LoTI Assessment at CCCN

It's been a week since our online course at the University of Oregon got to an end, and now I am using my recently-acquired knowledge to work on a LoTI Framework [1] analysis to identify where our institution stands in the use of technology. The idea behind this LoTI assessment is to find out what has been going on in terms of the use of Promethean ActivBoards and labs in all our teaching sites, what the attitude of our ELs (Educational Leaders) towards technology is, and what needs to be done to promote the use of the "available" technology anywhere the Centro Cultural is positioned all around Costa Rica.

1. Roughly speaking, CCCN's LoTI level seems to be #2: Exploration. Of course, the underlying question here is, why are we here? And its underlying answer might be related to some other ideas that arouse through our first week of discussion:

ELs' fear of technology
The need for more training on computer-based applications for lab sessions and Promethean Boards
Lack of technological access of students out of main sites
Teaching beliefs and practices in regards to technolgy
Technology as a threat or intruder in class

All the above reason, individually or collectively, may have contributed to have us score "so" low in the LoTI Framework. What now needs to be done is to address all these issues to find feasible solutions that will enrich our teaching and student learning.

2. "Multimedia is like any other practical art form-it makes sense only when it is part of a context." This powerful statement by Michael Simkins (2002, page 33) [2] summarizes several issues that could be taking place at CCCN. If the teacher, as a craftsman, is not properly placing technology in its "proper" place within his/her lesson plan and teaching, it becomes an intruder that disrupts the "delicate" balance between teaching and learning.

Empowering teachers to effectively use technology is an recurrent issue in several post by our Mentor Teachers and other invited ELs to our "virtual class" on Nicenet. If every single teacher is empowered with our technological resources, they will feel comfortable using them and engaging students into their own learning, in or out of class.
The need for more training on computer-based applications for lab sessions and Promethean Boards is a related issue that needs to be addressed soon. In terms of age groups, our teachers belong to different ones: young ELs are quite acquainted with multi-media gadgets, but middle-aged ELs need extra training and technological couching from Mentor Teachers.
MTs' feedback on the use of technology in class, also entertwained with the previous two issues, can become a way to start helping ELs with their individual needs in the use of technology for educational purposes.

3. Virtual interaction among ELs and students and/or MTs is a reality for many of us, but not for all. In our extension sites, our MTs, literally, keep in touch with teachers through computer-based technologies: Messager, chats, and the like. Having our ELs participate in this kind of virtual interaction can also become a way to empower them and convince them that technology is not a threat or toy, but a way to promote autonomous learning when used properly.

Imagine our teachers at CCCN providing feedback to students on their blogs as part of their writing activities in class. Just imagine the potential uses of a "free" tool like this.
Also consider the possibility of the implications of moving from the pre-technological class to a more interactive one that can continue after it is over, just a click away for the student. What students believe language learning is can radically change and our final product can become better than what students averagely score on the TOEIC test.

It has been a great exercise, moving from a "student teacher" on an online course at the University of Oregon to a "teacher online trainer" for our Mentor Teachers at CCCN.

And what is coming next? Only time will tell.

Jonathan

Works cited

[1] http://www.loticonnection.com/lotilevels.html

[2] http://books.google.co.cr/books?id=9QIlpYEWoE8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Increasing+student+learning+through+multimedia+projects&ei=jCitS9uDFpHwzASOo8HuDQ&hl=en&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Friday, March 26, 2010

LoTI Assessment and Raising Student Interest

Student Interest 4 comments

One of the next things I am planning to do with all the information acquired through these ten weeks to have our Mentor Teachers at Centro Cultural is to assess our technological/teaching gap, something we have been experiencing for some time now. Our institution decided to invest several thousand dollars in getting Active Boards to transform our language classes into much more meaning learning experiences for our students. The fact is that we have not been able to meet this objective; interactivity is not precisely present in our classes yet. Besides, the students are getting "bored" with these boards because they are being used much more like a whiteboard than a real Active Board that can engage students into real, meaningful learning with lots of interactive functions.

The potential of Promethean Active Boards is not limited to just plugging it in and work. But how can my partners, the ones in charge of mentoring, get to realize what is actually happening with the teachers and this "sophisticated gatgets?" One thing is what they get to see when visiting student teachers in their classes, and one other things is what they actually do when they are not being supervised. There is a generalized feeling in our Academic Department that students are not being stimulated, cognitively speaking, by our language teachers with the Interactive Boards.

In order to attack the problem from its root, a Nicenet virtual class has been created to have Mentor Teachers reflect on what is going on with teaching and technology assessing where our institution is standing by using the LoTI framework. Results will eventually been posted here, since we will start with this assessment starting Monday, March 22, 2010. In addition to this assessment, we will cover a range of topics to produce a cascade effect and help as many teachers as possible and train the trainers (mentor teachers) to better prepare our language instructors.

On Wednesday, March 17, my colleagues at Ulatina and Centro

Cultural had the chance to attend to training sessions with Penny Ur. This particular event was a joint effort sponsored by Universidad Latina and Cambridge University Press. Among the many ideas that Mrs. Ur shared with the audience, there was one that stood out from most of the things that were explained: "how to increase student interest." Based on what Penny Ur was explaining regarding student interest, I want to share a couple of things she stated and then I transferred to the use of technology.

On the one hand, if students are involved in a task, and there is enjoyment, learning can take place nicely and easily. Using technology for the sake of making our class look "sophisticated" does not mean that it is fostering learning. Creating lesson plans that include technology and Internet resources can increase student engagement and get them have fun; "learning with enjoyment can be memorable and long-lasting." Raising interet, based on Penny Ur's words, will lead us towards "achievable goals, game-like challenges for students, student collaboration, full participation in class, and success-orientation." Can we maximize this with a "shade" of technology? You bet we can!!

On the other hand, Mrs. Ur pointed out an interesting concept or idea that called many of her workshop attendants: book mutilation. What did Mrs. Ur mean by saying that we teachers have to "mutilate" our coursebooks? Well, she meant that, to create student interest and make learning meaningful and "fun." it is our task to "make variations" on coursebooks exercises to make them more experiantial. If we move a step ahead in terms of technology for eduacational purposes, all these wonderful sites for material development we can find on the Web can become useful "book mutilators" to enhance our teaching, and as a logical consequence, student learning.

To conclude, I invite everyone in our field to share bits of one's expertise to make our life as teachers easier and more rewarding and to help other teaching professionals to achieve higher standards in language learning with students.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

The Internet Has it ALL!

Education and Learning 4 comments

Would you agree with me that the Internet, as Web 2.0 Tools, has it all? Perhaps you have your doubts about this. However, in terms of education and language learning, a vast variety of tools are available for free use. Isn't that great?

By patiently exploring the mysteries and shortcuts one gets to find on the Web, one can come across valuable tools that can exponentially benefit one's teaching and student learning. The problem, at times, one has to admit, is that the search might prove to be useless. But teachers don't have to give up.

One of the most important things I have learned through this Building Teaching Skills W2010 is that sharing is the cornerstone in trying to move from the usual teaching in the classroom to a more interactive, participate, encouraging, and inclusive learning heading towards the regaining of student voices and learner autonomy. If all of us, members of this online course, can keep on sharing our findings on the Web, our language teaching will become much more fruitful and fun. And this can be fulfilled by continue posting on our blogs and commenting on others' blogs as well.

"Once this course is over, what is the next step?," you may have already asked this questions yourselves. In my particular case, I am now planning a five-week on-line training with our Mentor Teachers. Once mentors are trained with some of the most important things we have been learning through these intense weeks of Web learning and meditation, they will be able to continue replicating this information. In this way, little by little, information will be diseminated and more teachers will be heading towards autonomous learning, B-learning, and PBL, without forgetting the importance of having clear learning objectives for our students.

Finally, as I posted in our "virtual classroom," my teaching style has taken 180° change in direction. To keep up with the new techonoligical gatgets of the future, we must continue to share, be in touch, and develop ourselves professionally. Lifelong learning is just about to open more learning possibilities for us, teachers, and consequently for our students.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Autonmous Learning: A Never-Ending Process

Education and Learning 2 comments

Autonomous learning has been an issue that has been discussed many a time in education. But how can it be achieved to fully benefit from this kind of learning? Let's try a couple of answers to this question.

On the one hand, we have student training. David Little (1) points out that "the efficiency and effectiveness of the autonomous learner means that the knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom can be applied to situations that arise outsidethe classroom." What this implies, according to Little, is that learner autonomy starts in the classroom and then is moved out of it. It also implies that learners must be instructed (trained) to successfully use the "skills acquired" while being in class in learning contexts beyond the classroom.

On the other hand, we must consider the importance of teacher training in this matter. As Thomas F. Patterson, Jr. (2), Extension Associate Professor & Chair at University of Vermont-Burlington says, "An autonomous learner is someone who can manage information to solve problems and use new experiences to make decisions." Yet this learner learns how to "manage information" through teacher guidance and training in class. With the learning experiences undergone in class, the student can then apply his/her learning strategies to make the right "decisions" and overcome his/her learning difficulties.

By having teachers who have been previously trained to help out students with learning needs, trainees can discover their "strongest" learning strategies; pupils can then become autonomous learners. And as Little states in his article on learner autonomy, this implies "student involvement" and "learner reflection." If a student is not self-motivated to take responsibility for his/her own learning, we are ploughing in an arid land; however, if the "soil" is ready for growing learning strategies and skills, the educational "harvest" will be bountiful. If the learner mulls over his/her learning process, his/her best ways of learning can be spotted and used in other contexts.

In conclusion, autonomous learning is a twofold "enterprise." An untrained teacher cannot really help a student willing to take responsibility for his/her learning experiences. An unmotivated student needs to take the next step in his/her learning with the help of instructors. Finding the way to motivate students to be trained can turn out to be fruitful and rewarding.

References (Just click on the link to read article.)

(1) Little, David. http://www.ecml.at/mtp2/ELP_TT/ELP_TT_CDROM/DM_layout/00_10/06/06%20Supplementary%20text.pdf

(2) Patterson, Thomas http://www.joe.org/joe/1991spring/fut1.php

Saturday, March 06, 2010