Why online education is mostly a fantasy

See on Scoop.it – I can do this, even with technology.

In the end, MOOCs and online programs primarily help those who are self motivated to learn, and the vast majority of these people would have figured out how to educate themselves, whether in college or on their own, regardless of whether or not online courses are available.

 

Ellen Graber‘s insight:

I am one of those self-motivated learners and I can vouch for the fact that low cost online courses have a high drop out rate.

Last year I took a series of Moodle of Teachers courses, a fantastic series  with ( Integrating Technology for Active Lifelong Learning (IT4ALL) that provide a hands on approach to creating, designing, and using Moodle platforms for educational courses. There were 149 people in an orientation course, and only I finished the series of 4 more courses.

 

However, I also studied my Master’s online and felt community, structure and lots of support. It can go both ways.

See on pandodaily.com

TKT Course Graduates

Good news!

Your diplomas are ready for you in the office at the Languages Department. If you can go in the morning, ask for Cuiteli. I am there from 7-12 and am always happy to see you and help you out. If you can only go in the afternoon, then ask for Eva. She can help you out after 3.

It has been a pleasure to work with you and I hope that you achieve your goals. I hope you keep up on the blog and perhaps even post into the new people’s blogs with positive comments.

 

Learning Theories and our classes: why and how of motivation

This class will be a multi-layered multi-tiered learning experience.

For those computer savvy people, the experience will be completely on line.

For those who like the blended approach, they may access the information on line and work on paper (notebooks, matrices, and graphic organizers).

For those people who like to read from copies, copies are available: you have it all in your anthology, from the reading to the matrix.

After this class, besides the work asked of you during the class, you will write a post on your blog commenting on how your online experience went, sharing what you learned, and stating your opinion about how you liked the online or blended experience.

To get onto the platform:

Access: http://edtech4u.com

Create an Account

Wait for Email Confirmation

Click on link in email – gets you into base site of Integrating Technology

Then give my link http://www.integrating-technology.org/course/view.php?id=395

Give Password to the course  TKTisactive

Click enroll me

Then you are ready to start. Have fun playing.

Podcast Gallery – The Best Audio and Video Podcasts

See on Scoop.it – I can do this, even with technology.

Podcast Gallery is an online directory of the best audio and video podcasts across all genres. You can watch your favorite podcast shows in the browser or download them to your Dropbox or Google Drive.

Ellen Graber‘s insight:

This is a great collection of audio files well worth listening to, for people learning ENglish and for people who love these well-known talks and shows and missed them when they were on the air via NPR or PRI, or haven’t gone to a TED conference. Check them out.

See on podgallery.org

Literature Circles

Reading is a complex activity and we know that many of our learners are not accustomed to reading in their first language, let alone reading in the target language. When we create a collaborative communicative context for students to work on subskills in the target language, we begin to promote not only reading subskills, but we also promote collaboration, speaking skills, writing skills and listening skills.

It is difficult to separately work with any language skill, out of context with the other language skills. Literacy circles provides students with authentic reasons to communicate, a supportive learning environment and breaks down the tasks that students must do in order to practice and become proficient at reading skills.

Look at the Literature_Circles written by past students of the TKT course.
What is your opinion of Literature Circles? Can they help promote reading in L1 or L2 in your learning/teaching situation? For foreign language learners are they especially helpful? Why? Think about these questions as you investigate more about Literature Circles.
How would you use them in your classes? Investigate the links included in the PPT for more information.

ActiveTextbook | Interactive Textbook Software

See on Scoop.it – I can do this, even with technology.

Active Textbook provides educators with the tools to extend and customize digital learning materials, making them truly engaging for effective learning outcomes. Students can interact with customized content and cooperate with their peers using built-in social learning tools available on a variety of computing devices.

Ellen Graber‘s insight:

This looks like a great way to transform information to make it your own.

See on activetextbook.com

Add the widgets

Hello TKT candidates!

If you have not done so, please add the widget that lets people subscribe to your blogs. That way we can all share our ideas easily throughout the semester.Photo courtesy of http://media.photobucket.com/image/anime%20computer/blackkitten_of_darkness/Anime/girls/computer_moe.jpg