WEEK 7

This week has been busy too. I started reading about learner autonomy, philosophies of learning, learner strategies and attitudes towards learning, and motivation. All of them are key factors to be taken into account if we want to give our students good lessons where they learn efficiently and effectively.

I agree with Dimitrios Thanasoulas in his article "What is Learner Autonomy and How Can it Be Fostered?" (http://iteslj.org/Articles/Thanasoulas-Autonomy.html) when he affirms "Learner autonomy consists in becoming aware of and identifying one's strategies, needs and goals as a learner, and having the opportunity to reconsider and refashion approaches and procedures for optimal learning." Autonomy takes a long time to develop, and teachers have a crucial role in developing learner autonomy. Lessons have to be meaningful to students, dealing with topics of interest; entertaining and full of critical thinking and opportunities for students to speak up their views. They seem to be quite a lot of things to think of. However, David Little gives some advice in order to maintain the motivation and the attention of learners in his article "Learner autonomy: drawing together the threads of self-assessment, goal-setting and reflection" (https://sites.google.com/site/webskillsuo/home/assignments/week-7/Learner%20Automomy.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1) For instance, using the target language as the common medium of communication; using learning activities that can be shared, discussed and evaluated by learners; giving the students a more proactive role in their learning; requiring learners to keep a written record of their learning; or engaging learners in regular evaluation.

As I already mentioned in one of my posts for week 7, the most important factor that influences the development of autonomy in my lessons is motivation. Most of my adult students come to my lessons instrumentally motivated. It is really difficult to foster integrative or intrinsic motivation. One sentence that impressed me was this one: “the learning of a foreign language implies an alteration of the self-image.” Taken from an article by Dimitrios Thanasoulas (http://iteslj.org/Articles/Thanasoulas-Autonomy.html) when the author is paraphrasing M. Williams. Thus, cognitively speaking students need to understand a new way of comprehend and categorize the world around us. My students, as adults, are not encouraged to change their views and their ways of constructing reality. David Little mentions in the aforementioned article that “feeling free and volitional in one’s actions nourishes our intrinsic motivation and our proactive interest in the world around us.” So that is probably the key to enhance students' intrinsic motivation, letting them decide on their learning goals.

I have also discovered a tool called “Padlet”, which is an online notice board. It is a versatile tool that may be used either for homework or for class activities. You neither need to register, nor any special skill on computing. Just double clicking at the background you can post a notice in the shape of a sticker. There have been more readings about the one-computer classroom and mobile learning, and about all the pedagogical possibilities these tools have. The most appealing idea for me is to use any of these tools as a backchannel of my lessons. Thanks to backchanneling (http://www.edutopia.org/blog/backchannel-student-voice-blended-classroom-beth-holland) all students can contribute their questions to the entire class. It is a way to “hear” the students easily, since it is sometimes difficult to hear everyone in face-to-face classroom communication.

I keep on working on my plan report; my classmate, Megumi Tabata, has accepted to work cooperatively with me in peer evaluation, so I am very glad to have the opportunity to work hand in hand with a partner. I have just realized that there can only be one or two technology tools in each project, so I am trying to decide which one to use. I had decided to use an online recording tool “Vocaroo,” which is very easy to use and to share. There’s no need to register, it is very good for my students; immediacy is paramount in completing homework tasks. My students are working people without much time for English homework. However, I also wanted to use “Padlet” for peer evaluation; “edmodo” to post the links to the recordings and the texts of the stories based on Edward Hopper’s works of art; and a “power point” to give more theoretical content. In fact, the only tool I am using to try to ease the students' embarrassment when they have to speak English is vocaroo. 

Happy week!

Begoña

Spain