Biographical data
First name(s): MELANIA
Surname: PADURARU
Title (Ms/Mr/Dr: Ms
Sex(F/M): Female - Male
Nationality: Romanian
Work address: Str. Mihai Eminescu nr.11, Constanţa, Zip Code 900665
Home address: Str. Oituz nr. 71A, bloc D 02, etaj III, ap. 15, Mangalia, Zip Code 905500
E-Mail: melaniapaduraru@yahoo.com; melaniapaduraru@gmail.com
Telephone: +40 747 338229 Fax: +40 241 618 880
(Teaching) Institution in/with which you work: Constanţa County School Inspectorate
Position held: School Inspector for English and German
Brief description of job, function, duties: My job description involves organizing, monitoring,
supervising and inspecting the teaching activity of about 400 teachers of English in Constanta
County
Are you involved in active
teaching
√
teacher training
√
curriculum design
?
(Please tick appropriate boxes)
Which digital learning resources do you use? (Please tick appropriate boxes)




Texts
√
Interactive exercises
√
Audio/video podcasts

others

(please specify) ______________________________________________
Which possibilities do you see in data driven learning for your professional context?
Language teaching is the second area of teaching that can most benefit from the use of
computer tools. New technologies can help with a lot of materials, with interactive teaching
and exercises. The benefit of the students can be double if the teacher not only uses the
computer in his/her teaching, but makes the students participate in the creation of new
materials or resources.
Do you create your own digital learning resources?
If so, please specify the tools you use.
In creating my own resources I use:
- Microsoft Office applications such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, FrontPage, MovieMaker,
Publisher
- HotPot software
- Google applications (I have recently discovered creating databases and forms with Google
Docs, which can become very useful tools for the language teacher)
What role do didactics and pedagogy in an ICT environment play in your professional context?
At the moment, in our professional context, didactics and pedagogy in an ICT environment
play an important role. There are courses which attempt to make teachers become more skilled
in using ICT to create their own resources, and quite a number of subjects taught in Romanian
schools benefit now from software specially designed to be used in the classroom.
Unfortunately, this does not apply to languages, the language teachers still striving to create
their own resources and materials.
At the same time, as far as I know, there are not too many teachers of languages who have
taken part in at least one online distance learning program or who are familiar with using ICT
platforms.
Web authoring/publishing
Which environment/platform are you familiar with for online distance teaching?
Between October 2007 and February 2008 I took part in an online course which used the
Moodle platform. I was one of the trainees so I mainly did what was expected of me, but I would
not dare say I am familiar with online distance teaching from the perspective of the trainer.
Since September 2008, I have been an active member of the South Eastern English Teachers’
Associations (SEETA) discussion forum which, again, uses the Moodle platform.
I have been invited to host a SEETA forum discussion in March 2009, and I accepted the
invitation. I don’t know much about how the platform works, but I was told that I will surely
manage. The topic I chose is “The ICT environment and the language teacher”.
Have you any other comments pertaining to use of technologies /classroom or distant learning?
__________________________________________________________________________
Please provide a concise overview of the kind of institution and aspect of VOLL you are currently
engaged in:
Constanta County School Inspectorate is subordinated to the Ministry of Education and
coordinates the teaching activity of all the teachers of all subjects in Constanta County. I am
responsible with the English and German Languages department and the teaching of these
languages in all types of education we provide: general, technological, vocational, ongoing and
post graduation, adult etc.
Briefly state what you would like to gain from this workshop:
I am interested in learning how to create and maintain websites, how to proficiently use ICT
platforms such as Moodle, how to help younger teachers of languages become confident in
using ICT in their classrooms.
Briefly state which products/materials/contributions you would like to bring to this workshop:
PowerPoint presentations I have made, the draft of a website I created using FrontPage, Word
documents, Google docs and Google groups I have created.
Please provide us with an overview of your language competence in the working languages of the
workshop, using the categories from the Common European Framework:
C2
German: Please specify your first language: Romanian
Briefly state how you will be able to disseminate the knowledge gained (and/or products produced)
during this workshop:
I have many plans concerning the multiplication of the knowledge gained and sharing my
impressions about the workshop organization, procedure, content and development:
- informing the team of inspectors I am part of and organizing a workshop
- discussions with the Google group I have created, ELT-CTA
- meetings/seminars with the language teachers in Constanţa county
- workshops I will present at the national conferences I will participate in
- hosting a SEETA discussion forum in March on “The ICT environment and the language
teacher”.
I plan to immediately put to work all the knowledge I will gain from participating in this
workshop.