My reflections on Module 10 (Week 6)

I definitively loved doing module 10!!  It is not only because it explains how Web 2.0 works and its features, but also because by doing all the activities I felt that everything I have learned so far in this course started to make sense.   Now I have a totally different vision about what a learning technology is and what I can get out of it… and I am sure that there is still much more!! The concept of Web 2.0 which includes collaborative work or user-generated content with so many free web-based applications is more appealing to me and I am constantly reflecting on how we can take advantage of Web 2.0 for our business courses.  Another aspect that I love of it is that students can have contact with authentic material of all sorts and that enhances their opportunities to learn the language.  I must say that the only queries I have are related to what Nick Peachey called “the dark side of Web 2.0” in the video: if we are talking about a user-generated content, what about quality and credibility?  How are these companies financed? What about privacy?  What happens with your personal information?  How does Web 2.0 affect our consciousness and way of mind? (especially children)  Those are questions we should all reflect on.

When I started this course I had never thought that the new trend in teaching was that teachers would create their own material (such as exercises, wikis, blogs, etc) and upload it into a site for their students to participate.  Since everything is so new for me, I decided to check all the sites suggested in the module and some others recommended along the course and I was really amazed because Web 2.0 has an array of possibilities for students to learn in a fun way and for teachers of all sorts to develop engaging lessons. 

I feel totally different because when my kids, my husband or some teachers talk about certain websites, free web-based applications or any learning platform (such as Moodle), I can understand better what they are referring to and even, I can give my opinion... I can’t believe it myself!!  I think that the next step for me should be to buy a BB to get familiarized with that sort of technology (I haven’t bought it because I commute by subway all the time, so I think it is safer to have a regular phone).   

To finish my reflections after 6 weeks, I could say that, to my surprise,  now I am conceiving the idea of creating  a collaborative website (including blogs and wikis) where all the students from the company can participate (most of our courses are individual courses).   I am continuously motivating our teachers to incorporate LT´s into their classes and it has been very rewarding because they say that everything I have suggested to them has worked out to be a success in class.  I am afraid that in order to create a collaborative website in our company we will definitively have to upgrade our teachers´ IT skills.  But…we are on the way to do it!!