This weeek we got different tasks and rading. What is surprising for me personally is the fact that I wanted to know about these very things more than I do now. PBL is one of the approaches that I am trying to implement in my practice. I knew some background information about this method, but after reading Susan Gaer's article at
http://www.ncsall.net/?id=385 the things became clearer. This is exactly what I should do with my own students. As (Gaer 1996) mentions in her article, PBL helps motivate students to achieve a purpose. It is learning with a purpose- to create a final product and acquire certain language skills on the way. Sounds like a good idea for sometimes overloaded teacher in search of something inspiring and meaningful apart from constant grammar and vocabulary exercises.
This week, I have found out the gaps in my instruction concerning projects we did with our students. In fact I was too unrealistic putting my students into such time-limits like 3 weeks maximum. Knowing the nature of each project and work load, it is essential to provide clear explanation and requirements for students to know what exactly the project should be about. This is my general conclusion made this week.
Concerning web quests, I may say that at first visiting the page
http://www.webquest.org/index-resources.php) I was lost in the information about what web quest are and what their purpose is. I looked through some of them and thought they are just texts and picture, but after investigating more, I found that they are good learning tool online.
Web-quests resemble projects with some crucial elements, such as
1.Introduction
2. Task
3. Information resources
4. Process
5. Guidance
6. Conclusion
It is necessary to keep in mind that web quests are mostly group activities and sometimes in my opinon it is difficult to evaluate each student performance within the process of web quest creation.
Well, as I said before, we are constantly learning and this week was full of useful information.
Dear Liliya,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that PBL is motivating and rewarding for the students as they learn in a way that empowers them to become independent learners. When conducting careful Internet research on various topics they actively participate in the learning process. Not only do they discover new information but they also analyze and evaluate the findings and finally create a new product - be it a report, a story, an interview or a poem.
However, PBL is by no means a way of relaxation for the often overloaded teacher, because if we want to prepare the project well, we must plan it in the least possible detail. As you thoughtfully said, various crucial elements need to be included. Different stages of the project must be carefully prepared in advance, so that writing a successful webquest is a complex and time-consuming process. The benefits of PBL for our learners, such as developing critical thinking skills, making decisions, solving problems, assuming responsibility for their learning, building self-esteem, make it worthwile.
All the best
Arjana
Dear Liliya,
ReplyDeleteI think that majority of us have used PBL but maybe not WebQuests. I haven´t used WebQuests but after reading the articles and visiting different WebQuests I see that my students can benefit a lot from them.
Students can also practice Problem-Based learning with different projects. Finding solutions to problems makes students proud and willing to work harder.
Yours,
lUIZA
Dear Liliya,
ReplyDeleteI have the same feeling about using WebQuest for the first time. I thought it is just a collection of pictures, websites and tasks. But, when I created my first WebQuest,I find it very wonderful tool for students. It includes some clear steps for both teacher and students, introduction, task, process, evaluation and conclusion. It is a good framework that will help students what is required from them.
Also, I do agree with you about the difficulty of evaluating each student in group activities. Some of them do well and other feel at a loss. I think it is our job to involve all students in accomplishing group tasks.
Yours,
Azhar