my plan review! I also wanted to stand out your desire for change and for improving teaching and learning conditions with the implementation of your project. As I wrote down on the checklist I sent you, your project and the enthusiasm you put into it was just inspirational... It was a pleasure woking with you and I hope we stay intouch once the course is over.
All the best
Pablo.
Dear Pablo,
DeleteMany thanks to you, too!
Well, these last weeks we are busy doing the weekly tasks in our online training and our usual responsibilities, but I really thank you for your precious time devoted to my draft. Your comments will help me improve it before the final submission.
Moreover, "the best knowledge is that bring people together". Hence, I believe that even after August 30, our correspondence will go on!
I wish you success!!
Sosthene