The World's Englishes

It all started last Thursday evening. I was in my office trying to post a comment to one of my fellow POT bloggers, and when I went to submit it, another page opened up and informed me that I needed to sign in to WordPress, and so I did – from my MiraCosta WordPress site, and nothing. What I spent 15 minutes on disappeared into space. And, I tried again; this time already signed in – disappeared again. So, after a full day of teaching with migraine, I decided I have to leave it for the weekend.

At home, I went to the POT homepage, using my mini laptop for the first time. What a nightmare! Because the screen is “teeny tiny”, the page looked so foreign to me; well- you probably guessed it – it felt like I was reading some ancient Chinese manuscript. Have you ever tried reading letters vertically? I can read Mandarin vertically, but I know for sure I do not have the talent to read English in that format. Okay, what’s my point? After having spent an afternoon watching sample online courses, I came to the realization that simplicity is the best policy is going to be what I stick to if I ever do a full online course.

That wonderful online World Literature class from Yavapai Community College was mind-bending. I mean that guy is good. It’s his first time teaching that particular course and the set-up is super-sophisticated. And, I am thinking to myself – Either he doesn’t sleep or he’s really good at his craft? Then he proceeds to say that he’s going to do a video with a green screen for the next time to have scenes or visuals related to the lesson – and, now, my conclusion is: He doesn’t sleep. Did you realize that 15 minutes later the guy was still talking? Okay – in 1983 MTV was born and I grew up on a staple of videos that lasted no longer than six minutes with Hollywood production teams behind it all and a plethora of hot guys and girls to keep my interest; now, I am going to try to keep my students’ interest with a video of me talking, by myself, no Hollywood production?

Besides the obstacle with keeping interest, the frustration of having hardware and software to be able to interface with all the technological stuff can get in the way. Just look at how my weekend started – hardware and software issues besides a lack of technical skills. In my experience, I have had students who were programmers, software writers, hardware designers. And, then, there was my French MBA 50-something student that didn’t even know what a mouse was. I not only taught her English but I was also computer teacher. This takes me to all the great online instructors that included tutorials for their students. They’re not only teaching a subject they’re also teaching the technology-related stuff. Bravo to them! This ranting eventually leads to this:

Keep it simple and shut up already.

For the course I am currently teaching, some Student Learning Outcomes are as follows:

• Given an audience and purpose, students will compose a coherent, well-developed, multi-paragraph text.
• Students will be able to incorporate accurately and meaningfully a detail or idea from a piece of expository prose into their own writing using direct quotation.

As I see it,  BlackBoard works well for my current on-ground class. However, I am beginning to see some other tools that will enrich the class and enhance the learning experience for students. For example, right now, I am using a lot of text-based or written-based materials for the lesson. Since starting the POT Program, I got so excited that I included some links to some videos for my students to watch on a specific topic that would generate discussion in-class and online. After all, if they are going to write about a topic, seeing it visually and hearing first-hand accounts on videos will only stimulate interest or passion for the topic even more. I am, basically, seeing new potential in that I do not only need to stick to texts but can also incorporate audios, videos, images, and more.

Here’s a link to one of the videos we discussed in class and online: Chris, Doomsday Prepper

Perusing over the Beginner’s Questionnaire and the POT Getting Started Chart, I realize that I am not a “control freak” or that I necessarily have to be in control of my class all the time. I do enjoy the discussions and debates, allowing my students to create materials and knowledge for themselves.  I like having the option to be both “on the ground” or online. When it comes to using technology in my classroom,  my experience with teaching a course that allows me to divide my teaching time between lecture and lab has made me very accepting of implementing new elements in my teaching. From the POT Chart, I can see that I will probably want to stick with BlackBoard for now, but I am excited about including recordings and videos to the course. Overall, I don’t think I am any different from other instructors out there. Our priorities are the students and our teaching, not technology. In the end, I am going to be reasonable and learn what my options are in the online teaching world; then, implement only those that will enrich the course.

Pto. Rico

Hello, Everyone! Finally, I am able to get things rolling. My name is Sou (Sue) Lackkaty. I am an associate faculty with the ESL Department at MiraCosta College. I am new to the POT Program. However, I look forward to learning exciting new things this year.

Having read everybody else’s posts, I am really inspired to introduce myself in detail. I am a person of few words, afterall, so I will just say: Please give me time to warm up.