Learner Development

In January, I went to the Learner Development SIG get together in Kobe. If you have a chance, you should consider attending the next get together in Kyoto. There are no formal presentations at these events, so participants have plenty of opportunities to meet new people, discuss topics related to learner development, and share ideas. On March 23, the theme will be LD related plans for the 2013-2014 school year. Check out the flyer Gretchen made with Smore for the event!

At the last get together, the theme was learner autonomy. We wrote about our definitions and experiences with learner autonomy and then discussed them in groups. Although I haven't studied much about learner autonomy, I decided to give it a go and came up with the following definition: designing learning for oneself within the context of a broader community.

During the next stage of the event, each participant made a mind map about some aspect of learner autonomy, and I chose to make mine about technology and autonomous learning. It was interesting to share some of the things I have learned about online learning through EVO and to reflect upon these through the lens of learner autonomy.

Informal Writing Presentation

I've uploaded my presentation from the JALT CUE Conference to Slideshare. The conference was a lot of fun, my presentation went well, I caught up with some old colleagues from Nagoya, and I learned lots of new and practical things to use in the classroom, which I hope to share in more detail in an upcoming post. In the meantime, please check out the slides from my first PowerPoint presentation! I have to thank my coworkers for their help and feedback!

Upcoming presentation in Nagoya

JALT CUE Conference in Nagoya
The JALT CUE SIG Conference (Japan Association of Language Teachers, College and University Educators Special Interest Group) will be held in Nagoya on June 23 and 24. The theme is "Promoting Lifelong Learning" and it will be held at Sugiyama Jogakuen University.

I've recently learned that my presentation proposal "Beyond Journaling: Informal Writing for Critical Thinking". I'm planning to talk about informal writing assignments and how they can be used to promote critical thinking skills, to actively engage students with course material, and to offer opportunities for improvement in the four skill areas.

I think informal writing assignments are great because they allow students to focus on their ideas and connections to course material. Plus, I think as more and more students blog, they are writing "informally". If you've used informal writing assignments in the ESL/EFL class, please leave me a comment about your experience!