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
Hi Sam,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your great webquest; it is really thorough and interesting. You gave me a new idea of using the 'idebate'materials. I'm sure you don't mind if I use the WQ with my students.
Best regards,
Colomba
Please do try my WebQuest with your students. Any comments or suggestions are to be appreciated. I am now creating a sequel to that one on a similar topic. I will share it with you all when it is done.
DeleteHi Sam! I totally share your feeling regarding the amount of things I've learned in these 5 weeks.
ReplyDeleteWe also use Moodle in the institution I work here in Uruguay and although it was difficult to get used to it, now I really like it! How do you use it? do you assign activities for homework? do you use it in class? both?
What do yo think of RubiStar? did you try it out?
Greetings!
Glad to know that you use Moodle as well! I have used it mainly in class, but it makes the class too individualistic. It is a strength but at the same time a weakness. I am still trying to find a better way to use it.
DeleteAmong all the activities I have created I particularly like listening quizzes and forums. In class we listen to the audio a couple of times and check the answers, but in Moodle some of my students listen to it almost 20 times until they get the answers right. What I like about forums is that it is easy to create, but it is a really engaging activity for many students.
I made my rubric using Rubistar, and I loved it! As many of you said, it usually takes a long time to make one, but now I can save a lot of time. I believe this wonderful website will help me use rubrics more often in the future.
Sam- I've heard great things about moodle, though I haven't used it myself. I do know that for beginners in our webskills class (as about 1/4-1/2 are each term) the bar on that might be a bit high, but yes the tool is flexible and powerful. I have had students make projects based on the moodle platform. It is great to have your thoughts and experience adding to our class. -Robert
ReplyDeleteAs I explained, my CALL experience is strictly with Moodle. For me CALL wasn't an option without it. But now since I take this course, I have learned so many other tools that could be used with or without Moodle. I am so thankful that I can try so many new things and new ideas through this course.
DeleteI was also excited to learn about the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), which you mentioned in the discussion. I think the human element remains to be the most important thing in education, but technology together with great ideas could change the way we teach and learn completely.