Posts tagged ‘Conference’
#mml12 reflections 1: CPD, technology & gender issues
The Mystery and Magic of Language, a great title for a great conference. I thoroughly enjoyed a weekend surrounded by interesting and passionate ESOL practitioners. However, not surprisingly maybe, the key themes of the conference for me have been around the Magic and Mystery of Learning – my own, experienced teachers, new teachers as well as language students. Whilst trying to decide what the key themes of the conference have been for me, I’ve found that I’ve been challenged to ask key questions.
Themes of the conference. Day one:
I picked out five themes during the presentations on the first morning of the conference.
Attitude: Being online is seen to be about personal and private engagement. Not something with educational benefit #attitude
Teacher #attitude and engagement with change in pedagogy is vital in integrating ICT & education. Practical solutions lie in innovative practice and engaging teachers-as-learners
How are digital literacy skills linked to attitudes to engagement with ICT? Analogies:
Analogy 1: being on twitter is like going to town. There is something you need and you might bump into someone you know
Analogy 2: digital swarming. All moving in the same direction without crashing into each other. Who sets the direction? Shared leadership/followship practical applications:
Can CELTA trainees make good and bad practice videos: for giving instructions, giving feedback, monitoring, how can I link this into feedback? Where is the evidence that there are effective, practical applications to integrating ICT into education?
How assessment impacts on what is taught and what students ‘want’ to learn
Pedagogy:
Social constructivism: the role of social interaction in learning. Asking qus and problem solving using ICT
Classroom management role of the teacher very important to ensure the ss are guided and directed in their learning. More planning time needed
Role model:
Technology is unreliable. Model this fact in the classroom to trainee teachers so this can become accepted.
What is our role as a teacher? The importance of being a role model in attitude and use of ICT for own learning Impact of tutor engaging in the online community of practice on the students engagement with an online community of practice
Themes of conference: day 2
ICT is predominantly used for entertainment so need to consider how to make the jump from this to include the use for education. In Morocco a significant number of (young) people use FB and so suggested that there needs to be activities and research to investigate how to use this platform for learning.
I’m not sure what I think about this. I use FB as a personal and private place & I am reluctant to engage with this as a learning tool for myself so don’t feel comfortable in asking students to do so. Surely we do need to have some space that is free from formal education?SMS
How to use this facility to engage ss in mobile learning. Making the link from personal use to educational use. One study showed how reading skills we’re improved by sending three txt messages: 1. Text
2. Question
3. Answer
Modelling and staff development:
Engage tutors-as-learners with technology so they can experience ICT as a tool for their own learning. As many tutors bring their own learning experience to their attitudes, beliefs and behaviours as a teacher there needs to be a starting point for them to use technology with their own students. History & change
Quotes were used to demonstrate how change has been perceived through history, including Socrates scorn for the introduction of ‘writing’ would lead to the decline in memory, and the worries about the replacement of bark with slate and the cost implications of this.
Sent from my iPad
Multi-gadget experience
I am having an evening of multi-gadget-ness, sitting on the couch in the kitchen listening to Jo Whiley, drinking peppermint tea and eating small chunks of whole nut, with iPad and iPhone in arms reach while typing away on the netbook. Seems like a very long time since I’ve done this.
I’ve spent a good chunk of today reading through the latest and last posts from the gadgetry group in preparation for my presentation at the RSC-YH next week. This is culmination of a Research and Scholarly Activity (RSA) project that has run for the last 6 months. The group was estabished with what seemed at the time a purposefully vague outline: