Thu Cao’s Updates

Recent changes in the nature of education

Born as a millenial, I used to believe that teachers were the ones who know it all. We relied heavily on what knowledge provided by my teachers. Also, we had to adjust ourselves to find ways to fit in with our teachers' teaching styles. Despite my great respect towards our teachers, I did try to study the textbooks myself sometimes when I struggled to catch up with a certain subject at high school. At that time, I did that primarily because I did not want to admit failure in any school subjects. However, I partly blamed my teachers for their lack of flexibility from time to time. Having been an English teacher later on, I could put myself in my former teachers’ shoes. It was the learner that play a critical role in their own progress. However, thanks to the information provided by this course on MOOC, I could fully understand the reasons behind this change. As an English teacher, I have been trying to appy a number of methods to help learners in improving their English skills. However, these measures did not always work out. I used to blame myself for my students’ progress and achievements as I believed that it was my full responsibility to equip them with sufficient knowledge. With the increasing importance of using technology in teaching and learning and the appearance of “new learning”, I started to realize my role as a facilitator sometimes. My current teaching role at an institution in Hanoi involves mainly instructing and guiding college students in improving their English skills for their future careers. They are supposed to watch online lessons on a platform before attending an offline lesson to apply what they have learnt in communicative activities. The knowledge I have acquired from this course helps me understand the nature of the programs at my institution.