EFL Classsom 2.0

I recently joined EFL Classroom 2.0 on Ning.   It is a good resource for EFL or ESL teachers because it has lesson suggestions that it is entitled Lesson in a Can.  Moreover, it has an ongoing forum in which members can post questions and await responses some of which deals with lesson planning. The URL is http://eflclassroom.ning.com/index.php

A Connectivist View of Learning

A learner today is like an air traffic controller at Chicago's O'Hare.  It is the learner's responsibility to stay alert and direct incoming and outgoing messages to their proper locations.  As information is shared and changes at such rapid speed today which causes problems to arise, many split second decisions have to be made.  Siemens in his pioneering work in Connectivism posits in both The Network is Learning (2009) and Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age (2005) that the rapidly evolving corpus of knowledge in any given field forces us to abandon previously held views on education and learning.

Siemen suggests in the video, The Network is Learning, that the " network (one) create(s) when (one) follows the writings... of an educational theory field... that that particular network is what enables (one) to stay current."  Moreover, in his article "Connectivism: a Learning Theory for the Digital Age", Siemens posits that "Informal learning is a significant aspect of our learning experience. Formal education no longer comprises the majority of our learning. Learning now occurs in a variety of ways – through communities of practice, personal networks, and through completion of work-related tasks."  It is this focus on the need to stay current or alert and the realization that learning is happening continuously, both formally and informally, that makes one realize that the connectivist theory needs to be further examined as it relates to educational needs in the digital age.  Siemens realization that we are no longer drivers on an empty highway, but rather airline traffic controllers constantly receiving and directing new information, rightfully calls for a new theory to explain how we transition from a theory aimed at individualism to one that examines the current collective nature of learning.

Reaction to videos

I viewed two videos this evening Social Media Revolution 2 (May 5,2010)and Did You Know? (June 22,2007) that document the prevalence of computers in people's lives today.  What interested me at first was that although these videos were published less than 3 years apart, the latter, Social Media Revolution 2 showed how Facebook had replaced MySpace as the leading internet socializing tool.  These two videos may have been intended for different audiences but I was struck how much glossier and high tech the more recent one was.  I was also struck by the sense of urgency in Did You Know?  It seemed to be a rallying cry to America to get with the tech or risk losing our national status. 

Thirteen years ago when I was teaching Renaissance Lit in  a Boston high school classroom, I made an analogy between the invention of the printing press and the internet.  As the internet was still in it's relative infancy, the students had some difficulties conjecturing how it might affect their lives.  As those who have studied the history of English or those who have read wikipedia's entry on the printing press know:
 
In Renaissance Europe, the arrival of mechanical movable type printing introduced the era of mass communication which permanently altered the structure of society: The relatively unrestricted circulation of information and (revolutionary) ideas transcended borders, captured the masses in the Reformation and threatened the power of political and religious authorities; the sharp increase in literacy broke the monopoly of the literate elite on education and learning and bolstered the emerging middle class. Across Europe, the increasing cultural self-awareness of its peoples led to the rise of proto-nationalism, accelerated by the flowering of the European vernacular languages to the detriment of Latin's status as lingua franca.<sup>[10] 
(courteousy of Wikipedia -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing_Press accessed 9/16/10) 

I cannot foresee the future but I think it would be interesting to know what people and children did before they spent so much time on computers, phones and Ipods.  I think that the internet and technology will have a vast effect on social relations but hesitate to say for the better or worse.  I also think that the internet more than anything makes it necessary for teachers to teach critical reading skills as some people believe everything in print.</sup>

Rules for blogging in the classroom

Blogs are designed to help you communicate and share your awesome ideas, thoughts, knowledge and interests.  In order to ge a good and safe blogger you must wear your internet seatbelt.  This will keep you safe as you journey down the information highway.

DO:

1. Use language that is appropriate in an educational setting.
2. Post articles, pictures and web links that are appropriate in an educational setting.
3. Be CREATIVE!
4. Have FUN!
5. SHARE your thoughts!
6. Tell your teacher if you get a comment that makes you nervous or uncomfortable.
7. Cite your sources when you establish a link.

DO NOT:

1. Share your full name, address, phone number or any other personal information.
2. Write anything that is hurtful or offensive.
3. Share your user name or password with anyone but your teacher or guardians/ parents.

Have fun on the Information Superhighway, it's a fast road so wear your safety seatbelt and navigate at an appropriate speed. 

Three ways to use blogs

I agree with Richardson that I need to understand how blogs can be a useful tool for my students before I ask students to join me in blogging.  Richardson(2010) suggests that "it's not until (he) fully understood how these technologies could facilitate global connections and conversations around (his) own passions, and how they could help (him) create powerful learning networks and communities, that (he) was able to see what needed to change in terms of (his) curriculum and (his) teaching. (8-9)  I think that I need to learn more about blogs and how they function in my education and with subjects that fascinates me before I can realize their potential value in my classroom.  It was interesting to read how teachers have used blogs to facilate global audiences and correspondences in their classroom.  As I currently teach ESL to adult refugees, I think that there would be many interesting activities we could do that connect us with each other, as well as the world.  However, I think that it would be beneficial to my professional growth to view how other ESL teachers use blogs to facilitate learning in their classrooms.

In response to how I would have students use blogs, I think that one thing that I could do with my intermediate students is post a news article each week on a controversial issue and have the students offr their opinions in one paragraph on the contentious topic.  This goes along with the NYS ELA standards that propose in the area of reading thatintermediate students "can understand the purpose , main ideas, and some details in some shorter authentic and academic texts." Moreover, in regards to writing, intermediate students should be able to "effectively convey an idea, opinion, feeling or experience in a simple paragraph."

For my low-advanced class, I would propose a situation in which students would have to respond in writing using appropriate purpose and tone.  Initially I could create a weekly situation in which the students would have to write a letter or email to a friend, business, news editor, landlord, etc. Eventually I would let students come up with situation, real or imaginary, where a correspondence must be made.  I would have the students post their letters or emails on the blog and then have them comment on at least 2 classmates writings.  This activity is based on NYS writing standards for advanced students that expresses that students "can display an awareness of audience and tone."  I think that this would be a good long term lesson on the use of formal and informal writing.