Week 8: Web Tools to encourage Learner’s Autonomy

Last week we discussed about Learner Autonomy and this week there were discussions about how a teacher can build autonomy in students and what technology tools can help him with that.  

In this order of ideas this week we’ve been acquainted with ANVILL. It sounds like the name of a pill ADVIL) – a pain reliever, but in fact it stands for A National Virtual Language Lab. It is a virtual “lab” that the teacher can make available for the students’ practice of their listening and speaking skills as well as feedback in terms of grading. It is in a way a “Pain Reliever” for the teachers that have discovered it and use it in the classroom simplifying their work and in the same time encouraging learner autonomy.

Another tool which can be used online and offline is HotPotato. I have seen my colleagues write about it the previous weeks but I thought it is the classic Hot Potato Game which I also use in my classroom. J It turns out it is a programme. I am still exploring it but I have checked out the activities created by other teachers and it seems like a very resourceful programme and I intend to use it at some point in creating activities with my students.

I have been using the Online Crossworsds, Bingo, Domino, Certificate and Puzzle Makers before but I would print them out and use them as handouts. What was new for me is that I learned that there are also Test Makers and I thought that tool extremely useful .

Week 7. Project Implementation

My project aim is to develop the students' writing skills. For this purpose I have created a site https://sites.google.com/site/thequestforperfectwriting that I dedicated to developing writing skills of my students. It consists of Reading Material and links to online exercises as part of a Home Assignment, that would develop the understanding and use of a writing improvement tip. Thus the first week November 11 through 17th was dedicated to writing similes and this week's theme is: writing metaphors.
Also by the end of this week the students will have to submit a piece of writing on the topic "What is writing for me" for a writing contest "The Writer of the Month".

From last week up to now I have noticed that all the students were very motivated to do (and did) the online exercises (made by using the Quizlet and Educaplay) in learning the most commonly used similes but not all of them wrote their own similes (on Popplet).


I reflected on the reasons as initially I had thought that they did not know how to handle the popplet, or hadn't understood what is a simile. But as it turned out some of them simply didn't want to undertake the task as there was no mark for it and it was done for the mere improvement of their writing skills and not for an official credit. And here again I thought about Learner Autonomy and deducted that not all of my students are ready for that.

While some of them are willing to venture in the journey of independent learning some of them are pretty comfortable with just following directions.

Week 7. Facing the world or hiding behind the teacher’s shield of directive learning

Autonomy is a great word in itself. It implies independence, self-determination, strength, choice, respect, voice (in deciding). It is an independent ride on a bike on the road of learning. There are always signs alongside of the road to help us ride properly and avoid accidents and there will always be teachers to guide students on the challenging path of knowledge.

Reading the articles on autonomy I have realized how dependent on the teacher are the students in Moldova and that it is mostly due to the teacher’s attitude of authority and dominance in a classroom. Do we ever give credit to the student in choosing what to do? 

I have found myself being overly directive in some situations overcome by the frustration of not meeting the Curriculum requirements and fulfilling the programme of study. But in these moments it didn’t occur to me that by giving the students a free ticket to ride, all of them will take the ride and possibly enjoy it especially if given a comprehensive directions map. In this case they will never get lost in the controversial maze of learning and will consequently be able to create their own maps as they go.

As powerful and important as it sounds it is not as easy to put in practice. How to develop this very precious attitude towards learning? This was the vector of my query in searching and skimming the articles on Learner Autonomy.  I was looking for the exact methods to use in the classroom to encourage if not to build Learner Autonomy.  I have found in this concern very useful  the wallwisher created by Robert Elliot our class teacher where I have found Rajinder’s link on www.voxopop.com and some other useful links where I learned about specific techniques and tools on how to get to that Learner Autonomy.

Among these are: e-learning, assignments like e-portfolios, pen pal writing, e-mail exchange, forums, designing independently activities/tools for learning (Eg: crosswords), translation (from English into Native language and back and confronting with the original), the Web 2:0 tools that stimulate the student to participate.  And there are so many more that are yet to be discovered by me.

The one thing though that I should never forget when teaching is that the student knows better what he does not know, what he needs to know and how he can learn it more effectively. A good teacher has to consider that and use it in promoting independent, autonomous learning. Otherwise we get to bitter statement: “You can’t force people to follow directions they deem arbitrary”.

Week 6. On the thorny way of implementation. Torn between expectations and reality.

thorns

This week’s Project Task 5 was for me the most challenging part in the whole task list.  Although Robert encouraged us to go for simple things and not to bother about the projects not being perfect, the implementation has given me some trouble. 

First of all I decided upon a site to develop the writing skills of my students. The technical aspects of the site creating took a lot of time. I fumbled through the multitude of options trying at random what happens and thus by trial and mistakes achieving what I want. Consequently I have finished the site too late and I still had to think about what doable tasks to give the students and how to place that on the site. Luckily I remembered Sam’s WebQuest that inspired me so much and gave me ideas of how I can use technology to teach vocabulary and I followed the same steps he did only I have changed the tasks. The task was learning of some of the most frequently used similes and then trying to create their own. Hopefully the students will perform the tasks given over the weekend.

I can’t say that I am not pleased with the result and I didn't learn anything. On the contrary I have learned how to create a site (at a very elementary level, but still a great achievement for me),. Besides I have created some vocabulary building exercises that would improve my students' writing skills using different internet tools such as Quzzlet, Educaplay. I have used the Survey Monkey to create an online survey for my students. Not to mention the insight of Power Point Games creation and the alterations in my idea of tailoring a Power Point (taking a shift from a text based PPT towards an interactive and engaging PPT). I would say that for me this is a lot. Honestly speaking, for me this has been the most productive week of all so far.

However I feel like in a long run – this project is worthy; but for the time being, for the next two weeks that the implementation is due I won’t have visible results.

Week 5. Creating rubrics and PBL

The most challenging task this week for me was creating the rubric. Not because it was indeed a difficult task to accomplish but because I took to it as if it was such.

Actually it was a simple task. Using rubistar - a tool for creating rubrics designed for teachers, was as simple as that. There are ready made templates and you can add if you want but there is a lot of work done for you which you can simply use.

I've started out by doing it the old way: writing categories and  evaluation criteria which took a lot of time. Then by accident I put in a category suggested in the scroll down list and observed that the criteria came with it. And that was simple! There... after 3 days of typing I created a rubric in only 5 min. Technology and sharing is indeed a marvelous mixture. 

Project Based Learning is not a new thing to me in its old-fashioned form.

We started using project based learning at our school as a new method only 6 years ago. It has proved to be very efficient although we used little or no technology. 

What was new for me to discover this week was how we, the teacher can create projects for students to accomplish online, or how the students can use the technology to make a project. 

I have once again understood that since projects are those bridges that connect the knowledge we teach with the outside world and technology is the tool that is most widely used nowadays then it should be that "car" that brings the knowledge faster across the bridge. And we, the teachers can't but use it to facilitate the learning process and make it not only useful but fun.