Week 4 is coming to an end and once again, it was rich in exchange and experience. As a matter of fact, this week, we have been concerned with websites likely to help us develop our students’ reading and writing skills and once again, the list is very long. It is though worth mentioning that ‘Breaking News English’ is the site most participants have chosen and recommended to use in class; this is not surprising, given the fact that ‘Breaking News English’ takes care of the development of the four skills in an integrative way; it covers a very wide range of topics and it can be used with students of all levels. The harvest for the week has definitely been excellent.
The other challenging yet interesting adventure is the design of a technology-enhanced lesson plan and the sharing of it using ‘Google Drive’. For me, the challenge was to decide what technology to involve my students in as there were so many possibilities; I eventually decided to have them access sites I gave to them in advance. The point was for them to find on the net information concerning the eating habits of four different countries of my choice; indeed, the topic for the Pre-Advanced level is ‘Pluralism and Diversity’ and having students explore the web is just a fantastic opportunity for them to meet the world as not many of them have the opportunity to travel abroad.The idea was to have them select the information they want to share with the class through a PowerPoint presentation. I could of course have just asked them to find information about ‘the eating habits around the world’ on the net and send their findings to me by e-mail but I decided to start cautiously and to take them step by step in this fascinating world. The next step will be to have them search the web in a more independent way and to share information with each other using other discussion platforms like a class blog, a class wiki or nicenet. I feel sure that not only will they enjoy it but they will also develop their language skills more quickly
Dear Colomba,
ReplyDeleteYour blog is well designed and well-focused. I agree with you that the list for reading and writing exercises was very long and rich.
I also found the technology enhanced lesson plan challenging, but also very useful.
Let me congratulate for your great and thoughful work. Keep doing it!
Csilla
Hi Csilla,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your nice words.Yes, things are getting tougher but isn't it better like that? The more challenging, the better; dom't you think so?
Regards,
Colomba
Dear Colomba,
ReplyDeleteI really like your idea of giving chance to students to be selective about what information they would like to share. This will foster decision making abilities and will make them more responsible net users.
All the best
Kinnari