"I wish to respond to some of the questions raised at the workshop
following my presentation on blogs.
Mr Alwyn D'Sa's enquiry as to how blogs ensured that the lazy
students submitted the given assignments.
My reply: The concept and the nomenclature 'lazy students' does not
exist in the ELT discourse. The issue is not one of being politically
correct in the usage of words, but one of approach. I see
non-submission of assignments as a case of low motivation or lack of
interest on the part of students owing to other external factors. The
way out would be to find out the cause and remedy it. Apart from this
there are institutional factors which most of the time ensure that the
students/learners do their job irrespective of the problem they face. A
blog in itself cannot do anything as it is a tool or a medium, a unique
one at that. My experiment with blogs was to take assignments to the
doorstep of my students or to the places of their comfort, utilizing
the unique possibility that blogs offered. Medium itself is a message.
And therefore the assignments given through blogs and the blog as a
medium itself will change the way a learner perceives learning. For
example the assignment posted on my blog for BBM students. No other
medium will enable such creativity in giving an assignment.
Honourable chairperson's comment on the necessity of looking at the
cost factor. Also his statement "A chalk is a luxury in a government
college".
My reply: The cost factor works quite differently here. If you look at
the other possibilities discussed like the use of movies, radio,
cartoon they do not require any investment on the part of the students.
Whereas the use of blog, both by the learner as well as the teacher,
does. If the institution does not have a free internet facility to view
blogs, then the students need to have the connection at home or need to
go to an internet browsing centre. Both these involve investment on the
part of the students. I agree. But, for the teacher if s/he has the
internet connection at College, the person can manage it without
spending money. Or, if the person has an internet connection at home
then s/he does not have to spend extra for the sake of blogs. Even if
the teacher spends Rs 10 for half an hour (this is the average tariff
in most parts of our country) per week it will be about Rs 40 per month
and Rs 480 per year. Which I don't think is much for a lecturer who
is drawing UGC or state government scale. This reasoning holds good, if
an undergraduate teacher has inclination to reach out to the students
through the cyberspace.
"A chalk is a luxury in a government college" is no argument at all
to question the feasibility of using the internet to reach out to
learners. The question is one of interest on the part of the teachers.
(I am not saying that one must have interest and must make use of the
internet/cyberspace as if it were a panacea) Developing infrastructure
is of course a challenging task in institutions which have serious
resource crunch. But it is no impossible task. There are various
sources that need to be tapped namely UGC, different central/state
government projects, alumni/ae, IT companies both big and small which
dispose off their PCs when they go for upgrading their infrastructure,
donors, benefactors, and local MLAs and MPs who have local area
development funds. It requires effort. But it pays to take that extra
step. I can cite innumerable example of my friends and myself where a
lot of money was spent from the personal kitty even with the meagre
salary which we used to get in the initial years of our teaching.
At last, I need to clarify my position.
1. The whole concept of blogs as I presented and as I am experimenting
with, is different from most other possibilities for creativity. The
basic difference is that a blog can be used more as an extension of a
classroom and a class away from classroom- the virtual classroom. Most
of the possibilities with technology largely talk about classroom
practice, without considering the cost, gadget failure, infrastructure
availability, technical know-how required for teacher and the time
available. For example, Use of movies especially clipping requires
editing. Where is the facility. Or to show full length movies one
requires TV sets as well as cassette, VCD/DVD players, uninterrupted
power supply. Giving worksheets involves huge photocopying cost apart
from more pressure on depleting green cover/forests. With the little
time, normally 45 to 55 minutes, that is available and the vast
syllabus to be taught to what extent can a teacher try these
possibilities?
2. I am not of the view that it is time everybody shifted to blogs and
the cyberspace. Or that it is an answer to all the problems that
ESL/EFL classes face. I present blogs as another possibility,
especially under the changing socio-economic profile of the students.
It is also to be noted that the PC penetration is far more than that of
TV or radio in the institutes of higher education in India
3. I feel that making use of blogs will empower the students in the era
of information technology. There is far lesser chance of teachers of
other disciplines taking the initiative to initiate the students to the
cyber world. A very crucial question to ask is why are we teaching
English? For the sake to teaching it? If it is for the sake of teaching
it then it serves no purpose at least for the learners. English is now
used and is increasingly going to be used for 'faceless
communication'. The employability of the students will depend on
their ability to use English via emails, telephones and such other
telecommunication media. Use of the cyberspace will enable the students
to use English with its practical implications. It is in this
background that I propose the experiments with blogs.
to me in terms getting more conceptual clarity. I thank all those who
actively took part in it both during the session and during the tea
break. I will be very happy if this discussion continues and will be
pleased to answer any queries regarding my own views as well as blogs."
No comments:
Post a Comment