podcast

http://maple-xie.podomatic.com/entry/2010-08-12T09_22_00-07_00

My Ideas of Application of Wiki in My Teaching

    In order to support self-directed learning, the self-access, web-based Wiki may help my students to work independently with their own initiative and proceed at their own pace using as much electronic resources as they need.

    For my course, certain content will not be covered in class but simply assigned as required homework. For instance, writing task usually takes a lot of time for checking. Therefore I should set up a writing area. I can give my students group work of writing on a topic, each group post their draft writing on their Wiki page and then evaluate each other. After leaving comments all groups can revise with successive edits. Or I can ask them to create a fiction with campus theme and each group of four must follow the already written parts and collaboratively writes the critical reaction to each part of the story,, deciding whether each storyteller please the audience with their narration. In addition, I may also offer my feedback in the process.

    This is only one possible use of Wiki in my class. I will do more while learning from others. Thanks for my colleagues for sharing their great thoughts in blogs.

After I read Lilian's missing home message, I felt deeply touched. Kinship is what we cherish forever. My daughter always cling to me and would share all fun with me. How pitiful that I can't kiss her now and tell her that I love her. Maybe there are always something for us to look forward to. I will try to put myself out of that desperate feeling and focus on what I am doing now.

Chatting on net makes fun. We are just like giving messages which are brief yet informative. Though it has communicative convenience, I won’t take that means for in-class use. One thing is that we can’t log on in the classroom and most importantly is that chatting can be real face-to-face form which encourages students especially ESL learners to express orally. Unlike blog which can provide time and space for people to post things after careful thinking, chatting presents a in a synchronous way which is more suitable for discussion.


After operating technological methods, I do believe language teaching should accept changing and challenging technology. However, those can be effective only providing that are used in a proper way, that is to say , it must be content-focused. We instructors should know how to make the teaching process flexible and interesting by using different technology. I would like to encourage students to use chatting for discussing about interesting issues concerning classes, campus life or whatever. It can’t replace the teacher’s instruction.

Among the classes we have, teaching English with technology is the most practical and informative. Personally speaking, I am very interested in using technology. When I go back to China, I will use a class blog, where all students post on my site. I can post a question and ask them all to answer it, or I can simply have them turn in essay assignments by posting them. I can easily ask them to read and comment on other students’ work. I can direct everyone to read an exemplary piece of student writing. I’ve automatically got a copy of everything they’ve written in a digital portfolio.


I will try to enrich my blog gradually. This is really a convenient way to get the teacher and students connected. Since I can access the blogs from any computer anywhere, I never carry papers home and I never get accused of losing a paper. I have an automatic record of exactly when an assignment was posted. Also, students can turn in work in the evening or on weekends, which solves quite a few problems.

I expect more effective ways assisting English teaching.

Thank for Nikki!