Good lessons begin with good planning

Hello,

Good lessons always begin with good planning. Successful teachers commence with effective and productive lessons.

When I was doing an internship at LINK center as a part of my College Teacher Training Programme, I learnt the specimen outline of developing lesson plans. On the basis of that model, I have developed a lesson plan on Banking. To prepare a detailed lesson plan is always a pains taking and time consuming exercise. I have tried to make this lesson pam:

·         As detailed as possible

·         ICT based

·         Applicable to in-person, hybrid and on-line learning

·         Accommodative of multiple styles

·         Student centered

·         Interactive, Collaborative and productive

If someone else goes in my absence to the class, he/she will be able to understand almost all details without much confusion.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gN35s5kobqMhqNUwBWR6Ayr7dnF12rnlPHqLT_MkHao/edit

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6JHzHH-S4dwZFNPVFRPR3l1V0E/edit

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6JHzHH-S4dwa3oyM2ExLWRpOEE/edit

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6JHzHH-S4dwX1BGdDBoYlRGYVk/edit

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6JHzHH-S4dwdEdkRkNoTmdJVGc/edit

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6JHzHH-S4dwd2dKVTIzZUJPNTQ/edit

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6JHzHH-S4dwek5ralpsSVNMWFU/edit

Cheers,

Jit

Class issues to be solved with technology

HI all,

This week was heavily loaded. I did retrospection to find out two major problems to be solved out whit the help of innovative use technology for the final project.

As of now, I am teaching a group of thirty students online. Their age varies from 15 to 55.

They are from Asia as well as North America. The group includes:

·         Students

·         Professionals

·         Housewives

The course goal is: To teacher English Communication skills that can help then practically in their daily life.

The student needs are: To improve English communication skills so that they can use them in fulfilling their daily needs, necessities and requirements.

There are two issues or problems that I am currently facing, and technology might help me to solve them.

The first one is student-oriented and that is motivation. They have already registered in the course, but they do not feel so much motivated. They do not complete the tasks within expected time frame. Few of them keep on disappearing and suddenly re-emerging after e-mail reminders. I need to do something that keeps them engaged with the course closely. I also wish that they finish the course on time with satisfaction that they have learnt something.

The second problem is teacher-related and that is tracking student process. Some students are regular, and they do their work regularly. However, I am struggling with the idea that how can I have a complete understanding of their development in learning. How can I measure out that they are really learning something to improve their English communication skills, and how can I have a true estimate at the end of the course that they have e-learnt substantially in this regard?

These two issues can be solved only with the help of use of technology which match with need-driven technology project. This is my need to drive the solution or technology that I choose to use, and not the other way around. I really don’t want the solutions or the tool to be imposed upon the class simply because it is new, exciting or available. On the contrary, I need new technology based solutions to solve these issues. There is a clear reason to use the technology I choose for my project. I hope that this makes my need clear.

Cheers,

Jit

“Can I - TEACH South Africa ?”

I went through the project named TEACH South Africa by Runganayagie Nailini Reddy. The report is quite methodical and systematic.

 It starts with opening remarks which proves to be a precursor to whatever is going to be described and done further in the report.

The background is quite illustrative and informative.  It clearly states who the learners are, their accessibility to e-sources, and their language efficiency, proficiency and exposure.

The virtual setting that offers distance e-support is completely complementary to synchronous and asynchronous leaner-paced environment.

The project has both short term and long term goals. To prepare grade appropriate, thematically integrated, exemplary lesson plans to teach all English language skills accommodating technology-based resources seems to be a real tech-savvy visionary course goal.

The learner needs are many, but some of them are to be addressed. Thematic integration of the four language skills incorporating issues of grammar is an eternal challenge to almost all ESL teachers throughout the world.

The research problem was to determine the impact of the technology-related change implemented to enhance ongoing support to the teachers. This is what all the teachers, teaching in under resourced schools through tech-rich resources, exactly need at the moment.

In the form of possible solutions, the e-teacher planned to set up e-support structures that would interactively offer other teachers a microsystem of distance support that might include synchronous and a synchronous technology tools like e-mail, texting, Skype, internet classroom, websites, etc. 

The Planned Project Program enumerates task number, task description and measure of assessment.

The most appealing fact in this project is that the class is fully virtual, not confined to any brick and mortar building. In addition, the learning can happen anywhere and anytime.  

The researcher believes the learning process is more important than the final product although achieving the intended outcome of the project plan would be the measure of success. This absolutely true in the whole of academic universe.  The anticipated rewards certainly provide the motivation to find solutions for online learning and teaching challenges.

When this e-teacher narrates the resources, I am glad that there is a mention of Instructional Technology. The idea of Five Star Instruction Model is new to me. She has also listed web articles and technology tools to be used.

In Project Plan Timeline the e-teacher has indicated that this project can be a pilot to investigate the feasibility of distance support, and this can be interesting for any online teacher, learner or researcher. In Project Plan Timeline she has given all tasks to be completed in particular weeks, technology to be used and actions to be taken.

Final comments are wise and wisdomful .Over-enthusiasm can blur the researcher’s vision, and over-ambitiousness can delay the progress. However, every e-teacher should try, and perhaps fail, but not fail to try.

Cheers,

Jit Shalin

Online learning, powered by broadband technology and the other new tools of the Information Age, is making it possible for all human beings to overcome barriers, to access the education they need to succeed, to step inside online classrooms, to learn from top teachers, and to improve one’s life and achieve our personal ambitions as a fundamental dream in the 21st Century.

Online education by higher education is part of a much larger whole in which the expectations, quality, communities, and content of online delivery are affected by the actions of approximately 100 million people who now make up the Internet world. It would appear, then, that student interactions with professors can be meaningful either in person or online. The medium does not determine the outcome; rather, the quality of interaction depends on how the medium is used. Moreover, technology may allow instructors to tailor education to the individual in a way that would not be possible in a traditional classroom.

One of my online publications seems to be precursor of whatever I have been learning in this course so far. Therefore, I thought it to be proper to share it with my e-mates of this course. All comments or suggestions are highly appreciated, and they will sure contribute in modifying and moulding my online teaching philosophy.

 http://www.eltweekly.com/elt-newsletter/2012/05/vol-4-issue-20-research-paper-does-the-medium-determine-the-outcome-in-virtual-academic-world-by-shalin/

This week I have learnt a very good handy and useful tool to be used to store and share links.  I will certainly use this tool for my online teaching and in-class hybrid teaching. I would recommend it to my students as well to share links with me instead of sending them to me through e-mail. These links can prove to be very useful when we need to make lesson plans or when we have to improvise in our actual classroom teaching if the students raise sudden queries or doubts at any particular point of time.

Research paper on multiple learning styles of online learners.

When I was doing my internship as a part of College Teacher Training Program at George Brown College, Toronto, I published a research paper. This paper highlights a field trial of an online course as an integral part of my PhD research. When I initiated the trial, I faced a lot of problems as a facilitator. The participants were not participating enthusiastically. As a consequence, I had to find some modus operandi to make the course more interactive, collaborative and interesting. As the first and foremost strategy for this, I decided to accommodate various learning styles of the learners. On the basis of my extensive academic experience, I modified the content and included more interactive and collaborative activities that can address and embrace most of the learning styles. As a result, I was able to run the field trial successfully, and the participants felt motivated to start and finish the course. I have tried to include the findings and conclusions which I inferred on the basis of this practical research experience. My findings were substantiated by academic scholar’s views and opinions regarding multiple learning styles. I thought to share this paper with my e-mates as it is regarding accommodation of multiple learning styles of online learners. I would appreciate if I receive some feedback on it. However, I request you to disregard the first introduction because the publishers published it by mistake. Please continue from the second introduction.

http://eltvoices.in/files/documents/EVI_22_6.pdf 

“You can never be overdressed or overeducated.” 
― Oscar Wilde

A quote by Mahatma Gandhi

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” 
― Mahatma Gandhi