Final week

It is incredible that the course is finished.  I discovered a new world that provided me with interesting and amazing activities. I am planning to implement a class blog which encourages students to work outside classrooms. I would like to try a nicenet class for my students, however they need to be trained and become aware about ground rules to avoid problems.

Definitely I will use blogs with my students because of my experience in the final project of this online course, students felt really motivated to use them. Unfortunately there is not a multimedia lab at the University, but I was thinking about a solution to deal with this problem. I am going to buy a device offered by mobile companies that provides internet for computers. So at least I will be able to implement one computer class online activities with my students.

I am really impressed of the great community learning that we formed in this online course. Everyone shared online activities, websites, and ideas to help each other become better teachers.

I am going to miss my colleagues’ nicenet discussions, blogs comments and Donna’s mails.

Week 9

This was an amazing week for me. I finally finished my thesis and got my diploma as a Master in Teaching English. I am sure that all what I learned in my Master and in this online course will help me to be a more efficient teacher.
The topic for discussion this week was learning styles and how to implement technology in our classes according these styles. I realized about the importance of using different tools and activities to each different learning style. However, it is also important to introduce activities that expand our students' learning style preferences. It is important to point out that not only learning styles affect our students' learning process but also their background knowledge, age, gender, cultural aspects, motivation, etc.
I consider that the only manner to be updated with technology is using it, so in the future I will continue searching for new articles, and information using internet. I would like to take other online courses or webinars too.

These are my students' photos the day we recorded the video for the final project. I was really impressed because they did an excellent job.

Week 8

 This was a busy week,I had to send the draft about the project to my peer Gaby. Besides, I recorded my students and started editing the video to dowload in students' blogs. I confess this was a great experience, my students participated actively, they were very creative with their customes, and I realized that some of them were good actors. I was impressed because some shy students that do not talk to much in class were outgoing actors in the plays.
In the class we had to red about ANVIL where we can find videos that can be used as homework, or tests. I realize that there are a lot of things that I still have to learn. I also created a website for my students. It is the first time that I tried to implement this tool, and I have to improve it and add more activities. However, I consider that it is a good beginning. I learned how to use hotpotatoes, I really enjoyed using this program because I could create crosswords, and matching exercises in a easy manner.

Week 7

This week I read about “Learners autonomy” and I realized that our role as teachers is to encourage our students to become autonomous. It is important to mention that the learners’ willingness to take charge of their own learning and their confidence in their ability as learners can enhance students’ autonomy. Teachers and learners can promote autonomy by creating a friendly atmosphere. We have to implement activities that students can carry out to attain a considerable degree of autonomy. Another task was the creation of One computer lesson, I really liked this task because at the University where I am working there is no a lab, only a class with internet access for one computer, so this lesson and my colleagues lessons are very useful to me.

Week 6

This week the course topics were related to Large Classes and Interactive Power Point. We were required to create an IPT, I decided to create a jeopardy game because I could follow a youTube  video tutorial that helped me a lot. It took me two hours to be able to follow the directions, but finally I got it. My game was simple, but I think it is a good start to continue improving. I felt very happy because it was a real challenge, and I realized that everything is possible we need to believe in ourselves.

Last week I organized my students in groups to carry out my project. This week each group created its blogs, and started implementing the dialogues for the Ecuadorian legends. I monitored my students’ work and helped them because they are beginners learners, and their vocabulary and grammar background is limited. However, they are doing an excellent work. I added some photos on my students.

Week 5

 This week the topic for the nicenet discussion was Alternative assessment, project based learning and WebQuest. Sometimes as teachers we do not asses our students in a fair manner,  we only use written tests provided by the course books. The articles that  we read this week provided us with innovative ideas such as PBL and WebQuests. I consider that they can motivate our students because these activities are based on real life situations, and also the students have the freedoom to work at their own pace.
I also created my rubrics at Rubistar, it is an excellent place to implement rubrics for different skills in an easy way. When I started using rubrics with my students I had to create them by myself  or by looking for some books, but it was difficult and time consuming.
Another task was the creation of a WebQuest, this is the first time that I'm using it and I had to read other teachers' webquests to have an idea about them. I think that WebQuest is an excellent activity that I will definiytely use with my students. 
I already started working on my project I shared the idea with my students and they are really motivated to carry out it.

week 4

This week passed very fast, I did not have much time to update my blog until today. In nicenite we were talking about how to use internet to improve reading and writing skills. I found interesting websites that I will use with my students. I also read an interesting article about e-books. We can do something for our planet by saving paper.
We also were required to develop a lesson plan using technology. I chose a topic related to the environment to enhace my students reading and writing skills. Definitely I will use these ideas with my university students.
I felt pleased because I started using internet with a group of students to make my classes more interactive. I realized that my students were motivated. However, I had to monitor their work at class to prevent them to search for other websites.
I'am interested in implementing blogs with this group of students to encourage them to write about different topics. I shared these ideas with other colleagues who were reluctant to use blogs because they  involve teachers' extra time and effort.

Week 3

 Every week is more demanding for everybody. There are more readings, and we have to start thinking about the final project. Sometimes time is not enough because I work from Monday to Saturday at two different universities, and I have to take care from my children. However, this course is interesting, and I am learning a lot for this reason I am trying to do my best.
This week the class discussion was related to bookmarking. To be honest this is the first time that I've heard this term. Others teachers were really good at using social bookmarking. I had a few problems, but finally I created my deliciuos page, it was really exciting how I could organize and save my favorite websites.Besides I was able to check my colleagues pages, they have really interesting and useful information. 
Other interesting topic was CALL to develop our students' oral and aural skills. It is amazing how the computers are changing the world. Teachers can make our classes more interactive by using internet and computers programs. For this reason I have to improve my  computer skills to manage this new technology.

Writing Objectives

We have a new task in this online course, writing an objective using the abcd style. I have never heard about it, so I had to search for tips, ideas and examples. I used to write objectives by asking the questions: WHO; WHAT, and HOW. At the beginning I was struggling to understand this method , but I finally I formulated my objective. I don't know if I did it right.
I finally could clarify my ideas about my project and solved the problems related to my students' internet access. I was reading my colleagues' projects and some of them included mine are related to blogs. It is not a surprise because blogs are quite interesting, I was not interested in Facebook or something like that, but blogs appeal to me because we can use them with educative purposes.

Week 2 Reflections

These days I have spent a lot of time surfing by the internet to find information about the search engines. Cause I am not really into technology I used Goggle and Yahoo to do my researches.  I am really impressed about the variety of search engines available now. I tried some recommended by teachers, others by my own, and I discovered useful and interesting information. I feel like a child with a new toy, exploring the unknown. And as a popular proverb says," It is never late to learn".
I also have to start thinking about my final project. I had some ideas but I am not sure about them yet. The main problem is that at the University where I work there is no a lab with internet access, so I have to think about a solution to solve this situation.

Week 1 Reflections

This online course started and I feel a little concerned because I am not good at technology. Other teachers who are taking this course are able to use blogs more effectively, and their comments are useful and interesting. Indeed I had some problems creating my blog, especially when I wanted to add my photo, but finally I got it. At the beginning I could not  find and write about my home in the google map. Fortunately, a colleague explained how goggle maps work. I am really interested in learning more about technology to use it in my classrooms, and I am sure that this course will help me to do it.