Chat with PSU students

I would like to share my experiences of participation in the “chat room” with students from Pennsylvania State University (PSU). These students also study second language teaching and technology. Even though I did not talk a lot during the one hour chat session, I learned several lessons. First, they are very familiar with the technology available at PSU and knew the advantages and disadvantages of the equipment. They try to take advantage of the available equipment and they know how to operate the new technology. Compared to them, I do not know the technologies available for teachers at UA or in Taiwan, my home country. Secondly, they are all “fast typers.” It is difficult for me to follow their chatting speed, so it is necessary to increase your typing speed if you are chatting online. Next, I felt that they knew a lot of “models” with which I was not so familiar. Is it maybe that they have a class that mainly focuses on “models” in teaching? It seems that I am the outsider, but this encourages me, perhaps even “pushes” me (an old fashioned teacher) to learn the technology. In addition, they were friendly and asked me questions if I had not chatted for 5 minutes. They care about their chatting members. To sum up, it is a good opportunity to know how other students incorporate their teaching with technology. I look forward to chatting with them again.