Hi everyone, I hope you are doing well on these hot days of June.
As you might know, this is our last post on blog and I wanted to say that this was one of the best experience so far for me. I have enjoyed it a lot even though sometimes was hard to adapt to the new things that we have learned, posts that we did, etc but it was fun and interesting. We have learned new things about technology, how to use it while teaching, how to create online exercises, also the presentation'' teacher for 20 min'' that we did in class that was one of the best things we did.





Another thing that I have to mention is the conference our friends did last Friday.
I know that they have worked hard for that presentation and what I can say is that I'm proud of my friends. They did a very good job and I could see their smile on their face when the conference was over. They wanted to succeed and they did it. While my friends were presenting they were people saying ''they are my friends'' and in that moment I was feeling very good.
I'm really proud that they did it and most of all I'm proud of my friends.
A special thanks, of course, goes to our teacher Danjela Hasa who has accompanied us throughout the semester for the patience shown and the tireless hard work.

Hi everyone, as you may know, we are reaching the end of the course and today I'm going to talk about the impact of the technology in student learning.

We know how technology gets advanced and make our lives simpler day by day. Everyone is quiet depending upon technology as it provides us the simplest solution for the work that we are doing every day. Technology has changed the world we live. Technology has a most significant impact on education also. 

Technology has opened up a whole new world that a couple of decades ago, simply did not exist. The internet has created an avenue in which anyone can learn about other cultures through a virtual experience.

Technology plays the role of facilitator in educating a student. It enriches the educational experience providing options that can accommodate students in their quest to learn. technology has impacted student learning via communications, convenience, and control.

One of the most important things technology has done for student learning is to increase accessibility. That means the borders have expanded for disabled students rural communities. 

Using technology to facilitate student learning has come with many positive benefits. Students can pick and choose what mediums they prefer to learn content and maximize their study time. Students have immediate access to anything they do not understand or want to learn more about. Students are no longer solely dependent on teachers, parents, or other educated people to be their only source of information. Students are in charge of their own learning and technology has leveled the playing field in many ways.

Thanks to technology our lives have become easier and we should appriciate it.

Hi everyone, I hope you’re having a great time even though it is a rainy week. This week post will be about a reflection on some elements, some apps or some programs that we have come across while working on our projects.  

Also we can reflect about our experience as a “teacher for 20 min in class “.

During this semester we have learned a lot of new things, a lot of things that we didn’t knew before. At the beginning we were afraid and very interested at the same time about this subject but now I think that we did it. 

Being a teacher for 20 min in the class was one of the most beautiful experiences i have ever had. It was so exciting. The whole work was focused on the students and the lesson that we introduced to them about adjectives for physical appearance . We used different elements while teaching. We used projector, laptop, papers that we gave students to take notes and to do the exercises in the class. We also showed them a video and after watching it they have to reflect . Our focus was on improving listening, writing and reading skills . Also i think that we have their attention all the time because it was a technology teaching class and they weren’t introduced with such kind of teaching. It was a new thing for all of us and we made it.  

This week we got introduced to another way of learning called Webinar. Like other methods, this method is a virtual one too and I find it very interesting to talk about as a new way of E-learning.

But first of all, what is a webinar itself?

A webinar is a live, web-based video conference that uses the internet to connect the individual (or multiple individuals) hosting the webinar to an audience of viewers and listeners from all over the world. 

In our case, a webinar is an online seminar or workshop delivered over the internet as
the word itself which literally means a blend of -web and -seminar.

This week our teacher sent us 2 videos related to ''Discovering grammar with consciousness-raising tasks'' and the other one '' Proverbs and Quotables''  and we will reflect and give our opinions about them. 2 videos were a bit long but they gave us a lot of new information and were very helpful for all of us as we were dealing with a new way of learning. Even though our teacher delivered to us videos in an online way to watch and comment over them it means that everyone was free to give their opinions and also share ideas and knowledge with other students also with our teacher. Some students might find it easy to deal with these new ways of learning because they might be good at using technology but some others might find it difficult because not all students have technological skills and it might be challenging for some of them. But what we can do?
We need to embrace technology to make learning more engaging. Because when students are engaged and they are interested, that's where learning takes place.

The introduction of these online seminars is a good way of learning and a good method to use during teaching because it represents questions for discussion, teacher can use also a variety of digital materials, can share videos, picture, etc and students might share their ideas with each other and in this way they (students) feel more comfortable to communicate with each other and the teacher through these online chats and groups. This way of learning also facilitates the teacher's job, when she has to deal with a wider audience and not to forget is the fact that this way of learning makes the seminar more interesting and not boring while students are learning something new.

As we can see 'webinars' has a lot of advantages when it comes to teaching and it is a good method to use while we are teaching as future teachers also this method facilitate our job as teachers and is very helpful to all students nowadays. 

But it is not all about the technology; it’s about sharing knowledge and information, communicating efficiently, building learning communities and creating a culture of professionalism in schools. These are the key responsibilities of all educational leaders.

Technology can become the “wings” that will allow the educational world to fly farther and faster than ever before—if we will allow it."

SEE YOU IN THE NEXT POST!

XOXO

Hello everyone, this week's post was about project-based learning. We had to do some research about this topic (PBL) and we had to post it on our blog. There were several articles on the internet that talked about how to use this effective method in class, what was the advantages and disadvantages of using this method, etc.

What is PBL?

Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge.

Project Based Learning (PBL) prepares students for academic, personal, and career success, and readies young people to rise to the challenges of their lives and the world they will inherit.

In Project Based Learning, teachers make learning come alive for students. 

For example:

Students work on a project over an extended period of time – from a week up to a semester – that engages them in solving a real-world problem or answering a complex question. They demonstrate their knowledge and skills by developing a public product or presentation for a real audience.

As a result, students develop deep content knowledge as well as critical thinking, creativity, and communication skills in the context of doing an authentic, meaningful project. Project Based Learning unleashes a contagious, creative energy among students and teachers.

Why PBL?

Because Project Based Learning engages students in learning that is deep and long-lasting, and inspires for them a love of learning and personal connection to their academic experience.

 

This is an effective method to use nowadays in class that we future teachers are going to teach. Another benefit for students is that they actively explore real-world problems and challenges and acquire a deeper knowledge, also help them to develop  skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving.

FEEL FREE TO SHARE YOUR OPINIONS WITH ME, SEE YOU SOON!

Hello everyone, hope you are having a great week.
As you know last week seminar was about flipped classroom and technology. Our teacher presented us with a new way of teaching that has to do with online class. It was a new activity for all of us and we had to deal with it online, that means that wasn't necessary to be in class. It was a great experience, quite interesting also challenging because we had to deal with something new, with something that we hadn't done before.
How can I define flipped lesson ?
It replaces teacher lessons with online instructions. It was such an interesting activity and we adapt quite well with it. Also, another thing to be mention is that we were updated with the latest technology tools.
Our teacher sent us a video regarding technology in children's life. We had to watch it for some minutes and to give a comment about the video. We would give our opinions in short sentences in a limited time so that means that we had a deadline to respect. It was such a great experience and I would definitely like to use this method in the future and apply it to my students. Related to the class level and the lesson that I will explain I will use this method just like our teacher did. I will give them a video ( for example a short story regarding new words ) so they can watch it carefully and more than one time and reply to it, give comments, opinions about it.
If they will have any question I will be able to answer them. Also, we will do the practice part like exercises about the lesson.
This is a good method that all teachers now and future teachers especially we future teachers should be updated with technology in order to help students because we all know how important is technology nowadays and we have to adapt with student needs and also with new methods introduced to us.

Hello everyone, I  hope you have enjoyed your weekend. 
Last week we have spoken about constructivism and today I'll refresh your memory by mentioning some important information regarding constructivism.





First of all, we should not forget what is Constructivism- a theory based on observation and scientific study about how people learn. For example in the classroom, the constructivist view of learning can point towards a number of different teaching practices. It usually means encouraging students to use active techniques to create more knowledge and then to reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is changing. Constructivist teacher encourage students to constantly assess how the activity is helping them gain understanding. The best way to understand this is by seeing examples of it at work, speaking with others about it and trying it yourself.

In the constructivist model, the students are urged to be actively involved in their own process of learning. One of the teacher's biggest jobs becomes asking good questions. The teacher functions more as a facilitator who coaches, mediates, prompts and help students develop and assess their understanding and thereby their learning. In the constructivist classroom, teacher and students think of knowledge as a dynamic, ever-changing view of the world we live in and the ability to successfully stretch and explore that view.

Constructivist teachers pose questions and problems, then guide students to help them find their own answers. They use many techniques in the teaching process, for example: prompt students to formulate their own questions, allow multiple interpretations and expressions of learning, encourage group work and the use of peers as resources.

There are also some critical perspectives:1-its elitist,2-social constructivism leads to groupthink,3- there is little hard evidence that constructivist methods work.

Some benefits of constructivism:1-children learn more and enjoy learning more when they are actively involved,2-education works best when it concentrates on thinking and understanding, constructivist learning is transferable,3-constructivism stimulates and engages students also promotes social and communication skills by creating a classroom environment that emphasizes collaboration and exchange of ideas and gives students ownership of what they learn.

I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY READING THIS AND ALSO REFRESHING YOUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT CONSTRUCTIVISM. SEE YOU IN THE NEXT POST, TILL THEN HAVE A NICE WEEK AND FULL OF NEW INFORMATION !