Project Step 4 & 5

As a lecturer in "Materials Design" at the Teacher Training College, I always try to encourage them to create materials for their lessons. Sometimes they don't see themselves as materials writers. They are good at using online resources, they have access to different teaching materials but they don't produce much. I want them to be use technology to develop handouts, technology enhanced lesson plans, digital materials, etc. In other words, I want them to develop instructional materials which cater students' needs. Many students find this a challenge and the use of technology challenging. So I must find ways to show them the benefits of using technology to create their own teaching materials which they can use during their teaching practices.


So far I've been using DIIGO and created a close group to share some links with my students. I also created a classroom in Edmodo to communicate, share other resources and for them to upload their tasks. For collaborative work, we use google docs and wikispaces. We have explored teachers' blogs, handouts,  projects and used different websites and Webtools.

Now students can start publishing the instructional materials they are developing and reflect on them.


Possible solution:

1)   E-portfolios
I found a talk in classroom 2.0 on the use of Weebly by Valerie Burton and the potential of using e-portfolios. I also read some articles by Helen Barrett so I thought that students could create an e-portfolio and share the teaching materials they have been developing.


2)   Video conferencing
Each month we can have a Skype meeting with a teacher or expert from another part of the world so that students can have access to more examples and actually learn about other contexts and how teachers overcome difficulties.

This year  I will start working on the use of Weebly and next year I'll work on video conferencing due to the fact that we are almost finishing the school year.