Interactive Class Reflection

Many of the technology uses that Levy (2009) describes were interesting for me. With regards to grammar, I felt interested in seeing a corpus-included, parser-based NLP system. The idea of students receiving specific feedback on their errors and being able to see examples and situations the feedback is relevant for seemed to me very helpful for students. For writing, the iWRITE system, multimodal and also corpus-based, seemed very appealing. Levy describes virtual learning environments with multimodal features. I felt his description was fascinating. These are technologies I would like to explore for use in my classes.

Computers allow students familiarity with many genres for reading, writing, and creating, as Duffy (2007) explains. Class readings have helped me to think of the value of project-type tasks in relation to multiple perceptions of authenticity, including the students', real audiences, and autonomy. The web allows the processes of interaction, dialogue, expression, disagreement, negotiation, cooperation, collaboration, discovery, resolution and revision that are involved in learning to extend beyond the classroom and traditional classroom genres. The web and the world become the classroom. Students can develop a sense of agency as they engage in tasks that they perceive to be authentic and purposeful.

Thinking about these ideas in relation to my studies in rhetoric and composition, I feel that this kind of learning –insight through writing, dialogue, peer discussion and collaboration, problem-facing and resolving and empowerment—was something we sought to achieve in a traditional composition classroom, extending beyond this classroom. However, considerations of audience beyond the classroom were often, though useful, in reality still just considerations. The internet allows students to engage in the processes of learning with more participants in its variety of written and oral activities. This way of thinking about the internet as a means of really being involved with others in the world to learn and to make a difference was significant for me. I’m shy and a bit private, but I can understand that with this kind of involvement, meaningful things can be done and shared with others.

Most of all I would like to learn about multimodal virtual learning environments and how to use their features –whiteboard, video, and “breakout rooms,” amongst others. In Bangladesh, I have eight nephews and one niece (on my husband’s side), and I have many former students around the globe, many in countries where English education may have various limitations. I would like to teach them. I would like to explore a few VLEs suitable for children, study online about their use, and try.

I feel that I am learning a lot in this class. The course readings, reflections, and discussions have been useful for me. Regarding other class assignments, I sometimes felt confused about if I was proceeding properly. For instance, I felt my Share Fair activity was very simplistic compared to others. I haven’t done a lot of technology-based activities in my classes, so I was only able to offer one way in which I have used web-sites.

References:

Duffy, P. "Engaging the You Tube Generation: Strategies for Using Web 2.0 in Teaching and Learning." The Electronic Journal of e-Learning Volume 6 Issue 2, pp 119-130, available online at www.ejel.org

Levy, M. "Technologies in Use for Second Language Learning." The Modern Language Journal, 93, Focus Issue, pp 769-782. (2009)