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Typically for my institution
where we
teach Maritime English to navigators and marine
engineers a great variety of learning contexts and also learner
needs are encountered within the general context of studying Maritime
English for occupational
purposes. This presupposes a varied yet quite high degree of learner
autonomy. Therefore after having been introduced to Moodle as a
learning evironment for studying languages while on a Multimedia and
Modern Technology course
at the Norwich Institute of Language Education I got interested in
exploring the potential of Moodle for helping learners to become better
teachers for themselves in my teaching context. Therefore
currently I am trying to explore and experiment with the opportunities
that
a Moodle course can offer for helping learners to become better
teachers for themselves, i.e.,for enhancing learner autonomy. For me
working in the Moodle environment means developing, teaching and
administering it,so I am learning by doing. Besides I keep a journal
where I enter my observations as regards my students`reactions,
achievements, difficulties, and any kind of formal and informal
feedback that I receive, for example,during classroom
discussions. This all is essential also because I have an intention to
create a moodle course for my distance language
learners.
Practice and preparation for the Secondary School English
Certificate examination.
Once a week I meet a group of 16
secondary school students from the
Latvian University Pre-entrance Study Centre to help them
revise their secondary school English for the school
leaving/university entrance exam this spring. Presently the greatest
challenge for me is to help my students become less dependent on the
teacher and to counteract their belief that
taking a course and following the teachers` directions automatically
ensure success in the exam.
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