Week 3 : Reflection

Week 3: Reflection

The journey on “Building Teaching Skills through Interactive Webs” has almost completed its third week and it has been interesting, insightful and challenging for me.  I heartily thank Donna for her motivation and inspiration.  I have got a wonderful learning community and have learnt a lot from their experiences.

I began this week by reading two articles: Lindsay Miller's "Developing Listening Skills with Authentic Materials" and Julia Gong's "The Employment of CALL in Teaching Second/Foreign Language Speaking Skills". My attention was especially caught by Lindsay Miller’s article as listening is almost neglected in our classroom situations. I realized its importance and after reading it. I really enjoyed looking at Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab (www.esl-lab.com) and was amazed at its usefulness in enhancing all the skills of language learning. I shared it among my colleagues and I am going to suggest it to my students as well. I have learnt that technology makes learning lively and interesting.

This is the first time I heard about http:// delicious.com: Social Bookmarking for storing our online finds.  I have created my delicious page http://delicious.com/beni486 . The descriptions have eased to find the required materials. This is easy and time saving, isn’t it?

 I read the final project report by the author Zlatka Dyankova from Tryana Private High School of Languages and IT, Stava Zagora, Bulgaria in which s/he used WebQuest to break the traditional practices in teaching and promote passive learners’ interest and motivation. I am impressed the way s/he selected the technological tools and the topic for his/her students. I salute his/her optimistic attitude towards bringing efficient learning environment in his/her school. I am fully convinced that technology can bring a positive change in my school. The report has been quite insightful to me for my journey ahead.

Thank you friends for your insightful comments and exchange of ideas. You have made this week’s journey really wonderful. 

Kiran

Nepal