Comment on this week's readings

Hi, Sandra, Deborah, Jeff and Classmates

This week, I learned new things I could use in class with and for my students to promote my students’ learning. Those things are learner autonomy and one-computer classroom.

All the articles on learner autonomy stress the necessity from reshaping teacher and student roles. Students should be taught to take more responsibility for their learning. Samuel Sheu lets us know that learner autonomy is dependent on teacher autonomy. How can a teacher give some autonomy or independence to his or students if they, themselves, do not have that autonomy? Sometimes the teacher’s goodwill may run up against the in-depth established education system. He notes some constraints to learner autonomy are the education policy through its standards, curricula, textbooks and the examination-dominated system and some school administrators. All these factors do no allow any autonomy both from the teacher and the learner. Based on the literature I read I can say that if change has to occur it can but come from some teachers who would accept to pioneer

I learner from Dimitrios Thanasoulas quoting Holec that learner autonomy is ‘the ability to take charge of one’s learning.’ Learner autonomy supposes the teacher is aware of that necessity and has the ability and the will to help his/her students develop autonomously. Learner autonomy shouldn’t be seen as an end to itself, that is a product; rather, it should be seen as a process. According to Thanasoulas learner autonomy must be build on helping students learn more about their learning, cognitive, metacognitive strategies and on learner’s attitudes, motivation and self-esteem. This is a challenge teachers should take: training to train their students to become autonomous. Thanasoulas suggests three strategies we could apply to promote learner autonomy through self-reports, diaries and evaluation sheets and persuasive communication as a means of altering learner beliefs and attitudes. Richard Smith takes a different approach to promoting learner autonomy through action research.

As for the one-computer classroom, I learned some uses and tips about computers from the article ‘Strategies and Applications for the One-computer Classroom’ by Linda J. Burkhart. The uses of the technology concern both the teacher and the students. For example, the teacher could use the computer as a tool keeping records, manipulating information, creating charts, student lists and name tags, communicating with other professionals and subject experts via email. I could also use the computer for demonstrating concepts, demonstrating writing and editing skills, for having live access to a selected Internet site to retrieve relevant data. As for the students, the computer could be used for finding relevant information for their project-based work, for finding sites for writing when they want to develop their writing skills (how to write an essay, how to write a paragraph, how to use connectors in sentences, how to write good sentences, etc). Another way of developing reading and writing is through blogs, email. The computer could also be used to promote cooperative learning through student projects. For example working on a project of how to raise community awareness of the cutting down of trees in the country, my students will to find appropriate pictures or images from the Internet that show the bad effects of deforestation to convince the community.

The article suggests useful tips that teachers and students could use with the computers to enhance teaching and promote learner autonomy.

Wishes,

Bruno