Reflection Journal 1

Reflect on your views on classroom technology use in the discussion board on Bb. 
Drawing on your own experience learning with technology, briefly discuss a classroom
situation in which technology was used to help you, the student, learn.  Describe the
classroom situation, the subject being taught, the other students, the technology.

When I was a high school student, I had this great opportunity to attend the lecture of a
famous English professor from Nanjing University. There were about 40 students, and all of
us expected that he would just give a lesson of how to study grammar, which is the most
difficult part for English learners in China; however, for a whole 15 minutes after the bell
rang, he even did not open any books or turn on the projector. What he did was chatting
with us about life, love and family. “He is nice, but I don’t want to waste time listening to
him in the only multimedia classroom in our city!” A student beside me murmured.
Professor seemed to be aware of that, so he went back to the front and looked for something
on the teacher’s desk. But all of a sudden, lights were out, and he asked: ”what’s going on
here?” But nobody answered him except for a bomblike sound, and the chairs and desks
began to rock while the girls were screaming. “The earthquake!” Somebody said. We went
more scared and tried to find the door out, but it just would not open. After a few minutes’
scream, cry and noise, the classroom became light again. We opened our eyes, only to find
that professor was smiling at us, standing still in the front. "All right, people. The
earthquake is over, and you should take a quick look at yourself as well as your classmates.
Are you really safe in the place you are now if a real disaster comes? " We suddenly realized
that it was an intentional earthquake!
 
He then told us to sit back, listen to the recording of a survivor from the earthquake, and
lineage the events mentioned in the recording on a piece of paper. Next, he showed us a lot
of pictures and videos taken in real earthquake situation on the projector with the ending
sentence “Do you want to avoid this?” How shocking the pictures were! I would never
forget the bloody scenes.
 
After that, he encouraged us to bring forward several ways of escaping from an earthquake,
and gave his advice by means of Power point at the end of discussion.
 
Next, he listed the biggest earthquakes ever happened in human history, saying that millions
of people died from earthquakes, and without them, we would not have been learning these
precious rescue lessons. We should thank them, and pray for them for 3 minutes. So we did
exactly like he said, with a sad song played in the computer.
 
This class lasted for only 50 minutes, but the impact of it remains in our memory even till
now.
 
I don’t think teaching can be called successful as long as it is integrated with technology, but
perfect teaching always include the application of technology. This class is just a case in
point. Now let me explain why it is so successful.
 
1. In the beginning, he chatted with us casually to make us relax. If I compare this class to a
novel, I would say the beginning is like an “understatement”. I mean we lowered our
expectations because of his talk at first. But then, he used technology (which included
turning off the lights, using computer to play the bomblike sound, controlling the shake of
desks and chairs, etc) to achieve an earthquake effect and got us really involved into that true
to life experience. 

2. Secondly, when we were still frightened at the experience, he asked us to reflect what we
did during the “earthquake”. Having seen some pictures and videos downloaded from the
web (which is legal in China), we were encouraged to discuss the right ways of rescuing
ourselves instead of just listening to his answers. In that case, we students were not just a
passive basket into which teacher throws knowledge, rather, we were the center of class with
teacher’s full attention.

3. Next, he showed us where all these experiences, lessons, and common sense of earthquake
came from by a shocking list of earthquakes and death toll (which were collected from the
official website). This, of course, stirred our mercy and appreciation for the dead.

4. Finally, in the river of music, we mastered the knowledge we should learn and acquired
some extra feelings for life.
 
What I have learned as a student:
A. English class can be interesting. (That’s why I chose English as my undergraduate major)
B. Earthquake is disastrous, but under some conditions, we can survive it if we know what to
do.
C. You speak, I forget; you show me, I remember.
D. Always be grateful for life, because it may have cost millions of people’s life, time and
energy.
E. A lesson can be as trivial as letters on the blackboard, or can be as valuable as everlasting
life memory.
 
What I have acquired as a licensed teacher:

A. Try your best to create real situations for students to learn. For example, arrange a trip to
teach geography or perform a play to understand literature. The best way to teach is to get
the students completely involved.
B. Successful teaching is not just about making students look at you, listen to you or write
down the key points you say, but also enabling them to feel you, understand you, have
interest in your lesson and finally thank you from the bottom of heart.
C. The lesson you teach should have two parts: the one they need to know, and the other they
want to know.
D. Prepare your teaching procedure intentionally, but make your students learn from you
unintentionally.
E. Good teachers know psychology, excellent teachers refer to psychological books
occasionally, but great teachers learn psychology as a second major.
F. Applying technology is good, but applying them at the right time, in the right place, and
with right use will be best.
G.  Observable behaviors improve people’s learning, but unobservable constructs also help.
(B. F. Skinner maintained that discussion or research of nonobservable constructs, such as
memory, beliefs, or the mind, were detrimental to the study of learning, which has been
disproved in my experience—we absolutely got great lessons from the emotion of fear and
memory of desperation)
H. Some students are rational, while others are emotional, and that’s why you should teach
with the aim of both knowledge and spirit.
 

Reflection Journal 2

What concept or idea intrigued you the most in this week’s readings? Explain.

In the readings this week, we learn many theories, including “Motivation”. I’m interested in
it because it is so connected with my personal experience.

When I was in high school, I did not work as hard as I do now. Teachers kept talking that I
was a clever girl, but the scores in every exam showed that I was just a plain student. I talked
nonsense with my desk mate during class, slept a lot in my spare time, and tried to make
trouble for teachers. At that time, I never felt pressure from my parents, because they loved
me so much and they both had good jobs, which meant I did not have to worry about my
future life. Therefore, in the University Entrance Examination, a common university
admitted me as a result of my plain performance.
 
Before going to that university, I heard something that I had never expected to hear—my
parents were not as happy as they seemed to be. Someone was trying to break my family,
and my parents quarreled a lot about that when I was not around. I was shocked and heart-
broken. But I could not tell anyone about it or complain to either of my parents. Just over a
night, I grew up. I realized that I was no more a little girl that were always waiting for
someone else to take care of, but an adult who should take up her responsibility and do
something for the family. I studied harder since then. Whenever others read love novels,
talked about TV plays, or played computer games, I was studying. I fought for TOEFL and
GRE with no companion. I memorized 8000 words in 7 days and wrote 3 journals (with 600
words for each) everyday to practice my writing. Finally, I got the first place in many tests in
the school of foreign languages, and won first-rate scholarship every year.
 
My parents were so happy each time I told them my progress. At that time, I studied hard
just to comfort them, please them and save their marriage; but now, I’m still studying hard as
a convention. Someone said before: “There are two things in the world that would never
betray you: one is health which is gained through your exercise, the other is knowledge
which is acquired through your study”. I could not agree more with it.
 
Now, I’m here. Language is a big problem, indeed. Sometimes, I may not understand;
sometimes, I may be absent-minded; sometimes, I may be disappointed. But I know that is
only a period, and I will definitely overcome it one day. I know exactly what I want, what my
life will be, and what I should do. Learning is the most important thing for me. Without
motivation, I would not have previewed before every class, I would not have looked for
more information than I was assigned to know, and I would not have stayed up in most
nights to fix the gap in my knowledge.
 
I think motivation is almost like a motor in a boat, with petro its own drive force and wind
and water its extrinsic force. Wind does not blow every minute, and its direction is
changeable; water is mostly calm, while sometimes it has strong waves. Can you rely on
them to push you forward? No. Wind may take you to somewhere you plan not to go; water
may keep you in the same place for several days. The only thing you can handle is your boat.
You add the petro to go forward, and handle the wheel to change direction. You will decide
where to go, when to rest, and how to get to the dreaming bank finally.
 
However, in daily teaching, how can teachers find out students’ intrinsic motivation? Tests?
I’m not sure. But what I am sure is that every person needs love and understanding,
especially when students are so young and so vulnerable.
Why don’t we give them a chance to be understood, and why don’t we give ourselves a
chance to be touched? The most vulnerable part in heart can be the best intrinsic motivation.
 
Study psychology, teachers. Study communication. Study passion. You hated your teacher
who taught like a robot without any emotion; you hated your teacher who did not try to
communicate with you; you hated the lesson which you saw no meaning in it. So, don’t give
your students any opportunity to hate you in the same way. Please, leave them good
memories.

Reflection Journal 3

How is teaching and learning different with technology/media?

 Even now, I still can recall those years when I studied in the primary school: boxes of chalks
with their powder that was easy to breathe in, the tumbledown blackboard that must be
touched softly to avoid falling apart, the teachers speaking with dialect, and notes that could
never be finished. But just in a decade, everything has changed to the degree that I have
never imagined.  It’s no wonder that I would sit here sighing with great emotion while
enjoying the awesome moment that technology has brought to me; however, sometimes the
technology would bother me a lot for certain reason. 
 
On the bright side, I have listed 5 major aspects that benefit most from the invention of
technology.
 
1. The cost of education. With technology, the costs of education have been reduced a lot. For
example, teachers can only prepare one sheet of material for several classes because of the
existence of projector and computer. In that case, teachers can save both their time and
energy to spend more time on other meaningful resources.
2. It provides us a great chance to share resources, no matter where we are, what we do, how
much money we have. The only thing we should do is to find a computer, connect with the
Internet, and search the information we want. We don’t have to be that dependent on
teachers, and we can learn those we are interested but are not provided in class just by
clicking on the links.
3. The speed of knowledge updating has been increased. Unlike before when generations of
students use the same book for years, just because the cost of reprinting is too high, now we
witness every change made by teachers on the web blackboard. We make progress according
to a flexible plan.
4. The invention of E-mail and MSN is another asset for us. For example, we can email any
questions we don’t understand in class to the teachers after we go home; we can provide
feedback to the teachers’ performance, and even just communicate to exchange ideas.
5. The application of multimedia definitely stimulate more than one part in our brain—we
watch videos, listen to them, and see the captions, while taking down notes by
typing. Harmony of different aspects of our brain is strengthened during this process, and
efficiency is shown undoubtedly.
 
On the dark side, I would also like to state 5 aspects.
 
1. Choices are too many. We always feel that the more choices there are, the better we
will study, while the fact is that the more choices there are, the more difficult for us
to choose among them. Imagine how many websites we have to search to find
perfect resources for our presentation, how beautiful pictures we have to find for an
animated story, and how many pieces of information we have to check before we can
get to an accurate conclusion.
2. The diversity of knowledge on the Internet also makes students inclined to neglect the
importance of teachers. They think they have got much more knowledge on the
Internet than teachers, and they even don’t need teachers any more. Gradually,
teachers are not respected in the way they should be due to the overwhelming effect
of the Internet.
3. With the help of Internet, teachers may become lazy themselves. Instead of trying very
hard to create a new thing, they turn to the Internet for help, and try hard to find out
something new. Some irresponsible teachers even directly copy materials and paste
them on the teaching plan without claiming authors’ copyright; many students also
finish their final paper in the same way.
4. Abuse of technology also exists. To employ technology in teaching is a good idea, but
what if they are employed in a wrong and indulgent way? What if they are used out
of form instead of need? We have seen too many teachers use multimedia to show
unrelated pictures and play unreasonable videos. Students should come here to be
taught with first-rate knowledge, not to be distracted by some strange media
application.
 
Considering all these factors, I would like to bring forward my rubrics for a proper
application of technology/media.
 
1. It must be topic-related. Everything should be arranged in an organized way with focusing
on one center—the topic we will teach in that specific class. If not, irrelevant topics and
materials will lead our students nowhere.
2. The materials we implement must be in high quality. Think about what the response of
students will be when they listen to a noisy audio, or a low-pixel photo. Will they still focus
on the content they are interested in, or they feel irritated by those strange sounds and
pictures?
3. Quantity should be well controlled. Even though we have high-quality materials, students
can only memorize some of them. They are not a bottomless basket, and they can’t hold
everything we throw into them. They are human, they have a limit, and they might be
absent-minded sometimes.
4.  Try to figure out what is the best form to show our content. Perhaps we should use graphs
to show a math theorem, and use pictures to show somebody’s life, and videos to introduce
an unforgettable experience.
5. Be audience-recognized. Some materials are proper for adults, while some other materials
for K-12 students. When we add any materials in our technology application, take account
the students’ level, interests, the knowledge they already know, and the knowledge they
want to know. Every new lesson should be a review of the former lesson and a lift of the
former lesson. No lesson comes out as a separate unit. There must be consistency and
transition.
6. Pay attention to copyright, which may get us involved in trouble, and also remind our
students of this.
7. Try to prepare as comprehensive as possible. It is irresponsible and partial to search one
thing or two and show them to the students. They believe in us, and may be misled by us.
8. Employ technology not only as a teaching tool that assists our teaching, but also make it a
learning tool. Encourage students to use technology to create their own things in an
assignment. That’s why we should make our application of technology as interesting as
possible, because our presentation directly affects the students’ views on tech

Reflection Journal 4

In what ways do you use Web 2.0 in your teaching now? After this week’s readings, what
Web 2.0 technologies would you like to try and implement in your teaching? Why?

I have a teacher license in China after I graduated from university, but I have never really
taught in a school like I told you before. Despite this fact, I did have a precious teaching
experience in tutoring five pupils. In order to earn money and support myself, I printed
hundreds of sheets to advertise myself and adhered them on the poles, walls, as well as
doors. Please don’t judge me, but it is a truth that advertisement is everywhere in China.

OK, back to the topic. Generally speaking, I taught them the mnemonics of memorizing
English words, which was invented by myself—a method that enable students to memorize
the words of second languages in a sentence of their native language, including both the
meaning and pronunciation in the sentence. Usually I would compile these sentences
together and make it up an interesting story for my students. They loved it! They loved it!
But there are times that they do not want to learn new knowledge, so I had to do something
fresh and stimulating to cheer them up. At that time, I usually went on the Internet, and
opened the biggest video website in China--Youku (pretty like Youtube in the US), trying to
find English cartoons for them to watch. The website must be employing the technology of
streaming media, because it needs little time to buffer and we can watch it smoothly all the
time.  This website is the one I personally like to use, and besides, www.Renren.com (I called
it the Chinese version of Facebook) is another favorite. I used it to keep in touch with my
formal classmates and friends, and learn news from the world of music to sports.
 
One of the happiest found in the US is that I learn a lot of things that I have never heard in
my country. Web 2.0 is a case in point. When I printed out the readings about Web 2.0, I even
spent few minutes to recall in my memory whether there was a Web 1.0!
 
Since I’m “young” and “stupid”, I had to search on the Internet to figure out what it is all
about. Finally, I found a website in which contained a lot of useful and practical Web2.0
tools! Here is the link: http://www.go2web20.net/
 
In order to make me a better teacher, I have decided to employ several tools I found in this
website in my daily teaching.  For example, www.Todo.ly is a website helping people to
organize their schedule, by using which students can make their to-do-list in order and make
sure they will forget nothing they should do;
http://www.paperrater.com/vocab_builder/index is a website helping people learn
vocabulary words according to their plan, by using which students can memorize more
vocabulary words in a organized way; www.paperrater.com is one that helps people check
up their papers, by using which students can paste their papers in the website, submit it, and
let the website check whether their works are original, the percentage of vocabulary words is
enough, and how many grammar mistakes they have made. By incorporating these Web2.0
tools into classroom, students may gradually change their way of thinking, and form a good
study habit, which can do good to their learning through the whole life.

Reflection Journal 5

How might you use digital storytelling in your classroom to improve teaching and
learning?

It has been said for a thousand times that how wonderful digital storytelling is to the whole
area of education. Here I would like to list some cases of study that might exemplify how I
can use digital story to improve my teaching and learning as an English teacher.
 
Description Of First class that I am going to teach
Class Conditions
Methods I will use digital story to narrate some funny experiences of mine, and
how I was connected with English teaching when I was a kid.
Advantages Funny experiences would make students feel relaxed, gradually like me
as a person, and erase the fear some of them may have for English; the
description of how I was connected with English may stir their echo,
enable them to reflect and compare their English learning process with
mine, find something that we have in common, and provide more topics
to discuss in class.
 
Description of A lesson that is related with English poems
Class Conditions
Methods I’m willing to make a digital story of what the poem is about, with
authentic stories that might have happened to the poet or that are created
by myself. For example, the poem “How do I love thee” is one of my
favorites. I will incorporate the love story that happened between Mr.
Browning and Mrs. Browning in the digital story and move the students
in the softest part of their hearts.
Advantages I think the best way to teach poem is to make your students really feel
the emotions, feelings and passion that the poets are trying to express.
Therefore, besides teaching the new words in the poems, understanding
what a poem is all about can not only help them memorize the lines, but
also feel the same way as the poets. Only by being touched, can they feel
 the beauty of the poem.
 
Description of A lesson that talks about linguistics
Class Conditions
Methods I plan to make a digital story, narrating the most famous linguists and
their greatest theories by the line of history. With images of linguists,
graphics that I make for their theories, and audio explanation of each
theory.
Advantages Compared with the traditional teaching of linguistics, which listed
everything important in the book, digital story gives the students a
chance to learn it from both micro view and macro view. Students will be
encouraged to learn from various forms of presentation of knowledge,
and have a clear understanding that how linguistics has developed step
by step through all these years. When they have to recall what they have
learned to prepare for an exam, the lively video will automatically play
in their head, and help them recall the key factors.
 
Description of A lesson that is created to teach English words
Class Conditions
Methods Memorizing words is the most difficult part for language learners. In
order to make it easier, I would like to gather those most difficult words
and make them up in one story.
Advantages Because I am the creator of this digital story, I know exactly what words
the students have trouble in memorizing, and what words they are
inclined to forget easily. When I make up the stories, I will pay special
attention to the knowledge that they have learned and try to connect the
old knowledge with the new in the same story. Besides, mixing up words
in stories would make a context for students to understand and
memorize.

Description of A lesson that is about English drama

Class Conditions
Methods After discussing a drama, I am going to give them an assignment—to
make a digital story of the drama they are interested in.
Advantages By doing this assignment, they will show how much they have learned to
make a digital video, how much they have understand the essence of
English drama, and how they perceived the drama from a unique point of
view. Instead of receiving education from a teacher passively, they can
develop their creativity and imagination, and express what that drama
really means to them. Moreover, by making the digital story, they will get
a deeper understanding of the drama they love, and learn new
information they may encounter while they are searching on the internet.