The final destination...

We reached week 10, who believes? I flashbacked on the first week and how we were confused and excited. We introduced ourselves, discussed class rubric and guidelines, created our reflective blogs and initiated Nicenet discussions. Week 2 was more relaxing as we learned beneficial websearching engines and discovered new techniques for online surfing.  I bookmarked most of these engines on my delicious account in week 3. This week introduced techniques and sites for teaching oral skills like English Central, NPR Podcast and Vacaroo. In week 4, I created a technology-enhanced lesson plan to teach writing and vocabulary. Wonderful sites like http://a4esl.org and www.manythings.org will be my top sites for getting materials and resources for teaching vocabulary, grammar, writing, reading and pronunciation. Project-based learning and Webquest were my favorite tools on which I build my project. I also created my first rubric on RubiStar and will use and recommend this site to create different e-rubrics. I was also interested in creating an interactive PP for interactive large classes. Week 6 introduced learner autonomy and its applications and principles. Creating a class padlet was impressive and adding to Donna’s padlet was productive. One-computer classroom and m-learning were the focus of week 7. My colleagues’ experiences and intension to use m-learning together with the webinar were very insightful. In week 8, we learned to create quizzes and exercises using different programs and sites like hotpotatoes and EasytestMaker, ANVIL was also a good addition. Week 9’s LS and MI were crucial and using technology to meet all learners’ styles was helpful. Finally, week 10 is full of advices, tips, last reflective blog ,farewells and goodbyes. Working in our plans and projects accompany this long journey as we put a block on the other to make use of what we have learned in the course and our own experiences to build these scientific and pedagogical masterpieces. Behind the scenes were a lot of hard work, effort, sleepless nights, thoughts and reflections. Weekly discussions on Nicenet energize and motivate our spirits to work and create. Million thanks to UO and its moderators for offering these high quality courses. Donna was the Maestro for this beautiful and harmonious orchestra and we owe her a lot and grateful to her for the continuous help and endless support. My colleagues……. thanks for your effort, time, support, thoughts, shared experiences and comments. Please keep in touch after the course. I wish you all good luck.

Greetings from Egypt,

Amira

The week before the last….

Is it the time to say farewell? I can't believe the course is about to finish, no more discussions, no more overloaded Mondays, no longer blogs or assignments. Sure, I will miss these days and my colleagues a lot. This short week started by readings about multiple intelligences and learning styles and how using technology can help meet different learning styles. Although the topic is interesting and important, I found that the readings for this week didn't cover the topic thoroughly and there were many broken links in the first article. The discussion was interesting as usual and I learned from my colleagues' experiences and suggestions. In fact, LS and MI were my topics of interest years ago and I searched and read many articles and models. However, I found it was difficult to apply some techniques to meet all students' learning styles for many reasons. The large number of students in the class was the main obstacle, sometimes the difficulty to use technology or to find traditional activities that match all learning styles.

Finally, I finished the plan and tried to be detailed and specific. I hope to accomplish it as soon as possible and I wish I can inform you with the results but I don't know how? The evaluation of the course was an excellent chance to assess not only the course and its materials but also our participation and learning. One of the suggestions I gave was the importance of conducting follow-up workshops and seminars for the course participants whether this class or past and future classes. I think we have to meet regularly and discuss the improvements we have achieved.  It was my first time to know eteacher ning and I think this social network will serve the purpose of continual professional development where most UO courses' participants can meet and share their experiences. Unfortunately, my approval is pending and I don't know why. I advise my colleagues to join eteacher and keep in touch after the course. 

A letter of thanks is due to the UO committee for such high quality courses. Special thanks for Donna, the role model for encouragement, commitment and dedication. Love and appreciation for my colleagues for their excellent participation, valuable time and supportive feedback and without you the course won't be successful and enjoyable.

Greetings,

Amira