ICT Reminiscence for 2007

Yes, it’s been a long time since my last entry, but professional development and work commitments kept me at bay from writing more entries along 2007. But I will start 2008 by writing a bit on some ICT experiences I had during this year and some killer ICT tools that I currently use and I believe have got potential in ELT.

AVEALMEC

AVEALMEC ( Asociación Venezolana para la Enseñanza y Aprendizaje de Lenguas Mediados por el Computador) is an educational association which started as an idea on March 14th 2007 in a national forum entitled "What's next? The Future of English in Venezuela" at the British Council. During the concluding session, a group of teachers from different universities agreed on setting this association up (Read blog entry about AVEALMEC).

I‘m currently the secretary of this association along with a group of hard working teachers from different universities in Venezuela: Teadira Pérez (President, ULA), Liliana Buitrago (Vice-president, UEFM); Víctor Ojeda (Treasurer, Colegio Emil Firiedman); Dafne Gonz{alez (Acting member for the president, USB), Nahir Aparicio (Acting member for Vice-president, UPEl-Caracas), Evelyn Izquierdo (Acting member for secretary, UC), Benicio Galavís (Acting member for Treasurer, CUFM), Yuraimig Rivero (Vocal), Elvina Castillo (Acting member for vocal), Lisbeth Jimenez (UPEL-Barquisimeto) , Mary Pinto and José Luís Gómez(UDO).

AVEALMEC November event

The Web 2.0 for ELT teachers: Podcasts, Blogs, Wikis, Virtual Worlds and Digital Games was one of the first event organized in joint venture with the British Council Venezuela by AVEALMEC. The British Council Venezuela also helped sponsor this event. The seminar leader was Graham Stanley. During one week Graham Stanley shared with a group of Venezuelan EFL teachers his knowledge and experience in the use of Web 2.0 tools and showed their potential in ELT.

Also, this event became a good opportunity to add more members to AVEALMEC. From 13 to 30 (founding and active members). During this week AVEALMEC board of meeting programmed two main events for 2008. A series of simultaneous workshops in different places around Venezuela in April and a seminar in October 2008.

British Council Projects

The British Council Venezuela kept developing its ICT projects in public/private schools and universities during 2007:

1. In a joint venture project between Alcaldia de Chacao and British Council, a group of teachers from public schools were trained to use ICT tools in their school CALL labs through the workshop Integrating ICT into the classroom and the support of online tutors (first semester of 2007).

2. A group of teachers from Bolivarian schools in Mérida were trained to use Hot Potatoes (July 2007)

3. A group of university teachers from Universidad del Zulia (April 2007) and Instituto Universitario Tecnológico Americo Vespucio (November 2007), were given the ICT workshop. Also a group of teachers from a private school, Unidad Educativa San Ignacio de Loyola, were trained to integrate ICT into the language classroom.

Also, The British Council Venezuela shared projects developed in public schools and university in national and regional events like VenTESOL (March and May 2007).

Consultants-E

Apart from being trained on Moodle and E-moderation by Consultants-E, a company of consultants offering online courses, I was given the chance of becoming an online tutor for this company during 2007. I started observing Carl Dowse tutored the ICT in the classroom course and then helped Valentina Dodge tutor this ICT course from October to December 2007. This turned into my testing ground for applying what I had learned in the Moodle and E-moderation course and also a way to reflect and get deep insights into online tutoring. Gavin Dudeney is the project director and Nicky Hockly is the director of pedagogy for this company. I had the chance to meet them personally at a seminar in Manchester in 2006 and Gavin Dudeney came to Venezuela that same year as seminar leader to give this extraordinary and professional training to University teachers on ICT in Universidad de los Andes in Venezuela.

SL Online workshop

I attended my first serious ELT event in Second Life last December 1st (yes, I had been wandering off and dancing my SL life away up to that moment. OK I still do!:- )

Gavin Dudeney gave this interesting and very informative presentation on teaching tools in Second Life. You can see and hear the whole presentation in the archive space on Edunation II. Teleport to this SLURL:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/EduNation%20II/53/162/22

Further presentations will take place on a regular monthly basis as part of the series organised by the EduCation & EduNation group in Second Life. Join the group for further information.

2008 Killer ICT tools

In my humble opinion, these are the killer ICT tools for 2007:

1. Second Life (virtual world for social networking):

2. WiziQ (online board)

3. Quizlet (Online Vocabulary learning)

Some other tools:

4. Ning (Social networking)

5.Twitter (Social networking)

6. UstreamTV (live, interactive broadcasting)

Videocasts to hone IT skills, learn about new gadgets/software (and have some fun!):

7. Live.Pirillo.com or Chris Pirillo Live

AVEALMEC

AVEALMEC ( Asociación Venezolana para la Enseñanza y Aprendizaje de Lenguas Mediados por el Computador) is an educational association which started as an idea on March 14th 2007 in a national forum entitled "What's next? The Future of English in Venezuela" at the British Council . During the concluding session, a group of teachers from different universities agreed on setting this association up (You can download the summary of this ELT forum in the 579 message in VENELT).

After this event, these teachers started holding meetings via chat and Skype to:

1. name the association

2. name the members of the board of directors, vocal and acting members

3. identify the mission, objectives and vision of the association

4. design a logo for the association

5. write the association constitution document with the British Council legal consultantship

6. write the statutes (we are currently working on them)

7. organize the first AVEALMEC event along with the British Council

We became a legal association on August 6^th, 2007 when we received the constitution document at the registrar.

We are 13 founding members and we expect to have new active members after the November event, the Web 2.0 for ELT teachers:Podcasts, Blogs, Wikis, Virtual Worlds and Digital Games. This event will be an opportunity to promote the association among the seminar participants who in turn, we hope, will spread the words on the benefits teachers can get out of the association.

The AVEALMEC members are:

President: Teadira Pérez (ULA) . *Acting member: Dafne González (USB)

Vice president: Liliana Buitrago (UNEFM). Acting member: Nahir Aparicio (UPEL-Caracas)

Secretary: Miguel Mendoza (UCV-British Council). Acting member: Evelyn Izquierdo (UCV)

Treasurer: Víctor Ojeda (Colegio Emil Friedman). Acting member: Benicio Galavís (CUFM)

Vocal member: Yuraimig Rivero (UPEL-Maturin). Acting member: Elvina Castillo (UNEFM)

The rest of the founding members are: José Luis Gómez (UDO), Mary Pinto (UC) and Lisbeth Jiménez (UPEL-Barquisimeto)

The main objective of the association is to promote the integration of ICT in the language classroom and educational curricula. We also aim at promoting the use, pedagogical practice and design of ICT/CALL materials in ELT.

Working together and having the support of the British Council have made the setting up of the association smooth. There's still a long way to go but its current members are working hard to turn AVEALMEC into a leading association in the promotion of ICT in ELT in Venezuela.

ULA (Universidad de los Andes); USB (Universidad Simón Bolívar); UNEFM (Universidad Nacional Experimental Francisco de Miranda); UPEL (Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador); UCV (Universidad Central de Venezuela); CUFM (Colegio Universitario Francisco de Miranda); UDO (Universidad de Oriente); UC (Universidad de Carabobo)

On technical issues/attitude/participation when using ICT

This entry is a reflection I made in ELTnet, a British council Yahoo group for ELF Venezuelan teachers, in connection to teachers’ concern about students’ attitude towards using technology to learn a foreign language, technical problems in the computer labs and ICT trainees’ attitude from public schools or universities around Venezuela.
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Well, technical failures/problems/glitches are going to happen all the time even if you are using the most state of the art computer lab...You know, wireless connection and all that…

We will have to deal with it...Teachers and students; housewives; businessmen; priests; children; neighbors, you name it.

Not having a good internet connection, enough computers, technical support when needed, a lab and all that can be quite discouraging. And that’s what we are going to find, at least, in most places in Venezuela…Yes, It can be quite disheartening sometimes...specially for someone like Nahir, for example, who knows how powerful technology can be for her students to learn and would like them to make the most of it...I do understand her…Or Clevia and Carmen who would like to have more participative, responsible, committed teachers when it comes to their ICT training…I’ve been there…

But can we do something about it? Well, we will have to arm ourselves with lots of patience and find ways to engage, entice, allure people into using technology. Maybe things you have already done: using cybers (try again and again). If you can, use a laptop and a video beam sometimes and plan off-line web lessons. Or do the same with a lab full of computers but no Internet connection. Keep using the old e-mail (almost everybody has one)! We are pretty resourceful, creative teachers…even in the most adverse situations…

I think us, immigrant natives, won’t see a swarm of people (teachers and students) dying to use technology...at least Not yet…Our job is to patiently show them how important it is for their studies or professional development. Also, in this, let’s call it, first stage of the implementation of ICT in Venezuela, our job will be promoting, showing, convincing, showcasing what ICT can do in the EFL classroom.

Our job/role, I think, is turning the non-believers into believers, the apathetic into a passionate ICT users...That takes time and guts, though...

Furthermore, and this is something very few professionals talk about, our job is not only to use and sometimes wao our students with the Web 2.0, it is to help reduce the digital divide…Just by bringing samples of materials downloaded from the net can be a start for those “who have no access to technology”…And this is not something I read about…That’s what I do in the classroom. Try to bring online based materials printed (sound weird, isn’t it?) to my class sessions. What do some of my students do?…Visit the URL’s I give as a source for these readings…They find ways to do so…and they start reading online…or if they want more practice I say I’ll do that by mail…They download the exercises I send…I check the answers…and send feedback afterwards…They are not all of my students…just a few…but they are spreading the word…I know…This term I didn’t use Yahoo groups and some students approached me and asked for online activities…That for me is a start….Creating the need…Moodle, skype, Yahoo messenger, podcasting, wikis will come later…But I’ll be ready when the time comes to use them…That’s for sure…

I know we would like our students or colleagues to enjoy technology as much as we do...But even if they don’t use it or want to use it, keep on trying…You know that our students and colleagues will come up with the most amazing excuses to justify them not using it to study or at work, of course…They use cells, e-mails, cybers, DVD´s, MP3’s - most of them on a daily basis…Many have cable tv system at home…And they are not precisely upper middle class! Have you ever been to or passed El barrio El Limón or La Morán? It’s amazing to see the sea of satellite tv dishes on top of the roof houses…! They generally don’t want to use it to learn/work, but to have fun!

You are part of a different type of breed of teachers, to put it some way. You belong to a breed ready to face any technological challenge to help / train those who “still twist their mouth in disbelief…” when it comes to technology in the classroom (outside the classroom is cool!)

No success with a group of students/colleagues when using blogs or Yahoo groups , well, try another ICT tool...or keep on using it until they realize how powerful it is to learn/teach...

Getting used to technology and its presence in the language classroom as a resource won't happen overnight...We, the first group of ICT trainers in Venezuela, should understand our role: show how powerful ICT is; show its relevance, its benefits, its impact in ELT…Let’s keep on trying…Do not give up!