GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD: A REFLECTION ON CURRENT ISSUES IN TEACHING COURSE

 #Reflection #Current Issues in Teaching #Instructional Technologies and Material Design

Well, the fall semester ended! It feels quite strange how the time passed so quickly! Current Issues in Teaching course came also to an end and in this supposedly last post, I will share my reflections on the course with you all!

First of all, the major weakness of the course, for me, was the misalignment of the course title with the content of the course. Last year, the course content and the title ‘Instructional Technologies & Material Design’ were congruous and as it was my first time experiencing the usage of various technological tools, the course felt like an oasis in the Chomskyian desert. However, this year ‘Current Issues in Teaching’ felt like an extension to ‘Instructional Technologies & Material Design’ and maybe it wasn’t really needed.

In addition, another aspect of the course which I found difficult was groupwork. Indeed, the groupworks are done at some point prior to the deadline but I think it shouldn’t be the last minute. As I am a disciplined person, I prefer completing my assignment on time and study individually. Furthermore, I didn’t find the peer feedback sufficient.

In my opinion, there are two roads that could be taken regarding the trajectory of the course. First, the course could be aligned with its title and focus on the shortcomings of the education system in Turkey. Actually, the problems in our national education are quite abundant so this would provide a nice focal point to the class. Second, the students in the department could be divided into four groups and whether the assignment will be individual or group work could be optional. If we are talking about student-centred education, the students must have the right to decide on what to do in their learning journey.

There are lots to say but there is a word limit! Fare-thee-well!

AUGMENTED REALITY: MAYBE BETTER THAN THE REAL?

#Current Issues in Teaching #Instructional Technology #Canva #Happy New Year

The last post of this year! We wave goodbye to the last year and welcome a brand new year, so I feel pretty good about it. I hope finishing all my final assignments before entering to the new year and get some fresh air. Especially having a farewell to my 5000-word essay on the Bosnian War could be amazing. Having a nightmare which Ratko Mladic is your cellmate is not funny, after all. It gives me the creeps…

So reality is harsh sometimes, but what about the augmented reality (AR)? I think, it’s even better than what happens in real life and an amazing way to show your students the idealistic version of life. Currently, we’ve been assigned to create an AR-integrated teaching material which we prompted the students to explore a city abroad. Well, it was a state in our case which is Arizona, USA and we introduced the landmarks of Arizona such as Grand Canyon National Park and Meteor Crater. Furthermore, we introduced the Tucson Museum of Art and some outdoor activities which could be done in Arizona. I have dealt with the outdoor activities part as it was something which I was quite interested in. Hopefully, I found a video named “Outdoor Adventure Guide to Arizona | Ask A Local” from the channel “Visit the USA”. After finding this video, I created a mini listening activity for the students in the worksheet we created. I also came up with the idea for the project and prepared both of these parts in our worksheet on Canva.

AR is a nice way of integrating the technology into English language classes and making the unreachable things reachable. I would like to use it in my future English classes as an ancillary source.

Here you could find the link for the worksheet and the lesson plan:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAGZ1KJ5qv8/2zPglKIU-i3YGL72fk5GLw/edit?utm_content=DAGZ1KJ5qv8&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DHXtGC1E09RjI0uoAx3UGuOvatyMGxjb9dwwpr8xPdQ/edit?usp=sharing 

See you soon!

COMING UP: CURRENT ISSUES IN TEACHING

#ELT #Current Issues In Teaching #Technology Integration #Assignments #About Me

     Long time no see! How are you all? For the ones who views this blog for the first time I’m Azra and you could find out about me in the “About Me” part. But let’s make some updates! I’m not a sophomore anymore, I’m a junior in the English Language Teaching department of Marmara University. Our campus’ location is changed. I was really pissed off in the beginning but now I’m used to the daily drag of commuting with 4 public transports (Sad but true!). On the road, I listen dozens of rock songs and try to stay sane. Though I sound pathetic, I enjoy road and listen to some Queen and Mannfred Mann albums. And sometimes ‘Puppy Love’ by Donny Osmond (one of my guilty pleasures).

       As you know, last term I created this blog for my Instructional Technologies & Material Design course. As part of this course, I created some materials with diverse technological tools. Immersing myself to these creative activities gained me technological proficiency and practicality. Likewise, this term we will create some materials for direct use in the classroom for Current Issues in Teaching course. This time the blogs I will be posting will be more about lesson-oriented materials and how to create technology-enhanced lesson plans.

Stay in touch with me and don’t forget to share and comment to my posts!

I’m coming up😎

Paul McCartney-Coming Up