Just a few notes or should I better say observations? regarding the very beginning. Like in offline classrooms, the first actvity Ss are supposed to enage in is the GTKY. Newbies are asked to introduce themselves and encouraged to make some smalltalk. It is a shame there is no possibility to apply any formatting to messages, everything you contribute is just plain text. I somehow need all those bulleted and numbered lists, tables, etc. I still cannot see the main course – I wonder whether Gail has received my last message. There are not many people on the course, about a dozen or so, but everyone has a story to tell. It is fascinating to discover what sort of people become EFL teachers and how come they tend to enjoy what they do.
It is so much easier to talk in password-protected VLEs – one feels so much more secure and relaxed. Even the shyest participants eventually speak up and join discussions. Compared with the course I did last year, this one seems to be a lot more promising in terms of fellow participants’ contributions. Last year it was all so teacher-centered – people hardly ever wanted to talk to each other apart from situations when artificially divided into groups to work on tasks assigned by the course tutor. It sometimes felt so that nobody was really interested in the subject matter or possibilities of application of the newly acquired knowledge and skills – most people just aimed at getting good or passing grades judging by what I heard during breaks. I wonder whether any of them are into trying out anything we covered in class last spring.
