Dear colleagues!
Our course is practically over. I really enjoyed being a part of this virtual community. I hope some of us will continue working in collaboration with other course participants.
As I had some experience in teaching via the Internet I can`t say that my attitude towards distant learning changed a lot during the course. But I got some new experience and knew some new tools (blogs and podcasts). Besides I met a lot of interesting people (course participants). I am still sure that the Internet challenges to the traditional educational environment and now I know that there are so many teachers in Russia who will “struggle” for using Internet in teaching English.
Our course instructor advised us to read a lot of interesting articles. The most useful of them for me were:
1. Oppenheimer T. The flickering mind: the false promice of technology in classroom, and how learning can be saved.
2.Greenfield R. Collaborative e-mail exchange for teaching secondary ESL: A case study in Hong-Kong.
3. Tudini V. Using native speakers in chat.
4.Duffy T.M.& Jonassen D. Constructivism: new implications for instructional technology.
There were no materials that were useless for me. All of them were interesting to read. For example it was a surprise for me to know that the ideas of “developing education” are called “constructivism” in American pedagogics.
The most fruitful part of the course was creating our own projects. It is a pity we could not work as a group, although some of us met in chats and used Skype to talk about their progress. I studied all the projects offered by course participants. They show that their authors can combine theory and practice. So some of us found a lot of value in this course.
I’ll miss our course and you, my dear colleagues.
Best wishes,
Tatiana.

Current Location: at home
Current Mood: hopeful

Deciding on a project to evaluate I signed up for reviewing a final project developed by the 3nd Group: “Students' Chronicles". This project seemed to be rather new and interesting to participate in as on-line newspapers are becoming increasingly popular nowadays. As for me I used materials from Internet journals in teaching but I did not think on an idea to attract students in creating and publishing their own articles. Now I think it will provide learners with opportunities to receive some authentic language input.
But having looked through my colleagues work I can say it has both pros and cons.
One of the pros is that they created a special source supporting the project. There teachers can find some useful materials and tips which are not listed in the project itself. They can also add other materials and share experience So the project is flexible enough. Besides it is very good that there are activities connected with training.
Let me evaluate the project in accordance with its aims.
The first one - to give students a general idea of different kinds of newspapers in the UK, their parts and language styles. But there are links only to the on-line newspapers. It is not clear how printed versions are incorporated in training. That is one of the points to work out.
The second aim - to draw students’ attention to electronic versions of some famous British and American papers. Students have to visit different papers studying different styles. So we can suppose there are special tasks that help students (may be articles that illustrate the style).
The third aim - to introduce such new Internet tools as weblogs, webquests, podcasts, wikis, chats and discussion boards. I think it will improve student`s Internet literacy and they will know new tools of practicing English.
The fourth and the fifth aims - to foster relationship between students of different universities and to make it interesting to learn about current events are also realized in the project to a certain extent.
And the last one - to develop writing, reading, speaking and listening skills. The authors of the project attract all possible opportunities so students can improve all kinds of speech activity. At the same time this makes the project too complicated.
So I can say that the idea is very interesting. It suits to the levels announced and provides authenticity. At the same time it is a bit complicated and will take much time for students and teachers to master.

Current Location: at home
Current Mood: busy

Here is my project that can be edited in http://cinquain.wikispaces.com/

WebQuest

Cinquain poetry

Tatiana Yamskikh
Email: ytanya@kgtei.ru

Introduction to Webquest

Dear Students! Do you like poetry?
This time you will get acquainted with cinquain. You will:
- know what cinquain is;
- read examples of cinquain;
- characterize the relationship between structure and meaning in cinquain;
- compose your own cinquain.

Webquest Tasks

Browsing the web you should answer the following questions:
1. What is cinquain?
2. Who is its founder?
3. How is cinquain composed?
While working you should complete the following tasks:
1. Characterize the cinquain structure (morphological).
2. Find the names of five cinquain poets.
3. Find five cinquains devoted to the chosen topic.
4. Write your own cinquain.

Webquest Process

To work on this WebQuest, you will need to divide up into groups of three to four members. You are journalists who should write an article which contains answers to the quastions asked. Each of your groups will be given a topic to compose cinquain. Your cinquains should be individual (Use the Cinquain Graphic Organizer ). To make the report you should chat with other members of your group using ICQ. Then you should publish your articles and your cinquains in Wikipedia. Edit the other student`s cinquain answering the following questions:
1. What do you like most about the poem?
2. If you could change something about the poem, what would you change?
3. Which poems did you like best and why?
4. What will you do differently the next time you write a poem?

Resources

What is a Cinquain?
Aha! Poetry: About Cinquain, Jane Reichhold
The Complete Poems and Collected Letters of Adelaide Crapsey, Susan Sutton Smith, editor
The Poems of Adelaide Crapsey, Karen Alkalay-Gut
Amaze, the Cinquain Journal
Bartleby.com, Carl Sandburg, Cornhuskers, 1918: Adelaide Crapsey
American Verse Project: Adelaide Crapsey
WHCessay - Short Verses: Cinquain http://www.worldhaikureview.org/2-1/whcessay_cinquaindb.shtml
Yolanda Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni
Naomi Shihab Nye - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pat Mora Sample Poems
Amy Lowell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cinquain Poetry http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/2908/cinquain.html


Webquest Evaluation

Group Presentation of articles and cinquains in Wikipedia –
55-70 points:
- not enough of information;
- not all group members presented their cinquains;
- poorly organized;
- a lot of mistakes.
71-85 points:
- no additional information;
- not all Group members presented their cinquains;
- few mistakes.
86-100 points:
- well- presented and organized;
- each group member presented his cinquain;
- the article is clear, interesting and concise.

Webquest Conclusion

Students who complete this assignment adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes. They apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts. They use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Webquest created on: Thursday, Jan 18, 2007.

So, I have to work alone.
I decided to make a webquest. It will be called "Cinquain poetry". I decided to choose this topic because poetry is not widely used in teaching. This type, I mean Cinquain, has a great educational potential. As it allows students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions to create, critique, and discuss texts. Besides these type of poetry is not popular among Russian people and it will be very useful for our students to know about it. Besides Internet is the best source of information and the best place for students to publish their own poems.
While working students will know what cinquain is; interpret examples of cinquain; characterize the relationship between structure and meaning in cinquain; compose their own example of cinquain, etc.
So, wish me good luck.

Current Location: at home
Current Mood: artistic

Dear Colleagues!

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!
I wish you all the best!
Yours, Tatiana.

Here are my evaluations of three educational Web-pages.
The first one:
The site analyzed is called English Listening Skills and Activities-Effective Listening Practice. It is located in http://esl.about.com/od/englishlistening/. It was developed for ESL EFL learners (beginner, intermediate and advanced ESL EFL English levels) and teachers. The site offers online listening comprehension exercises for self study or in class use. Students are offered to listen different extracts and then answer comprehension questions. They are able to check their answers with the help of a program.Besides the site provides articles for teachers and information to the growing variety of English learning podcasts available for download through the Web.
The project is suitable for the levels announced. Successful listening skills are acquired over time and with lots of practice. It's frustrating for students because there are no special listening rules. The exercises are various and interesting enough. These are exercises on intonation and stress, function or content word recognition exercises, differences in pronunciation between one word and another, difficult changes in vowel sounds, tongue twisters, dialogues, small texts, professional recordings of original English language short stories, etc. It is a brilliant source of authentic materials for both learners and teachers. Some of the exercises presented are intended for pair work. Students are able to listen different people, different voices. There are different topics that can be interesting for the audience. It presents a special value in comparison to tapes used in the usual English courses. So we can conclude that the source provides learners with opportunities to receive some authentic language input.
The second:
The page is called Karin's ESL PartyLand The Quiz Center. It is located in http://www.eslpartyland.com/teachers/nov/grammar. The site was created to provide resources, lessons, and ideas on teaching grammar. On the teacher side it contains loads of lesson plans and reproducible materials to use in class. There is also a discussion forum where teachers can share their lesson ideas. This page is useful as there is always lack of appropriate grammar exercises. The quizzes allow to improve grammar skills with special vocabulary. Students are provided with explanations, examples and grammar exercises which are subdivided into easy, medium and difficult. As far as the exercises analyzed allowed to conclude the project is suitable for the levels announced. Different aspects of grammar are analyzed, but not all. So it may seem that the authors` approach is not systematic enough. There are exercises on error correction, matching, fill-in exercises, multiple choice, scrambled sentences, crosswords, etc. Besides the page contains the list of Web Links on the topic which can be very helpful for students and teachers. The students` answers are synchronously checked by the program. One of the greatest disadvantages is that the wrong ones are not analyzed. No doubt this is a valuable tool for self study, in spite of the disadvantages listed. Of course it provides learners with some some authentic language input. But it is not interactive enough although there are such options as chat, forum, discussion board, message center and e-mail.
The third one:
The project is called Fact or Fiction: Truth, Opinion, and the Web. It is located in http://education.nmsu.edu/webquest/truth/truth.htm. It was created by Carmen Gonzales. Although this webquest was not specially designed for English learners and is a bit out of date it may be very useful as the Web is an information superhighway and can be an information minefield. This WebQuest will help learners to evaluate sources on the Web for accuracy and validity. I think it may be used for teaching to upper-intermediate students.
This is a team project, so students work in groups. The webquest starts with the statement: “The Earth is flat. The moon landing was a hoax. Aliens have landed in Roswell, New Mexico. The Holocaust never happened. Elvis is alive and well in Bermuda. If you don't believe it, look it up on the World Wide Web, it's all there, but is it all true? “To make the assignment the students should use the links provided in each group project page to answer the questions. They may also look for other sites. They should look for sites that are factual, not-factual, or based on opinion and then discuss how they determined the difference. As the final task they should create a lesson for students showing how the Internet can present both "good" (accurate) and "bad" (inaccurate) information.
I think the webquest will promote developing reading and speaking skills. Besides it will be helpful in developing thinking and analyzing the material. This Webquest provides a high level of authenticity as students can search the Web and find a lot of materials in English. Besides it promotes group work when students use English in practice.

Here is the script of our chat session. As I did not use Word and did not read my messages (lack of time) I made too many mistakes (both grammar and orthography accuracy). But they did not prevent us from a successful communication. We had other problems (technical).Sorry for my messages.
togdapoka (06:57 PM) :
togdapoka (06:57 PM) :

Hello Irina!
Irina (06:58 PM) :
Hello!I am exremely glad to hear from you! What about Irina Filippova?
togdapoka (06:58 PM) :
Now when you registered you can offer your time to meet. I will try today at 16.00 as we decided before. Waiting for you in languages/english room. Best, Tatiana.
Irina (07:00 PM) :
I can not meet at 16 00. What shall we do?
togdapoka (07:00 PM) :
May be now?
Irina (07:00 PM) :
Year, it will be great!
togdapoka (07:01 PM) :
Let us go to the languages/nglish room.
Irina (07:02 PM) :
I am sorry, but how it should be done?
togdapoka (07:04 PM) :
You should click Main, then My Page in ICQ, then chat and so on
Message was sent. User is Offline.
The message will be delivered when user goes Online.

Irina (07:11 PM) :
something goes wrong,or it is me who is doing wrong thing.I can not do it. It won't work:-(
togdapoka (07:14 PM) :
Main is in the top of ICQ window, Then the second position with the house depicted, then a new window will open and you will see the line chat is the six item. You should choose languages on the lewft and then english.
togdapoka (07:16 PM) :
You can also go to groups, I am the manager of SLa course group.
Irina (07:19 PM) :
There is no main in the top of ICQ. i HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING. how can i go to sla course group?
togdapoka (07:20 PM) :
It is rather strange. Is your ICQ in English?
togdapoka (07:22 PM) :
Do not you think thet the problem we have is worth of discussing? So one of the problem is misunderstanding, and the problem is not connected to grammar or spelling mistakes. What do you think about it?
Irina (07:30 PM) :
I think sometimes it is quite difficult to express your ideas, to find proper words and so on.But we must solve this problem! We are to discuss several patterns, and develop our future project, the time is limited. We need joint efforts. Do you have another point of view?
togdapoka (07:33 PM) :
At the moment I load Skype from the Internet. Have you already done it? I tried to connect to I. Filippova. She does not answer. It seems as if she cdecided to quit the course. I agree with you that we need to join our efforts. There are only two of us in the group.
Irina (07:38 PM) :
Not yet. I had great problems to register in ICQ. I had to get permission from my administration for everything that i do at the computer.Let s fullfil the task together then. Is it allowed? How can I load Skype?
togdapoka (07:39 PM) :
The adrees of Skype is given in the course syllabus (assignment for week 7). You should click it and simply follow the instructions. Do you have the course syllabus?
Irina (07:42 PM) :
yes.but there is a restriction in a traffic, I can not take everything from the internet.Now I will try.Keep on line
togdapoka (07:43 PM) :
We should discuss the ideas for final projects. My target learners are students of economics. I think we can make something like orginising a disscussion of a problem in a chat room or make a Webquest.


togdapoka (07:52 PM) :
Don`t you mind my saving the script and sending it to my blog?
Irina (08:01 PM) :
where are you? I have loaded Skype
togdapoka (08:02 PM) :
I am here. Waiting for your reply.
togdapoka (08:04 PM) :
You can add me to skype. My name is togdapoka. What is your name in Skype?
Irina (08:06 PM) :
Now we can communicate by phone, but I need a mickrophone, I guess. Can we discuss the role of asynchronous and synchronous communication in teaching here? My name in Skype is Irine
togdapoka (08:12 PM) :
I have added you to my Skype. But I also need a microphone (Ihave one but there is a repair at home and I need some time to find it). Let us try Skype in action next time. I have already started disscussing the problem. I think Both types of comunication play positive role in teacing. The problem is to make our students wish to communicate. We have the same problems in 5he class room when we practice dialogues. Do not we?
togdapoka (08:18 PM) :
I am so sorry but I must quit now. The computer is in my child`s room. It is time for him to go to bed. Let us meet tomorrow. Now we can write each other any time we like. Thank you very much. It was a real pleasure for me to communicate with you. Best, Tatiana.
Irina (08:19 PM) :
My pleasure.Let s make an appointment. Wnen will we meet tomorrow?
togdapoka (08:20 PM) :
It is a bit expensive to load software at home. Do you know? I checked my account.
Irina (08:20 PM) :
We are a bit late. We are to do things in a hurry!
togdapoka (08:21 PM) :
Any time. As even when we are offline ICQ gets messages and they are available when we are online.
Irina (08:22 PM) :
You see I am working at my university, that is why I don not know such things
Irina (08:23 PM) :
Does 8 30 (moscow time) suitable for you?
togdapoka (08:24 PM) :
May be in the evening? You can write me any time you like and I will answer as soon as I am able.

Current Mood: energetic

Hello my dear groupmates, Irina Filippova and Irine Yunusova!
It is high time to meet in the chat room. If you have alredy registered in ICQ let me know. We should be in a hurry. Let us meet in languages/english room on Wednesday at 12.00 (Moscow time)? Best, Tatiana.

Sorry, but I do this task only now.
Having read the article by Greenfield, we can define the following features of a successful e-mail exchange:
- integration of sound theory, methods and pedagogy;
- implementation new teaching paradigms such as student-centered, consensus-based; and product-oriented approach to learning;
- inclusion CMC projects into the curricular program, rather than usage of them as stand-alone activities.
As I have already mentioned I had some experience with teaching via the Internet. It was a specially designed educational site. Students were taught to read professionally oriented texts. The process of communication between teacher and students was carried out via e-mail. We also conducted both qualitative and quantitative analysis. We measured the same parameters.It is interesting to note the our results were absolutely the same.
I should note that we practiced distant learning. That is why our students used e-mail as there were no other means of communication.
I do not often use e-mail in the classroom but we have some classes when we study correspondence.
Best, Tatiana.

Hello everyone!
My ICQ is 359436007. I am looking forward to meeting you in the chatroom. Bye, Tatiana.