Week 10 - The End

Already in Week 10, with a few hours left to end this 10-week course!!  Time went by quite quickly during those 10 weeks, but I really enjoyed the 'ride' with all colleagues from various countries.  It has been an enriching experience, with lots of positives.

To say that such topic or such tool has been irrelevant to me would be wrong.  I once posted that each tool or topic has its relevance in various situations, classes and for different students.  What might not be relevant today, might come in handy a few years later with another batch of student in another working environment.  Let me take an example: my college does not have one-computer classrooms but other colleges do have it.  So I can make use of what i have learnt here later on if ever I ma transferred to a college with a one-computer classroom.

Personally, I appreciate everything that I have learnt and discovered throughout those past 9 weeks; it has been a real discovery for me.  If ever I do get the chance of doing such a course again, I won't refuse:)
A special thanks goes to Courtney for her non-stop support during those 10 weeks, as well as to all those from different countries who are doing this course with me.  Thank you Disna for having vetted my project plan:)

Week Nine

Already nearing the end of our Course and it seems as if I had just joined that Course.  Time flies simply too quickly.  This week has been mainly marked by the Final Project to be worked upon.  Having gone through some other projects, i simply cannot make my mind on whether mine is good or not...Well, I guess that each one of us has a different issue and that the problem and solutions will simply be different. 

Multiple intelligences is something quite fascinating, mainly for someone who was not even aware of this issue.  i still remember when I first learnt about this long time back, and how fascinated I was in learning about all those traits.  I was asking myself whether everyone knows about these, or do we teachers only learn about these....  At times,  I do include some notes relating to those in my class lessons but very few of the students might really be interested in that right now:)

WEEK 8

This week has been quite a busy one as wells quite a short one.  Having to work out the project draft was quite hectic for me.  I was still a bit undecided about what exactly i shall be doing my project work upon.  It seems that I tend to keep every work for the last minute and this is not good practice (as I usually keep on telling my students).  Unfortunately, planning something beforehand does not seem to work for me....

What stresses me more now is what awaits me during the coming week: our final project!  With the 10 weeks coming to a close, I know that the final deadline is approaching, as well as the final meeting with you all.  Despite not being "in touch", it was still a great experience to be all in the same boat during those consecutive weeks. 

The Discussion for this week has been the use of various tools in our teaching and learning.  It cannot be denied that those tools are quite helpful and mostly interesting for the students we have.  Unfortunately, not every tool is relevant to everyone of our students.  What may apply for some students might not be relevant for others.  That's what all those tools cover for and I really appreciate that Courtney.

Week 7

14.11.2012
It is only today (after last week's tasks) that I am accessing my blog.  I was really busy with the Deepawali festival, the festival of light, which was held on Tuesday in Mauritius.  Those of India would surely understand the meaning of this festival; but for those who do not know about it, it is a festival whereby  light prevails over darkness, the good over evil.  It is a day where we light earthen lamps in the house and distribute sweet cakes with family, relatives and friends (and neighbours).

On this World Diabetes Day, let me put behind all those sweet cakes I've been eating yesterday and concentrate on our course:)

This week, I see that we have to look for prospective partners who would be required to vet our project soon.  Well, up to now I do not have anyone in particular in mind....I'll just have to wait and see...

The Learner Autonomy task seems quite interesting, except that I haven't read much on it yet.  However, it appears that it must be something interesting that will be useful for my final project as well.  Let me have a look at what awaits me for this week now....

18.11.2012

After reading through the various literature provided on Learner Autonomy, I found out that to a certain extent it is what I normally tell my students as 'self-learning', with some variations of course:)

Here in Mauritius, learners (most of them) tend to be quite dependent on teachers and their notes or teachings.  Some may term a teacher "bad" if the latter does not give notes!!  making them work on their own is not considered proper for many of them since we teachers are suppose to be there for them.

I have tried to make some of my students autonomous by starting with some project and research work to be done.  For some, it was quite a pain but for others it proved to be a revelation of their own 'powers'.

 

Creating blog

Creating the blog has been quite easy by following the step by step commands.  However, for someone not so 'up-to-date' with such tools, it was a bit difficult to move around and understand what had to be done.  I had heard about blogs or blogging a lot of time but never bothered to find out what it really was.  With this course, I feel that I will be learning some new stuffs shortly...