the distance learning courses in my teaching practice
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The Distance Learning Courses in my Teaching Practice
By Vrettou Nicoleta
Today’s experience in education
• Digital age students surrounded by gadgets and addicted to internet technology: They seem to communicate mostly visually using images and symbols and are not keen on reading any more.
• Teachers become more and more skilled at using computers and they are enthusiastic about using technology in their teaching practice.
• Society and work environments require computer literacy and enhanced multi-tasking ability.
• The internet has opened new horizons for professional development.
• Schools must be up-to-date and cannot fall behind technological developments.
The profile of a modern teacher
Teachers today are quite skilled at using computers and the internet. They have very good knowledge of computer software such as Microsoft Office and the different browsers, they are members of social networks and have personal emails.
Therefore, teachers are faced with the challenge to use technology in their teaching but they must also develop some criteria which will help them select those tools which will be more effective in their learning context (learner characteristics, pedagogy, learning outcomes) and at the same time in congruence with their computer literacy level.
In my opinion just because our generation of students has grown up with the technology and the accompanying tools of the digital age that doesn’t mean that just throwing technology at them in the classroom is adequate and effective.
In this framework, finding the best ways of using new technology in the classroom and coming to terms with the changing needs and aspirations of learners in today’s digital world constitutes the challenge of the modern teacher who can overcome their insecurity and fear towards this ongoing change by looking for opportunities for professional development.
Any teacher is a prospective distant learner since the only requirements for entering a distance learning course is usually basic knowledge of computers, registration and the required time to spend on the internet to attend the course and prepare the necessary material to complete the course (if this is required).
Invest in yourself, in your education. There’s nothing better.
– Sylvia Porter
Online Education and Training
• With the development of new information and communication technologies (ICT), online education and training is being used widely.
• Online education is defined as an innovative form of distance education that delivers instruction to a remote audience, using computer networks as the main medium.
• Online in service teacher training is a form of online education that uses computer network technologies to organize, develop, manage, and administer in-service teacher training.
• If online teacher training programs are well designed, they can broaden the range of teacher training opportunities and reduce the costs by adopting information technology, and sharing educational resources.
In this context, teacher training nowadays has acquired new forms. Educators worldwide are offered numerous chances to advance professionally even from the comfort of their home. Many training courses on different subjects start every day by various organisations and universities which anyone can register and follow online in order to complete a training course.
Online teacher training has been seen to have several benefits. In addition to making teacher training more cost-effective and efficient (Harasim, Hiltz, Teles, and Turoff, 1995; Hiltz, 1994; Khan, 1997), the major goals of online teacher training are to help teachers:
• access training opportunities without leaving their classrooms/ homes.
• remove barriers of time and space.
• improve their computer literacy, and interact online with their trainers and other teachers, and,
• once a 'bank' of online courses is developed, to access those courses that meet their individual needs.
• Research and case studies show that online training via the Internet provides an opportunity to develop new learning experiences by managing self-directed learning, and sharing information and ideas in a cooperative and collaborative manner (Harasim, et al., 1995; Hillman, 1999; Moller, 1998; Thompson and Chute, 1998; Trentin and Scimeca, 1999).
Using the internet to support our continuing professional development
Steps to consider:• finding out how you can best improve your
teaching skills.• Finding out who you are as a teacher.• Asking yourself the right questions &
setting yourself goals.• Identifying the people, tools and
technology that will help you reach your goals.
• Learning from your teaching experience by sharing it with others and reflecting on it (using social networks, groups, blogs, in the staffroom)
• Identifying what you want to investigate: focus, goals, rationale, action/ tools, estimated time required.
• Taking an online training course or a distance learning course (Being teachers of English gives us plenty of such opportunities)
What a Webinar is and How it Works
• A webinar is an online event hosted by an organization and broadcasted to a selected group of individuals through their computers via the Internet. (A webinar is sometimes also referred to as a “webcast”, “online event” or “web seminar”.)
• A webinar allows a speaker from the hosting organization to share PowerPoint presentations, videos, web pages or other multimedia content with audiences that can be located anywhere.
• Webinars typically have audio and visual components. The visual component of a webinar is shared through a web conferencing tool or Internet browser. The audio part of a webinar is usually broadcast through the audience’s computers (through speakers and media players).
• A webinar also allows the hosting organization to interact with an audience. The audience can ask the speaker or moderator (who is leading the webinar) questions in real-time through an instant messaging tool or e-mail.
A useful YouTube video explaining what a webinar is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWz8ppM9DzM
Free Webinars on the internet
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/webinars• A useful webpage run by the British
Council and the BBC providing free webinars for teachers of English on different subjects.
• Recorded webinars are also available for everyone to watch on many interesting topics designed by experienced educators.
• Some titles that might attract your attention:– Finding the plot - Early story writing for Yls– Making connections - classroom management with youn
g learners– Computer games and language aims– What makes a lesson GREAT?
– A box of tricks: warmers, coolers and fillers– Using literature for language learning– Using social networks and media to support ou
r continuing professional development– The learner-centred classroom– Ten ideas for mobile learning– CLIL for secondary schools– Dealing with challenging learners– Thinking skills– Spoken grammar/lexical approach
The Distance Learning Courses and their practical use
When our school advisor designed and offered the distance learning courses last year, I took the opportunity and registered for each one of them because their content seemed very attractive to me. Actually, these courses were very interesting and helped me to develop my knowledge in useful internet tools which could be utilised in the classroom.
• Creating a wiki for project work (blended learning course)
• Creating online books and photo albums• Creating online videos: A 6 hour distance
learning course that focuses on the use of ICT in the EFL classroom. Trainees will learn how to create videos..
• Creating online games : A 6 hour distance learning course that focuses on the use of ICT in the EFL classroom.
The courses I have attended
The very detailed wiki course which had as requirement the creation of a wiki for developing a project, helped me use this knowledge in order to create a wiki I could use as a website for my classrooms. This wiki can be found on the address:
http://3ymittoshighschool.wikispaces.com
I also used my knowledge on wikis to develop and present the e- twinning project I co-ordinated this year:
http://myseaproject.wikispaces.com
• I learnt how to use certain internet tools (web 2.0 tools) which are offered for free on the internet to create:– digital albums– scrapbooks– animations– comic strips– digital stories– glitter graphics – word clouds– digital posters
• In addition, from those courses I learnt how to create online games, quizzes, puzzles which could be inserted in a blog or wiki or simply played by students online.
• Online questionnaires and polls also proved useful.
The e-twinning platform and Learning Events
• Another source of distance learning experiences is the e-twinning platform itself.
• Once you register yourself and your school and create your profile on the platform, there are many opportunities available for learning and training esp. as regards project work, group work, classroom management, computers and internet tools.
• Webinars and learning events are also regularly conducted on the e-twinning platform.
http://learninglab.etwinning.net/web/guest/home
• And as soon as you start a project, just keep an open mind and get ready to interact and learn from colleagues from other European countries.
www.glogster.com
www.tripline.com
Creating logos
Online Talks
• http://www.ted.com/talks/tags/education
A website where you can watch interesting and very popular talks about education by different academics such as Ken Robinson or teachers who have important things to say.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Online distance learning courses eliminate the time and space constraints of more conventional teacher training methods, removing the need for the learner to be present at a training site at a designated time.
If designed and used properly, information and communications technology has the potential to make teacher training more effective, affordable, and flexible.
On the whole the distant courses I attended as well as my participation in the e-Twinning community enabled me to make my wikis attractive and also showed different possibilities to present my work or my students’ work in digital form or online.
The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change.
Carl Rogers (an influential American psycologist and among the founders of the Humanistic Approach to psychology.)
Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.
Jim Rohn (an American enterpreneur, author and motivational speaker).
I am entirely certain that twenty years from now we will look back at education as it is practiced in most schools today and wonder that we could have tolerated anything so primitive.
John W. Gardner
The Distance Learning Courses in my Teaching
Practiceby Vrettou
Nicoleta
Online distance learning courses
eliminate the time and space
constraints of more conventional
teacher training methods, removing
the need for the learner to be present
at a training site at a designated time.
If designed and used properly,
information and communications
technology has the potential to make
teacher training more effective,
affordable, and flexible.
A website offering free online and
recorded webinars and courses:
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/webinars
The only person who is educated is the
one who has learned how to learn and change.
Carl Rogers
Formal education will make you a living; self-education will
make you a fortune. Jim Rohn
A useful YouTube video explaining what a webinar is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWz8ppM9DzM
Other useful sites:
http://www.ted.com/talks/tags/education
http://learninglab.etwinning.net/web/guest/home
www.etwinning.net
Sites for useful online tools: www.wikispaces.com
www.wordle.comwww.glogster.com
www.glitterfy.com
www.voki.com
www.vimeo.com
www.tubechop.com
www.discoveryeducation.com
Sites with useful online tools to make online presentations to share or embed:www.issuu.com
www.smilebox.com
www.animoto.com
www.pixton.com
www.slideshare.com
www.picturetrail.com
Online tools to create games, quizzes, puzzles, polls:www.jigsawplanet.com
www.quizlet.com
www.proprofs.com
www.classtools.net
www.tricider.com