Educational Technologies with Dilara

Hello for the last time!           Time flies! This is my last post about the Educational Technologies class. First of all, I am so glad to take this course. I have learned many things and improved my skills thanks to this class.             Before this class, I have known a little about 21st-century learning. Now, I can say I have learned more than I have already known. For instance, considering technology integration in ELT, I thought the more teacher uses technology, the better the classes. In fact, I learned what is important is the quality, not the quantity. The teacher has to use technology when necessary, and the students have to be the core and discover themselves.          Throughout the semester, I have learned about, first of all, how to create a blog page! Then, creating a word cloud, a podcast, a wiki page (also how to edit), a wall on the Padlet, an online poster, an infographic, and finally a digital story. I have also learned about lots of useful tools such as Audacity,

 Hello again! The topic of this week is  DIGITAL STORYTELLING !          Our task was to create a professional-like digital story. First of all, I want to thank  İlayda  for being my partner and for all her efforts.          Firstly, we had to decide on our topic. We ended up changing the settings of the beautiful fairytale "Cinderella" and creating its 21st-century version with Covid-19 adaptation. Then, we wrote a script together.          The next step was creating the scenes. We first try Pixton but its greatest features required us to pay, so we searched for alternative tools.  Then, we found  Storyboardthat . It has lots of free characters, scenes, and options; even a free trial for more advanced options. The only disadvantage of that website is the characters' arms and legs are like stick figures. But it was not a problem considering the other great benefits contrasting the others.          Later, we recorded our voices. Also, we searched for free and suitable so

 Hello again! The topic for this week is infographıcs !           Infographics are basically visual graphics including some information, as you can see from their name.  source         My task was creating an infographic about online higher education during the pandemic in Turkey. I had to add some information using graphics, percentages, and visuals. I also wrote some tips about how to look beyond all of the cons or how to survive.         I used one of my new favorite websites Canva  again. It helps a lot and contains lots of options and templates. I like creating an infographic a lot. It looks so nice and contains lots of information. Online Education - Dilara          Infographics probably will help language learners, in particular, the ones with visual intelligence. It can be used as a student-friendly tool in education from children to adult learners. However, I am not sure whether creating an infographic has a greater impact on learning or not. Students may have fun, en

Hello again! The topic for this week is an ONLINE POSTER !         We were assigned to create a movie poster project that is based on a novel or a magazine cover project. I chose to make a movie poster of a novel that I like and reviewed before in my blog,  Fantastic Night by Stefan Zweig .          Doing my poster, I used  Canva  and Adobe Photoshop. First of all, I decided on my cast. Because there is dominantly one main character in the novel, I chose one actor. Then, I searched for his suitable photographs on the internet. I had to show an important scene from the book in my poster, that is why I chose the one with flying balloons. He did not have any photographs with balloons, so I had to photoshop them.                                                        Mehmet Günsür           I combined them and then added some effects via Adobe Photoshop and Canva. Next, I added my texts to my poster via Canva. The hardest parts were finding suitable pictures and combining them. 

Hello again! The topic for this week is an internet-based project work:   PADLET !           This week we did an internet-based project, which is a 21st-century education task. My friends  Sabrican Demir , Beyza Çekici ,  Ali Bilen , and I have created a wall on Padlet about Coronavirus Pandemic. We have posted what we know, what we want to know, and what we learned  about Coronavirus on the wall.            The reason why we chose this topic is, it is a hot topic and crucial nowadays. Moreover, there is some information both we have already known, and we want to know about this topic. So, it helped us to satisfy our curiosity and to be more aware of Coronavirus.  I have never tried it before but I have enjoyed a lot using Padlet and posting on the wall.           Yet, I was a bit hesitant to write what I learned part because there are lots of useless and misleading information on the internet. I tried to choose more reliable websites that  officially  give information about the virus

  Hello again! The topic for this week is WIKIS !         Wikis are the websites that people can write and edit collaboratively. We are actually familiar with wikis a lot: Wikipedia, Wiktionary, wikiHow, etc.         So, my task was creating a book review page in PBworks, editing it, then editing my classmates' page if it is needed, and leaving a question in the comments, lastly answering my comment. I chose  Fantastic Night by Stefan Zweig .            I enjoyed a lot doing the task. Because I generally forget the plot of books with details, it was a bit hard for me to write a book review.            I have already known that people can change a page in wikis, but I did not know how easy and practical it is. I think it can be applied in class as a tool for practicing writing and collaborating among students. That's why I may use it in the future. Thanks for reading until here! See you in the next post, until then, take care! Bye!

Hello again! When you were a kid, did you like listening to stories? What about a story with some interesting sound effects? The topic for this week is PODCASTING !           I chose the story task because I already engaged in music a lot and wanted to do something a bit different. I also like storytelling, even, listening to stories was one of the best activities for me when I was a kid.            Then I had to find a friend to collaborate with to do this task. Fortunately, one of my friends, Sabri , was also looking for someone. So, we decided to make a story together. You can take a look at his charming blog by clicking his name, as well.           The next step we have to do was creating a story. As calculating the time spent with the emphasis, intonation, and sound effects, we have to create a very succinct story.            After finishing creating the story, we had to record our voices. This part was a bit hard for me because I am a perfectionist person, so I recorded my voice

Hello again!  Can you imagine a life without technology or change? The topic for this week is   THE 21ST-CENTURY LEARNING ! Let's have a brainstorm first!   Look at this word cloud  and think about the correlation  between these words. Let me explain to you more!            In the past, teachers were all the source of information, whereas students' role was listening to them. Teacher-centered class environments dominated the education system. Unlike, now the c lasses are  student-centered and encourage the students to learn by themselves. These also make their personalities more sociable , more enterprising , and braver , which paves the way rising of a more powerful and more confident generation.          Besides, teachers also make students being more active in class. They communicate with each other, collaborate, and do group works. It enhances both their mental & psychological progress and future life & career skills.         In fact, it is not a consequence of ON

Hello!           This is my first post on this blog. In this blog, I will share my experiences and some information about educational technology. I really want to be a modern and competent English teacher in the future. That's why I believe that this blog and the Educational Technologies class I take this semester will help me to address my future plans and wishes to become true.            Nowadays, we are experiencing something really new and different: The Covid-19 pandemic. In this situation, we are doing online classes and using technology a lot. So, everyone should know about technology usage in education, both teachers and students.            I hope my posts will help you to adapt to this situation and your future academic life. Also, I believe you will enjoy seeing my posts and follow me with a curiosity about what is new and what I will share with you.  Thanks for reading until here! See you in the next post, until then, take care! Bye!