9th Post: Teaching and learning online

My first reaction to technology...

As you can see above, this was my first reaction to the blog activity. However, I enjoy surfing the internet as no one does... wha I have trouble with is the web 2.0 where the reader transforms into writer...participation is encouraged and everyone has a virtual identity.

Since I have been able to know how to find language resources, I have always been learning languages on the internet in informal contexts. I try to dedicate a little to all of the languages I have learned, bust mostly English, French and German (lately some Norwegian as well). The internet gives you all the content you need, from the most traditional grammar to the dummiest miscellaneous Norwegian tutorial on YouTube:

I basically have hatted Aula Global/Moodle since ESO when this viral platform came into my life... I am not very keen to multitasking and I am easely infoxicated when the same documents are everywhere: on moodle, on the Aula Global, printed, etc. One time is fine. However, I have get used to it and it is quite useful. The day it really works, it is great: practical, ecological and functional. Having seen the practical uses of it, I still have to say that I hate it. 

VAS is a reality nowadays which we cannot skip or just ignore, and I have my own VAL in order to not lose track of the internet: you need to be there as a student, as a researcher, as anyone who has someting interesting to say and worth sharing. I totally agree with this as long as the limits of privacy are respected. The hardest to me is to set my own limits and lose the fear of being exposed on the social networks. This is one reason why I did not feel very comfortable writing a blog in the first moment. I have done it because it is crucial to practise to write and to participate in the virtual community: my professional as well as my personal future demand it. Social networking have an unendless power, knowing to use them to make changes for good is the next step we have to achieve.

The most things I do to learn languages on the internet is looking for podcasts, videos and nice sites. I would love to find a chatting partner for German and French (English as well). I feel comfortable surfing the internet to find literature (authentic materials) and video tutorials. They are now part of my daily rutines and my PLE, although all kinds of materials conform my Personal Learning Environment: books, textbooks, exercise books, music, my personal diaries, news, articles and above all people, this is, friends and family: I love to have endless conversations to share knowledge and to construct new knowledge. 

The newest technology makes it very easy to learn a language only on line. You have access o unendless resources based on all kinds of methods and theories. However, I think that in order to fullfill your learning experience, travelling is the best option to learn a language as a whole. 

8th Post: Assessment

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This time I wanted to start a post with visual poetry: the chaotic text above is a representation of the song we keep listening to year after year...important is your final grade ('la nota'), the rest is just there and makes noise. The reason why I post this home-made poem is very obvious: the putrefact qualitative assessment stystem we are stucked in. This leads to a dominating summative, hetero final pattern of assessment were the student has little room to improve... whether he passes or he fails. I think this video explains accurately what is meant with stuck in this system (again, I reference Corin -chatterboxonlinesite- here): 

And I would add this one where Chomsky is at his best, enlighting us on education...

In any case, all assessments can be valid depending on how and what we are evaluating. However I prefere formative, continuous and qualitative assessment, as well as ipsative and self-assessment. The room to improve language skills as a student is huge and enriching. You integrate, little by little, new structures, vocabulary, strategies, style... You learn to know yourself through them, and the more you are conscious of how you work as a student and which are your interests, the more you improve in your language skills, regardless of which skill you are working on. To me this is the main reason why these type of assessments are generally more fit than the former exposed, which are needed as well when standards are stablished and tested. 

I passed a competence-based test in every language I know, usually to get certificates. The last ones I did were at Pompeu Fabra (PCCL) for English and French. Both of those tests had different parts (oral production and listening comprehension; writing expression and reading comprehension) which were designed accordingly with the kind of language competence and skills being evaluated. The hardest and longest exam I have passed until now is the C2 in Catalan (CEFR). There were tools from multiple choice test, an oral interview, vocabulary exercises and essay writing. I did the exam twice: once when I was still in "batxillerat" and the other one during my second year at university. I picked up my official Catlan proficiency certificate two months ago, and I am very proud of it! 

What I most enjoyed of this examn was the essay writing tutoring with my Catalan teacher. Writing is one of my passions and she really gave me excellent positive feed-back on my writings. Surprisingly, the part I most enjoyed to do during the official exam was the oral production part. 

Yes, I am satisfied of the assessment I have received here at university. Sometimes I have agreed more with my teachers and sometimes less, but in general I can say I am happy with the assessment of my learnings. I have had very good teachers who value the on-going process of learning in between these capitalist orientated education pattern... I have been given he right tools to improve my poorest skills and encouraged to work on my best skills from a Humanistic point of view, which I really appreciate.