Based on the article: How to Use Technology to Provide Feedback by Russell Stannard.
Rate: 5
As we have mentioned for a long time here, the technology is changing our lives greatly thanks to the expansion of it. Now there is a new tool that allow us to teach a class, give a short explanation of some task, re-teach a topic for the students who did not understand very well, to provided feedback to them, etc, it is called ''Screen capture technology''. With that tool we can record the screen of our computers as if we were recording it with a camera. I consider that it could help us too much at the time of teaching the class because we can use it in a thousand ways. Besides, I really like the example that the author mentioned in the article, this was about
the work in Microsoft that she reviewed of her students, using this
resource it was easier for her to make all the corrections for each one, she
reviewed them and at the same time she was giving feedback, telling them what was their mistakes. Personally, I find it incredible because it is as if you were talking to the student personally.
In addition, this incredible
tool has many advantages, such as on-line classes, as teachers and
students do not have the opportunity to see each other; they can easily send a screen recording, and it would be as if they are face to face classes.
I consider that this type of feedback is excellent because we can provide feedback to our students in an easier manner. Besides, it is easier to use not only for teachers but also for students because because it is like a normal camera.
Based on the articles:
- 10 Benefits of Getting Students to Participate in Classroom Discussions by:
Maryellen Weimer.
- Increase Student Interaction with "Think-Pair-Shares" and "Circle Chats" by: Kristina Robertson.
Rate: 4
There are many benefits of getting students to participate in discussions in the class. One of this is that; it adds interest as they can be paying attention to what his/her classmate is sharing. Maybe, they can think the same or not but always is good to hear an extra opinion, and not the teacher's opinion all the time. Also, students get engages, if we asking them questions that could catch their attention. It is a great idea because we let them think and we motivate them to contribute different ideas to the discussion. Besides, students are provided with teachers feedback. When students participate the teacher can notice if they have understood or not, so that, they can received clarifications. Moreover, participation can be use to control what is happening in class. When they are sleeping, texting in classes teachers can asking them something, and it will help them to be more attentive to what happens in class. Furthermore, it encourages dialogue among and between students. We can provided an open discussion where everybody can share different comments and say if they agree or not, and explain why. Finally, while participation students develop their speaking skills, as they have to talk with their classmates or teacher, like offering information or asking questions; and it helps them to develop their speaking while doing that.
Besides, Sometimes, when a teacher ask us something we find
that we do not know how a word is said in English, or we are hesitating if that word is in the right way to say it or not, and we do not have the courage to say it because we are ashamed, an we think that our classmates will make fun of us. But, there is a great technique which is called Think-Pair-Share, it allows students time to process their thoughts and increase their interaction, as they can take their time reflecting a question by his own; thinking the words they are going to use in order to express themselves correctly. And after that, they also have the opportunity to discuss with a partner and the class.
Based on articles:
- Maximizing the benefits of Project Work in Foreign Language Classrooms by Bülent Alan and Fredricka L. Stoller.
- Educational Leadership Giving Students Meaningful Work: Seven Essentials
for Project Based Learning by John Larmer and John R. Mergendoller.
Rate: 4
After reading the articles my thoughts about how to asses students learning were enriched. First, settings No-elaborated tasks are rating as projects while Elaborating
sets are the ones that establish the process of a project and finish it,
and it can cover a total unit. In those cases students are really
benefits as they actively participate and delivery work reports
developed over a period of time, and as a result, students get a higher
level of knowledge and improve their foreign language. Also, their
motivation and autonomy increased.
Moreover, it is really important to
be careful with the way that students are process and gather information. Teachers first should present
to them the different ways to gather reliable information to use in
their investigation in order to make it more relevant and less
superficial as well.
Furthermore, Something that I liked from the article was the project that most of
the teachers tent to use in class, the under-exploited project work,
there said that this project do no allow the full potential of the
students, and the example presented was excellent, because if we leave
our students working with friends, it is obvious that not all of them will work, because not
everyone will be sharing their ideas, and if they do, they will not put
into practice the English language, otherwise they would be speaking in
their native language. Besides, if we left students provide feed-back on their own experiences or if we left them to work alone without receiving guidance it is likely we ignore them and they need support at every stage.
In addition, the way that the authors exposes the meaning of learning is very interesting. Also, how teachers can make the learning interesting and meaningful to students. I consider that the project based in activities is a good way to encourage students to work in something academic because they can feel that the work they are doing is important and goes beyond that getting points. Besides, I liked when the authors mention that students can feel encourage to work if they have a real audience.
Based on the articles:
- Online English-English Learner Dictionaries Boost Word Learning by Dr. Eli Hinkel.
- Using Technology to Assist in Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading Comprehension by Andreea I.
Rate: 3
Something that is true is that when we are learning a new language we tend to consult any word in our physical dictionary, but nowadays, we use on-line dictionaries, either in our computers or our cellphones because it is more practical than looking in a dictionary. Besides, both teachers and students benefit from that because over there they can find different features like; definitions, word frequency data, pronunciation guide, examples, etc. and I consider that what on-line dictionaries offer is good because students get the meaning, the pronunciation,
so if they are not sure of how a word is pronounced, they get it easily by playing on it. Moreover, it
offers many examples of how the word can be used, which really helps students understand the meaning of the word as it is based on real world spoken and written discourse.
Furthermore, something that I liked was what the author says "The best vocabulary and
knowledge that students have, better reading and understanding is". This
phrase is true because every time students use the dictionary they
create it as a database so they can understand and analyze any document
they read, they will also have more vocabulary and when it comes to
listening, reading, speaking and writing they will have improved a lot ,
they will not be stuck because they will have the ability to
communicate themselves more easily than if they did not have the
knowledge required.
On the other hand, Acquiring vocabulary is
very important to have reading comprehension, because if the level of
vocabulary we know in English increases, it will be easier to understand a reading by the number of words we will handle.
Besides, we need to manage the different meanings of words according to
the context. In addition, I like the idea of combine the resources that we have within reach (technology) with our students as it promotes their improvement, because if they use
just written or listening examples, they could progress, but not as much as
if they
were listening an audio or watching a video and at the same time taking some
notes, writing or answering questions. I think that they might be feel confused while doing that, so they can write things without sense.
