Strategies to Assess and Monitor Your Learning
Monitoring your progress is one of the core skills to become an effective online learner. You should become AUTONOMOUS (another important concept in the STREAM APPROACH!) in your learning and self-learning process and, as we saw in Unit 1, always play an ACTIVE role. You are not an empty box that your teacher will fill with knowledge.
On the contrary, in a play called “learning a language”, you are the main actor on stage and the success of the play depends mostly on you. Monitoring yourself will help you make the most of your online learning experience both synchronously (attending live classes) and asynchronously, improve your knowledge of the language and fill the learning gaps you still have.
Self-reflection
The following questions should help you understand what your current learning routine is and guide you to become a more independent and organised learner. Take 2 or 3 minutes to think about them.
1) Do you go over what you learnt after the class?
2) Do you take notes? YES – NO → Taking notes is vital in all types of learning. Think about an effective way for you to take notes when attending live classes or exploring interactive digital content (e.g. videos).
3) Do you recap the lessons you attend in bullet points or rewrite your notes?
4) Do you think you should delve more into the topics being covered in class (synchronously or asynchronously) or does the course content (including live classes) fully satisfy your expectations? Do you need additional support? How and where can you find it?
5) Do you feel you are slower or faster than your course-mates? And in which language skill(s)?
