Darfur is Dying

  Darfur is Dying is more like an RPG game for gamers to experience what you can experience in a third world refugee, in my opinion. It is more like cultural game than L2 learning game. I played it for just twice because everytime my characters died, I feel really sad especially when they are only kids. The two dimension cartoon of the game is coarse, but it does not effect its shock on my heart.
  If I would use this game in my teaching I would like to let my students write a reflection of the game, that is to say my teaching objectives is more on writing aspect and thoughts sharing. The assessment is obvious that I will first let them discuss with their peers and then collect their writings and give them feedback.

Gamification Education

  In my opinion, the gamification education refers to teachers fostering students to learn the knowledge and to meet their teaching objectives by let students play the game so that students can naturally learn what they are supposed to learn in an unconscious and relaxed way.
  To exam whether it is good for students to learn through gaming, I played a escape room game myself---Escape the Room 3. I have to say I am absolutely not an adventure game fan, and what I play most is online fighting or war game. I have tried about three times to get out of the room. All failed. So I just referred to the walkthrough. I do not really like this game but since I am required to write something about the reasons of using games in teaching I will force myself to think of some.
   In this kind of game there are many text instructions to help you to find the solution, which is helpful for learners to fill in their information gap. If I would use such game in my teaching, my objectives might be learn to think in a logical way (because English itself is a language of logics) and to expand their vocabulary (because every word in this game can be an important clue to solve the problem). In order to check whether students have met such objectives, I would first let them write down the procedure of their solving the problem to see whether what they have written is in a logic way and whether they are using the vocabulary necessary to solve the problem in the game.
  During their playing game, I as a teacher will definitely use a walk through when they are about to reach the dead-end, because, generally speaking, people will get frustrated and lose interested in a game if they are unable to solve them over and over again, which is what I have encountered when playing this game, while students' being inactive is the last thing a teacher want to face.  But I see no need to use the images of picture. Aren't the students playing the game themselves? Don't they already know the game?
   In addition, teachers in the gamification education should play a role of guide and they must pick an appropriate game that can overall turn the students on.
  Once again, I have to say I really do not like the escape the room  game, which is supposed to be one of the fittest games for students to learn something.

Twitter and teacher

   I have read two articles that enlightens me in using twitter in teaching. The first one is 6 best twitter tips every teacher should know. Here is a picture showing the six practices.

  

   There are two points in this I think is of great importance for teachers. First, having conversation with follow fans. Although using a new form of teaching, teacher should always keep in mind that communication and interaction with students is are one of the main sources for students to learn. And the second one is being as concise as possible in wording and length so that followers can have something to add and share. It is just like in the classroom, teacher's lecture all the time can make students feel tired and boring. Teachers should give students space to think, to react and to create. 

    The other article I read about twitter and teaching is  A must have guide on using twitter in your classroom.  Through reading the articles, I feel like one of the salient advantage of using twitter in teaching is that it makes it much more convenient for teachers and students to communicate both academically and socially. I am,as a students, always afraid of missing something important messages about the course such as class cancelled, change of the syllabus or the deadline. Actually I did miss some of these this semester. If teacher can twit to us, the chance will be lower I think. And also, since I studied in here, I found that talking with professors can be really hard. But with twitter, it becomes much easier. Even if the professor is to busy to answer the question, other followers who see the question may answer that as well.

  Through a few weeks' learning, I am surprised to find that almost all the new technologies, especially the internet tools can be used in teaching. It is really a revolution!

Teacher 2.0

   Teacher 2.0 is a place where educators can explore their ideas and support each other in their teaching career. In this website, teachers can get refreshed by attending to the events, interviews and workshops posted on this community and help each other to make contributions to the education field.

   I think, as a teacher, we may face many challenges and will have to deal with many tricky situations with students. Through searching in this Internet community, reading the posts, attending to the workshop, it is very possible for us to get proper advice and be dragged out of the dilemma. This website is like a re-energize base for teachers.

Learners of Today

   Nowadays, a learner is like a spider who is going to expand his web by combining others so that they can hunt much more food.

   You may wonder why and here is my explanation. According to Siemens G's A learning theory for the digital age, in which he put emphasis on explaining connectivism, learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources; Learning may reside in non-human appliances; Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning; Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill;Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision. From this we can see that how important the web is for learners. Like a spider, a learner have to build his own web of knowledge in the first place, and then in order to expand this web, a learner may ask for  others' help when he has already reached the edge of his ability. In this way, there will be more chance for them to get what they really need. And also, the web need maintaining so that it will always work. 

  Next, in the video, the changing nature of knowledge, Siemen further develop the concept of connectivism: The essence is that network BECOMES learning,  and the network the learners create, which can also be explained in the way of a spider. Learners learn things from the process of building their own web and combining with others'. But the knowledge learners get is not only from such process, rather their knowledge has concretely shown as the combined web they have made.

  In a word, the dynamic process of building web, the connections in human society, guarantee that our learning patterns can adapt to the changing nature of knowledge.

No laptops for children: Good or Bad?

  I recently read a post called "the end of "digital education revolution" written by Darcy Moore. It talks about the Australian government decided to rollout laptops on campus. He is quite disappointed with it. Here is what he said about this thing.

   And also I read the comments of this posts, most of them are in favor of the author, thinking it is inappropriate to rollout laptops from campus. One parent just said: "how can you just stop supplying laptops next year to some kids while others have them”.

    

   Actually, I feel a little surprised because in China parents tend to keep their children away from computers because children, who in general lack self-discipline, are easy to indulged in the computer games. This may lead to serious consequences: be bad for eyes and have effect in their schooling.

   It is true that with technology can help students study. I myself have acquired the benefits from advanced computer technology. But does it necessary for students to own laptops in school? Will lack of them influence their study? I do not really think so.

   

Old fashion? No way!

21st Century Education in New Brunswick, Canada & Social Media Revolution 2011

  Two videos above represent a revolutionary view of technologies which shed light to my language teaching.
  The form of the former video really impressed me: the contrast. It compares what education used to be in New Brunswick with what education should be in the future.What makes this contrast stronger is the pictures and animations. They leave me an impression that technology really change the way of education. At least when I myself see the video, I cannot wait to apply the technology used in the video to my own teaching.
  About the content, This video is quite provoking. It is true that education must be adapted to the change of world, especially for language teaching I think. Language itself has such aspects as reading, writing, speaking, listening, which to some extent requires multi-technologies so that students can have all aspects practiced. What is more, the development of technology "ensmall" the world, which makes it convenient for language learners to contact with native speakers and native cultures.
  The latter one is an overview of how social media online changed our lives offline by showing real statistics. I was surprised to realize that such social media has subtly influenced us so much. It influences us on schooling, business, even our marriages. So it came to me that social media can also be a way of language teaching. Actually, we are using it now, like posting blogs and commenting.
  In a word, the two videos confirmed me of applying technologies to my own teaching. It makes teaching tempting and learning interesting! Still teaching in a old-fashion way? Still forcing students to carry tons of books to school? No WAY! Change of the world, Change of education.