Third tutorial

We're building on basic concepts, complex tasks

And time goes by...this is what happened in the third tutorial...

First of all, it caught my attention how all my classmates got hooked up in technology. Everybody had something to say. I noticed how some were more skillful than others. I include myself in the second group, since I need a lot of practice to really master all the tools. I suppose that arriving late to this high tech era is interfering with the speed in which I grasp the concepts. It also has to do with my learning style. 

Something I noticed in the third tutorial was the great amount of information that was given and shared at the same time. I felt confused to the point of not recalling certain basic info of the first class. Maybe I was overwhelmed. On top of that, there is a list of concepts we must know by heart for the test. God help us! 

Something that I believe it would really help to access these tools (blog, glog, webquest, wiki, podcast, etc.) during class because it would help us visualize, at least for a brief moment, what we are going to do next...Maybe not all, because that would take a lot of time. 

Anyway, we talked about the chapters assigned, the main features of the chats, e-mails, wikis, blogs, podcasts...advantages, disadvantages, and ways we can use them in the classroom.

I am not completely clear with the podcast...However; it is a matter of taking the time of playing with them to see how they can help us.

I liked the social networks (web 2.0), I think they really can help English teachers to mediate contents. Linguistic and social skills interact simultaneously. The action is happening right away (real medium concept). Tasks are really communicative.

Interesting idea that of an e-pal project. Before doing it we better teach netiquette though. If planned right, it could be very beneficial.

On the other hand, I just checked out Voki. Here, students write a paragraph, type into voki.com, listen, and make the changes. The last step is very important since students can reflect on their own work.  Although students may be working in pairs, this formative self assessment leads students to be more independent. 

Here is a video, where you can check it out.  So long, got to study…