The Online Virtual Classroom
http://ladymaggic.podomatic.com
Normal
0
false
false
false
MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:”";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
The Online Virtual English Class
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 Virtual Classroom available, where anybody wishing to learn
to speak English can now tune into their Computer and take a lesson. For the
month of January, the daily English lesson
is free on Active English Speaking.com,
as a marketing promotion, and also while the teachers train in learning
effective teaching online, where not only is their English teaching skill on
public display, but also the skills and abilities of their students.
This provides 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 documented and available for replay. Parents can review the lesson and see how
their own child participated in class, and also join in the lesson and study
English with their family.
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.
In the Virtual field, 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, 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. The
students are here to learn to speak English, and the only common factor is the
fact that they have chosen to attend the Virtual Classroom and be a member.
The added bonus of the Online Interactive Virtual 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, Saudi
Arabia, America
and England.
It is a whole International Classroom, and at the end of the lesson,
relationships have been formed. The final 15 minutes gives students the chance
to get to know each other and share their personal details 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 only one student
can be visible and vocal at a time. This 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, and learn incorrect
pronunciation of words, as they may do in the real classroom by focusing on
vocal students instead of the teacher.
The text of the lesson is presented in Power Point, which also has interactive features that can be
responded to 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 clarification.
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. 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,.
The future is providing specialist Courses in learning
Korean, Chinese, Arabic, and Japanese, and other areas as requested.
International Teachers will run their own sessions from Active English Speaking
in the areas of their own specialist teaching.
The World of the Virtual Classroom is extending to areas as
teachers join and create their own Virtual Classrooms.
Free English Classes
are available every day until 20 January. You can see the sessions and join
in by registering at Activeenglishspeaking
where the next lesson is featured on the FrontPage.
Details and membership are available from Maggi
Carstairs Maggi_carstairs@yahoo.com
Don’t just read about it…come and participate in the lessons
…every evening at 9.30PM Seoul Time.
Details available at Activeenglishspeaking.com
Marguerite Carstairs
2008©
