The role of WebQuests in learning a foreign/second language

The role of WebQuests in learning a foreign/second language 

    After each class of this course (EDU401), I feel like I am living in another world. Actually, during each class we are learning new technological terms that we may never hear before, and the term WebQuest is one of these terms.

    The term WebQuest has been defined as “Inquiry-oriented activities in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web”(Mosaic 1993). The use of WebQuest in language teaching is better than using the traditional ways of language learning and teaching, it has several advantages. One of these advantages could be that the use of WebQuest improves the students’ critical thinking. They will be encountered with lots of issues that they have to analyze and solve. They have to gather information, analyze, decide the suitable one, ask questions and summarize what they find.

     WebQuests are student-oriented tasks, that require students to depend on themselves not on their teachers and collect information through out the provided resources not from their textbooks. WebQuests based on authentic tasks or problems that have to be done in groups. This will develop the students cooperative and collaborative learning. They will share experiences, discuss issues and what the suggested solutions. This work will be beneficial for their improvements of interacting skills. They have to define the role of each member, share the findings and relate them together.

    The knowledge that the students have to gather or use when performing WebQuest tasks is enquiry-oriented language use. They have to use their own effort to search and gather any kind of information through out the provided resources. They will not just follow the textbook information. They also, have not to take the information only from their teachers. This will help students to become autonomous (and motivated) learners through the development of study/research skills and critical analysis.

    Project-based learning is an instructional method that provides students with complex tasks based on challenging questions or problems that involve the students' problem solving and decision making. This approach supports the use of the WebQuests. It allows for a variety of learning styles and multiple forms of intelligence have a real world authentic orientation, take place in a risk free environment that have positive feedback and allows for student choice, and encourages higher-order thinking.

    Finally, when I become a teacher one day Inshallah, I will use this type of task, that will make the students interested and excited to the learning process. I think that the traditional ways of teaching and learning have took enough time and the time now is for technological ways.

Wordle for EDU401

Here is mine ..

Reflection on the three weeks

Reflection on the three weeks

     During only three weeks, I have learned things that I didn’t know how to use them until I started the course (EDU401). This course is the most interesting and useful course at this semester, for me at least. It teaches us how to use technology with teaching such as the use of different social networks. We have started with the Yahoo Groups; how to create an account, how to join a group, how to interact with other members of the group and helping each other. I think it was simple and easy to use. We can make good use of the databases, polls, links and the files area. Then the paraphrasing of the article (Normalisation), which was a new term we didn’t expose to before , which we posted on a blog we learned how to create. I had a blog before but I never think about to use blogging in teaching, which I learned in this course. We have learned also about how to bookmark different links using delicious, and how to share a wiki with classmates. One of the most interested and useful classes was the discussion about the different between digital native and digital immigrant, which was also totally a new term for me. The question after talking this course is, do we really consider as digital natives?    

How would I use blogs, wikis and delicious with my EFL students?

How would I use blogs, wikis and delicious with my EFL students?

     After we have studied how to use blogs, wikis and delicious, we got an idea about how to important the usage of these social networks in our life, especially in education.

So, I would use these social networks with my students as much as I can. First, I will tech them how to use blogs, wikis and delicious. I will explain them the important of using such type of technology, then I will start using them in our course.

    Here are examples of the ways that I would use these networks:

-          Using Blogs:

  

1-      Each student  have to create an account, at any of these : blogger, worpress, or blogsome.

2-      During the writing class for example, I will give them a topic to write about, as a post at their blogs. Each student has to reply on at least three of her classmates posts. I may also ask each student to correct spelling mistakes of one of her classmates.

3-      At the reading class, I will give them an article to paraphrase, and write their reflection. For example, I may give them an article about the pollution, and ask them to paraphrase it. Then, they have to write how to avoid pollution by different ways. They also have to reply on three of their classmates posts.

4-       I may ask them to search about a specific topic “Fast Food”, for example, the effects of fast food on our health, the reasons beyond why people like fast food and so on. They have to use hyperlinkes in their post, videos and images.

5-      They have to tag all of their posts.

-          Using Wikis:

1-      They will divide themselves into groups of three, and share one wiki.

2-      After  explaining the new words from a reading passage during a reading class, I may ask each group to write two sentences about each new word and post them at their wiki.

3-      I will give them two sentences of a story and they have to complete this story together.

4-       I will ask them to add adjectives and adverbs to a given story.

5-      I may give them a video and ask each group to write a summary about what they understand from this clip.

-          Using Delicious:

1-      Students can save the links and resources of a research.

2-      They can share an account or tag their resources with a shared title.

    So we can see how important the use of social networked learning, and how much activities that we can include technology in. These types of activities will improve their cooperative work and make them enjoy learning.

‎"Application of Bax Normilasation in Saudi Arabia: The how!"‎

Stephan Bax argues that, "Our aim should be to attain a state of `normalisation' in which the technology is invisible and truly integrated"

    This article explains how was the CALL in the past, how it is now, and how it will be in the future. It also explains the three phases of CALL which has been identified by Warschauer and Healey:  ‘‘Behaviouristic’’, ‘‘Communicative’’ and ‘‘Integrative.” Bax has some arguments about these phases and he made an alternative analysis of CALL. Then, he suggested three phases of CALL: Restricted, Open and Integrated CALL. Finally, he referred  to the term “Normalisation”, which is therefore the stage when a technology is invisible taken for granted in everyday life. He have identified the means of achieving this goal. He argued that we need more in-depth ethnographic studies of individual environments and he also argued that we also need action research in individual environments to identify barriers to normalisation and ways of overcoming them.

     
     In order  to apply these concepts in our Saudi context, we have to go over many steps:

1-      I suggested a mandatory course to be given for students in order to prepare them well for using technology, as well as teachers, such as how to use computers, projectors, smart boards, different types of social and academic networks..etc.  Some people may know how to deal with the technology but the majority don’t. So, we can prepare a placement test in order to know who really need such courses. Our course (EDU401) is an example of these courses.

2-      The second step is to prepare the schools and universities with the technological devices which is needed, such as; computers, laptops, smartboards, projectors, and a good networks. These devices must be provided with proper maintenance routinely.

     After these preparation steps, a great interaction will occur between the teacher and the students which based mostly on the technological devices. Each teacher can use her preferred ways and tools to communicate with her students, and she/he can take their suggestions. As we have learned in this course, there are different types of communicative networks that can be used, such as; Yahoo groups, Gmail groups, Twitter, Facebook, Wikis, and many different examples.

    We can take the Yahoo group as an example to apply in a real class, if we say that the students are prepared to use the Yahoo group, as well as the teacher. So, after creating and joining a group, the teacher may ask the students to introduce themselves. Then, she/he can upload the assignments there, and it depends on what the subject and the lesson needs.

     Finally, we can’t expect that all of the students and teachers will respond in a very quick time, sure we will take a time to reach this level of normalization, especially with people who never use these types of technology. This process needs high ambition and we have this factor, so we can reach this level , Inashallah.    

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