#TeachingwithTe(a)chnology - Final Thoughts on the Integration of Technology to the Education Field

Hello all! 

I've been postponing this post for a long time and I think I am ready to share my ideas about this journey with you. 

First of all, thank you for staying with me all along the way! When I first learned that we were going to take this class online and create a blog as a portfolio, I was over the moon! Since I am such a technology dork, I felt so happy and enthusiastic about the things we were going to create. 

In my high school years, I was interested in creating websites and playing with the HTML codes. Thanks to those years I had not to face difficulties while forming a blog and it turned out to be such a fun activity. 

And due to the fact that while creating a site you have to learn some photoshop skills and be able to use them, I gained some basic photoshopping skills. In those years, I didn't know that they would help me designing my blog!

After starting our lessons,  I felt really motivated since this lesson was different from the other lesson which requires you to sit on the desk and listen to the teacher... It was an experience of discovering your limits of creativity! 

When I look back to our first lesson and my last post, I feel proud of myself achieving and pushing my limits. The best part of this lesson is the concrete outcomes of what you've done the entire term. Most of the time, I do not talk about the things we've seen at the lessons but it is different for this lesson since I share what I designed to my friends, even with my father and mother. 

I really want to thank our teacher, Gökçe Kurt, for making all of these happen. She gave us a great opportunity to go on a journey of self-discovery. What I really liked about her lessons is that she only gave us instruction and leave the rest to our creativity and imagination. Thanks to her we were not limited to one source. To be honest that's one of the things which made my term fruitful in terms of self-improvement and being independent on the field of education. 

Lastly, I want to finish my words by saying 'I genuinely had fun!'. 

I know that I will not forget this lesson. 

See you and take care as always. 

#TeachingwithTe(a)chnology - Infographics

Hello everyone!

Today we are going to share our ideas about another familiar subject, infographics. 

With the popularity of the technology, infographics also gained popularity approximately 10 years ago. Now nearly ever field benefit from the usage of infographics. 

As usual, let's start the discussion with their meaning! 

infographic 

/ˌɪnfə(ʊ)ˈɡrafɪk/

nounplural noun: infographics 

a visual representation of information or data, e.g. as a chart or diagram."a good infographic is worth a thousand words"

As I mentioned, we utilize infographics nearly all of the subjects in order to emphasize the information we're giving. I found a informative infographic about 'What is an Infographic?', please see below.

 Let's narrow our subject a little and touch on the subject of the usage of infographics in language education. As a teacher candidate, infographics and posters are my favorite things when it comes to reinforce or take attention of the learners to a subject even when it's boring or mostly theoretical. 

               

As a visual learner, I prefer to draw or look at the things while learning. And I know that there will be students like me who like to learn the things by coloring or drawing them. So, I can easily utilize by using infographics during the teaching process. 

It's nearly the end of the term... They say 'The time flies so fast without realizing...'' and it exactly happened like that. I remember the start of the term and now we're finishing it! Hence, I wanted to make an infographic about the Web 2.0 tools I mostly benefitted this term! I hope they would also help in your studies as well. I briefly mentioned about the affordances as well as constraints of them so you will have an idea about what to expect or not from the tools. 

I used Piktochart in order to create this infographic! 

*Click on my infographic to go their site!*

Do you use the tools I've mentioned? What are the affordances or constraints of them to you? 

Let me hear your comments! 

See you and take care. 

#TeachingwithTe(a)chnology - Digital Storytelling

Hello all! 

Today, our topic to discuss on is 'digital storytelling'. 

When I started the spring term this year, I accidentally bought a video program at the middle of the night... Nonetheless, I am glad that it turned out handy since I'm preparing most of my assignments with it. One of them is our digital story! 

First, let's look at the definition of digital storytelling, shall we? 

digital storytelling

Digital storytelling is a short form of digital media production that allows everyday people to share aspects of their story. 

So, as you can understand from its definition, its another way of telling the stories we've! 

While mentioning the stories of us, I want to talk to you about the story of our friendship with Sıla-my deskmate, unimate, classmate, foodmate. :)  I won't be writing the details, so you should check the video below. In order to create this video, I used the program 'VivaVideo'. It is a nice tool allowing you to create videos easily! 

My friend Sıla and I talked about our friendship from different views. While doing this project we evaluated our friendship so much time. I think that was the aim of the study. And I am glad having a friend like her. -Check out her blog too!!-

So while doing this project, I realized some advantages of it. Firstly, you are collaborating with your friend most of the time. You are listening to each other and taking decisions together. You share new ideas, examine them together and ta-dah... a product born by your efforts! 

Secondly, you have to use not only one skill but more. You have to add your voice firstly and in order to understand is it usable or not you are to listen it over and over. Before all of them you should write what is going to happen and what you are going to tell... So all 4 core skills are actually playing a major role while doing this project. 

And lastly, the novelty and creativity of the project make it interesting! It motivates students to do it. We had so much fun while doing it as well as discussing what to do! 

As a teacher candidate, I definitely think about giving assignments like that to the students in order to make the learning process more interesting. It's also beneficial to increase collaboration among the students. 

What do you think about digital story telling? If you were a teacher, what projects would you give to your students by means of creating a digital story?

See you and take care. 

Let's Take a Look at an ESL Website Closely

Hello all! 

Today, we are going to put an ESL website under our scopes and evaluate it together! 

As you know -or not know, I am an ELT student which also means I have to search through different ESL websites in order to expand the material choices I have and gain a new perspective. :) 

Consequently, we are going to examine the site which is called VOA -learning English. 

Let the evaluation process start! 

✮ Who authored the website? Is there any information about their qualifications or credentials?

-This website was found by the radio web which is called Voice of America. There is no information about their qualifications. ‘’In 2014, our line of products was expanded to include more English teaching materials, and the service became known as Learning English.’’ said in their site in about us part.

All the news share the information of the producers and reporters under it.

✮ What is the content of the website? 

-The content of the website includes not only learning materials but also teaching. There is also an audio menu that broadcasts can be found. Lots of news contribute to the authentic material the site possess. 

✮ Who is the target audience? 

-The target audience is mostly students but teachers can 

also benefit from the site, as well.

✮ What is the purpose of the website?

-The purpose of the site is to be a multimedia source of news

and information for millions of English learners worldwide.

✮  Is there a date that shows when the site has latest been updated? 

-You can pick the date by clicking the calendar symbol in order

to choose the date from the date you want to the latest.

✮ Are there any errors or information corruption? 

-As far as I see, there is no clear mistakes. 

✮ Are there any broken links? 

-I tried their social media accounts’ links and they work perfectly.

Also the other links which they embed in their post are seem to

be working. ✔️

✮ Are the images of high quality and appealing to the target audience? 

-The images possess high quality but I couldn’t say the video quality

is like that. Videos are much more like a product of 

an amateur in terms of the materials used in them.

*A video example from the site. 

✮ How can it be applied to EFL teaching? 

-In terms of updating the class with the newest events happening

around the world, it’s such a beneficial tool to be used. Also as the

videos posted in the site are fun to watch and consist different types

of contents such as health & lifestyle, arts & culture and so forth. 

The 3D materials and games the site propose is also good for 

students to enjoy while learning another language.

Overall, I really liked and enjoyed searching through the learning the site Learning English -VOA, and recommend the teachers as an effective ESL classroom tool!

In order to look at the site please click here. 

See you and take care! 

21st Century and Language Education

Hello to all again! 

Hope you're doing fine and well. Today we are going to be talking about the century in which we live (yes I'm talking about the 21st century in case it's forgotten) and the essential skills which are required.

I think I should take it from back so that we can create an imaginary timeline in our minds. In the 20th century, the language education strained to the limited sources resulting in unaccomplished progress. But, in our day with the help of technological improvement, we are able to access so many different sources and upgrading the language process adapted to those changes. Hence, in this century some skills are being almost obligatory in terms of an achieved education system.

Let's talk about them, shall we? 

So this is the framework of the skills of 21st-century learning. 

These skills are needed to reach the students to achievement not only in their career but also in their personal life making them know themselves more and more.

Consequently, teachers must be familiar with the skills to be able to integrate them into their teaching program. They should be accustomed to the concept of 'learning-centered classes' rather than sticking to the ancient 'teacher-centered classes' showing their (not students') skills to the students whereas learners are struggling to focus. 

This is a word-cloud which I've created with the words of 21st century skills and the evolved language education. 

As the future teachers, being candidates of teachers who will touch the lives of children and all, 

we should be aware of these skills and upgrade ourselves day by day. 

Thank you and take care! 

*For the sources of the images, you can simply click on them.