Week 10: Moving Forward

I was reading my very first blog, expressing my hesitation to try this new writing platform, and realized how far I have come in this brave new world of technology. Starting a blog was the perfect first assignment for me, since from that point I have determined to do everything I can to make this learning experience worthwhile. Thanks to Robert and all the wonderful colleagues, I was able to keep going, and I enjoyed literally every bit of this course.  I have been honored to interact with passionate teachers from all over the world.  We are teaching in a very different environment; yet we all are working hard to achieve the same goal.  The participation in this course was a unique experience, and it was really empowering.

Now it is our turn to empower students.  I mentioned several time the possibility of starting an international project, and I have decided to host an "International Online Discussion Week" at least once a year starting this February.  The Taiwanese teacher who participated in my experimental project agreed to try it again with me, and I am hoping to have at least some of you can join us.  I wrote up a tentative plan to show what the project might look like.

• Aim: To provide Learners of English to have authentic international communication using English.
• Participants: Intermediate to advanced learners of English
• Size of a discussion group: one discussion group should have 10 to 20 students.  It is possible to have more than one group.  It depends on the number, but teachers may be asked to select representatives.
• Platform: Moodle (http://eiko-moodle.com/) or Nicenet
• Duration of discussion: one week (February 18-24)
• Possible preparatory activities: self-introduction, initial poll, quick survey, WebQuest, 
• Possible follow-up activities: summary writing, final poll, project survey
• Topic: Internet in general or digitization of textbooks

I am planning to create a folder in Box.com to make the collaboration easier.  I will send out the invitation to all the participants this weekend. If you are interested to join, please accept the invitation.

Again it was a great pleasure to be with all of you.  I wish you all the best for your good health and continued success and look forward to our path crossing again soon.

Sincerely,

Sam

Week 9: Complexity of Learning

Now I have learned to use interactive web tools and found that such Web tools as online quizzes are very effective especially for a large group. The automated assessment saves a lot of teacher's time, and the immediate feedback can so powerfully individualizes learning.  I started a project in our school to create an online assessment tool that covers vocabulary and grammar items from each chapter of the textbook we use. I thought it was the best way to introduce Web tools to my colleagues who haven't used computers in class, because it is easy for them to see the potential benefit of the online assessment. But maybe I shouldn't be too confident about it.

I strongly believe in the benefit of those Web tools, but I may have to examine it more carefully.  I feel that way especially after reading the NYT article, "Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits". It reminded me that learning is much more complex than I think. When I gave a completely individualized lesson in a computer room, students stayed focused by doing tasks at their own pace for 45 minutes. They finished a lot of tasks and they liked it. But the question is, have they learned what online tasks are designed for them to learn?  The article says, 

"The brain makes subtle associations between what it is studying and the background sensations it has at the time, the authors say, regardless of whether those perceptions are conscious." 

The online quizzes can individualize learning, but it takes away a lot of background sensations which make the learning rich and profound. I tend to focus on the benefits that technologies can bring, but I also need to pay attention to the things that are lost by using such technologies. When new technology is introduced, the sheer novelty attracts students, which may blind me from seeing how effective or not effective it really is. Since my goal is not introducing new technology, but enhancing learning, I have to scrutinize what is happening in my classrooms, because learning is a very complicated process.

(I am still considering holding the international online discussion, which I mentioned last week. I hope to share more with you next week.)

Week 8: Virtual Language Classroom

We are introduced to ANVILL this week.  The article, "Transforming Language Education Across the Internet" showed us a good example of international cooperative learning.  Many of us tried class online discussions using Nicenet and other tools, and this definitely offers students opportunities to use English for the sake of communication.  Unlike traditional writing practice, the existence of audience makes the act of writing authentic.  Now I would like to compare the class online discussion with the international online discussion.  The big differences are, firstly, the need to use English is authentic in international online discussions, and, secondly, it can be a lot of fun to hear from the other side of the world.  

When I tried a class online discussion for the first time, I was quite impressed by active participation by many of my students and decided to try an international asynchronous discussion with Taiwanese students in April.  However, it did not go as well as I had expected, and there are several reasons for it.  For one thing, I didn't set the clear time frame, and as a result there weren't much interaction in a timely manner.  For another, the number of participating students were too big and unbalanced; 180 Japanese and 30 Taiwanese students.  Another problem was students' limited familiarity to the topic.  Colomba mentioned in her draft of the project report that the success of discussions depends on how much input they get before actually holding a discussion.  I think that is very true, and the input can be as basic as familiarizing themselves with key vocabulary, and gaining some background knowledge is crucial, too.

I still believe there is some value in international online discussions.  When I try it next time, I will control the number of my students and duration of the discussion.  WebQuest along with other web tools might be a good way to familiarize students to the topic.  I think this Webskills group has been becoming a great community of teachers.  I wish we could work together even after the end of this course, of course at a much less strenuous pace.  I am writing off the top of my head, but maybe we can set up an international discussion week once or a few times a year.  We can set a couple of topics, and depending on students' needs and level, teachers can help them prepare for the discussion.  I know each of us teach in a very different environment, so a good project which is suitable for all is impossible to make, but I just wanted to explore this possibility.  I might want to write a proposal, but for the time being any ideas and comments would be appreciated.

Week 7: Implementation 2

This is the second lesson of the WebQuest on the Internet.  I had 45 students in a class, and repeated the same lesson 4 times with different groups in a day.  That makes 180 students in total.

1. Review and Post-reading (5 min.)

Reviewed the arguments for and against the Internet. Students discussed other possible arguments, evaluated all the arguments in pairs and voted online.

2. Logic Quiz (10 min.)

Did the Logic Quiz of Educaplay quizzes.  Students worked in pairs to find the right answer, followed by explanations by the teacher.

3. Other Quizzes (10 min.)

Students did other Educaplay Quizzes individually.

4. Video and New WebQuest (5 min.) 

Showed only the beginning of the optional Video, "The Internet in Society", and moved to the next WebQuest.

5. Vocabulary (10 min.) 

Went over 10 flash cards of Quizlet; then each student tried different study modes at his own pace for 10 minutes.

6. Pre-listening (5 min.) 

Students discussed the questions in pairs, and voted their initial thought to the issue online.

7. Writing exercise (5 min.) 

Introduced Japanese-English translation exercise site with the automated assessment function.  This is primarily for their independent study at home.

Internet connection problem

Educaplay quizzes are Flash based programs, and it took as long as 7 minutes for everyone to open the page because 45 students try to access the heavy page all at once.  Educaplay offers very sophisticated design, but the downside is that it takes time to load.  After the first lesson, I decided to display one quiz on teacher's computer, so that students try it together in class while waiting for the page to show in individual computer.  

One very positive response 

Novelty of some tasks is partially disappeared for some students, and I had to nudge some students to focus more, but overall students did a good job.  One student visited me after school to seek some advice on how to improve practical skills of English. He said he wants to be a doctor, and he would like to work in a foreign country where a doctor is really needed.  He has started to listen to CNN and also started to keep a diary in English.  It was great to witness a student who has grown up to be an autonomous learner.  He also said he really liked the WebQuest, and he said he would like to do my WebQuests even after he graduates from the school.  At least one student appreciated what I have been doing, and that means a lot to me.

I will finish this WebQuest on Saturday.

Week 6: Implementation 1

I tried my WebQuest, with my students.


1. Introduction (8 min.)

Introduced students to WebQuest, and explained the final goal and steps towards it.

2. Vocabulary (12 min.)

Went over 10 flash cards of Quizlet; then each student tried different study modes at his own pace for 10 minutes.

3. Pre-reading (5 min.)

Students voted online to show their initial reaction, and discussed the reasons in pairs.

4. Reading [introduction] (10 min.)

After a brief explanation, students read the article and answered questions on their own for 7 minutes. Then they discussed the answers in pairs before the teacher showed the correct answers with brief explanations.

5. Reading [Arguments] (10 min.)

Did the same as the previous reading activity.

Individualization by automated assessment

When I presented how Quizlet works, the class clapped and cheered. That shows how they love the interactivity of the web device. As I observed I found some students always find an easy way out, such as they cut and past when they have to re-type the word they failed to spell out. Other than that, they were very much engaged throughout the time. Voting online and seeing the results was another device that helped students have engaging discussion.

Collaborative learning

Instead of completely individualizing the process (which I did with an LMS), I set the time limit for each activity so that they could have time to help each other later. The advanced learners had a chance to explain their thoughts, and the struggling students understood the content better for the explanation. This made the lesson more dynamic. Online Stopwatch, I used to set the time limit, was also helpful.

I will finish this WebQuest next week and hope to have time to do the newly created WebQuest#2 which focuses more on listening.

Week 5: PBL and WebQuest

Half way through and I have never learned as much as I did in the past five weeks!

Though I learned how to make a website twelve years ago, I had never used the skill or never thought of using computer in my EFL lessons until about a year ago when I first learned about Moodle, an open source learning management system. My experience with this wonderful learning management system gave me this strong conviction that technology can change the way we teach completely, if used properly. This week I feel PBL and WebQuest gave me the backbone as to how to make good use of technology. I loved the key elements of PBL, such as student-based inquiry, critical thinking, a final product, as Janine rightfully explained. I also loved the format and its flexibility of WebQuest.

When I first learned about WebQuest through the project by a past participant, I thought I couldn't wait to make one myself. Actually, I didn't wait and decided to explore a bit by myself towards the end of last week. I still believe that Moodle works best in my situation because it gives me a strong control, but I decided to try new things. I found that google sites provide several WebQuest templates, so I started to build one there. As soon as I started, I was hooked with the excitement of this creative task. I had fun putting together great ideas I learned in the first half of this course.

I would like to conclude with the constructivist principle cited in one of the articles: "We learn by doing -- but we learn even better by talking about what we did." This is exactly what we are doing! Keep trying and keep sharing. I truly believe the latter half of the course will be as fruitful as the first one.

Best,
Sam

Week 4: Writing and Vocabulary

A great learning experience continues!

It seems that how we teach writing is a great challenge for almost all the teachers participating in this course, and I believe a good use of technology can solve at least some of the problems.  This week, I spent some time exploring the possibility of Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE), which is expected to reduce the heavy load of evaluating students' writing.  First of all, I read "Beyond the Design of Automated Writing Evaluation" by Chi-Fen Emily Chen and Wei-Yuan Eugene Cheng, and found that there are some products such as Criterion and MyAccess! But it seems their automated essay scoring function has not yet achieved the sophistication those companies claim to have achieved. 

However, I have also learned that some automation is already possible using free web-based resourses. Quizlet and Educaplay, for example, allow you to create vocabulary quizzes and jumbled-sentence quizzes which give immediate feedback to students.  I also found an amazing website for Japanese students to practice Japanese-English translation.  When you type in the translation of a Japanese sentence (there are 838 questions!) and submit it, you will get automated feedback, such as "You need an indefinite article here," and "With this verb you use the preposition 'to' instead of 'with'." Learners can repeat the process until they reach the correct answer.  

Knowing that writing words and sentences (but not essays) can be evaluated automatically, we now need to ask how we can use them in our lessons. Automated Writing Evaluation devices will be of great help especially in a large class, but can make lessons too individualistic. I need to find the right way as I experiment.

Our English debate team is going to have regional competitions a week from today. This is a academic style debate, where the proposition is announced months earlier. The proposition for this year is "Japan should change the university enrollment season from April to September." Hope our students can advance to the nationals.

May our week be filled with blessings,
Sam