This week I've decided to put theory into practice. And although there was not so much theoretical input, the output - as you will see in a moment - is pretty impressive.
During Week 1, I learned how to create a reflective blog ... and I did it:) But I also learned that using technology, especially the web, in the classroom is something invaluable. With my eyes and ears wide open, I was reading posts submitted by my colleagues on how they apply technology in their work. I knew I had to re-examine the tools I was using to keep up with the world!
Preparing for my Monday classes, I had lots of diffculties with the choice of material to be covered. There had to be a slight change in the plans due to the tragedy that had happened on April 10th and due to the national mourning announced. At the same time I realized that being a patriot in contemporary times is far different from what it meant in the past. My service to the nation is directly connected with the social roles I have been assigned. Therefore, being a patriot for me means being a good teacher!
After these relections, I made a decision: on the spur of the moment I developed three topics for presentations (The Lives Lost, Poland Pays Tribute and The World Pays Tribute). On Monday morning I took my students (2nd year students of political science) to the computer lab, let them choose a topic, assigned a time limit of 90 minutes (the total length of our class) and asked them to prepare a PowerPoint presentation on the given topic. Obviously, I monitored their work and supported them if they needed help, but it was their project that mattered! And what mattered to me was the process of preparing the presentation rather than the very product (although the output was pretty good). My main objective for this class was to make my students use the Internet in a different way from usual. Instead of searching for information on Polish websites, they started browsing English ones, reading the news, comments, opinions, something they never do in English! I can now admit that although their presentations contain mistakes, although they could be improved in terms of animation or images, they really met my objective and I am proud of them...
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Hello Joanna,
ReplyDeleteI want to sincerely congratulate you for the idea you had, even if it was on "the spur of the moment", as you say. I think that sometimes it's better to listen to our instinct, to follow it and great things happen. By doing this project, by letting your students work freely on a given topic, you encouraged and motivated them. And the results are great, I am sure.
Don't worry about the mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes, nobody is perfect, we simply learn by doing, we simply learn from our own mistakes.
All the best,
Nadina
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteI am interested in the usual ways of using Internet from your students. I believe that thing of one place may work best in another place.
Could you please share with me some of your usual ways of asking students in using Internet? Is it better if you ask your students to search in English instead of Polish?
If you do not want to share it here, please send it to me at khangkgcc@gmail.com or khang.nd@kgcc.edu.vn.
Thank you very much!
Khang
KGCC
Hi Khang,
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking interest in my endeavours. As to the use of Internet for my students (who are all univeristy students!), there are generally two options:
1. Homework assignments (more frequent)
2. In-class activities (less frequent)
As far as the first one goes, I regularly encourage them to use the student sites developed by various publishing houses, mainly the OUP site for the course book that we're using (New English File). I also use the Internet for setting up extra tasks to make up for the absences (since language classes are obligatory at my university, the students are usually allowed to have one or two absences per semester and the rest has to be compensated for somehow). It is usually something connected with their field of study (e.g. an article to present or some data to analyse). They also need to prepare a presentation for the final exam in English which has to refer to their main field of study, but at the same time should cover the topics and issues of interest to them; they are all encouiraged to search for something that could be included in their licentiate or master thesis bibliography.
Following to the second use of Internet, i.e. in-class, due to the lab limitations (there are only two computer labs for the whole university, one of them usually being occupied for information technology classes!), I can plan using Internet in class twice or three times per semester (if I book the lab in advance, of course). The activities I choose then frequently concern showing them various possibilities which they might apply later on. It may sound a bit awkward, but the students at my university are a bit conservative in their learning styles, being used to traditional lectures, using textbooks, photocopiable supplementary activities - all done in class! The rarely support their learning with online materials, which I hope to change soon!!!
Finally, your question about the language for using Internet - ENGLISH ONLY!!! Even if they communicate in Polish (which I obviously cannot avoid completely), they use English websites, prepare reports in English and are evaluated in English!
I think that is all from me. I would love to hear (I mean read) your ideas and practical tips for using the web with the students.
Yours,
Joanna