Digital Teacher Identity

 Having a digital teacher identity is one of the remarkable qualifications for teachers in today's world; therefore, I mentioned the contributions of some significant topics for being a digital teacher, including blended language learning, online formative assessment, online feedback, and innovative digital tools for language skills. 

If you read the whole writing, click here!

Online Learning and Its Crucial Qualifications

There are some significant topics for online learning, including online teaching and learning, presence in the online environment, fake engagement and students’ engagement in online learning, and flipped classroom. In this writing, you will read a summary of a discussion with one of my friend.

Click here to read the discussion paper

Policies Toward English in Turkey

 English learning education has been one of the essential topics in Turkey. Despite long-term learning in English, learners are not qualified enough to speak, read, and write about in English. For this reason, the Turkish government is taking some steps to enhance the learning process. For instance, in the previous years, compulsory English education started in 4th grade in Turkey, but it has been changed. From now on, compulsory English education has been lowered from 4th grade to 2nd grade because the government asks to utilize from the advantages of the younger brains to handle the English education problem. According to some research, from birth, the brain is active and open to new information. However, this activeness is gradually decreasing until puberty. After puberty, the brain becomes less active, which reduces the efficiency of the brain. The government paid regard to "the critical period" of learning and took the step. To me, their goal is to create an environment for "acquired" language because the younger brain means the more acquired language. There are some advantages of learning English at an early age, such as learning the second language faster and efficiently, adopting pronunciation, and improving the cognitive process. However, it has some disadvantages, as well, such as not being ready for the second language and delaying the development of the first language. Besides, there should be some improvements to enhance the English language learning process for children, such as being aware of the needs of the learners and providing a meaningful learning process.  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE..

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Here is My Certificate of Instructional Design for E-Learning

The aim of the course is to understand what is E-Learning and how to design and develop effective E-Learning interactions, assessments and games.

A NEW TOOL FOR EDUCATION: AUGMENTED REALITY (AR)

Augmented reality (AR) provides an environment that creates a realistic simulation for users via some visual elements and it enhances or changes the real world via these virtual elements.  This technology can be used every part of education, such as biology, chemistry, math, physics, and foreign language education to help learners in a learning process and enhance their creativity. The reason is that realistic simulation enhances the tools and activate students’ brain which affects their learning process in a good way. In other words, they will learn more effectively thanks to AR technology compared to the old one. 

Old techniques, such as textbooks, role-plays, videos, and others can enhance learner’s interaction with each other but these techniques have limitations in foreign language education. The reason is that these old techniques do not provide effective and meaningful activities or context. Thanks to AR, they can explore and experience the use of language in real-life conversations and activities. Everyone should be aware that language needs more practice to comprehend a language. With AR, they can practice real-life conversation and they can discuss what they have experienced which help them to speak well.

 There are some apps or websites that can provide AR technology, such as Augment and HP reveal. With these apps, I can create effective and attractive activities or games which will make my students more successful and motivated. 

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.

 

 

Here is an example for AR from Augment website; https://agmt.it/m/SAJYEFCW

 

 

Firstly, You should downland Augment app to scan the codes. Secondly, click and scan the code like I did, then you will see the dancing shark in your phone. 

 

HP Reveal is another app that provides AR. You should download HP Reveal app to scan pictures and to create your own reality.

 

 

 

Here are my videos of the Augmented Reality, it is so fun to use it. 

Here is another video of AR,

 

Do not forget! Augmented reality is a living tool,    we can do things beyond what we think.

FLIPGRID

Flipgrid is a platform that allows teacher and students to construct new videos about a topic. A teacher can ask a question about a topic and students can response to videos about the topic or discuss it.  In addition, students build and strengthen social learning skills by discussing.
This platform can be bad for shy people because they need to record selfie video or they do not want to attend any discussion topic because of this situation.  
On the other hand, Flipgrid is so enjoyable because you can discuss a topic anywhere and anytime with your friends. Also, you can add some gif to your video which is another way of fun. 

ORIGIN OF EDUCATIONAL TOOLS: HOT POTATOES

Hot Potatoes is a program for creating quizzes. It consists of different applications, such as multiple-choices, short answers questions, matching exercises, and gap-fill exercises.  Teachers can construct quizzes by using these tools.  It is an old educational tool and maybe the origin one. There are many applications like Hot Potatoes, like Quizlet and Kahoot.

I created a quiz to experience it, you should try to gain experience.

Here is the one that I created. :)

PADLET

Padlet is a platform to create a  schema to show information on any topic. In this platform students and teacher can collaborate, share knowledge, pictures, and videos. Teachers can use Padlet in the classroom. To exemplify, teachers can use Padlet to do brainstorming. In this way, everyone can see what others think and then the whole class can discuss the topic.  It is an enjoyable way to teach a lesson both teachers and students perspective. In this way, the learning and teaching process will have an effective process. students will participate more and teachers will be more motivated. this affects both process in a positive way.

Here is my padlet for you. Its topic is that the benefit of technology in the classrooms.

Click here to see my padlet more lively.

 

A REAL SIMULATION: VIRTUAL REALITY

Virtual reality (VR) is the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment which can be interacted with a person. It can be used for education, also it can provide complete learning process because it is the simulation of a real environment.  As we all know, while learning something, it is so important to interact with the real environment because people can learn better while doing. Virtual reality motivates students easily because it is so attractive for them. The reason is that they are digital natives and this kind of things make them motivated and successful in their educational life.

After I experienced virtual reality, I thought that we can use VR in education to make our students more active and successful.  We can use VR to teach a subject like body parts, they can learn by seeing and experiencing the subject or information. I think the most important thing is that they have a chance to learn a language by experiencing the language which leads to meaningful and complete learning for the students. As a future English teacher, I realized that we can make a lot of things by using VR. We can teach a subject effectively or create new activities to catch their attention.  We have a chance to be exposed our student into the language. For example, if I teach a subject by using VR in the classroom, it makes the learning process more attractive and exciting; therefore, it can be said that VR increases their excitements which helps them to remember more detail after the lesson. In other words, if we make the learning process more exciting for them, they will not forget the information that they get in the lesson.  The second point is that it increases their creativity because VR allows students to interact with their own imagination which afterward enhances their creativity skill and critical thinking part. For instance, teachers can want them to create the material by using VR and it will be a new technology for them and it catches their attention which increases creativity compared to past ones. The third point is that we can make a lot of group activities for better results. We can arrange competitions, games, and a lot of new activities for our students to enhance their motivation and learning process. For example, teachers can create games like catching, drawing, and matching a word to its real simulation. Students who wear a VR glass will have a chance to catch, draw, or match its simulation. This new style of activities make students more active and they will want to participate more and that’s why they will learn more. In this process, they will learn with fun and easy way which increases their motivation.

VR will be the future technology or tool for education, so every teacher should be aware of its importance. They should create activities, new techniques or styles to meet their students’ need. If they do not realize its importance, they will vanish from the future.

VOKI

Voki is a platform where you can create talking avatars.

From the educational perspective, students can create their avatars for their homework, projects and classroom activities. They can share their learning or thoughts which help teachers to observe their learning process.

It can be used for shy students because they do not have to show themselves, the only thing that they need to do is creating a talking avatar. In this way, teachers can involve these students in classroom activities.

I talked about some causes of reticence in language classrooms. You can click here to watch my talking avatar.

It is so fun to create a talking avatar! Let's make one.

PIXTON

Pixton is a comic creation tool.  Pixton provides an environment that helps students to think critically about the story structure and context. Students can collaborate with each other on any project that their teachers give and share their creativity with the world. In addition, people can comment on their comics that enhance their self-confidence.
It is so fun and easy to create a comics. They will love writing with Pixton.
CLICK HERE  to read my comic book. I hope you like it.

STORYBIRD

Storybird is a storytelling tool. Teachers can use this tool for improving their students' writing and reading skills. Students can create amazing stories with visuals. They can read and write without bored because reading and writing become so enjoyable with this tool. They can improve their creativeness which is so important for being different and qualify.

If you want to be an effective teacher, you can use this tool to help them to affect their learning process positively.

Click here to read my story. I really enjoyed while setting the story. I hope you all enjoy while reading. Please share your thoughts with me.  Thank you in advance :)

HERE IS AN IMPORTANT TOOL FOR EDUCATION: INFOGRAPHIC

 
 
With the help of Infographics, people can make a visual representation of the information or data. In addition, with the short explanations and specific pictures, the information becomes permanent in learners'brain. 

What are you waiting for? Go and make one! I made my infographic in "Piktochart", you can also make it here.

I put the infographic on Pinterest, you can click here to go my Pinterest account.

SECOND LIFE

As we all know, old teaching techniques, such as course books and notebooks are not qualified enough to teach a subject effectively. As teachers, we cannot easily involve the students in the subject anymore. The real reason behind this situation is that students need something that makes them active, also something more attractive. To make them active, there are some teaching tools, which are also attractive because these tools keep up with their times, like Second Life.

Second Life is based on virtual reality. People can create an avatar and talk with the people about what they want. They can create a discourse community to improve the knowledge that they have. In addition, they can learn new things while comminuting with other people. Thanks to this platform, people can encounter problems, which require solutions. For the students, they can improve their English, gain new knowledge, and find new friends on this platform. Besides, if teachers teach something by using this platform, it increases students’ motivation and makes them more active because it will catch their attention more easily. In this way, they will be more successful and their knowledge will not vanish in their brain easily because they will learn while doing and seeing. This platform should be used by the teachers to make their students prosperous in every area of their life.

The Importance of Technology In Second Language Learning and Teaching

Click here to listen to my podcast, enjoy while listening.🎧

In this podcast, I mentioned the importance of using technology in teaching and learning process.  I handle the topic in teaching and learning perspective.

In teaching perspective, visual aids and some technology tools, like Classcraft should be used while teaching a subject to increase the students' attention spans. Also, technology provides a lot of resources for teachers to reach all learners.

In the learning perspective,  technology brings culture into the classroom which is the most important point for students to learn a language at all point. 

I hope you like the podcast, please comment on what you think about the podcast.

MOODLE

The increasing popularity of the Internet brings some innovations for education. With this increasing popularity of the Internet, learning programs have shifted to online-based applications. There are high demands on design, programming skills, and time. These demands reveal some learning management system, like Moodle.

Moodle is a course management for online learning. It is based on social-constructivist pedagogy. In addition, it creates an environment that allows collaboration among the students. There are various benefits of Moodle.

•    Moodle collects reports of each students’ works. This provides an environment that teachers can follow their students’ performance.

•    Students can reach various resources in Moodle. These resources can be documents, graphics, video, or audio. Moreover, resources are linked to lesson tasks. This means students can easily access resources which are related to their lesson tasks.

•    Moodle has several assessment strategies, such as multiple- choice, true-false, matching, and open-ended questions. For the open-ended question, a teacher can provide feedback for the learners.

•    Moodle provides an orderly learning path, which helps learners to check the process step-by-step.

•    Moodle creates an environment for social interaction. Learners should do given tasks or projects by cooperating with instructor and students or among the students.

•    Moodle creates an environment for teachers to provide feedback for their students’ tasks, project, and assessments.

KAHOOT

Kahoot is a game based system. Quizzes,  jumbles, surveys, and discussion are the part of Kahoot. They are all so enjoyable and attractive. Teachers can prepare multiple-choice questions and project these questions on the screen. Thereafter, students can answer these questions with their smartphones or tablets. So, it can be concluded that Kahoot can be used in classroom activities to catch students' attention and make the lesson more fun.
Here are some quizzes which I make for the students.
 I will make more in the future, keep on following!

1) https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/37c6be40-4a0c-4426-bb45-fef03a4ce8e0
2) https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/ab0b25f2-b6f5-493f-9e89-b5f6c26ddfc0
3) https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/3df98a79-ede9-4968-a37f-06837f9adbf6

Click here to go to my account.

GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD

   

WHY OR WHY NOT?

https://nothingtolosebutime.blogspot.com/p/grammar-translation-method_17.html

POWTOON

Powtoon is a website where people can prepare animated presentations. Presentations are text-filled, boring, and ordinary; therefore, the audience loses their attention after some time.  on the other hand, there is a Powtoon which allows users to add props, shape, music, moving backgrounds, imagines, and characters. Besides, you can record your voice and add it the Powtoon presentation. Users can create entertaining, attractive, and quality presentations or animations. Powtoon will attract learners' attention and they will be excited about the new way of presentation. So, teachers will involve and reach more students with the help of Powtoon.

Moreover, it can develop the creativity of students.
Also, it is so easy to create an animation or a presentation in Powtoon.
I briefly mentioned learning styles in this Powtoon. I hope you like it. :)

The Jigsaw Classroom

Jigsaw method supplies an environment for students that allows a strong interaction to learn from each other and gain significant interpersonal skills. To me, there are some advantages and disadvantages to this method. 
Click here to read it.