Unit 7: Innovative Learning Environments

Gist , N. (2009). Language Arts - The Simple Compound Game. Retrieved on June, 2010 from http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=141769&title=Language_Arts___The_Simple_Compound_Game

¨DGBL FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING¨

When I listen to the word game, the first idea that comes to my mind is to have fun. Generally, games are loved for everyone, because as stated by Oblinger (2006) games engage people and capture our attention. Hence, games in the language learning context must be focused on what the learners enjoy doing with what they need to know (Prensky, 2009); however, teachers must bear in mind what his/ her students learning styles are and think about in general about the target population, given that not all students learn to the same pace. Now, when we refer to games using specific software it is time consuming for teachers when seeking for good products, since great learning games ¨are limited¨ (Prensky, 2009, p.95) given that some games are not designed to be educational, therefore, we need to think about the usefulness and quality of the game and why it does accomplish the class ´expectations.

Nowadays, with the new emerging technologies, people are attracted with amazing games the web offers, what might be an advantage for foreigner players because they might need to learn or identify key vocabulary to be able to play, but games might be also negative because they may become addictive and might not ¨teach¨ people meaningfully . Then, bearing in mind the negative aspects the games can bring, teachers might be thinking of creating their owns, however it is not an easy task because as stated by Prensky (2009) we need to think as a player, designer and seller, what might take too much time and money if one is not an expert.

To conclude, it is important teacher try to figure out the language of games in order to meet well the expectative from the audience; I might say most of us need to be trained to choose and design games because not all of them are effective and educative; besides, it is also important to be clear on what we want students learn and how we want they gain new knowledge since this would be one of the purpose of the games.

References

Prensky, M. (2009). Digital Game- Based Learning. Paragon house.

Oblinger, D. (2006). Games and Learning: Digital games have the potential to bring play back to the learning experience. Educause. Retrieved on June, 2010 from http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/GamesandLearning/157406

¨COPING WITH EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES¨

Future Emerging Technologies : Presence from Crickro RC on Vimeo.

Crickro, RC. (2009). Future Emerging Technologies: Presence. Retrieved on June, 2010 from http://www.vimeo.com/4273879

Nowadays the use of technology in the classroom is increasing, given that people are more interested in learning by using it. So, I might say that technology is changing education radically because every day people want to learn by using this means. However, as stated in BECTA (2007) teachers’ lack of fluency with modern tools; it might happen because new teaching strategies have not been addressed perhaps because they have not received any kind of training in the use of new technologies and consequently, teachers feel fear of use them.

In spite of this, I consider teachers need to adopt new tools in order to offer learners new learning environments and know how to evaluate learning tools to make sure about their reliability. All these can happen if teachers explore and try the different technological resources, which contribute to lifelong learning.

Emerging technologies as for instance, social networking sites, wikis, blogs, interactive white board, among others highly offers progress in a community; although there might be barriers to integrate technologies, as hardware and software or professional development, teachers need to consider them with the purpose of transforming classrooms and students´ lives, that way having students to develop other skills and changing the way we think about education.

To end up, I think that to be updated with the different emerging technologies it is important to be interested about the tools we, as teachers can use to engage students to learn. At the same time, it would be crucial to make part of communities of practice in order to know and share information about teaching strategies which may contribute to the teaching practice.

References

BECTA. (2007). Emerging technologies. Retrieved on May, 2010 from http://partners.becta.org.uk/page_documents/research/emerging_technologies07_chapter4.pdf

Unit 6: Social Networking

Leelefever. (2008). Twitter in plain. Retrieved on May, 2010 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

¨MICROBLOGING AND SOCIAL NETWORKING¨

Views on microblogging and social networking including advantages and disadvantages.

	Advantages	Disadvantages
Microbloogging	Responses in minutes when using technology as cell phones. For example, when being in class those with internet access can contribute and be more active in class. Text messages are uploaded to a microblogging service such as Twitter where we can find interesting information about an issue we are interested in. Have useful discussion on selected topic and clear you doubts from experts. Updates you make in micro blogging sites can be visible to community members to all users depending upon the platform you use. Instead of spending hours together to narrate a blog post, micro blogging platform can be used effectively to share things you wish to.	Many people do not have access to internet or even a cell phones, therefore they might not be as engaged as the ones with phones. Although we can find a lot of information in Twitter it is important to know exactly what it is going to be purpose to get involved in this microblogging. It is crucial to identify the people who we can follow in order to get valid and reliable information. The biggest disadvantages of micro blogging would be the limitation in characters. It is easily to get off topic.
Social Networking	Allow users to share ideas activities, events and interests. Provide means of users to interact over the internet. Build social relationships. Low costs since it's cheaper to use online social networking for both personal and business use because most of it is usually free. Builds Credibility because you can gain the customers' confidence if you can connect to them on both a personal and professional level. Connections because you are friends with people who have other friends, and so on.	Lack of Anonymity because one puts out information about the name, location, age, gender, and many other types of information that one may not want to let others know. Scams and Harassment, there is a potential for failure of security in both personal and business context Time Consuming for those people who don't see the point. For them, it can be a disadvantage.

References

Everyday- Wisdom. (N.D). The Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Networking. Retrieved on May, 2010 from http://www.everyday-wisdom.com/social-networking.html

Mercy. (2008). Micro Blogging Advantages and Disadvantages. Blogspot. Retrieved on May, 2010 from http://seodailydose.blogspot.com/2008/12/micro-blogging-advantages-and.html

Reynard, R. (2008). Microblogging and Relevancy. Campus Technology. Retrieved from http://www.campustechnology.com/Articles/2008/11/Microblogging-and-Relevancy.aspx

THREAD ¨COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE¨

I think that being involved in a community of practice as a professional brings many advantages in order to gain knowledge about the own field and gives chances for discussing about current topics with professionals, in this case about teaching in EFL scenarios. At the same time, sharing experiences with other people can contribute to try ¨something new¨ with the purpose of improving the own performance. Here, the ¨goal¨ would be to support each teacher to foster the professional development by learning from each other, developing a wide range of resources and creating activities which might help teachers to improve the daily practice. Now, talking about the usefulness for language learning in a community of practice, I might say it offers a real practice of language because in the community we all would have a very active participation when setting topics of continuous interest.

Reference

Wenger, E. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice: a quick start –up guide. Retrieved from http://www.ewenger.com/theory/start-up_guide_PDF.pdf

Wenger, E. (2006). Communities of practice a brief introduction. Retrieved from http://www.ewenger.com/theory/index.htm

Visualizing the dynamics of communication in Communities of Practice on Twitter

View more presentations from Wolfgang Reinhardt.

Reinhardt, W. (2009). Visualizing the dynamics of communication in Communities of Practice on Twitter. Retrieved on June, 2010 from
http://www.slideshare.net/wolfgang.reinhardt/visualizing-the-dynamics-of-communication-in-communities-of-practice-on-twitter