Week 5 - First things first...

This week has been unique for my family and especially for my daughter. It is today that she has received the sacrament of the Holy Communion for the first time in her life. Recent days have been full of preparations, both spiritual and those down-to-earth. Therefore, my mind and my soul have been preoccupied with things much higher than technology…

However, I did manage to complete all the basic tasks assigned for week 4. Having gone through the readings concerning project-based learning and webquests, I shared some instant reflections on the issue, some related to the problems other teachers described in their posts on Nicenet. Personally, I had been familiar with the idea of using projects for teaching and learning, though I rarely implement them in my teaching practice since they take up a lot of time. When designing my own, I decided to concentrate on something universal for my university, something I could introduce next year, possibly for new groups of students. My project involved preparing an introduction programme for potential Erasmus students coming to study at Ignatianum. I believe it will prove useful in the future.

As far as webquests are concerned, I had never used them before, but I have to admit they are an almost unlimited tool for teachers (of anything!). Although developing one requires time (I will be able to finish my own next week), the advantage is that you can use them as often as you need, they are adaptable and can also be widely used by other people for teaching purposes. Since I was also educated to become a nurse, I selected the topic of first aid to become the starting point for my own webquest. Teaching predominantly students of pedagogy, I am well aware of the fact that this kind of knowledge is absolutely indispensable in their future work, yet it is not part of their curriculum. Taking responsibility for other people’s lives demands thorough preparation on the part of pedagogues and it also applies to dealing with potential dangerous situations which might and do happen in life…

Finally, I cannot resist expressing genuine admiration for the authors of webquests developed this week. Dear All, you are real professionals and passionate teachers; I do envy your students…