Week# 8 Teacher Resources Online

When it rains, it pours!  When I thought this class was almost over and there was nothing more to do or learn, we were introduced to so many new and indispensable tech tools for educators.  I was amazed by large number and felt this course will never cease to surprise us.   I realized I have a lot to read and learn and a lot of tech tools to check out and try, so I have to keep my sleeves rolled up for a long time.   

I have created an online discussion class on Nicenet which surprisingly was not as difficult as I expected.  I have tried to use Blackboard and almost created a class but I felt the tool is too sophisticated for my needs at this point and I have to spend more time familiarizing myself with its features and menus.  I have created a class blog and a Padlet page and explored different tools in Hot Potatoes. 

Furthermore, I worked painstakingly on my final project plan and I am almost done with it except for a few loose ends that need to be tied up. I still have to work on choosing content for my class blog and the Padlet page before setting them up for students to use.  I will make sure everything is ready by Friday to meet the deadline.

It was a very good experience to work with a partner and to check each other's work and provide feedback. Nigora was an excellent partner for this project and I love working with her.  Her enthusiasm and productivity are unmatched.  This experience helped me reflect on my plan and set realistic goals for my students to help them enjoy using technology.

This is all for now and look forward to another productive week.

Week#7 Learner Autonomy, the One-Computer Classroom & Mobile Devices

Hello every one,

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime"  (author unknown).  This proverb might simply illustrate what learner autonomy  is.  I believe that helping students learn how to learn and to become self-reliant, self-directed and self-motivated  should be the goal of any successful educational program. 

 A lot can be done with just one computer in the classroom which can even be the teacher's laptop but unfortunately sometimes this high tech tool might not be fully utilized due to lack of awareness or creativity in the part of the instructor.  The readings provided a lot of practical ideas on how to maximize students' learning through student centered activities that foster collaborative learning and promote learners' autonomy taking advantage of the one computer in the classroom. 

Although cell phone use is banned in may schools as they are viewed as distractors from learning, they can be used creatively to enhance learning and promote learners' autonomy.  The readings and the discussion on Nicenet provided many useful ideas and practical activities on how to use  phones in and beyond the classroom to create many learning opportunities.

I am almost half way with my final project plan. I have written a lot this week and moved a long quite well.  There were a lot distractors that hindered my progress and held me back from finishing it, though.  Hopefully, I will finish the rough draft to share my partner this coming week.  I could not resist the temptation of  adding Padlet to use with the class blog that I have decided to create to help my students overcome the problems they face with writing. 

This is all for now; I will take a short break then resume working on my final project plan.  Talk to you next week!  Have a productive week!  

Yours,

Ahmed

Week#6 Student-centered large classes and interactive PowerPoint

Hello every,

Sometimes I have the writer's block and spend days on one assignment until, out of frustration, I almost decide to give it up before I manage to write something. Then eventually things work out so well that I get to do the other assignments smoothly in a shorter time.  I am sure you have experienced something similar. It is always hard to get started with something, but once you begin, ideas start flowing, and you eventually end up with something most people admire.   

I have used PowerPoint a couple of times but never have I heard about creating interactive presentations that organize content around central ideas using hyperlinks and buttons which help audience see how ideas are correlated with each other and help navigate through different aspects of the topic allowing better interaction with the audience and responding to their questions and providing them immediate feedback.   Being a visual learner, I tried to see some interactive samples and managed to find two and decided to explore this topic further on YouTube.

I read extensively this week and was hoping to cover even the optional reading materials but I could not, so I saved them to read later.   The readings provided very good insights and techniques on how to teach very large classes interactively instead of totally relying on the lecturing style which mistakenly assumes that people learn just by telling them information.   If teaching is telling, then this would have made it the easiest profession.   Learning does not take place if students are not actively engaged in the lesson.   We learned very good techniques, such as think-pair-share, think-pair-square, one minute write, concept check, role play and simulation, to engage students in large classes and allow them to share ideas and ask for clarifications and get more involved in the lesson. 

I have started working on my final project plan and managed to write something realizing that there is no better temptation to finish something than getting started with it.   I have decided to give it at least an hour a day to finish it on time.  

This is all for now and look forward to another exciting week.

Warmest regards

Ahmed

Week#5 Project-Based Learning, WebQuests, and Rubrics

Day by day, I started to feel more confident and comfortable with the Blog page. I remember how intimidated I felt the first time I tried to create one.  I have learned how to add pictures and hyperlinks, videos and how to change the background and lay out. 

Project based learning provides a real opportunity for students to work collaboratively and pool their knowledge and metacognitive skills into a process that culminates in a project.   PBL is an alternative assessment tool that provides students with real learning opportunity to utilize and reveal their talents and creativity and develop to face the real world challenges and understand themselves and others around them.   It takes learning to a much higher level.   I have become a big advocate of it  and will certainly implement it in class.   

We as instructors have to leave our comfort zone and go the extra mile and challenge ourselves and the students and provide them with real learning opportunities to help them polish up their skills and find out what they like and what they are really good at and what they need to learn.   

Rubi Star is a very invaluable site and tech tool.   It is used to create assessment rubrics to evaluate  students' work and to set and communicate clear expectations about any given task which helps them live up to the desired performance ; it also gives students immediate feedback about their work.    I will certainly make use of this indispensible tool.

WebQuest is another powerful tech tool that helps teachers set up projects using materials and resources on the world wide web to help students analyze and synthesize information in order to create a project which helps them develop problem-solving and decision-making skills.   Here is the link to my first WebQuest: http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=285359

It was an optional activity, but I did it so that I would not lose this great learning opportunity.  I will defiantly make use of this tool in my future classes.

It was nice to have the guest speaker with us in class this week.   I read her comments on our posts and learned a lot from her valuable insights. 

I have not worked on my project plan yet except the weekly assignment tasks that take us a step every week towards completing the project plan.   I will spend some time this week reading more reports and working on a project plan.  However, I feel I have sore eyes and need to chill out a bit and take a break from the glare of my computer screen.   I have finished a bit early this week but feel I did not utilize my free-time effectively and I really need a break to enjoy family life.   

 This is all for now and look forward to another exciting week.