A topic that we often discuss with our students in English classes is whether computers will replace teachers in the future and how this will happen. With clubefl I have come to understand that the future of education lies on both teachers and students exploiting the potential of computers at any available time. I can even vision how schools will be in fifty from now with similar clubs in Physics, Biology, Maths and every other subject being the norm.
My name is Anna Athanasiou and I have been using clubefl for only a month!! but I am so excited with the infinite possibilities it offers that I have already been addicted to it. I genuinely feel sorry for the students who graduated and did not have the chance to work with clubefl.
When parents came to be informed of the new technology, they were all enthusiastic and willing to learn to speed up the process. I had to admit to them that this is such an innovative and challenging method that has inspired me like nothing else since my studies in the States, where everything seemed new and challenging to my eyes, coming from the small island of Cyprus.
I believe that there is no need for me or my teachers to go to any other seminars or workshops anymore; we only need training in clubefl as it makes us feel powerful and versatile teachers. My older students started grumbling when I first asked them to go to their homework and expect surprises because they thought there would be more work. Now if I don't have time to add something from youtube they complain. For me it is really rewarding to check on them at night, sometimes close to midnight, and see that they're there doing their homework. Learning can really be fun. I feel that clubefl was the missing link for my scool in order to achieve its educational goals with less effort and more success.
I feel the need to express my many thanks to Demetres Aivazoglou who 'initiated' me into clubefl and has always been patient with my silly questions as I was a complete computer illiterate 'student' for him when I joined the club but he has made me so confident and proud of my computer skills in such a short time.
Good Luck clubEFL - Go out and make students rediscover their thirst for knowledge.
Anna Athanasiou
Columbia Private Institute
Limassol Cyprus