As I took up MOOC for the first time and started the first week of this great online course at Coursera offered by University of Oregon, I felt that things were familiar... The course is similar to what I have done for the Webskills course the way it is dealt with. And I feel quite at home! The number of participants is higher than the previous course which creates an overwhelming sense sometimes. But it offers more chance for sharing and learning.
The videos and reading materials for the first week are about using authentic materials in the classroom and guidelines for effective project-based tasks for the class. As I think about realia used in my classroom, I remember one class in particular. It was in a course 'Public Speaking' and I asked the students to bring something which is important for the student to show to the class. It was their self-introductory speech and the students were supposed to connect their introduction to the object they were supposed to bring. One student brought a piece of embroidered cloth which she made because she loved sewing.
Language teachers in our country tend to use the ready-made materials available in the books or in the Internet as their classroom materials. I have used Somerset Maugham's short story for reading and writing, cartoon strips for dialogue writing, motivational blogs or newspaper articles for summary writing, the band Corrs' songs for listening practice etc in my language classrooms. But I have seen problems too. Authentic materials should be chosen very carefully so that they fit into the context, for example - the level of the students, the purpose of lesson and the task itself.
Project-based tasks offer a wider chance to students for collaborative tasks and learning by doing. I loved reading about Susan Gaer's projects and took up a project for my literature students one year back. The result was very stimulating for me as a teacher and I strongly believe that it can enhance learners' language skills in an integrated manner. The new understanding for me after reading the given article is - to involve learners in structuring the project in the class so that they can have a sense of belonging when they work for the project.
The videos and reading materials for the first week are about using authentic materials in the classroom and guidelines for effective project-based tasks for the class. As I think about realia used in my classroom, I remember one class in particular. It was in a course 'Public Speaking' and I asked the students to bring something which is important for the student to show to the class. It was their self-introductory speech and the students were supposed to connect their introduction to the object they were supposed to bring. One student brought a piece of embroidered cloth which she made because she loved sewing.
Turkish students brought realia to introduce their culture
Language teachers in our country tend to use the ready-made materials available in the books or in the Internet as their classroom materials. I have used Somerset Maugham's short story for reading and writing, cartoon strips for dialogue writing, motivational blogs or newspaper articles for summary writing, the band Corrs' songs for listening practice etc in my language classrooms. But I have seen problems too. Authentic materials should be chosen very carefully so that they fit into the context, for example - the level of the students, the purpose of lesson and the task itself.
Project-based tasks offer a wider chance to students for collaborative tasks and learning by doing. I loved reading about Susan Gaer's projects and took up a project for my literature students one year back. The result was very stimulating for me as a teacher and I strongly believe that it can enhance learners' language skills in an integrated manner. The new understanding for me after reading the given article is - to involve learners in structuring the project in the class so that they can have a sense of belonging when they work for the project.
Screenshots of the video presentation of my students
