Week 10: Farewell ...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Finally, we are at the end of our online thread. This great experience is impressively sealed in my memory. This course convinces me that the Internet accessing definitely motivates our students to be autonomous learners. However, this should be under teacher guides.   From the starting point to the end of this course, I have learned many things useful for my educational career and I’m ready to transfer them to students and teachers.

I consider all of what I have learned from this course meaningful source for teachers of English. Therefore, if teachers applied the source to their teaching, I believe, students would pay more attention to language learning.

By the way, can I leave some suggestion for newcomers? Firstly, you have to be determined or set your goal and try to be there. You might encounter difficult issues which you have to spend more time on reading or difficult technical problems. Ask for helps from your instructor or classmates.  Don’t be hesitated because they will obstruct you to move on other steps. Secondly, you have to manage your time. Don’t forget that you not only have the online course but also regular work. We have to balance both of the things so you need to prioritize your tasks. Definitely, you have to increase your working time at home and take less sleeping time. Lastly, tell people around you what you are doing. This is for better understanding between you and them. Sometimes, you need private corner to study and cannot socialize with your colleague.

Without Oregon university support, I would have been a teacher with traditional teaching and would not have realized how technology encourages language teaching. I would like to thank Robert, our supervisor for your understanding various distant learners and hard work; Jeff Magoto and Deborah, our guest moderators, for sharing ideas and encouraging comments on our posts; and my classmates for great sharing and accompanying me to stand at this point. If possible, I would like all of teachers of English in my country experience such valuable experience.  

All of my best to you all,

Moo

Week 9: Multiple Intelligences, Learning Styles and learning Strategies

All of us might have similar feeling as I do that it seems incredible that we are at this time: week 9 of my great experience of online course, nearly the end of our online thread… Unlike the assignment from previous weeks, this week assignment focuses on the educational psychology. Not only did I spend time over reading the articles assigned, for more understanding I have watched video clips concerning the topics of multiple intelligences, learning styles, and learning strategies.

The articles we have read do not directly deal with technologies but what we have learned this week i.e. multiple intelligences, learning styles, learning strategies, and 5Cs learning strategies are indispensible components affecting effective language learning. This inspires me to give more attention to each individual student.  Montgomery and Groat (Student learning styles and their implications for learnings) told many reasons of using learning styles for their teaching. One of them is that they might get equal satisfaction from attempting to consider student learning styles as researchers take great pride from launching substantive innovations in their fields. I do agree that pride is a valuable reward and I would like to touch such a pride.  

Many learning strategies are provided in the Sailing the 5 Cs with Learning Strategies by National Capital Language Resource Center:  Center for Applied Linguistics of The George Washington University and Georgetown University. Even though the strategies are provided for secondary school students but I think teachers at other levels can exploit them. Unfortunately, I cannot remember all but it is there and I regard it as a great source for implementing the strategies for our teaching.

I cannot say more but would like to say in short that to meet the ultimate goal of language learning, teachers and students should cooperate in learning process, basically, with teacher understanding their students.

Best,

Moo