Teaching English in a Secondary School !

An article  by Dolors Reig called “Nativos a naufragos digitales”

and the video

Nowadays many teachers are considering seriously using ICT and internet in their classrooms, I think that internet can also help Heads of Didactic Departments to achieve a better coordination and collaborative work. Internet and ICTs will be the key to improve the quality and effectiveness of our teaching.

Here is the link to ” The ELT web of IES Olivar Gran”

Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we’re educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types.
Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning — creating conditions where kids’ natural talents can flourish.

Digital society changes and it changes quickly!!!! What it was initially thought to be one way communication has changed into a conversational way of comunication.Very interesting article in

http://www.dreig.eu/caparazon/2010/04/21/formacio-competencies-digitals/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+caparazon+%28caparazon%29&utm_content=Google+International

I’m not worried about the use of ITC in the classroom, I don’t consider myself a master in computing… but I really worried about the methodology I’m going to use next year!!!!!with every student in class using his/her own laptop.

I don’t feel confortable at all with this “educat1x1” stuff!!!!

From my point of view, it is obvious and as you may have seen in older posts in this blog, that what we call CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT will be very different next year, but as head fo the English department in my school, and having into account the kind of students we have, it seems to me that nobodyelse has considered all this.

I’ve made some research on this topic as I’m very much interested in it, I’ve found some articles dealing on that and telling that there must be a change in the role of the teacher. Today I’ve read two articles in the local newspaper, L‘Empordà, and both saying the same thing.

But I’ve found nobody explaining……what to do the first day in class next school year!!!!

Only the video on XTEC.CAT  the govenmental site for Catalan Teachers  (bottom right) 😆

Also this four- sheet article called Classroom Management at the Digital Age

Interesting lines on creativity by Dolors Reig in el Caparazon “Todo trabajo creativo es derivativo”
La copia es la maquinaria del progreso cultural. No es robar, sino, añado, reconocer, dar importancia, devolver la vida al trabajo que surgió de la voluntad y a veces las ganas de compartir de otros/as. Potencia también la diversidad cultural.

our English classroom

I have recently watched a very interesting videoconference  organized by Telefonica  foudation called “Resintonizando la Educacion” held at Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid yesterday, the speakers were:

Mr. Alejandro Piscitelli from Argentina he has published Nativos Digitales. Dieta cognitiva, inteligencia colectiva y arquitecturas de la participación (2009) he has several blogs:

• Filosofitis: blog de Alejandro Piscitelli,
  
• Nativos digitales: blog del último libro de Alejandro Piscitelli
• Proyecto Facebook: blog del Proyecto de la Cátedra de Procesamiento de Datos

Mrs Dolors Reig, expert on ICT new trends, Education, E-learning and Social Media, she owns the blog El Caparazon, Mr ……………a secondary teacher in Andalucia, Mr …….. telefonica.

Some weeks ago, while talking on the porject called EDCAT1x1, a teachermate stated something in a meeting which caused me  great deception and strange surprise at the same time. She dared to say that using computers in the classroom was only a temporary trend that would last for a  very few years…I felt disappointed 😥 and rather ashamed 😳

I’m very fond of using my computer in the English class and  I use internet  in 1 out 3 of my classes, that’s to say once a week for every class-group. My  fourteen-year-old students are used to write their English compositions by commenting in the class blog, they also use their textbook website to revise for their exams, some of them have even produced a video in group or registered dialogues using audacity, we have worked cooperatively in webquests and treasure hunts, we have sung all together for Peace using karaokes from You Tube…

LUCKILY I CAME ACROSS WITH THIS VIDEO: Resintonizando la Educacion

It lasts for almost 2 hours but I strongly recomend everybody to watch it. It deals about interesting points such as WEB3.0, social networks such as Facebook, digital Natives, Multiple Intelligences… and the most important thing the new role teachers will have to assume.

This another extract from the article: One to One Computing:Lesons learned, pitfalls to avoid

From: Education World web page.

WHY NOT GO ONE-TO-ONE?

Students love computers. Many districts are eager to keep up with others technologically. So why not put a computer in every student’s hands?

Some critics argue that too many schools emphasize technology over learning. Being able to surf the Internet or create an elegantly designed word processing document, they say, doesn’t mean that students understand math better or are better able to use critical thinking skills.

Others complain that laptops and handhelds distract from learning rather than enhance it. Rather than taking lecture notes, students are watching videos, surfing the ‘Net, or instant messaging friends and strangers. For some teachers, the resulting classroom management issues outweigh the benefits of one-to-one computing.

Lack of student and teacher training also is a concern. Often, students are given laptops and teachers are told to start teaching with them, when they themselves are new to the technology. With little training and a lot of administrative pressure, many teachers have students take notes in Word or surf online and call it technology integration. Laptops are expensive typewriters, and relying on the Internet for most (or all) of one’s research is risky. Without significant support for teacher training, the cost-benefit ratio of one-to-one computing rarely is justified.

The question arises, “Have studies shown unequivocally that one-to-one computing has a significantly higher impact on learning than the traditional lab or classroom center model?” For many districts, the financial commitment required to give each student a handheld, laptop, or tablet PC means looking carefully at each of the options to see if as much, or more, can be done with less. Are there ways to achieve educational goals with less risk and lower cost?