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The World Is My Classroom: Education without Boundaries

Page history last edited by Ladymaggic 15 years, 2 months ago

The World is my Classroom : Education without Boundaries

http://newyork.broowaha.com/article_published.php?id=4461

Take away the buildings and use your Computer in your own home.Study when and where you choose, with students from around in the world, anonymous, safe and at your own level in the online classroom

 

 

Education Without Boundaries: “The World is My Classroom”

Thousands of Koreans attend English Classes everyday, trying to learn to speak a Language that is now deemed essential. All teachers of English in Korea are expected to be able to Speak English by 2010. Schools, Colleges, Universities and a myriad of tiny after-school centers pay enormous fees for native speaking teachers to become their English Presence. Millions of bored students sit and waste their fees, not learning a language they are suddenly expected not only to learn, but to gain a speaking fluency in.

Technology has now made the Online Classroom a reality, where anybody wishing to learn to speak English can now tune into their Computer and take a lesson. Here facing a webcam and an audience of up to 99 students, a teacher can provide an English Voice for students to listen to and respond by repeating and reading with the teacher. The Lesson follows with interaction by the student using the whiteboard. The student also learns to type and write, as well as listen and read. The lesson is 50 minutes, with a ten minute student interaction for friendship and casual chatting on the chatline.

A weekly English lesson is free on Active English Speaking.com  Teachers use the valuable onscreen presentation, which becomes the lesson format, and also the textbook for future students and revision.  After the lesson, a recording is available for review and revision, and as a viewable lesson.

Online classrooms are a valuable research tool for those seeking to document the way students apply themselves and learn a language, and also provides a learning tool for students of English who have progressive English lessons for review and replay. In what other situation can a student replay a lecture? As a student we used personal voice recorders for the more difficult or the lectures we missed. Today the whole lesson is fully recorded and documented with chat talk and student interaction, and available for replay.  Student attendance and participation is on record. Parents can review the lesson and see how their own child participated in class, and also join in the lesson and study English as a  family or faculty.

Advantages of the Virtual Classroom

More than one person can view and attend the lesson. A whole family or group can watch and learn together from one lesson. A whole Class or University can attend the lesson, and follow the lesson as a review or replay, as the lesson is recorded and the recording available, at no charge, to the attendees. This is bringing the classroom into the home, school and world, and making Education an International Experience.

The Online English Lesson is fully interactive. Students can introduce themselves and talk to each other and the teacher, in the open chatline, without disturbing the lesson once it is in progress. Students can walk in ad out of the virtual classroom as they choose, and the student who chooses to watch and read, can do so, without the constant disturbance of classroom noise. Total immersion in the lesson is possible for those needing to concentrate. They can repeat words and speak out without fear of embarrassment, and they can practice their words as they choose, and repeat every word the teacher says, to learn the correct pronunciation and phrasing. They can also request clarification or the meaning of a word by asking the question on the chat.

Questions can be answered by other students as well as the teacher. More than one student can respond at a time, and variety of responses can be elicited simultaneously and recorded. Everyone has equal opportunity to participate. You do not ask permission, you simply type in your question or response. If you are not fluent with typing, after a series of lessons, you will learn how to type and thus write, as interaction depends on the student having the ability to write and type. The whiteboard means that the student can write a response in their own language, if they choose to still be a part of the lesson, without having English writing skills. The student always has the opportunity to constantly respond and react, and it is their choice. A student can sit and type every word he hears, or choose to ignore the chatline and concentrate on the teacher and her voice.

Students who constantly write, type, repeat words, and respond, benefit the most. Active learning is always being alert and interested and involved in a lesson. The student who attends and listens does not always get the same benefit as the student who responds. Students are free to type and chat freely during the lesson, and ask for clarification or help. Their responses are recorded for teacher review and follow up lessons. The student is at all times involved in the lesson.

In the online classroom, the student can be anonymous, and participate as they choose, without fear of being itemized or victimized in any way. The Prime Minister of a country could be a student in the class, along with a 5 year old, a bank manager, and a University professor; or a whole classroom or congregation of a church or Club. There is no way of identifying the age, race, social status of a student, or even the number of people attending, unless they choose to identify themselves. An organization can request all staff and members to attend the sessions and learn English, and supervise the participation of their staff and members by watching the replay. The students are here to learn to speak English, and the only common factor is the fact that they have chosen to attend the online Classroom and listen and join in the lesson so their contribution is noticed and recognized.

Students who wish to learn at a faster pace can do so by responding at their own level of ability. The more adept student responds with sentences and paragraphs, and also speaks so that his voice can be recorded, and viewed by himself, in the replay. Students take responsibility for their own learning, and progress at their own rate and pace, and there are always opportunities to type new words, and write them on the whiteboard, for discussion and extension.

The added bonus of the Online Interactive Classroom is the variety of students and their backgrounds. Students can learn about other cultures by interacting online with the students. In one class, students attend from Korea, China, Japan, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Egypt, Taiwan, UK, Saudi Arabia, America and Turkey. It is a whole International Classroom, and at the end of the lesson, students know where each student is from, what they are studying, where they are working, and relationships have been formed. The final 10 minutes gives students the chance to get to know each other, and share their personal details, emails and comments. Students link with each other and a Class Community has been formed. Students look forward to the next class, knowing that they now have friends they have made, and that they are part of an Online Classroom.

The Oral session where the student feeds back information from the lesson, or chooses to speak as they wish, gives the class and teacher the student voice, and face, if they have a webcam. Students are able to view the student who is speaking and see their speaking ability and hear their speaking voice. Only the teacher is constantly available on webcam, and students can be visible and vocal as well.  Students can listen to each others voices and accents, and focus on clarifying pronunciation and linguistic features.

 The webcam focuses the lesson on the teacher and the teacher voice, and the model is there for the student’s learning. The students do not get distracted with other voices and accents during the lesson, and learn incorrect pronunciation of words, as they may do in the real classroom by focusing on vocal students instead of the teacher. The initial presentation is teacher focused like a lecture, with student listening, the difference being that they can write comments at any time on the chatline or Power Point for clarification or extension.

The text of the lesson is presented in Power Point, which also has interactive features that can be responded to using the chat feature, without disturbing the flow of the speaker’s words.  Students given whiteboard access can ask questions or clarification on the whiteboard, as well as on the chat. The Power Point Presentation is Powerful, as it provides the illustrations and images that may be necessary for providing the content for the discussion following the lecture.  The teacher also has at her control, her own bank and collection of photos, images and documents that can be downloaded during the lesson if needed. The teacher presents the lesson with ready access to a whole Library, and also the internet. A new Window can be opened if required, and made available to the students, as well as Youtube videos, movies and slideshows, and screenshots. You could say, the teacher teaches with the whole Internet and computer at her fingertips. It is Powerful Teaching and even more powerful learning.

The lessons can be one-off, or they can be progressive. The value is there for the student who attends every session, as each lesson builds on the last session, and is progressive as well as being cumulative. A student can join in and review the past lessons, or start with the current lesson, and progress at that level and from that Point. The lessons become a continuing conversation and students increase their ability and skills with every lesson and session, according to their input and level of activity. A student, who joins in actively, will have a very good basic level of English, within three months, good with six months and excellent with a year of instruction. Beginner lessons and Lessons on other topics will commence as they are created. Active English Speaking will provide a full days instruction with English Speaking, Writing, Science, Mathematics, Art and Music. This is not learning from a textbook, it is active learning with all senses alert and in motion for the duration. Active learning involves the learner and absorbs the learner in the learning process.

There is no distraction from talkative or unruly students, as they can still talk and interact on the chatline, without disturbing the students who wish to listen and concentrate on the lesson. The student has the privacy and the right to participate without distractions, and concentrate on the lesson with their own level of attention. Focus is on the teacher and the content, and disturbing and too demanding students are simply disconnected during the time for listening.

The Online Classroom has important place in home schooling, and for students who are traveling, sick, isolated or not able to attend normal classroom for a variety of reasons. They can choose to attend hours of online Classrooms, with their attendance and participation recorded. Students can join in classrooms safely, and socialize and work together in study groups, with lessons created for specialized needs. Students in remote Communities, and remote locations, with access to the internet can attend school. Celebrities and physically handicapped students can access lessons and maintain their privacy and status. The online classroom provides a safe and private classroom in a not so private world. There are no boundaries or limitations, and anyone can join and participate in an online lesson.

 Lessons can be downloaded and used later, and semesters can be created for groups based on the lessons.

The future is providing daily lessons in every subject, including English, Mathematics, Science, Art and Music, with Specialist Courses in learning Italian, French, Spanish, German, Korean, Chinese, Arabic, and Japanese. International Teachers will run their own sessions from Active English Speaking in the areas of their own specialist teaching. Teachers are already available for advanced Courses of English for Lawyers, Doctors and Accountants.

The World of the Online Classroom is extending its subjects and boundaries, as teachers join and create their own online Classrooms.

Details and registration are available from Maggi Carstairs    Maggi_carstairs@yahoo.com

Don’t just read about it…come and participate in the lessons

Morning Classes will commence soon in Science and Art. The “World is My Classroom” welcomes you as a student and a teacher.

Website:   Activeenglishspeaking.com

Marguerite Carstairs 2009©

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