My ETEC565 Flight Path
About five years ago I was hired to teach an online ESL course for 1st year university students. Prior to that, my only experience with “contemporary” technology and education was email and Power Point – all of which was teacher-centred! It was a very steep learning curve for me. Since then, I have moved on from the online course (which I now realize was quite didactic, stagnant and lacking interactivity) to more interesting ways of embedding and incorporating technology into ELT, shifting to a more student-centered or social-centered practice.
As I teach and design more courses at the university (and continue my MET studies) I try to be more aware of how I can include technologies that encourage and enhance learning creativity, such as using asynchronous voice boards (GONG, which similar to Wimba) and podcasting (Campus Beat). The Campus Beat course at my university requires students to use Audacity and various online resources to produce a podcast about newsworthy events, which encourages students to explore current events. Meanwhile, I attempt to promote various Web 2.0 technologies that can assist students with their language learning. I am also currently trying to promote the “rip, mix, remix” approach to learning (considering the issues of copyright, of course), by having student produce video essays for a stylistics and rhetoric course. Wikis and blogs are my next thing.
My goals for 565 are to learn more about the pedagogical value of “digital-age” technologies and how I can make them “invisible” in the curriculum. A recent setback in introducing online social networks into the curriculum made me rethink my approach. This lack of invisibility was also a major problem with the online courses that I first taught at the university. I am also hoping that hands-on experiences in ETEC565 will give me more technological know-how, such as web designing. And, finally, there’s assessment. How can technologies be used for assessment, such as students assessing their own progress, peer evaluation, and formative assessments?
