Combining endless web exploration with deep educational theory, I first learned about the scaffolded pedagogical design of webquests in 2005. Later, TESOL EVO 2006 sessions helped me discover the power of the Web 2.0 through blogs and wikis. I now coordinate a team of seven teachers designing and delivering computerlab sessions. In these four years we’ve designed sessions for more than twelve levels of children, teen and adult courses. I’ve also carried out a variety of online blog exchanges and projects with both my lab students and my regular classes.

Although at present the sessions are delivered only by the computer lab team, I’ve always felt that all teachers should be able to design activities for their own classes, so in 2007 I organized the first computer lab workshop and we’ve held training sessions every summer since then. Little by little, we see new colleagues overcoming their initial resistance and after three years most of the staff have attended the workshops and are at least familiar with and have started using some web resources with their classes at the lab.

We still have a long way to go until technology becomes fully integrated into language classes, but we can be sure we are going through the paradigm shift and it feels great to be a part of it!

Eternal thanks to my computer lab mates, the real pioneers! (in order of appearance!) Elida Fittipaldi, Leda Siburu, Patricia Stanley, Jesica Bassani (the e-learning diva!), Verónica Miranda and Natalia Furlán.

First published on ARCALL Blog March 10, 2009

A spin-off of RosarioBlogDay, MateyBlogs, the first collaborative blogging workshop in Rosario, took place today at CEC combining one of our dearest Argentinian traditions with the 2.0 spirit.

After three brief presentations conducted by Fernanda Rubio, Francisco Sanguinetti on how to integrate mutimedia content, and Federico Aikawa, who shared some practical blogging tips, we divided ourselves into three groups to share experiences and discuss questions with the coordinators. Surprisingly enough, I was in a group full of teachers! I was especially glad to meet Gabriela Spadoni and María Sabina Codarín, Edublogger Argento members, after our failed f2f meeting last night.

The wrap up presentation was in charge of Federico Picone who discussed the importance of social networks and other Web 2.0 tools.

Some tools that were mentioned:
Gickr
Luna Pic
Photoshop Express
Twitxr
Alianzo

Once again, it was great to meet such an enthusiastic and diverse community of ArgenBloggers face to face.

See you all at the next MateyBlogs!

 After a very hectic semester, Jesica and I have been finally able to submit our final assignment for the Teaching Business English Course – E-teacher Program scholarship.

During the course we explored and gained a deeper insight into various aspects of TBE such as needs analysis, CLT, resources, cross-cultural business communication and material design, among others. As in most online learning experiences, the greatest advantage was to collaborate with colleagues from other countries and learn about their particular culture and teaching contexts.

The aim of the assignment was to design a 6-hour workshop to share all we have learned in TBE with our colleagues. We chose to focus on the use of web-based material to design communicative activities for Business English classes. Through the wide array of authentic multimedia material that is available on the web, we can provide our students with relevant updated resources that address their specific needs and interests and enhance their motivation. Although we couldn’t include it in the current schedule, a further development would be the integration of web 2.0 tools, which have already made their way into the business setting as well. (See Blogs Will Change Your Business)

Towards TBE 2.0…

We started by discussing common misconceptions about the use of technology in language learning and reflected on the challenge of bridging the gap between digital natives and digital immigrants as well as on our significant role as educators in this new learning environment. We also explored the endless possibilities of using the Web as a huge source of authentic material and the technical and pedagogical considerations we should take into account when designing web-based activities.

Finally, we moved on to Blogs and Wikis or, most importantly, to the revolutionary concepts behind them: online conversations, social networking and collaborative knowledge, among others. We presented some of the projects we’ve carried out with CTJ, the Binational center in Brasilia. In fact, our dear friend, Carla Arena , left us an inspiring message on our session blog. We couldn’t have done all this wonderful work without the support and collaboration of our Brazilian colleagues!

I’m sure it was a bit overwhelming -the information overload effect- but there was a sense of excitement in the air. We all realized we could go on working together as a real network. Distance is no longer a relevant concept when there’s a common aim and a willing community.

The challenge is on and, of course, we are not alone! We are part of a growing community of educators that is awakening to the possibilities of a technologically-enhanced educational scenario fueled by our genuine desire to interact and to bring the world into our classrooms!