Week #3 Oral/Aural Skill-Building Websites and Bookmarks with Delicious

It has been an extraordinary week!   Using technology to enhance aural and oral skills was the topic of the week.   I loved the two wonderful lists of best speaking and listening sites compiled and recommended by Larry Ferlazzo.   I checked out most of the sites on the lists and was wowed by their contents!

I have become fascinated by the idea of using technology to enhance students' oral skills; something I have never realized ever existed.   I have checked out and registered in some sites, such as Voicethread, Voxopo and Livemocha. Other classmates recommended Audio Pal and Voki and I would like to check them out as well.   I am still acquainting myself with these sites and have not made up my mind about one in particular.   However, my preference will be influenced by the ease of use and most importantly the cost.

I wonder if phone applications, such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Google Hangouts could be used to reach the same goal.   With these Apps, students can communicate with each other using voice and video recorded messages to enhance their oral and aural skills.

Among the many sites classmates recommend, I like Ted Talks and Breaking English News Lessons.   Ted Talks especially offers authentic video presentations for engaging discussions and Breaking English News provides audio recordings of daily news with so many integrated skill activities that help students develop their language. 

Creating a Delicious account was very yummy! With Delicious a person can add links of favorite sites to an online account which enables him or her to access this list from any computer worldwide.  Sounds good, isn't it?   However, I have not realized the value of this site until I viewed my classmates' favorite sites on Delicious and was able to add more links to my list.  Seeing my Delicious page expand in a matter of minutes, I realized how invaluable this site is.  Not only can a person add favorite links to Delicious with a click of a button, but he or she can share the links with others.

I spent my time productively reading, sharing ideas and interacting with other professionals feeling that there is nothing equal to the intellectual stimulation this course provides.

Looking forward to reading your comments which are always welcomed and appreciated!

Week#2 ABCD learning Objectives and Effective Web Searches

Life has literally ceased in my country due to the war; prices have skyrocketed and lack of gasoline has affected every single aspect of life.   The entire country has been in a total blackout for this whole week except for some private electric generators here and there.   It was a serious challenge to keep my laptop charged and stay connected to the Internet to do the assignments and meet the deadlines.

However, in spite of all daily trials this week has posed, I feel proud of what I have achieved.   I started working on all assignments right after I received them; therefore, I had time to relax and run some errands and meet some family commitments.  

This past week, we have been introduced to writing lesson objectives using ABCD framework.   Although I was not familiar with this particular style, it was easy to learn after looking at the ample examples in the assigned reading.  
 
I believe that Bloom's revised Taxonomy with its classification of learning outcomes and the list of behavioral verbs is a treasure by itself.   If teachers desire to improve the students learning outcomes, it all starts with setting "SMART" objectives that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevent and Time bound.   

According to Bloom's Taxonomy, there are 6 levels of cognitive skills, the lowest of which is remembering; nevertheless, I think educational systems and programs in most Third World countries give this particular cognitive level their primary attention, while totally ignoring the other "five increasingly more difficult levels of mental abilities: understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating”.  I think this explains why these countries always regress rather than progress as their main focus is on rote learning.   I strongly believe that unless educators set clear lesson targets or objectives, teaching will be like shooting in the air and teachers will be wasting valuable time and resources achieving very little if any at all.  

I was also introduced to Noodletools which opened my eyes to an invaluable portal.   Although I have always been a big fan of Google, Noodletools offers variety of specialized search engines that help find academic articles and resources on the Internet with a click of a button.   I have explored various tools listed on the site and found them very handy.   I consider Noodletools essential keys to the world of knowledge and empowerment.  

As for my final project of implementing technology in the classroom, I still do not have a clear idea about what I am going to do.   However, as I am not teaching right now, I was instructed to work on a project plan instead.   I have to start working on it very soon if not now!  

Finally, having seen my grades for the past week, I feel thrilled that my hard work has paid off.   I am so ready to start the third week with much renewed vigor and enthusiasm!  Looking forward to reading your comments.   Have a good blogging weekend!

Regards, 
Ahmed