Week 1 - Reflection

Dear Donna and classmates,

I am Juan Carlos and to start I have to say that I feel happy and fortunate to have been accepted to be part of this online course. I had some problems with my registration because I was informed one day after the dateline that I had to register. I almost fainted, but fortunately I could email Donna and she replied immediately and told me that I could still have a chance to be admitted. And here I am, enjoying and following this new and exciting experience (to be honest, I feel a bit nervous and frightened, too).

This is the first time I am taking an online course so that I am not very familiar with the kind of things or assignments that we are going to do or accomplish during these three months. I believe that education in my country has changed a lot in the last twenty years. I still remember the time I was a student and my teachers used to write on the board with chalk and we had to take notes very neatly. If I had to do research, I had to ask my parents for help or read books or newspaper articles to get some information. During that time, I didn’t have a computer so that I had to use a typewriter to type my reports. Do you remember how frustrating was to make a mistake and type everything again?

And now? What do our students use in class or at home? How easy is everything for them these days? On the other hand, I am pretty sure that most of us (teachers) have seen our students’ faces and reactions when we say: “OKAY, now open your notebooks and copy the exercise that is on the board”. I think nowadays the worst punishment for our students is to have them write something neatly in their notebooks or summarize a newspaper article using their own words.           

Therefore we have to accept that technology is here to stay, there is no turning back.

After reading the topic and objectives of the course, I wonder if I was ready and prepared for this new challenge. I am a technology friend and regular internet user, but how can technology facilitate my students ‘English learning process? Especially those who are professionals and their time and lives are already limited and hectic due to their jobs. For that reason I am very optimistic and sure that everything that I will learn with all of you will help me reach that personal goal.

Referring to my first week of the course, I can say that our tutor has been very supportive and willing to help everyone and her instructions have been very clear and well-detailed in order to avoid mistakes. I am lucky to be participating in this course with other teachers and professors from other countries. This is a great opportunity for me to learn from them and their cultures.

Our first assignment was to explore NICENET, get familiar with its tools, introduce ourselves to the group and also post comments on Ground Rules for Discussions.

Debating and making comments in a forum is a brand-new experience to me. My shyness can be reflected a bit in my writing, but I will do my best to share what I know and have learnt in my job.

So this is me and my blog and I hope you enjoy it! J