Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Reflection on what learned with Francoise LeFort - Education and Technology


Amador Jimenez-Garrido


Reflection on things learned this semester - technology skills and ideas on integrating technology in future teaching.



Personally, I have always been aware of the importance of using new Technologies in classrooms today.
Nowadays there are only a small percentage of teacher that don’t use there feature in class or another learning situation.

There are two basic reasons why technologies should be part of the learning process today; first of all, these new methods make our class work to a quicker pace which allows us to cover more concepts within our time. And secondly, technologies make our work very interactive that is the best way to learn most subjects.

There are another ring of external reason like the importance of being familiar with technologies since childhood because our professional future is going to be determined with our capacity of utilize computer or other electronic devices.

I reckon that my knowledge of the possibilities available today was not good enough at the beginning of the course if I compared with today. Thank to this class I feel like I have good a wide range of methods that I will be incorporating to my lectures. I am very glad to have learnt the web basic programs because they are easy, intuitive, and they don’t need any installation or further setting up.

To enumerate or describe how I am going to use all of them is class is hard because I have not get to that point yet since I am still studding but I am sure that the use of some features or other is going to be related with the age of my students, but Office, Wiki, Digication..are going to be common in my classes.

The students will be benefited of the addition of technologies to class because they won’t be monotonous anymore and they will learn enjoying.
For me the challenge of bringing new feature to class is important because that means being a teacher that considers to be according with the times.

14 days after


Here I am, 14 days after EEUU, what changed? nothing really, why should I be scared of losing that freshness with my English? I have had a couple of conversation in Skype with my friends over Alabama and it seems like it is even better...

This brings to my mind the theory that learning...oh well I mean, mastering a second language is like driving, if you are a two years experience driver and you dont use it for 1 year, do you think you gotta start again? obviously no, it will flow from inside you as it was the next day of last time you used it. But of course, as any other thing in life, the more we practice the better and confident we get, and languages are not different, I will be talking to friends, facebooking them, mailing them, calling them, watching movies, reading books, blogging myself, in order to demonstrate I am still into it.

To all those people freaking out after an unique learning experience, if you worked it properly, (and only you know if you did), don´t be afraid, you will be fine for a long time if it is not 4ever ;)