Project links and Web 2,0

The text defining the Web 2.0 made clear its characteristics, being able to compare these to the different applications used, and surely agreeing on the accordance among them. Nevertheless, the importance of this tool became clear only after comparing the 'Webs' (1.0 and 2.0). Some probably using their imagination and others remembering to finally conclude that technology has improved, implying it can favour the learning process (our main concern), due to the fact that the Web 2.0 is considered more of a social network than its counterpart.
Now, the school project links or twinning is just one of the many ways of making the most of the Web 2.0. Which, according to what was read throughout the module, consists on developing a topic that is approached by means of bilateral school partnership. Furthermore, this type of project makes sense only if using the Web 2.0 because of the facilities and diverse ways of communicating and exchanging information offered by this tool. Yet, as usual, and as a newbie, I am becoming more and more aware of the different sites, applications and their use (advantages and disadvantages) in/out of the classroom.

Office applications

Maybe one of the most available learning technologies at school level is the Office applications as many schools don’t have access to internet and not even a computer room. Additionally, various may be their use for class activities and, yet, ignored as such, like in my personal experience. That is why, after going through the previous modules, I was able to realize the number of activities one can produce using Office applications. Although, as equally crucial is the approach to present these activities to the students (as a whole or in parts) during the class. Therefore, I consider that the success behind the use of these tools lies in the attractiveness of the activity by taking into consideration the adequacy of the content-student(s).

Cyber well-being

There are many things I ignored before reading this unit. I had heard how criminals were using information published on Facebook to carry out their activities but not specifically bullying. In effect, I was almost at total relax using the Web 2.0 technologies, the most important issue was keeping computers virus free. But now I can see the significance of the dangers and harms one may encounter while making use of these technologies and tips to avoid its going on. For that reason, a strict number of rules to be set at the beginning and to fulfilled during the sessions are needed as a start point but not solely. Maybe that is why, a constant going through the matter on how to prevent and keep safe on the web would be appropriate. Just as much as giving parents a short list of recommendations (or recommended links) like those of keeping SMART, Nettiquete Rules and those given by Dr. Byron. This could be done in the form of a letter or pamphelt sent to parents in the students notebook. These are probably just a few ways of getting through to parents and students, however, I guess it all depends on the features of each goup or community.

Copyright resources

As a teacher of English as a foreign or second language, one's duty is to offer the student(s) a variety of material and activities. Moreover, one of the most practical ways is by means of virtual and printed material, and as seen on the British Council presentation, there are some limitations even for educational purposes. Thus, teacher practicality is not the synonym of license to use any virtual, printed or recorded material freely, plus, overstepping the limits given by all rights reserved and creative commons may be cause of punishment as it is against the law. What's more, as 'well-being practitioners', 'role models', teachers, we should avoid being regardless about the respect we owe other people's work.

Web searching

As technology users, we may find many useful tools and probably one of the most handy/important of these is the web. This technological device offers a huge amount of information, presented in different ways, such as, videos, texts, audios, and so on, with a great variety of topics. Therefore, as to be responsible teachers, save time and select appropriate material we need to become efficient at its use. And among one of the web's uses, we have the web search engines which should smoothen our seeking of materials or activities for the class. To this matter, I learnt that this isn't just a matter of typing in keywords, but also the knowing that recent material is unlikely to be found and the adequate use of symbols ("", +, -, *, etc.), as seen in this module, make the search much more productive. However, the web search does not end here, though, one may find many results. So the next step to be considered would be the validity or reliability of the sites encountered by asking the 'W' questions and the 'H' questions, just as shown on the video of this forum. Consquently, one will not only benefit from following these steps, but can also induce students to becoming web literates.

Integrating the web

One may see the web as a way of giving a class and, even worse, the class fulfiller, yet, through this module we can clearly testify that this is not so. If a certain amount of dedication isn't given to the planning of a class, even a good website with lots of activities can become a mess. In the past module we evaluated and selected sites, and saw the usefulness of fully educational websites in a given context, but understood that these could also distract students from their tasks. That is maybe the importance of acknowledging the sites as mere resources as to have clear that without a proper lesson plan we are doublty to accomplish objectives.

References:
http://courses.britishcouncil.org/pub/learningtechnologies/course

Evaluating and Selecting Websites

The web has plenty of information and many uses (from entertainment to serious and academic areas), thus, the demanding task of the teacher to evaluate and select proper and adequate sites to be used 'during' a class. But the taking into consideration several aspects before setting forth a website is necessary as to have a solid basis on which to confirm the validity and congruency of such. Personally, the few times I have recommended websites, evaluating and selecting them have not been consciously using the criterias seen in this module, however, there were a few things taken into account such as level and appropriacy to the students. Now, in this module, a logical view on how to choose a suitable website was offered and I believe that the information is going to be of great help to feel more confident when applying and using this tool for class purposes.

References:
http://courses.britishcouncil.org/pub/learningtechnologies/course

Learning technologies in the classroom

Apparently, the use of ICT’s has, gradually, become part of the learning-teaching English classroom, and as such, teachers should be aware of how to use them adequately. In addition, taking into consideration the purpose behind its use, and what is wanted to achieve throughout these resources within the learning process. In this sense, this implies much more than just knowing about ICT’s, it is considering the way of implementing and adapting this tool to the learner(‘s) necessities. However, some teachers are, probably, still learning to manage the learning technologies, and others reluctant to even dare to make use of these tools. As a result, the manifestation of many reasons for not obliging with the progress of what could be called a technological methodology as the existence of many positive aspects that support the idea of learning technologies. Nevertheless, maybe the starting point is to question ourselves if the learning technologies favor ‘the student(s)’ and if we are prepared to take advantage of these.

References:

The Role of Technology in teaching and the classroom by Marc Prensky

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants by Marc Prensky

Computer Assisted Language Learning: an Introduction by Mark Warschauer

Netiquette

After reading about the netiquette rules, one may think that a few guidelines, as in any civilized society, can help to avoid chaos amongst "netizens". However, having clear the starting point, lack of visual-gesture contact, is very important as to be sure on what is being written (meant) by taking into consideration those who are to read one's message. That is why, writing carefully is extremely necessary because, in this case, it is almost entirely the only way to get your message through. Eventhough, the use of emoticons have pretty much helped to satisfy the demands to fill this gap. Moreover, analysing the rules a bit, words, such as, remember the human, respect, help, share, be forgiving, act accordingly, think twice, give credit, be responsible, and so on, show more or less the posture one should maintain when writing on the net. So if a teacher of English is going to use this tool for his/her class, not only is the learning of English vocabulary, grammar, writing, etc, going to occupy a great deal of the class but, also, the appropriateness and idealness of it's use in order to accomplish effective communication.

"Teaching: more than just lecturing" (Roettger, Roettger, Walugembe, 2007)

References:
Netiquette - study guides and strategies file
Open University Netiquette summary file
Master the Basics: Netiquette
http://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol4/iss2/6