I have different technological tools to integrate in my classes. I strongly believe in the facilities Moodle gives as it offers a set of facilities which you’d need many tools to get. But since I have to try something I haven’t done, it’s a good opportunity then to try class blog and yahoogroup to bring change to my classes.
I have chosen these tools because I think they are free to use and would complement each other. My objectives behind using them are first to maximize the time my students get exposed to English, second to provide or guide them to authentic resource and materials and finally to motivate them.
My third grade students in junior high school study English for the first time. I see them twice a week. Two hours a week of English is not satisfactory for me. Beside giving them ordinary homework, I thinking of giving them extra motivating tasks that would make them use the internet at home but for educational purpose. I think they would like watching videos, read simple materials, do projects and WebQuests… and then do tasks or participate in discussions or give presentations.
Because we suffer from the absence of English materials and resources in our school, the internet numerical resources would suffice. Both the blog and yahoogroup would help me do the job perfectly through uploading audios, videos, ebooks, documents or simple posting links. Of course not everything found on the net is worth using, but with a little help and orientation from the teacher, the learners would use them reasonably.
My learners would be more motivated. I would like first to tell you that I am lucky because my students have a very positive attitude towards English. Their attitude and motivation would be enhanced through using activities they like. The selection of activities is very important because if you use an activity they don’t like, they wouldn’t be attracted though you use their favourite tool. Therefore, I am thinking of implementing light activities and using funny materials such as funny videos, games, puzzles…
Why blog and yahoogroup? Students are excellent is blogging. I wouldn’t find much trouble in using it. This helps me focus on the content rather than technical issues. However, they don’t use yahoogroup at all, but it is not a difficult one. An orientation session would then be necessary at the beginning.
I have an idea and I don’t know if it would work or not. What do you think about what I would call “the invisible participant” trick. At the beginning of the school year I would ask my students to choose a nickname for them to use online. They have to stick on using it in their posts and activities and they are free if they want to make their nicknames public or not. I would keep a list of personal information of all the students including those nicknames. Using nicknames instead of real names has two benefits. This would help the shy and the poor ones participate without the fear of losing face because of mistakes. Secondly, the teacher would also have a nickname or nicknames that would make him/her invisible among the students. The students wouldn’t recognise him. The objective behind this to encourage the students and provoke discussions… I hope my idea is clear. What do you think about it?
Hello Hamid,
ReplyDeleteyour idea about the invisible guy seems very interesting. It has many advantages: as you have already said, the unreal name helps the shiest ones to express themselves. Sometimes, our students are afraid of speaking / writing thinking about the others' reactions. I tell you this from my personal experience, as I am a very shy person and even if I would like to say / write something, I am afraid of reactions and comments...
Another advantage I see here is the fact that you give your students the chance of choosing their own names. Many time I saw people who simply don't like their names and they would like to change it or adapti it. That's good.
But, you should be very careful too: know exactly who is who and maybe let them know this. Beeing anonymous, they can feel very free and not use the right language or not do the right things. You should have very clear rules from the very beginning.
Regards,
Nadina
Hi, Hamid.
ReplyDeleteI love your idea to be anomymous and by this way to make everybody work.
May be by the end of the course they will try to guess the real persond hidden behind the nicknames?
That is good that your students are good at blogging.
Most of my students I describe in my project task are from remote areas and all of them are female and it is very hard to think of something like blogs. I am afraid that will be complicated for them. But I will manage it.
Good luck with your project implementation,
Nilufar
Dear Hamid,
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing as Nilufar that perhaps the nicknames could be kept secret until the end of the course when you would have some kind of celebration (maybe after the final test or something of that nature) to reveal the names. It could be a kind of contest for guessing and the student who guesses the most correct names wins a prize or bonus or something. This would encourage them to read their classmates blogs.
But to avoid cheating there would have to be strict guidelines and I agree with Nadina you should be very clear to let them know that YOU DO know who everyone is from the beginning.
Happy blogging,
Ellen
Hi Hamid,
ReplyDeleteI am using the same philosophy on using students' account which is not the same with their names.
But I am wondering one thing.Is your student at the third grade and very young? And you think that "they would like watching videos, read simple materials, do projects and WebQuests… and then do tasks or participate in discussions or give presentations."
It is not easy for me to imagine this scenario. The very young learners of English are interested and have the abilities in doing something that I have just learned how to do it.
Khang
KGCC
Thank you Nadina, Nilufar, Ellen and Khang for leaving your comments and interesting insights.
ReplyDelete• I have explained that I should keep a list of all the students with their nicknames so as to know who is who and who is doing what. Unknown nicknames shouldn’t be taken into account or even blocked.
• Setting clear and strict rules is essential to guarantee good participation.
• Thank you Ellen for the idea of names revelation. That’s a plus. Another idea to add.
• Young learners can do more than we think. I always get surprised to find that I have some good speakers of English among my students who are supposed to be beginners every year. The majority of them, at least in my context, are so much keen on learning the language. They can do some simple tasks. I can not give them tasks that are challenging. In the WebQuest I have created, they have many tasks to do, but I don’t think they need much English to explore or to write. They have to recognise countries, flags, capitals… Of course they can’t carry real discussions, but a discussion could be as simple as “what is your favourite dish?” or “What do you think of the weather today?” I do teach beginners and I appreciate and praise every sentence they utter/write no matter how accurate it is. Therefore a participation could be done with a very simple sentence. Step by step they can get improved. He who can write a sentence can write a book. Don’t you agree with me?
Keep tuned
Cordially yours,
Hamid.