Learning Online

Blogging is a great way to share your experiences on a wider platform. Here are some blogs to folllow: An A-Z of ELT by Scott Thornbury Reallyenglish by JJ Wilson Jeremy Harmer authenticteaching by Willy Cardoso Doing some thinking by Henrick Oprea Evidence Based Education by Dr Gary Jones Adaptive Learning in ELT by Philip Kerr Immersivities by Adi Rajan Web tools for educators   - a community of practice

Twitter is an online site that you can join, and you can follow specific themes. So if, for example, you type in hashtag #teachEnglish or hashtag #ELT, you can then follow lots of different posts that talk about this theme. And various people who have interests in these themes will share articles. They will share opinions. They will share webinars, conferences, et cetera. And you can follow them. And also you can publish your own ideas using these hashtags. Another really interesting hashtag to follow is #edtech, E-D-T-E-C-H. And again, this will give you ideas about what is happening in technology and education. And you can follow this. And you can contribute.

http://osvita.ua/school/method/technol/45747/

Assessment includes the day to day monitoring and evaluation of learning in class. If we need to know how much of the learning objectives have been achieved, we need to go for assessment. Assessment is also important to promote the students, to grade the students, and to give them feedback as well. Assessment Terminology Formative assessment This is the use of assessment to give the learner and the teacher information about how well something has been learnt so that they can decide what to do next. It normally occurs during a course, and informs the teaching that follows. This can also be thought of as  assessment  for  learning Summative assessment This evaluates a learner’s progress up to a certain point and provides a summary of where they are. Tests may be conducted at the end of year or the end of a course, for example. This is also known as  assessment  of  learning Continuous assessment This means assessing aspects of learners’ language throu...

Differentiation Type of differentiation Examples By task Provide a variety of tasks, use a more or less challenging task than the one provided in the coursebook, use a more culturally-appropriate task By text Use graded listening or reading texts, use authentic materials By media Flashcards, video, worksheets, a role play, a craft activity Task examples

The week's topic: Knowing the Subject Different kinds of knowledge that students must have: Types of knowledge Linguistic knowledge Knowledge of English and of other languages World knowledge ‘General’ knowledge or specialist knowledge Sociocultural knowledge Knowledge about communities and social practices, how language is used by different groups of people, in different situations, for different functions Learners need to know much more than just the meaning of new language, whether it’s a word, a phrase, a grammatical structure or a fixed expression. It will be useful for my students to focus on the following questions when working with vocabulary. J 1. What does it mean? Does it mean different things in different contexts? Does it directly translate to my language? Is it similar to other words I know in English? Does it have any positive or negative connotations? 2. How do I say it? How will it sound when I hear it? How many syllables are there? Where...

I've already done the first course on Teaching for Success programme. Now it's time for the second - Learning and Learners. I'm legging behind a bit but been able to cover Week 1 Understanding Learners. This is what I'm taking with me. MOTIVATION I've found out about different types of motivation for learning, based on the theories of American psychologist, Carl Rogers. Intrinsic motivation — comes from the learner. The learning activity and the learning environment motivate the learner because they are a source of enjoyment or value. Intrinsic motivation must come from the learner. And our job as teachers is to create a suitable environment for this to happen. Extrinsic motivation — comes from an external source, some kind of external benefit or reward. The potential negative consequences of not learning can also be motivating. The better we understand our learners' motivations the more we can work towards providing a learning environment and act...