[etni] Fw: A different take on the Matach HOTS course (online)

From: "Ask_Etni" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
To: "ETNI" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 07:44:01 +0300
----- Original Message ----- 
From: judyastary@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: A different take on the Matach HOTS course (online)

Dear Etniers,
I have been following all the crtiicism levelled at the various HOTS courses 
that have been ongoing this year and have to date refrained from commenting. 
However, I now feel obligated, for the sake fof airness, to add my 
two-cents-worth.
Several of my colleagues and I partook of the Matach online course with two 
face 2 face meetings (first and last), consisting of 14 sessions in all. 
Having entered the course with considerable misgivings and a definite bias 
as to how I would react to the contents, I finished the course with a 
totally different impression.
First of all, the course was constructed brick by brick in such a way that 
each new session was an extension of the previous one. Our instructor worked 
24 hours a day and answered our questions and queries by return email. She 
also supplied immediate feedback on our forum postings and assignments. Her 
incredible dedication definitely eased the passage through the considerable 
amount of work involved in this course. Additionally, certain assignments 
could be done in pairs or teams of teachers (from the same school). The 
forums allowed all the participants in the course to interact, support each 
other and provide constructive criticism. Just like any school class, we 
were a heterogeneous batch of teachers! Some, I am sure, had never taught 
literature before and quite a few found it hard to express themselves in 
English. Heterogeneity aside, everyone of us benefited from this course and 
the feedback session held last week attested to that. Sure it was a lot of 
work, perhaps too much for the amount of "regmulification" we shall receive 
but I vow there is not one teacher who has not emerged the richer 
intellectually for having partaken.

I am fully aware of the reservations that have been expressed ad infinitum 
on Etni. I too have reservations but feel that this is not the forum to air 
them.Every change is hard to accept and suffers inevitable teething 
problems. But guys,  let's not throw the teething baby out with the 
bathwater! At last literature is back in the curriculum big time and this 
can only be positive. So how about checking out the half full glass first?

Judith Astary



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[etni] Fw: A different take on the Matach HOTS course (online)

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