Week 8 !!!

Thanks God that I am still survive following the webskill class until week 8. In this week, by the mid of the week, I have to post a draft for report project to my partner Yoon from Korea. Though my first draft lacks some elaboration, but I believe I am still able to revise it and make it better.

Week 7 Autonomous Learning and One Computer Classroom

Week 7 is about to over, and here are three topics I got in the week.

1.       Autonomous Learner.

I think the ideas about autonomous learner are still relevant to be discussed and implemented in this era where the learning resources and technology available outside the classroom are abundant with different forms, levels of difficulty, and media. Moreover, they are easy to access and free.

Although the dependence of the students on the teacher becomes lose, in the classroom context, teacher still takes his important roles that cannot be replaced by the technology. Not all students, even teachers, have easy access to the technology. Teacher as organizer, controller, adviser, evaluator and educator cannot be separated from human education. The main task of the teacher in the context of autonomous learner is to create condition conducive enough for students to become autonomous learners. Teacher must be able to show students the way how to recognize their cognitive and metacognitive strategies, motivation, attitudes, and knowledge about language learning. Teacher must be technology literate and is able to create interesting, challenging, motivating learning resource and environment to foster autonomous learning.

I tried to create webclass as the manifestation of learning autonomy (http://www.edmodo.com/myenglish). In my webclass I try to provide links to learning resources from which student can access themselves and make use of them easily. I plan the implementation of this webclass becomes my final project.

2.       One Computer Classroom

One computer classroom strategies and ideas presented in this chapter are very helpful to facilitate teacher with teaching method in a limited access to technology and big size classroom. There are several strategies that a teacher can apply his only computer in the class (http://www.lburkhart.com/elem/strat.htm), for example 1. Use the Computer as Teacher Tool, 2. Use the Computer as Multi-Media Chalk Board or Flip Chart , 3. Have Students use the Computer as a Tool for Individual Input as Part of a Larger Group or Class Project, 4. Use the Computer as Learning Center or Station, 5. Use the Computer as Cooperative Learning Tool, 6. Have Students Use the Computer to do Individual Work for Practice or Assessment.

From these six strategies I prefer to choose Use the Computer as Learning Center or Station because I think it is the most appropriate for maximum use of the computer for students’ learning in the classroom. Without internet connection with the computer, for example, I can make use of the facilities embedded in the computer like, word processor, spread sheet (excel) and of course power point. I use these facilities to create tasks as media of learning and instructions. If the computer is connected with the internet, I will have much richer source of learning material for the students to use.

3.       Project Task

As I tell earlier, I want to use my first implementation of my webclass become my final project report for this webskill class. I don’t have partner yet but I propose one of my classmates become my partner. I am observing the implementation of my webclass and taking notes the students responses to the class.

Week 6: Big Class and Tecnology

This week the lessons I get are mainly about the problems of teaching in big classes and using technology as a solution for that problem, interactive PowerPoint. The activities or tasks for this week are making interactive PowerPoint, discussion about the use of technology to overcome the problem of big class and the use of interactive PowerPoint in teaching, progress report of the class project.

Big class is a common problem most teachers have in their teaching, but that problem should not have always been persistent due to the availability of technology that can be implemented in teaching. From the reading materials given in this week, I learn that there are many tools such as Blackboard which provide instructors with a form for building online assessments using different question types., Respondus to create and manage exams that can be printed to paper or published directly to Blackboard, ANGEL, Desire2Learn, eCollege, Instructure, Moodle, and other eLearning systems. However, I am not sure if such tools are for personally managed and used by individual teacher. It is a bright idea to have such tools, but the policy is on the institution/faculty/unit which is better managing the program for the teacher to implement it. For me the solution to the problem of big class is by applying teaching method like group work, games, group project e.g. PBL, that can be supported by implementation of technology like interactive PowerPoint like the one I put in Wiki, WebQuest, etc.

Week 5: Half way left, half way to go

This week I learned at least four interesting topics:

1. Webquest

Webquest is a great way to create students independent and meaningful learning activity. Students are free to create their webquest by searching and selecting the related and relevant webs, videos, document files, presentation files, photos, and many more form of learning sources that match the project objectives. The product is very useful not only for the students who create the webquest but also other students because the webquest can be shared to others to enjoy or use and these users can make comments or responses to it. Therefore, there is interaction in it. Webquest is really excellent to motivate students learn and improve their learning.

I believe WebqQuest become one of the alternative for project-based learning (PBL) because Webquest is not one session activity. It may takes as short as a week project of longer than that. Because webquest is a basically web-based project, in my opinion it is very suitable for students who have familiar with internet/web technology. For those the internet technology is something new may take time to accomplish webquest project. What I am afraid of is the students will not learn the content of the project but only the project accomplishment.

I have tried to make my first webquest although it was still half way I guess because it was not complete and there were some parts missing. I need to learn more to develop it and make it applicable in class.

2. Project-based Learning

Project-based learning (PBL) is the activity in which students work together within a certain time frame to solve a problem or certain issues related to their study to promote their learning. PBL is one of learning method to facilitate students’ different learning styles to acquire knowledge. Through PBL students are expected to gain skills in problem solving, critical thinking and cooperative learning (Cuthbert, 1995; Peterson & Myer, 1995). Project-based learning also enhance learners’ motivation, improved their performance in writing and communication, and initiated their active roles in learning (Gu, 2002). Such condition was also experienced by Susan Gaer as she wrote in her article ‘Less Teaching and More Learning’ that “using a project-based approach to language learning gives meaning to the learning that normally goes on in a classroom. … I do a lot less teaching and see a lot more learning in the classroom”.

3. Alternative Assessment

As the name suggests this new kind of assessment is an alternative for the existing ‘traditional’ assessment that teachers usually use such as quiz, formative and summative test, mid and final test, etc. in which "students are evaluated on what they integrate and produce rather than on what they are able to recall and reproduce" (Huerta- Macias, 1995, p. 9). There are many methods the alternative assessment can be employed,  as Jo-Ellen Tannenbaum shows in her article ‘Practical Ideas On Alternative Assessment For ESL Students’, for example:

1.       Nonverbal Assessment Strategies

-     Physical Demonstration

-     Pictorial Products

2.       K-W-L Charts

3.       Oral Performances Or Presentations

4.       Oral And Written Products

-     Content area logs

-     Reading response logs

-     Dialogue journals

-     Audio and video cassettes

5.     Portfolios

Because alternative assessment depends on direct observation, instructors can use checklists and rubrics to evaluate student performance/product.

4. Rubric

In this topic I learned how to make rubric using Rubistar. Rubistar really helps me easy to create the rubric since it provides template tables as well as pull-down choices of category.

 Thank you my little assistant, your cry at night kept me awake to guard you and finish these assignments.

Happy Ending?

Week 4 has passed. Thanks to my instructors, Jodi and Celeste and all my e-classmates, especially, Georgia, Ruta, for the support and pray. I have learned lots of lessons this week, not only webskills, but also life from this e-class, e-classmates as well as from myself and family that makes me strong and ready to face the future and the incoming web skill activities.

A Nice Topic,

Week 4 is a week that I wait for because it offers topic about reading, vocabulary and writing. I need information and web links, lesson plan and many more related to this topics. The first day of week 4 I eagerly opened the web skill and seeing the page with the topic I want but until the middle of this week I almost didn't make any report although I read some of the reading materials. This week my concentration is not on the web skill because of many things to do and I almost have no time in the day, while at night I only have little energy and concentration. More over I had to pay attention and made preparation for my wife who will give birth to our new baby this week. However, I have to cope all of this things so that every thing will go on the right way. I still believe "Better late than never."