my podcasting

Hi, everybody!Welcome to my podcasting
http://rachel3601.podomatic.com/entry/2010-08-12T09_16_34-07_00

Thoughts on using wiki in teaching

It is the very first time that I learn about what wiki is. Comparatively, blog is more a familiar term to me. Using wiki is fun, which I have experienced with Miss Wang Hongmei this morning in Nikki's class. In the collaborative writing, we felt happy when we had similar ideas with the previous writers, and were excited to add or change the writing at times we held different opinions with them. This is really brainstorming. I think the students, too, might have similar feelings when they are engaged in similar team work using wiki.They might feel more interested and interactive during the process and confident after it when they see all the difference. When viewing others' blogs, the viewers, even if they make comments on them, still may feel they are the guests of the blogs. But in the wiki, everyone is equally the host--it is fabulous!Consequently, students may strenthen their sense of responsibility in it. There are things that a wiki cannot pair with a blog, but the above merits I have found makes  wiki useful and unique in other ways. Therefore, I am considering the possibilities of using wiki for my academic writing class.

Thoughts on the application of technology

     Computer technology develops rapidly and has exerted an immense impact on people, particularly the youth's lives. As a matter of fact, many college students are more familiar with the use of it than the teachers. And the application of technological tools has become an important part in students' learning process and in their personal lives. So exploring this potential in students and enabling them to use these technological tools in and outside the classroom is increasingly significant. But it must always be reminded that not all the tools are helpful for all the classes. Teachers, when deciding to use these tools, must find the better ones for certain courses in which technological tools are accessible and not occupying too much of regular class observation time. And in the implementation of these tools, teachers need to guide the students when problems arise. Furthermore, supervision and assessment are necessary.

     Personally I think, technological tools could be versatile and helpful, and make language teaching more flexible and effective, but it is also a time and mental consuming process on the part of the teachers for all taken into consideration.

Goals for the class

As I am not acquainted with computer-based technology, this class offers a good chance for me to learn about various Internet-associated tools in the teaching of language. Hopefully, after completing this course, I can be armed with various techniques so that I can apply appropriate technological tools to the teaching of different English courses.