Creating a Wiki

Hello, everyone! We all know about Wikis. I like reading them a lot, but I have never tried creating one. So, that was my assignment for my course; creating a Wiki. It was easy and really fun. If you are interested, you should try creating one, or you can edit one, which is really easy to do. I believe you’ll like it.

If you’d like to know about mine, you can find it here.

picture taken from here

Story of Our Voices

Hello, friends! This post is about something which is really difficult but could be funny when worked on, it is about podcasting.

            Me and my friend Şeymanur created a story, and recorded our voices. The part that we created the story was actually fun. However, I can’t say the same about the part that we recorded our voices, because we did it again and again, and each time, we listened to our own voice, and we almost memorized every word we said! Also, I really didn’t like listening to myself from a voice recorder. It wasn’t fun at all!

Editing the podcast was the most difficult part to me. Trying to adjust all the voice effects was really hard. I must thank my friend, Şeyma here, because we did this part thanks to her.

I think podcasting could be funnier when you work more on it. And, I think, the more you know about it, the more enjoyable it gets. I’m not sure to use it in the future as a teacher. But, I think I will, if I will be able to use it better than I did in this experience.
You can see my partners blog from here : Şeymanur Demir

From Old to New

I have already written that this blog is a new experience for me, and it is for one of my courses. If I didn’t have to, I would probably never keep up a blog. I have never been this kind of a person, to be honest. I actually don’t like sharing my ideas with everyone. It is just who I am. So, as you can guess, writing for this blog was a bit difficult for me at first. I sometimes still find it difficult, but I can say that I like it more now.

Every week, we are supposed to do things with technology, and sometimes I find it very tiring. I use technology, everyone uses it, it is a fact, but using it for different purposes is something new for me since I’m not much of a technology person. But I’m not against it, of course, since it is a huge part of all of our lives. New generations, especially, are nearer to technology since they are born into it. They start using it at a very young age, and by the time they are at our age,  they learn a lot more than we do. So, in the future, if I don’t want to have difficulties or problems with my students, I should be using technology very well.

So, yes, I am thinking of using technology in my classes in the future. I think it will be really helpful for me. Firstly, it will save my time and energy. Also, since the students will be familiar with it, I think, learning will be more enjoyable for them. I know I also should be careful using it, because if I do something wrong, problems may occur between me and my students. They may think that I’m using it without knowing how to use it, or that I’m not using it effectively.

            So, using technology will be really helpful as long as I learn how to use it well, and use it well.

Computers as Teachers

Computers are part of our lives for a long time now. We don’t use them only for our daily life activities, but also for learning. When we talk about language learning in particular, it is called Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). In this post, we’ll see the history of CALL.

The Brown Corpust of Standard American English, which was the first electronic corpus, was developed in the 1960s. In this period, the programs wanted the learners to choose one of two answers. In the 1960s and 1970s,  Behavioristic Approach was dominant, programs were based on drill and practice. In the 1980s, learner interaction was made possibile with the challange of Communicative Approach against the Behavioristic Approach. In the 1990s, the aim was to help students to become active learners.

This is a little bit of the history of CALL. It has changed a lot. We’ll see what will happen in the future. So, to be continued…

Education is Organic

“The only thing that is constant is change”, a quote from Heraclitus. We’re in a world that is changing constantly. The time changes, people change and, as a result, our needs change. So, how do we fulfil these needs? What should we do to fulfil these needs?

First, everything starts with the education. Now, in the 21st century, we raise people differently, with different qualities –critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. In this century, education should be student-centered, where teachers guide the students to learn, acquire the information they need. They should help them to think critically, in other words, to analyse and interpret the information, make decisions and solve problems. Also, teachers should help students to communicate with others effectively and, collaborate with other students. In this student-centered system, students should be able to creative as well. While being creative, they also learn to take responsibilities. Of course, to apply this education system, the curriculum and the teachers should also change. When all of these changes have taken place, the needs the needs of the 21st century will be fulfilled.

This is all I am going to say about the topic. Stay changed!

The Vampire Rule: You are Invited

Hello, everyone! Welcome to my blog. In this blog, I will be sharing posts about my Instructional Technology and Material Design course. This is my first time keeping up a blog, so I’m really excited. I hope it will be a good experience for me and, I really hope you enjoy it as well!