This week I had an experience that helped me understand how important online collaboration is. We were trying to apply for a grant and somehow (because you know teachers are never busy) we ended up having to finish the application process at 11 pm. Anyway, “We” is 3 people, two in one country but different houses, and myself at the other end of the world. We got on Skype, and started trying to put everything in order. I did not have the files, one of my friends did, but that friend did not have access to the e-mail account where we had to submit all the information, the other friend did. But surprisingly, using my scanner (one of my friends didn’t have one and the other’s was broken), exchanging information and spell-checking each other, we managed to finish all in less than 2 hours. It was amazing! I think we had never been as productive as that night. It makes me think about how much our students could achieve if we helped them use all these tools to enhance their own language learning process. And on top of all, it makes me think of all the professional development opportunities awaiting…
