Week 8:Teacher Skills Building through the Interactive Web

Now, it is sure, the web is offering endless opportunities to make our teaching different and better and it is just up to us, teachers, to ‘dare to explore’, as Sam has rightly put it in his discussion post. This week we were introduced to Hot Potatoes, ANVILL, Web Poster Wizard and many other ESL teachers resources; we were encouraged to ‘create’ worksheets, crossword puzzles, survey forms, websites,… using ‘Tools for Educators’. I sincerely found all these fascinating as I really don’t stop discovering new useful tools and I can conclude that the course has reached its objective which is to help us build our teaching skills through the interactive web. It has indeed successfully equipped us with valuable tools likely to motivate our students and to make of them autonomous learners.

Besides, with Robert as a facilitator, and with the rich experience many of the participants kindly shared here, it is sure that by now, we should be able to exploit the interactive web on our own and in a more successful way; I, for my part, feel certain that our students will benefit as much as we have – if not more than we do - from this course and that they will find pleasure exploring the web so as to develop their level of proficiency in the English language. A glance at the projects of the group has indeed revealed the riches and variety of ideas which emerged from the course and how committed everyone is to making students enjoy learning English thanks to the web. Let me finish with this quotation I discovered during my exploration:   

Week 8: Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Glitter Text Generator

Week 7: One Computer Classroom - Wallwisher to Enhance Learner Autonomy

‘We believe that everyone can learn, become a better thinker and independent learner. We are committed to meeting or even exceeding our students’ expectations’

Let me start this week’s reflections with this ETP mission statement. At ETP, we are indeed convinced that teaching amounts to developing students’ critical thinking and to make of them independent learners. It is therefore obvious that what we learned this week in terms of learner autonomy is of a high importance to me. Moreover, discovering wallwisher really helps find a brand new way of motivating the students and thereby to involve them in the learning process. The use of Wallwisher has demonstrated how effective one computer can be if used properly.

I have to say that the students’ experience with Glogster was not really a successful one; in fact, none of my A1 students managed to create one Glogster account because it was impossible to access the site and even if we had spent a whole period of ninety minutes in the computer lab, they were not successful; as a result, they were a little disappointed at the beginning of the week. When I introduced them to wallwisher, they were again a little skeptical but when they saw the result, they were so excited that they volunteered to investigate into a new topic every week.
 To avoid new disappointments, I opened one wall I entitled A1ETPWALL (http://wallwisher.com/wall/hx5c4slmjx) and I had them search the net for interesting items about ‘Child Labor’. They brought their findings on a USB key or sent them to me by mail and last Friday, I brought a computer to class and posted their files on the wall. You should have seen their expressions when they were asked to come to the desk to talk about their contribution and put their names on their files. As one of my classmates said on Nicenet: 'It is during moments like this that we realize how rewarding it is to be a teacher'. That was exactly how I felt at the moment and I was all the more happy when those who did not contribute yet promised to do so for the coming topic which will be about ‘Domestic Violence’.

They also appreciated very much the fact of working in groups to synthesize what they learned about Child Labor in Madagascar, the causes, the effects, what is being done to solve it, which organizations are involved in the fight and what remains to be done. Each group of four was then asked to write a paragraph about their conclusions and to post that on the wall on Monday. From the discussions I heard, I can say that on the whole, they have benefitted from much more input about the topic from each other than from me alone. I just had to take care of the accuracy of the language they were using.

The other great event of the week is also the fact of having paired up with Kinnari so as to work on the project; I'm looking forward to her feed back. I myself have been impressed by the Webquest she has designed. Week 8 definitely promises to be another enriching one. Let's hope that Nicenet will be back!!!!!!  

Week 6: Discovery, Creation, Implementation!!!

I was not wrong when predicting that we will still learn something new because, this week, it was again the case for me. As a matter of fact, there were so many things to explore as regards interactive PowerPoint that I even happened to spend (but by no means ‘waste’) too much time trying various interactive games, playing some and making others. I, for example, discovered Hidden Pictures and made one about ‘Natural Disaster’ I will use as a warm-up or a wrap-up activity when dealing with the topic Environment. However, as it does not meet the requirements for the week assignment I made another about ‘Irregular Verbs’, the one I had in mind as soon as I knew that we had to create one interactive PowerPoint. I also enjoyed using all the PowerPoint presentations my classmates have posted on the class wiki.

Regarding the implementation of my project, since the students are having a one-week break, I sent them an email about the WebQuest I expect them to engage in. I have not received any reply from any of them yet but tomorrow the situation will surely get clearer. I am eager to know if they were able to access the site and open the links about Human Trafficking. Tomorrow, I will have them form two groups of four and two other groups of three for them to compile the information each has collected and to decide on a mode of restitution: Glogster or PowerPOint.



In the meantime, I am working on a website which will constitute an alternative to the WebQuest as it will be a platform I can use to send materials to my students.
To sum up, I can say that it was a week of discovery and creation and now I am full of expectations mixed with some apprehension at what tomorrow will bring!

Week 5: Project-Based Learning, Alternative Assessment, Rubrics, WebQuest.

 We are now half way through the journey and there is still a lot in store for us to learn. This week, we discussed the value of Project-Based Learning (or PBL) in promoting learners’ autonomy, in empowering them to take responsibility of their learning process, and in reducing teachers’ teaching by increasing learners’ learning.


I also discovered this precious tool that is Rubistar . Rubistar, the time-saver, allows you to create rubrics within minutes; that was impressive. I am used to assessing students using rubrics and it is true that letting them know what is expected of them helps them pay particular attention to what is important and what is not. I am then very happy to have such a tool at my disposal and at the service of my students.


  Creating a webquest was the second new experience. To create one, I decided to use  the zunal template for the sake of practicality; it is indeed very user-friendly. Even if I have heard and already used some ready-made webquests at some time of my career as an EFL teacher, this was the very first time I created my own. I have to admit that it took me an eternity to complete it, yet, I am really proud of my webquest; I even intend to improve it for my final project. I particularly liked the fact of resorting to an old tool which is teachnology after many negative attempts at using  Educaplay.

I can therefore conclude that this week was another fruitful week which brought its share of challenges and satisfaction.