Week 6 is so far so best, very interesting project to do and
loved the discussion on Nicenet. The discussion particularly came from lots of
reading and navigating so many hyperlinks. The discussion was on the teaching
large classes and using technology to teach large classes. I will try to give a
gist of teaching and using technology in large classes here.
There are ways, methods, strategies and skills that teacher
can use or implement in a large classroom to engage learners effectively.
Role-plays, group activities, and giving/asking questions that are usually
interactive and cooperative in nature are very effective in large classroom. No
doubt that technology can easily facilitate and tackle better to large
classroom. Especially, online website like Wiki, blog, WebQuest, Blackboard and
many online tools are effective handling large classes to engage and motivate
learners.
The very best was as I stated in the beginning, the task of
creating interactive Power Point. Power Point has always been a great name in
terms of technology in our school. We all use PowerPoint but creating a
Jeopardy Game was something new. I made one and tried with the students, the
response was very good and they often want such break-up activities like this.
It was wonderful!
This week I am very hard on thoughts about implementing new
technology to the issues that I have described to bring a change. I am in the
horns of dilemma what I should do as my school and students are very busy
preparing for the upcoming final/annual examination that starts from 24th
Nov. And on top of that I was also little confused of the final project but I learned clearly from our instructor that I can prepare a project plan that can
be implemented later on.
So, I decided to prepare project plan for my final project
and this week I was hovering over many websites and tools besides the tool I
decided to use. I glad that Courtney gave me two tools that can be really
useful for me to help my students overcome problems of pronunciation. Right now
I am going in details of “Voki” which is my primary tool that I will be using
to help student with pronunciation problem. I am also looking at its more
functions and affordance.
This is it for the week and lots more to do for the final
project.
All the best to everyone,
Hello Sanjiv,
ReplyDeleteYou are right indeed when you say that there are many techniques at our disposal in order to engage students specially in large classes. Teaching has become such an active business nowadays. But as stated in the article "How to Give Interactive Lectures'" we also need to know how to manage the class properly and have at our disposal the necessary logistical means to be able to go ahead with interactive lectures. We have started to integrate technology in our classes in my country but most of our schools are not so 'technologically developed' May be in a near future we will be able to implement some, if not many of the techniques proposed.
Teaching is nearly over for you. In Mauritius, we resume duty in January so I will not be able to implement the changes in my class this year. I will also work on refining my project. But, it is a new baggage that I have in hand to start the new school year here. I will also try to use 'Voki' in my Form 5 classes as the pupils have to prepare for their oral exams. Making them listen to some BBC speaking classes also help at times. There are also some short animated tales on you tube for young children to help them develop their listening skills.
Regards,
Jennifer.
Hi Sanjiv,
ReplyDeleteWe are all aware of the plethora of teaching methods to facilitate learning. However, we must be prudent in using these techniques. The use must never be just for the sake of it. Only when we see the best way to integrate technology in our teaching, should it be used. Like you even I was apprehensive of the task on 'Implement a Change'. Now I understand that, even if I don't teach these months I can hone my ideas so that I can implement it later.
Regards,
Paramita
Hi Sanjiv,
ReplyDeleteIt's delightful to follow your blog posts! You paint such a vivid picture of all you learned during the week. How wonderful that week 6 was the best one yet! It's become one of my favorites too, for the same reason as you, interactive PPTs!!!
I create PPTs all the time. I always have interactive elements, and students are always engaged. By incorporating think-pair-share or having only one discussion question per slide, PPTs can promote interaction. Also, when I use jeopardy game PPTs, I put students on teams of 2-3. They have to consult with their team members before saying the answer.
I'm proud of you for creating a jeopardy PPT! It's a challenging task.
Smiles!
Courtney