Serat

After a whole semester of CALL and other classes which overwhelmed me, it is nice to breath a little and reflect on what has been accomplished. The number of exposures to tools and programs was more than adequate. The basic question comes down to what had meaning and will continue so that it does not end.

I had been interested in blogs and wikis to be used in f2f teaching. It still has proven to be the most reliable source for being an extra assistant to my teaching syllabus. The students have a nice time getting acquainted with the web and learn how to reflect, especially for those who have never really reflected before. Within a semester they are able to create, post and continue their projects on the blog without overly stressing the students.

The emails have also been very good in terms of keeping contact and interacting with the learners. This interaction has proven to be very important and less papers to carry around. These will continue even if their course is over.

Overall, CALL is as its name stands, computer assisted language learning. It does not say how much and where; it is just to help. Web 2 has many tools which are wonderful, but it takes time to get to know the tools and figure out their use for a particular purpose. Thus, though the course is over, it isn’t the end, but in actuality another beginning but with more patience and time.

It’s been a couple of weeks since my last post…so little time and so much to do on the CALL. It is not the workload but the fact that there is more time being spent to troubleshoot and follow the links to understand. Although this is probably natural since this is a ‘hands-on’ type of learning.

From 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., I was preoccupied with learning about the Illuminate Live. I had started eating my dinner but never quite finished it. There was really no problem, except waiting for the downloads and then waiting for the group participants. As usual, the tools or potentials of usage had to be experienced, but I downloaded the user guide for participants which helped alot. The only thing was if I had read it before the Live session, it would have been better. Anyway, live and learn.

But, my confidence has risen a bit in dealing with the web tools. I feel like I can now start picking and choosing rather than the all-lost and overwhelmed feeling I had. Maybe it is the exposure and practice, but I also think it’s getting to know that the ‘web’ like a newborn baby is not that fragile and breakable or destructive. The only thing is that the novelty is wearing off and I wonder if it only me or do others also experience this?

I still need time to work with ‘Hot Potatoes’. I like it and believe it is useful in my job. The only problem is that I want to read about it in detail but can’t find the literature. I guess I am more the type of person who need to know the background before really trying out the buttons. Maybe some help will come…the help in Hot Potatoes was not adequate. I could use a scaffolder next to me anytime I work on this. Well, with patience, again, I should live and learn…

It is amazing what a little encouragement does to a human being. It sort of makes them a bit lighter and forget that a job is waiting for them. Today, after all the thinking that I had about what to do for my blog, I got some comments which perked me up.

It’s not the work…the joy of learning something new is great. The frustrations come when the pressure of time and how to allocate this precious time among the things we must do. As Anne said, take the time to smell the roses; I needed to be reminded that it is not just doing and experiencing everything, but to benefit and use what can be of use for my needs. This means I should be more selective.

I have been selective or maybe loosing some interest. I don’t know for sure. There are times when I am so excited about the technology and then it just comes down a degree because of the time. I joined LearningTimes and Tapped In, but haven’t really had the benefit of fully enjoying them. Why, again the commitment on my part must not be that strong…or else.

If I had only had the CALL class and not the others, I think, I would have been happier. Well, can’t cry over spilt water; got to work with it. For now, it is enough that I know what they are and log them for future reference and playtime. In the meantime, I must work on Hot Potatoes so that I can try to share with my collegues. I also need to make a podcast; maybe I’ll try something with the family. Anyway, I’ve decided to be positive about this and try to just try my best and see the results for now.

Working on CALL seems like a never-ending job. The more you sink into it the more there is to learn and try out new things.
For the last couple of weeks, it has been impossible to even reflect on what I’m doing. I have played with trailfire, diigo, pageflakes, grouply, groups and mailing list. Each one has their good points and still haven’t fully utilized any to the maximum.
Right now must run to work on Hot Potatoes which I should try to make a presentation to share. I hope I can work through it.

Pieces are falling into place as the support system comes into play. I really appreciated that and the fact that we are now having more in-class practice with someone to scaffold us. Thanks SusanMarandi.

Today we worked on Delicious; another new tool and of course many links and bookmarks to keep. The concept is good in that we have something that can be accessible like a phonebook which does not have a particular physical space but the volumes that one filters thru can be a drag. Over time, a person may acquire the bookmarks that one wants and just browse thru the network rather than importing. This may take an extra click, but then there is no ‘rush’ in filling. I still have to work on this a bit more to get the hang of it and maybe my opinions will change.

The other one was working with Flickr. I like seeing pictures or images on blogs or any other sites but feel some reservation to putting up an ‘image’ of me or my experiences. Maybe I am still old-fashioned. When I watched the other people, I feel like maybe I’m imposing into privacy. So, I need to deal with this social networking. What does it really, really mean? Are there certain boundaries and limits other than the ettiquet that is prevalent amongst the members? Need to work on these thoughts more to feel real comfortable in using this tool.

The aggregator or RSS is still a fuzzy realm. I’ve signed up with Bloglines and am searching into Google Reader. I theoretically comprehend the usefulness but haven’t actually experience it. Maybe it can be related to not having built the account for myself. So, have more discovering and wondering but still not time. Actually, if time could just stand still and let me just finish this process, it would be ideal.

After a month of feeling alone and rather slow at dealing with the technology, I finally got a chance to receive a feedback from SueWaters which made me like a person. I guess we all need some sort of acknowledgement or support.
Speaking of support, the articles by Toyoda and Jones on learner autonomy was my cup of tea. It spoke about the fact that technology does enhance learners’ autonomy but it is relative to the computer literacy of a person as well as the role of teachers. Some of the cases that were being discussed sounded like me. I am a newbie; computers are user-friendly but there are still certain things that can be taught and led. Aside from that, the major problem is the TIME that these projects entails. It has been a common belief that technology saves time; I can’t agree from the producing side but maybe from just the receiving end, it may be.
WebQuest is interesting and am searching to see how I may incorporate it in helping my students to improve their language skills. The social-constructivist perspective is pretty much what I also believe is the way to learn and acquire knowledge. For now, have to go search and check which will take another thousands of hours.

Yesterday we had a hand-on session with ‘delicious’ and ‘flickr’. It was definitely helpful and to play around with the expert around helps. I believe the moral support that a teacher gives can go a long way. With CALL, most of the job seems to be fluid but there are little questions which can hold up the progress. This gets resolved in the class or it must wait until we can ask someone or be daring enough to start pushing ‘buttons’. So, yesterday I saw a ray of light in my dark cloud of CALL games.

Reading the literatures on call had me thinking for awhile that it is very similar to all that we have been talking about. The essential point of asking for assistance and guidance comes from the fact that my web literacy is low and needed to be upgraded. As Levy, Reinhardt, et.al., have indicated, there is a need to establish and implement a web literacy into the curriculum of second language learners. Basically, it boils down to acquiring computer and web literacy and how to use the info that is available on the web. Murray refers to the historical developments, philosophically, about literacy in general and currently to the new technologies that have infiltrated into our lives.

After reading these articles from Reading Matrix, I felt that I had a right to feel the way I had up to now. If I had been gradually exposed and supported to the new technological tools that I would use for teaching, then my stress level may have been less. G. Stanley writes in a very positive manner with the form of helping and making everything simple and easy. I became convinced that it was easy the first time I had read his papers, but now know that it is not that simple. There are links and links built into everything on the web other than the academic papers and literatures. Reinhardt and Isbell pointed out that there are steps to acquiring the basic web literacy.

As a complaint about the tasks to be done, I was very distressed when I had reflected on my blog for an hour and then have it disappear because of connections. Since then, my memory has not functioned to bring the reflections back. The blog site is also going thru some upgrading so it does not come up. The wiki does not appear. This clearly indicates that computer assisted learning must be built with many contingency plans and options if it is to be implemented. The technology that is available is good, if accessible but it is not absolutely necessary. The trick, I think, is in learning and recognizing the uses that the technology may have for various needs.

19 Mehr

I have spent the last hour typing my thoughts about the readings on a new page. Then it disappeared because the connection had been broken and I didn’t realize it. Lesson learned is to type on word and then paste to blog. For next time.

It is impossible. There are so many glitches in playing with these tools. Several days, I’ve been trying to open the wiki page but no luck. It seems to be all trial and error; nothing is for sure. Isn’t this a little bit trying on the nerves, especially when time is so precious.
Blogging is getting a little better but there are still many questions…would like to have an angel over my shoulder to tell me and guide me. It is really hard to just keep pushing links. Maybe I don’t have enough patience. I also realized that the novelty of new techs wear off faster than the traditional tools. I still love to sit down and read a book more than to sit with the laptop. When there is a functional need, it is okay, but it sure takes up your time and energy.
Reading about it is easier…