WEEK 5 REFLECTION






The biggest achievement of mine surinf this week is understanding deeper what WebQuest is and creating my own one on www.zunal.com for the 2nd year students of Geography Faculty in our Andijan State University.

The crucial elements are enumerated on given above web site. They should contain

1. Introduction
2. Task
3. Information sources
4. Process
5. Guidance
6. Conclusion

Thinking about WebQuests I have come to conclusion that the best example of the long term WebQuiest is our DL course due to which we all have created this blog.

Why?
Because by the end of the course we will have analyzed a bodu of knowledge deeply, transform it according to our class needs and demonstrate an understanding of the material by creating the project task as it follow in the author’s definition of a long term webquest.

I have looked through a lot of projects designed to learn Enlish and some ideas related to my issues described in my previous week came to my mind.

I will try to realize them I have some troubles with software necessary to solve my problems though (as lack of motivation and diffilculties with teaching Speaking were the main issues I wanted to solve and for listening and speaking we need additional applications).

We discussed a Project Based Learning too.

PBL is not just the method to interest students. Well-organized project moves students to active research (Thomas, 1998). Students’ ability to grasp new knowledge increases when learning is connected with issue requiring solving.

PBL is a model of teaching which involves students in problem solving process. They can be elaborated for the students of different ages and levels. Projects are based on high level questions
And to answer them students have to think originally, that is to say they have to be active.
PBL lead students to research work and this can be different even within one class (among groups) – structured and managed by the teacher or more open and led by students’ interest (Jarret, 1997). Studying PBL shows that it makes students take part in basic concepts and principles of scientific discipline (Thomas, 2000, p.3). Students usually are given the choice freedom and that fact allows them to satisfy their curiosity.

Comments

  1. Nadina C. NICOLICI May 9, 2010 at 7:18 AM

    Hello Nilufar,

    the PBL is one of the best methods we can use in our classes to motivate our students. There are so many advantages... but of course a few advantages, too. But, as an Indian proverb goes, "one quality erases all the blemishes". I could find nothing better than the projects, and I expressed my views on this on every occasion I was given. It's the best way to make them learn by discovering, not my learning by heart what the teacher says, or even worse, dictates :)

    Good luck,
    Nadina

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  2. MernaouiMay 9, 2010 at 5:09 PM

    Dear Nilufar,
    I think Project-based learninhg and Webquest would also be good tools to motivate students and make them speak. What do you think of assigning projects in which the learners do webquests and come up oral productions. I mean instead of doing projects on hard paper or webpages, the can make podcasts giving presentations. They can simply give it in class, record themselves giving a presentation and upload it to an electronic platfom like the blog or give the presentation online using some web 2.0 tools that allow voice/video chat, screen sharing... An example of these is www.wiziq.com. This is a kind of web tool that provides good opportunity to blended online learning.
    Keep up the good job.
    Hamid

    ReplyDelete
  3. NilufarMay 15, 2010 at 1:20 AM

    Thank you, Nadina and Mernaoui.
    We think the same way, but you give the ways and sources how to implement ideas.
    I will definitely subscribe to www.wiziq.com and see how it works and what I can do with it.

    Again, I appreciate you advice.

    Yours, Nilufar

    ReplyDelete

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