MY ENGLISH JOURNEY
Nigel Haro English Language Program Level 6 Yachay University for Experimental Technology and Research
MY ENGLISH JOURNEY Nigel Haro English Language Program Yachay Tech Level 6 003 Instructor: Daniel Beall January 9, 2017 Imbabura, Ecuador
Table of contents 1. Portfolio Letter 2. Response essay 4. Interpretation essay 5. Argumentation essay 6. Final research project essay 7. Reflections 8. Thank you letter
Nigel Haro Yachay Tech University Imbabura, Ecuador
January 9, 2017
Dear Portfolio Reader:
For years I have had the goal of develop language skills in order to become a good English language user. During the course around level 6 of Yachay Tech university English program, I made some essays and work which was useful to improve my English. That is why I would like to let you know how the English program has helped me through some work that encouraged the development of my language skills and strengthen my English level. In order to achieve my goal I had to go through some levels of Yachay Tech English program. The university put me in a level according my language skills because for each level is necessary some academic skills which are developed during the course and as a result I was making progress in each level. For this reason, The Yachay English program has been a very significant part of my development as an English speaker because in each level I had some assignments which were useful for the development of my language skills. Those assignments has a specific purpose such as improve writing, vocabulary or grammar through essays. During level 6 my essays are proves of my English has progressively improved throughout the English program. There are some difference between something I had wrote at the beginning of the semester and something that I write now. I think that the most important progress that I has made is about the structure and organization of my ideas. For example, in my first essay, the response essay, I had no idea about how to start and as a result I just write
anything to come to my head. In addition, I remember that I had waited until the last moment to write my essay and this contributed for my essay was some confused and did not follow the assignment sheet or the outline the intended purposes. So, as an advice for you, you do not wait until the last moment to start to work. Take your time to reading the assignment sheet and for organize your ideas instead of just write without any previous preparation. In addition, I feel that my speaking skill had improved during this semester due to practice. For example, for the interpretation essay in groups of four students had to have choose a work art. We choose a painting then we had to have interpret it and discuss the reasons why we thought the painter made that painting. So that, was an interesting assignment because we shared our ideas and to express our own interpretation of the painting we had to learn new vocabulary according our feelings. Finally, I recollected some tools and developed new skills in order to become a better English language user. For example, in the last and largest essay, the research essay, the experience of the methods used for other works was helpful. Those methods consist in tools and skills which along this semester I had learned in the course of the semester such as outline for the organization of my essay, APA citation and structure, how to choose reliable sources and paraphrase. So that, in the research essay I put in practice those all things that teacher’s teach me in class because these tools and skills will make the work easier. Thank you again for reading my portfolio. I will continue to practice and learn this beautiful language in the course of my career. I expect that with the acquisition of new tools and the skills that I possess help me to continue growing in order to become a good user of the English language.
Sincerely,
Nigel Haro
Response Essay
Response to “Forget University? 4 Steps to Design Your Own Education� Nigel Francisco Haro Sisa Yachay University for Experimental Technology and Research
Response to Forget University? 4 Steps to Design Your Own Education Martin Luther King Jr. once claimed “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education”. We can appreciate that the most of the educational systems today are focused in a process of evaluation instead to true learning. According to TED talk “Forget University: 4 Steps to Design Your Own Education,” Till H. Groß said that nowadays schools do not encourage the learning and reasoning of their students and not prepare us to face real life. For this reason, I agree with the author who talk about how a bad educational system are focused in indoctrinate and how the self-education is the better way for persons who search learning and the development of their academic and professional skills. When Groß was 18 years old, he suffered an accident in their left arm. While the author was recuperating from the accident, he began reading dozens of psychology books and that seemed interesting to him. So that with 19 years old and motivated to become the best therapist, the author leave school excited because he thought that the university would be a place where the learning is encouraged. Through of committed teachers and students who have the desire of study, the author thought that the university will be useful to motivate him to develop new knowledge. However when the author came in to the university he faced with the true of the education in whole the world, it is a bad educational system which do not focus in the true learning. For this reason Groß leave of the university and decided design their own methods of study and take the control of their education and work deep in the development of professionals skills and gain experience. Universities today are based in bad study plans which is focused in evaluate and rate instead of encourage the development of critical thinking, teachers and students are not committed with the learning processes. Most of the schools there are not focused in boost the education and learning, schools are limited to taking exams and send homework.
Consequently students change the desire of study for the desire of pass the exams, in this way the true learning is being lost. As a consequence, students are not committed with their education and only think in ways of how to do to pass their courses. Nowadays students only study when the exams are closer instead of be passionate about learning and looking for new things to discover and learn. In addition, teachers must be committed to develop an environment where learning is encouraged and motivation improved. Students believe in teachers as their mentors, but if professors do not encourage to study, the learning processes will decay among their students. Finally schools do not prepare to face real life and not emphasize the development of the professional skills, it is a monotonous process which is killing the learning and knowledge. The author claimed that if you have a passion and the desire of learn, you could take the responsibility of your own education and decide what you learn and how you learn instead of just settle for a poor education system. However it is necessary to develop processes and methods which help you to gain knowledge. For this reason, you need to be responsible, steady and persevering to prevent something interferes with your self-education. To get started, read a lot of books and deepen in details it is a good idea to get rich of topics that you create convenient. In this way you can take control of things that you want learn or deepen and how will you do it to get the knowledge that you consider relevant or important, which it is less stressful and better that the traditional educational system which sometimes it focuses on things that are not important and can slow you in your learning process. GroĂ&#x; (2014) contends that most of college graduates come out from university without any skill. Since the schools are focused only in the evaluative processes, the development of professionals skills which could be apply in the real life are not being promoted. However most of the important knowledge, you cannot find in the books or schools. Experience it is necessary to prove that you have knowledge about something. In addition, when you put in
practice the knowledge that you have in the real life this is useful for the development of your professional skills and to understand that the theory from the books which is not always true in practice. However to get experience it is necessary to start for a little things as assistant in something that you want learn, maybe you should work free but nevertheless learning is more important that make money. As a result of working with someone, you will gain experience, you will meet mentors who will help you in your learning processes and you will develop new skills. All those things are very important and useful for a true learning and these things are not taught in college In conclusion, the educational systems of universities today does not encourage the true learning and the development of the academic and professionals skills. College students are not interested in learning and the discovered of new ideas of their subjects. As a consequence students only study when they will be evaluated instead of studying and be passionate about gain new knowledge every day. In addition, for a true learning is not enough just the knowledge about something, it is necessary the development of skills and the experience. Nonetheless, university does not emphasize the development of skills which will be useful when students are facing real life. For these reasons the development of methods and processes for the self-education is the better way for a person who search the true learning and take the responsibility of their own education.
References Till, H. [TEDx Talks]. (2014, October 14th). Forget university? 4 steps to design your own education | Till H. GroĂ&#x; | TEDxKlagenfurt [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUnpSYMNEh
Interpretation Essay
“The Lovers II� Interpretation Essay Martha Galarraga, Nigel Haro, Marlon Gancino, David Moreno Yachay Tech
“The Lovers II” Interpretation Essay “Mystery means nothing, it is unknowable." Rene Magritte. The Lovers II is a painting done by Rene Magritte in 1928 which shows a woman and a man kissing each other but with a coat in their faces. So, what does that mean? To understand this masterwork we have to know who Rene Magritte is. This painter was a recognized artist who born in Belgium in 1898 in a wealthy family. In 1912 when he was 14 years old his mother had committed suicide and she was found drowned in the River Sambre. Since 1916 to 1918 he studied in the Beaux-Arts academy in Brucelas. During his painter career, he was influenced by the work of artists like Picasso (founder of cubism), Andre Breton (founder of surrealism), Joan Miro, and Salvador Dali. His life was marked by several key stages like the suicide of his mother, his great failure in the exposition at the Galerie la Centaurie in Brussels, his trip to Paris where he adopted new styles to his paintings, his return to Brucelas where he enriched his painting techniques ("Rene Magritte Biography", 2009). The majority of his works were done following the surrealist style and included in the most of his paintings scenes which contain human figures, inanimate objects, floating rocks, and even several of his works kept paintings within paintings. One of his iconic works is the painting called The Lovers II, this masterpiece was done on oil canvas following the features the surrealist chefd'oeuvres have. But, why this work is so special? Because in this work we can see expressed a mixture of senses and emotions at the same time enclosed in an action among a couple of people. Since an inexpert point of view, the painting could be seen as a forbidden love where the couple cannot show their faces to society and they must keep their love hidden among sheets or as the couple does not want to implicate any senses in their relationship and they prefer to be separate by a coat between both.
When we see this painting, is inevitable see two people kissing with two veils occulting their faces. As the cloaks are glued to the faces and the clothes that each one carries can be known who the man is and who the woman is. The man is wearing a very formal suit, with shirt and a black tie, by another side, the woman is wearing a short-sleeved blouse. We assume the both are a couple because they are kissing. It gives a feeling of suffocation. The painting of a kissing couple with their faces covered by smooth textured mantles and cream or white color which makes it stand out very quickly when one looks at the painting. The kiss it gives the sensation of being a passionate kiss but at the same time as they are covered by the mantle they could not feel the skin each one. This situation express that they do not want to involved their feelings. They are in a room of two walls one of red that is a warm color and the color of the other wall is blue that is a cold color. It has the three lines that are height, width and depth. The bottom wall does not look like a wall, if it does not look like a sky because, the texture of it which is as if you were out in the open, the blue wall is not uniform. Additionally, in this painting we can appreciate an awesome surrealist work which can be interpreted as the forbidden love between two lovers that for fear of society they hide. At first glance the emotions that are generated when seeing this painting can be of intrigue and melancholy, as if of a tragic scene it was. In the painting it can be distinguished certain features in their bodies, the affection is evident in the positions of the character who are apparently embraced and in the position of their heads to be able to kiss each other, you can appreciate a clear romantic and loving gesture. In addition, the contrast of the colors found in the background can be interpreted as red for closeness, love and passion and on the other hand the dark blue behind them could mean remoteness and sadness. This in turn can relate to not feeling, because despite the kiss they are given which seems passionate about the proximity of the faces, they cannot touch the skin, they cannot be together. So that, we can
Interpret all this as the impossibility of amorous fusion, the absolute union of the couple is a utopia and as its name indicates they are two lovers. For this reason, their relationship is frowned upon by society and they need to hide. The interpretation of the author is not the one that defines the work of art, the interpretation that the audience or the spectators give to the work is the one that defines it. These opinions may vary depending of the person who do this. The article of " The Lovers of Rene Magritte: A Bitter kiss" by Esther Bengoechea is a good example of the varieties of interpretations. Bengochea (2010) says that “It is identities are secret after two humid veils that cover the face" in our interpretation we can't assure that the veils are humid because do not anything that can ensure this as water. Other interpretations are about the meaning of the kiss some people says that it represent the blind love between both, our interpretation is similar but for us it not only represent this, but also the innocence of two lovers that do not care about beauty but about feelings. In conclusion, to make an interpretation of this masterpiece we just can base our work on assumptions. At the same time this painting could represent a feeling of suffocation, a limitation of feelings between both, that the absolute union of the couple is a utopia, or also it might give a sensation that they are kissing passionately each other. We cannot ignore the fact that this surrealist work involve many factors that provides itself of a deeper meaning. These factors as the color used to elaborate it may be related with depression, sadness, intrigue, and melancholy, but we can also can interpret this mixture of color as a mixture of feeling which ends in an expression of love. However, the whole of this work has a remarkably ambiguous meaning and this just depends on the point of view which a person will see the painting. The truth is that we will never know that due to that when Rene Magritte was interrogated by public for the meaning of his paintings he always avoided to answer the question saying “It does not mean anything because mystery means nothing, it is unknowable�.
References Bengoechea, E. (2010, March). The Lovers of René Magritte: a bitter kiss. Magazine Atticus. Retrieved November 14, 2016, from http://revistaatticus.es/en/2010/03/23/losamantes-de-rene-magritte-un-amargo-beso/ Cumming, L. (2011). René Magritte: The Pleasure Principle – review. the Guardian. Retrieved 14 November 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jun/26/magritte-pleasure-principletate-review Kitto, M. (2010, June). René Magritte’s The Lovers. Knowledge Lost. Retrieved 15 November 2016, from http://www.knowledgelost.org/art/rene-magrittes-the-lovers/ MoMa. René Magritte. The Lovers. Le Perreux-sur-Marne, 1928. MoMA. (2016). The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 15 November 2016, from https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79933 Rene Magritte. (2009). René Magritte Biography. Renemagritte.org. Retrieved 15 November 2016, from http://www.renemagritte.org/biography.jsp Rene Magritte. (2009). The Lovers, 1928 by Rene Magritte. Renemagritte.org. Retrieved 15 November 2016, from http://www.renemagritte.org/the-lovers-2.jsp
Argumentation Essay
Final research Project Essay
How Technology can Improve the Way of Learning Nigel Francisco Haro Sisa Yachay University for Experimental Technology and Research
Abstract Nowadays old educational systems continue to be used in schools. As a result quality education is decreasing and we can appreciate it in academic performance. For this reason it is necessary to create a new education model which boosts and improves learning among students. In the 21st century the use of technology allows us to simplify our work and increase our productivity in many aspects. Therefore, the use of technology in education could result in a new way of learning capable of improving academic performance and for the development of high quality education. Consequently, the use of methods for the integration of technology is necessary in education. Personalized learning, blended learning and digital materials and tools are the ways in which technology will integrate in education increasing their quality and encourage true learning among students. For this reason it is necessary the development of a new educational system based on the use of technology in order to improve education. Keywords: education, technology, academic performance, educational system
How Technology Can Improve the Way of Learning Bill Gates once said “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is most important�. Education today is becoming monotonous. Worldwide studies about education based in analysis of student test results, show a decrease in scholastic performance (Armani, 2015). One of the reasons why the level in education is decreasing is due to schools today are being used the same methods of learning of years ago instead create a new way of learning. However, students of the 21st century are closely related to technology. For this reason, we can take advantage of the benefits of electronic devices to create a better education system powered by technology, which today is put away from classrooms. Accordingly, implementation of technology in the schools is a theme of relevance because we can use different kinds of technology to improve education and for the development of learning environments. The integration of technology in education as a new educational model will improve academic performance among students by implementing personalized learning, blended learning and digital materials and tools. First, technology can encourage personalized learning. There are many ways in that one student can learn and for all this diversity the use of computers, software and virtual education platforms is very helpful. In this way, students can adapt the content on some topic according their preferences and purposes to make it more easy and interesting to learn. In addition, the use of electronic devices suppose an access in order to each student can take control of the time that them spend studying about one topic. According to Herold (2016) personalized learning is a way in which education can work with the optimal pace of learning, know about strengths and weaknesses of each students and to discover student's motivations and interest. Consequently, if teachers use this technology they can obtain a lot of information from their students, they will identify the problems where their students need more attention and work based on their results obtained from some task or test. In addition, the use of virtual
education platforms and various software allow to the students have a record of what has been learned and a timeline of what their want to learn for an optimal pace of learning. For these reasons, technology encourages personalized learning. Second, blended learning is an example of how to integrate technology in classrooms. Blended learning is only the name given to the combination of the normal teacher-to-student lessons with online learning. This method of learning tries to complement the traditional classes with some content in order to make the lessons more interactive and dynamic. In addition, blended learning is focused on the personalized teaching of small groups due to it makes it much easier to understand and assimilate the information that the teacher expounds in class. Accordingly, there are some schools which had begun to develop new blended learning programs to improve academic skills among students through online presentations or virtual learning environments. According to Davis (2015) there are some recent studies which show that with the implementation of blended learning techniques and tools there are gains for education. Additionally, studies from SRI International for the US Department of Education conclude in blended learning students’ performance is better than traditional students and online students, the study shows also an enhance of teacher satisfaction and student productivity (Davis, 2015). So that, the use of software and face to face lessons make class more interesting and boost the participation during classes. Teachers can teach theoretical lessons and then complement it through the use of programs such as chemdoodle, PCR simulator, QGIS. In this way students are learning in both ways theoretically and practically, it is like a reinforcement of the classes and students can continue to practice at home to increase their academic skills. Digital educational materials allow customize the way students learn and teachers teach. In a normal class the regular sources used to teach are books. However, sometimes the information that can be found in books is not enough for students who feels that there are
some information that could be useful or interesting. Nonetheless, sometimes schools do not have the necessary educational material for all their students. In addition, teachers who were based on a physical book to make their classes are using the same information for several years, so that the information is becoming outdated and becoming obsolete (Herold, 2016). As a result, some schools are implementing digital libraries where both, students and teachers get access a lot of books and digital educational material such as papers. In this way, students can search the necessary information from their classes and complement with the information that the teacher is presenting without the problem of not having the required material for all students. Therefore, as digital books can be rewritten or modified, the problem of outdated educational information has been solved. The use of technology in digital educational materials covers from the use of digital content, the use of clouds where the information will be stored and the devices that are needed to be able to make use of all the digital elements in a school. Digital tools in class are necessary to encourage participation and teamwork. In this century of digitization it is increasingly easier to access electronic devices such as tablets, laptops or projectors. According to Herold (2016) schools are trying to equip themselves with electronic devices for each of their students because allow to students practice in their academic skills and to enhanced the relationship among students and teachers through a better communication and participation. Additionally, “In the past two decades, significant research has shown that active learning is more effective� (Armani, 2015). For this reason it is important that schools boost the active learning through digital tools and teamwork. In addition, schools are working to equip their classrooms with these digitals tools such as laptops, tablets and others because is the key to students can increase their performance through all benefits that this technology represents such as the use of digital material. Communication between teacher-student and student-student is necessary to develop an
environment where learning is boost. For these reasons, it is necessary the implementation of technology in classrooms as a tool to improve education. Finally, all these technology and ways of how to integrate technology in education should be controlled and be part of an educational systems. According to Armani (2015) student performance is decreasing due to the fact that education is the same as it was years ago. For this reason it is necessary a new educational model in which education can be based to change the educational situation current. All these uses of technology will allow to students improve their performance but it is necessary the development of programs to integrate this new way to learn in classrooms and can be used by teachers. So that, a good curriculum in order to improve the way of learning based in technology could be the solution for the future and to encourage true learning. However, there are many people who think that the use of technology represents a disadvantage. According to Schwartz (2013) although the use of electronic mobile devices are useful to improve the learning through connection and teamwork, the overuse of this technology could be distracting to students. In this way, the abuse of smartphones, tablets and laptops during class decreases the concentration capacity among students. The psychologist, Daniel Goleman (2013) once said: “The more you can concentrate the better you’ll do on anything, because whatever talent you have, you can’t apply it if you are distracted”. For this reason, for students is more difficult do a task because they do not focus in their task and also it takes them longer to finish them. Consequently, there are teachers who consider restricting or prohibiting the use of mobile devices in the classroom in order to avoid distractions to their students during classes. Even though concentration and focus is very necessary for a proper learning, there are some aspects that have not been considered. As Hertz (2014) said, it is necessary that students
learn how to manage their time and attention with their smartphones or whatever device. Students must find the balance between their tasks and the use of technology. In this way, a student can pay attention in their studies without the need to look at their phones every time it rings or a notifications appear. For these reasons it is necessary encourage self-control and discipline, important values during the academic life of a student. Therefore, the key to boost education will be to find ways to integrate personal devices into learning in a controlled way. In this way teachers will not have to worry about the abuse of this type of technology during their classes, if their students are focused and committed in learning. As a result, technology would not have a negative impact on education. As can be seen, although it is believed that electronic devices may be unfavorable due to the distractions that students may have, new methods of teaching where is involved the use of technology as part of the educational process improve the way of learning and enhanced the understanding processes. Old educational systems no longer server or are not enough to encourage true learning. Therefore, the implementation of technology in schools in order to create a new educational model it is necessary to improve academic performance and increase interest and participation during classes. Both teachers and students can take control about the way and the information that they use for develop better learning processes. For these reasons the integration of technology in education results in a new educational system which by personalized learning, blended learning and digital materials and tools encourage and improve the learning and performance among students.
References Armani, A. (2015). How can technology improve school education?. World Economic Forum. Retrieved 24 October 2016, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/10/how-can-technology-improve-schooleducation/ Davis, M. (2015). Blended Learning Research: The Seven Studies You Need to Know. Education Week - Digital Education. Retrieved 4 December 2016, from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2015/04/blended_learning_research _the.html?_ga=1.53545448.1903702507.1480893830 Goleman, D. (2013). Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence (1st ed.). HarperTorch. Herold, B. (2016). Technology in Education: An Overview. Retrieved 24 October 2016, from http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/technology-in-education/ Hertz, M. (2014). Striking a Balance: Digital Tools and Distraction in School. Edutopia. Retrieved 11 November 2016, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/digitaltools-distraction-in-school-mary-beth-hertz Schwartz, K. (2013). Age of Distraction: Why It’s Crucial for Students to Learn to Focus. MindShift. Retrieved 11 November 2016, from https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/12/05/age-of-distraction-why-its-crucial-forstudents-to-learn-to-focus/
Reflections A picture of the day of the reflection exposition
Thank you for reading all my essays. I hope you liked read each one of my works as I did it when writing them.
Sincerely,
Nigel Haro