Digitalized Education and the Need of New Technologies

It is very necessary for English teachers to discover the world of new technologies and continue always exploring them. We live in an era where the education is gradually being digitalized and  there is always the need to learn something new about the innovations in the world of technologies for education. Nowadays, the young generations tend to use different technologies for different things, which we were not using at their age, such as reading, playing video games, receiving information instantly through technologies, etc. Thus, as TEFL professionals, we need to always be upgraded with the latest technological innovations for being able to transfer the knowledge to our students by using the new and efficient ways of teaching.
The diverse technological tools that we learnt about were very useful for understanding the possible ways of making our teaching process more informative, interactive, engaging and interesting. There are some types of technologies which I'm definitely going to use in my teaching. Such as the blogs, which give the learners the opportunity to become network creators and users, and provide the interactive learning environment for them. Feedly.com is awesome tool for making the information start looking for you; thus by subscribing to different sources, the learners will be able to create their life-long and autonomous learning environment for them. The different applications of google, which are again very helpful for creating the collaborative learning platform for the learners, e.g. I will use google drive for creating google docs, google sites for them to create their online portfolios, google groups, for discussions outside the class, etc. Video games are also going to be used with the low level students. Podcasts are very rich tools for listening exercises, which I will use too. For helping them to produce the language they learn, I will use the digital story-telling.
Thus, I'm very glad that I had the chance to take the course "New Technologies in TEFL" which gave me a broad understanding and also experience in the application of the new technologies for teaching and learning purposes. Finally, it taught me how to become a life-long and autonomous learner, which, in my turn, I will teach my students.

Cloud Computing and Google For Education

Cloud computing is a concept which is used to describe a large system of computers which are connected to each other through a real-time communication, when there is the chance to run a program in different computers at the same time. In this case the real server hardware is replaced by a virtual hardware, which does not physically exist and therefore can be moved around like a cloud.
In fact, cloud computing changes our work as teachers. It mainly affects on our work positively, but, of course, it also has some drawbacks. Due to cloud computing we can create one document and have multiple users in it, thus, fostering collaboration between the learners. Besides, with the help of cloud computing, we do less downloading. We just log in to different softwares and start using them. Thus, it is more economical in terms of the software and hardware. Moreover, there is no need for big IT teams for schools or other educational institutions. However, cloud computing makes us be too internet-dependent, as because of different reasons when there is an internet connection breakdown, all the system connected computers can't have internet access. There might be also some issues connected with the privacy or confidentiality of the data stored in the cloud. When it comes to Google for education, it has different applications which can be used by teachers. Some of them are really good for creating a collaborative platform, where the learners can learn in an interactive way, such as Google drive and Google sites, Blogger. Other applications can also be helpful, such as Google book search, Google Sky, Google Calendar, etc.

More information is available via this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88ysB-EKA9U

Analytics in Learning

It is well-known that carefully designed data collection leads to data-driven decision making in different fields along with in learning processes. It is obvious, that this kind of evidence will be more objective and reliable, than the evidence based on personal experiences of individuals. Thus, according to Long & Siemens (2011), data-driven decision making improves the organizational output and productivity.
Due to learning analytics the data about the learners can be measured, collected, analyzed and reported, the purpose of which is to understand and evaluate this or that issue connected with their learning and the environment in which the learning occurs. Learning analytics can provide evidence about the success and also challenges of the learning environment, i.e. institutions. It means that the further steps can be taken according to the results of the reported data. Another advantage that it provides, is that the learners get up-to-date information about their own learning and try to improve it based on the evidence given by the learning analytics. Thus, with the help of the learning analytics the quality of the teaching and learning can definitely become more efficient.

More information is available via this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqETXdq68vY