Research Article 2

In this semester, we put emphasis on web 2.0 tools in our class, and I know more about it. Because this is my first semester, everything is new to me. When Dr. Crawford said the term web 2.0 tools, and I have lots of questions in my mind. What is web 2.0 tool? What is web 2.0 tool used for? Now, I have more understanding about the term.
I found an article which is about web 2.0 tool-An International dimension of the students' attitudes towards the use of English in web 2.0 technology.
Web 2.0 changed people's daily lives, including education. It is often used in language learning. I think if teachers can integrate web 2.0 tool into their teaching, it would be more interesting. Because students would have more interest in learning. Since students like to use the internet and computer, they would put more effort if they can do what they usually do, and it would be more interesting.
This article emphasized on English learning. Web 2.0 can be defined as Web based
applications and services that provide users visual, textual, audial communication, interactive information, shared content, collaboration, authenticity and digital literacy ( Haythorthwaite & Kazme 2004; O’ Reilly, 2005; Giustini, 2006; Maness, 2006; Miller, 2006; Price, 2006; Richardson, 2006; Mcloughlin & Lee, 2007; Lankshear & Knobel 2007; Boyd & Ellison, 2008; Thomas, 2009; Motteram & Sharma, 2009). In this article, the author mentioned that web 2.0 tools have an undeniable effect on improving learners' writing skill.

Reference
Filiz, Y. T.(2011),An International dimension of the students' attitudes towards the use of English in web 2.0 technology. TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology.10(3)

Research Article 1

Blog is often used in classroom, and I found one article about blogging- HOT blogging: a framework for blogging to promote higher order thinking. In this article, the author introduced four types of blogs which are used in elementary classrooms.
1. Classroom news blog: used to share news and information with parents and students.
2. Mirror blogs: allow bloggers to reflect on their thinking
3. Showcase blogs: Many teachers post student art projects, podcasts, and  writing in showcase blogs.
4. Literature response blogs: A literature response blog simply moves this idea online where the teacher may sometimes post a prompt and invite student responses to a text.

The HOT blogging consists four recursive steps, and each step integrates both traditional reading comprehension skills and the new higher order thinking skills often required during online reading comprehension.

1. Bolster background: build the background knowledge that students are reading.

2. Prime the pump: in this step, blogging can help students think deeply about the background they have built and what they have read in the beginning chapter(s) of the text to share an initial interpretation (Langer & Close, 2001).

3. Continue the conversation:In this stage, students begin to summarize and synthesize

understanding across multiple textual units.

4. Make multiplicity explicit: Multiplicity is made explicit by inviting students to read, think, and comment on the classroom blog. Students regularly encounter how differently their classmates think from one another.

The teacher, Stephanie, thought that the HOT blogging is useful for her students, and the outcome is visible. I think students can learn from each other's writing when they are blogging. Moreover, when students try to read others' blogs, they have to comprehend it. Therefore, doing blog contains two steps, one is reading and the other is comprehending.

Reference

Lisa,Z. (2009). HOT blogging: a framework for blogging to promote higher order thinking.The Reading Teacher, 62(8), 650–661. DOI:10.1598/RT.62.8.3 

280 slides-presentation made easy

Powerpoint is important in students' lives, especially college students because they have lots of chances to do presentations.
I found a tool that is easy to be used which is 280 slides. I think this is a good tool for both PC or MAC users. The system of MAC is different from PC, and some PC users don't know how to use MAC system. It would be more convenient to make power point on the internet without the restraint of systems.

The features of 280 slides are as follows:
1. import existing documents
2. autosave and recovery
3. take it with you
4. download to powerpoint
5. built-in media search
6. publish to the web
7. quality themes
8. run in your web browser



Teachers or speakers can also use this to do their speech. The file can be stored on the server but the limitation is there should be an internet connection. If the speaker forgets to bring the file, he or she can get it online. Moreover, it can be download to powerpoint and uses can also put photos or music from youtube or flickr. It is really convenient to be use but the disadvantage is it depends on internet. 280 slides can also be published to the web and share to others.
However, the bad news is the tool is going to be closed on 12/21.

I am touched.

Last week, we had a guest speaker to share what she had done on her teaching when she was in Korea. I was so impressed to know how she taught her students and I wondered why I did not meet a foreign teacher like her when I was learning English. Honestly, she is the best foreign English teacher that I have ever seen. I met many foreign English teacher in Taiwan, but none of them did the same thing to improve students' motivation on learning English. During her sharing, I kept thinking in my mind that those students were so lucky to have her. She really integrated technology into her teaching, and students all did a good job. 

She also talked about the educational situation in Korea, and I would like to share my experience with you since I am from Taiwan. What she shared about the educational situation in Korea is general in Asian countries. Students in Taiwan, Korea, China, and Japan have to learn so many subjects and they are asked to be great so that students can go to great colleges in the future. Compared to American children, children in Asia have no childhood because they have to learn so many in their children. What they have to do is study and learn instruments such as violin and piano. Therefore, children have lots of pressure before they go to college. What's more, because of the teaching style, many children don't have critical thinking. They don't know how to think, and they just wait for others' instruction. It is a culture shock when I first had class in America because everyone is willing to express themselves. This would not happen in Taiwan.  

I keep thinking about why I cannot integrate so many interesting activities into my teaching. The main reason is we have to catch up with progress, and we won't have enough time if we do activities in class. The other reason is we don't have enough technology materials such as computers and projectors. Most of the schools don't have computers in classrooms, so it would be quite difficult to do some technology things in the class. If I can integrate some web 2.0 tools, my students would have interest in it. After I go back to Taiwan, I hope I can figure out how to stimulate students motivation to learn English. 

Use blog in my teaching.

     It seems that it is normal to integrate blogging into classroom teaching in America. This makes me think of my own country. Would it be possible to integrate blogging in my teaching? I have asked myself this question for a long time since we blogged in this class. Or can I integrate any web 2.0 tool that we have learned in this class into my teaching. I really want to introduce my students what I have learned in America because it is so amazing and different.  

     Students in Taiwan also like to use blogs to record their lives and post photos on their blogs in order to share with their classmates. When I was teaching in Taiwan, I found that some students tried to use English in their blogs even though there might be some grammatical errors. I was so happy when I saw them use English. They would use  simple words or sentences in their blogs and I think it is a good try. 

     English is an important language in the world and so many parents in Taiwan put emphasis on learning English. However, children don't understand why they should learn the language and they have no desire to learn. Many of my students told me that they won't go to America in the future, so there is no need to learn English. When I heard this, I felt so sad because I know they will regret in the future. 

     I would try to use blog or other web 2.0 tools in my classroom teaching. As a matter of fact, we seldom use  web 2.0 tools in our class because we have to catch up the progress. If I can use it in my class, my students would feel interesting because no other teachers have done this before. I would ask them to write two or three sentences a day and they can write whatever they want. And then I would ask my students to give feed back to their peers. 

     However, there are some limitations to blog. Many students would go to cram schools after they go home, so they might have no time to do the additional work. What's more, students have to use computer so that they can post something in their blog, but some parents don't want their children to use computer so often. Therefore, there are many difficulties that I have to overcome before I start to use blog in my teaching. Hope I can have the chance to do what I want them to do. 

Classroom tools

When I was searching on the Internet, I found an website which makes learning become interesting. This website "create free educational games, quizzes, activities and diagrams in seconds." 
This website contains 24 templates that are available for teachers to use in their own classrooms or classroom blogs. It is not only useful for teachers but also for students. Some students are visual and kinesthetic, and they can use some templates such as Venn diagrams and timelines to reinforce their learning. 

Teachers can even create some games that would attract students' attention, and students can learn what they should learn by playing. It would be more attractive if students can play games in class, and they may not feel bored in class. I think this tool can be use from K1 to K12 or even college. There are many different templates and teachers or students can choose what is the most suitable for them. Users can make good use of the "sample files". There are many subjects and users can choose what subject they want and choose the template they want to use in order to find the example. 


Where to find : http://www.classtools.net/
Brief introduction:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_suA923NBgM

Mindomo---Mind Mapping Made Easy

MINDOMO is an online mapping tool that lets users create mind maps to organize their ideas. It is like bubbl.us, but MINDOMO has another advantage. That is, users can linked multimedia, such as photographs, video and hyperlinks to web sites, to subtopics to help organize information and to make it more interactive. 

This tool is good for visual learners because they can benefit from the images. Teachers can use it before they start a new lesson in order to give students a complete concept map. I think teachers can also use it as an assessment tool. After a new lesson, teachers can ask students to delineate the concept map of the lesson so that teachers can know how many the students understand. I think it would be more interesting for students to do it and it may alleviate some students pressure because some students are not good at paper test. 
I think MINDOMO can stimulate students critical thinking. Students can be separated into groups and they can share their ideas or give others feedback.


Where to find :http://www.mindomo.com/
tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fjgWNC-4Ns&feature=related&noredirect=1