WEEK 3 - Sharing 'delicious' links!

This week has been very fruitful. The readings were interesting and created a lot of debate around the listening and speaking skills in TEFL. It's always useful to see how other teachers make the most of the technological resources on the Internet, their recommendations, their personal experiences when using those websites, the difficulties encountered, etc. And, of course, I like making small contributions to help them whenever I have ideas related to their doubts and problems.

With regard to Delicious, I had previously heard about it but never bothered to try it - big mistake! I can now see its potential and I've started adding websites shared on Nicenet. I feel like a kid with a new toy, so I just have to keep playing and tidying up :)   *[Note to self: I must export my favourites from Firefox. I'll try Jenda's link: http://export.delicious.com/settings/bookmarks/import]    More importantly, it will be a great tool to keep in contact with my classmates and share interesting websites and resources throughout our teaching careers.

WEEK 2 - Time, time, time...

My first impression in week 1 was quite right: time is going to be a key factor during the course. I'm trying to keep up with the pace and with dealing with so many little tasks. The actual assignments aren't too time-consuming, but I've noticed I need to get an early start in all the reading required. Not only to stick to the deadlines, but most importantly to get the most out of this course!

The search engine activity has been a real eye-opener. I loved the noodletools website and I think I'll need to spend some more time exploring all the ins and outs. It's got a lot to offer and it can really help me with the oral exam preparation, article finding, etc. And reading the related posts on Nicenet is even more interesting, because they help you prioritise links, to decide which ones to visit first and what to use them for. In order to manage this amount of reading and communication, it's good to log in to Nicenet at least once a day, I'd say.

Finally, after reading the "advice from past participants" in the wiki, it looks like one of the main challenges will be the final project, and all the comments pointed out that it was a good idea to plan everything at the beginning. I guess that means the course will be getting more intense, so all the work you can plan ahead will make our lives easier later on. Right now, I don't have a clear idea (not even an idea, actually!) of what new technology resource I'd like to apply to my class and I don't know if my classmates feel the same way or they've already decided. Maybe I'm just jumping the gun!

WEEK 1 - Ready, steady... go!

Hello and welcome!

This is my reflective blog, where I'm going to be posting ideas, doubts, learning and teaching experiences and anything else that may come to my mind while taking a 10-week course by the University of Oregon: E-teacher Building Teaching Skills Through the Interactive Web. I'm really glad that I've been given the opportunity to join the course, and this blog will only be a small part of my final project.

This first week I've met a very friendly and varied group of teachers (mostly EFL teachers) and we have interacted with each other using a tool I had never come across: Nicenet. So far, so good.

Right now I'm just a bit concerned about the deadlines and the workload the course will involve, since May and June will be quite hectic for me at work. But let's finish on a good note: I'm very excited to meet teachers from all around the world and I'm sure we'll share and discuss many teaching and technology issues in just 10 weeks, which can only be highly beneficial to all of us. I can't wait!