My WebQuest Project at MELTA

I took my project that I developed and executed for the Webskills course, and attended the 22nd Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (MELTA) International Conference from 28th to 30th May 2013 at Persada Johor Convention Centre, Johor Bahru. The theme of the conference was “Innovations in English Language Education: Evolving Policy, Envisioning Curriculum, Empowering Practitioners.”

 Some snaps of my presentation

People I met during the conference

I presented my paper titled “Language Learning through Literature via WebQuest” in the afternoon session on the first day of the conference. My paper exemplified how combining a classic literary text and a web-based tool – WebQuest in teaching can make learners become more confident users of English by critically thinking and creatively producing. I implemented the project with my tertiary level literature students and found them taking interest in the task as it offered them a chance - of getting out of the typical way of passively studying a literary text, of using the language creatively and of videocasting. The WebQuest example showed how learners became autonomous and produced content for the web through the process of self-evaluation. At the end of my presentation I showed a video clip of my students’ performance.

The conference had Prof. David Wray from University of Warwick, UK as the plenary speaker who spoke on “Changing Times: Changing Literacies.” This speech drew on the technology tools used by students and the concerns regarding this. It also showed four models that educational institutions can adopt to accommodate new literacies.

Nithya Sidhhu, a columnist from STAR conducted a workshop on “Teachers’ Writing – The Power of the Shared Experience” which was motivational. She offered simple tips for writing and introduced SLURP to remember the simple guideline. 1. Keep it simple 2. Look outside, look inside 3. Unite all links 4. Respect your reader 5. What’s your point? She quotes Nancy Kelton, “Send your inner critic on holiday. Just do it, man. Just do it.”

Dr. Willy A. Renandya from NIE, Singapore gave a talk on “Is there a place for extensive listening in the L2 classroom?” as the plenary speaker. He firmly says that though language teachers focus more on extensive reading and writing, extensive listening is an inseparable idea in language classroom to ensure better language learning.

I attended a presentation on “ESL Undergraduates’ Attitudes toward Using Wiki and Skype in Completing Project-based Tasks” by Yolanda Hiew & Tan Bee Hoon which attracted my attention much as this was similar to my presentation being linked to PBL. The presenter proved by her survey that students preferred Skype as it offered them freedom but Wiki had more substantial amount of learning in the two projects that she conducted with her university level ESP learners,

Another presentation which caught my attention is by Faizah binti Jaafar. She spoke on “Reader’s Theater: A Step in Learning Literature.” I attended two Bangladeshi presentations. One was by Md. Imran Khan on “Understanding and Sharing between Two Generations of Teachers: The Bangladesh Context.” The paper detailed how psychological aspects impact the sharing of two generations of teachers and how team teaching can improve the overall scenario of English teaching-learning in Bangladesh.

Md. Ziaul Karim and Md. Jamal Hossain talked about the controversy in the grading system prevailing in the private university education system and professed for a uniformity for the benefit of the students in their paper on “Grading Controversies in the Assessment of University Graduates in Bangladesh: An Insight into Uniformity.”

The gala dinner was fabulous with all colors. The theme was ‘Colors of Malaysia, Colors of Unity.’ It was royal in style as Raja Zarith Sofia binti Sultan Idris Shah sponsored the dinner and attended it. She came to the stage with the President of MELTA, Prof. Dr. Ganakumaran Subramaniam to distribute awards. There was a cultural show starting with Malaysian songs and dances and having Indian Vangra, Frank Sinatra song.

It was an enriching experience as I visited a new country and made new friends along with learning new ideas.

Week 10 Transformation

In the final week while writing this post, I experience a mixed bag of feelings - a tinge of sadness in parting ways, a sense of accomplishment (except for the LoTI survey ;), an understanding of the power of the new knowledge to bring about more changes . . . As Maya Angelou says, "When you know better you do better." And I have learned! During these 10 weeks I have equipped myself with many Web tools and strategies. I have created my own blog and also have been using blog posts for my class. I use Noodletools and also introduced it to my students. I have a Delicious page. I explored the Web for teaching oral, aural, reading, writing skills. I learnt about Google docs, Rubric, PBL, WebQuest, interactive power point, online exercises, and ANVILL. Discussions took place on Bloom's Taxonomy, learning objective, teaching large classes by integrating technology, learner autonomy, alternative assessment, one-computer classroom, learning styles and MIs.   The guest moderators enlivened the discussions with their tips and guidance for us. I developed a project plan using WebQuest during the course and now I'm implementing it. I was benefited from the reflective teaching through the blog posts each week. I think the key strategies that helped me survive are – 

• managing time properly 
• following the guidelines and instructions of Courtney 
• watching others' works 
• being positive all the time.

If I look back I've to admit that the active participants of the Webskills course contributed to the understanding of each other a lot. I became enriched not just from the reading materials but also from the Nicenet class discussions, and revelation of others' context and practices. Izela has been very good at summarizing reading materials in her posts and active in using all kind of tools; Hulya has made me realize how technological tools can be adopted in our similar contexts ; Nataliia has worked like a peer-mentor, and shared her works and ideas enthusiastically; Mariam, has had a depth of understanding regarding matters; Hector has been a spiritual guide through his wonderful posts in the blog; Krishna's excitement has been contagious and the list goes on . . . I have been fortunate enough to get this opportunity to make friends with all of you in this course. I'm grateful! So my words for you will be -

Courtney has been a helpful, encouraging, enthusiastic, precise and organized mentor for all of us. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank her (officially!) for her great work, guidance and aid to us. Hats off to you!

As for my future plans regarding the use of technology in my class - I see myself LoTI level 2 - Exploration now. But as I implement my WebQuest project, i might reach the next level Infusion. I want to see myself reach Level 4b - Integration: Routine in a year from now. The ways to do it are -

1. Conduct workshops and collaborate with colleagues at my workplace by which almost all courses will integrate technology according to the comfort level of the instructor so that when students take a course which demands the use of technology on the part of the students, they will not feel alienated.
2. Develop course sites with the help of which students will be able to work on their own and practice self-directed learning.
3. Adopt the use of more technology-based tools for certain lessons, course and assessment where I've the freedom within the university set course modules. 

At the tertiary level in Bangladesh inertia, ignorance, absence of standardization, insufficient time, lack of proper methodology, lack of educators are all evident in case of technology integration in teaching-learning scenario. It's through a little step at a time by which we can pave the path. Participating in the Webskills course was one big step that I'll always remember as it transformed me. All the staying up at nights, surfing the sites, participating in the class discussions, writing the blog post, working on the given tasks paid off with a richer insight, a better understanding about how technology can be of great help to enhance learning and a transformation into a more equipped teacher. I understand there is no end to adapting to changes as a teacher, and there is always a world of possibilities for everyone to have a better life.

Week 9 Reflection and more reflection

Such a happening week! It started with the course evaluation by taking a survey set by AEI Distance Education program. The survey was like a reflection to my learning. Another reflection was added to the list through an opportunity of writing participant story to share my experiences and/or stories about the impact of the course.

  

Then there was the weekly discussion topic on the use of technology to cater to different learning styles or multiple intelligences. This was also a reflective task as I have taken a quiz on learning styles at Edutopia to know about my learning style and I've to admit that the result was bit surprising. I always deemed myself to be a visual-spatial learner but it seems my learning style leans more on linguistic and interpersonal styles. I pondered on the link between my learning style and the way I teach. As a reflection I might just admit that I concentrate more on linguistic, visual-spatial and intrapersonal learning style for my students when I teach a class. Surprisingly, my lowest score came for visual-spatial style. But I use images, videos, maps in my classes frequently. 

PBL is a wonderful way to cater to different learning styles and intelligences. Projects might be extended to sharpen students' weak intelligences. Because we assign students with activities that they are comfortable with but do not push them to the limits with the intention to improve their enervated intelligences. I also assessed my WebQuest project in terms of MIs. 

This knowledge or awareness of students' learning style is not to make tasks easier for them but to enhance effective learning. Technology has a huge impact in the form of a simple photograph projected in the class which can trigger great learning to an interactive power point or a project based task on the Web. I also think it's a good idea to prepare a list of activities brainstormed by the learners even before the learning takes place so that their interest and learning styles are reflected on as Jane Carlson-Pickering says, "any time I begin to develop a curriculum unit, I seek ideas from the class first." 'Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits' published in the New York Times says the more you sweat to learn something - it is hard to forget. This actually reminds me of the initial stumbling I had to face when I was given technological tool-based tasks for this course. 

Finalizing my project was an easy job by editing the write-up as per the suggestions of Hector and Alina (my peer reviewers) as I wrote a project plan and not a report. I mentioned the project to one of my classes (as we had strike I couldn’t meet the other group) and asked them to pair up. It’s a slow start but I’ll bring up things slowly so that the project doesn’t cause any discomfort to my students. Reading others’ (Alina, Saida, Hector, Krishna and Izela in particular) projects and learning about the different contexts was also interesting. I’m planning to read all the projects.

I tried to create a lesson at ANVILL but failed. I need to see more of it before jumping onto a task.

A good news came through the acceptance letter from MELTA which caused a great happiness! I’m taking my project to the 22nd Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (MELTA) International Conference titled “Innovations in English Language Education: Evolving Policy, Envisioning Curriculum, Empowering Practitioners” to be held from 28 to 30 May 2013 at Persada Johor Convention Centre, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Feeling bit sad as the Webskills course is approaching an end. That's why I added cartoons to this post as a means to lighten things up. I got my life so tuned into this weekly schedule that I believe I’ll feel empty when it’s gone! Another reflection!

Week 8 Tools to be told

This week has been an emotional roller coaster ride for me. So coping up with the course tasks was difficult. 

I tried to come up with a detailed project plan with all the questions to be raised when I execute it and became really happy with Hector's review of it. I reviewed Hector's and Alina's project reports and gained knowledge about two very different situations with various groups of learners in foreign context. Like Hector, I also feel that inherently a lot of situations are similar in our teaching-learning situations.

The week offered various sites and online tools to explore and use as teachers. I personally used a few and felt assured that the use of these tools will enhance learning a great deal and make the life of teachers easier. In Bangladeshi language teaching situation, the more common practice is to download ready made materials and use in the class. But there are wonderful tools to prepare specific task-based materials out there. I liked Web Poster Wizard very much.

And there is ANVILL developed by Jeff Magoto. It's so out of the way! I need to explore it more later. I'm already planning to publish a speech based lesson with my teacher account there. Thanks to Jeff!

Looking forward to finalizing my project to be submitted within 5days.

Week 7 To depend, or not to depend

Learner autonomy involves a psychological process on the part of both teachers and learners. There are teachers who feel comfortable with the role of 'purveyors of knowledge' and don't want to get down on the plain from mount Olympus. There are learners who are comfortable in the traditional system of learning - being passive at the receiving end, looking up at mount Olympus for the oracles to be announced. Putting this analogy aside, I strongly feel a walk towards learner autonomy or self-directed learning is a giant step for teachers and learners on 'our part of the world' as it demands to get rid of the dependence on teachers and learners. 

To depend on technology or simply put - a computer, isn't a favorable choice for us as well. As Moni portrays the Bangladeshi scenario in his blog post this week, we are lucky who are teaching at tertiary level. It happened many times with me when I prepared my lesson with a power point presentation or video clip and things didn't work out the way I wanted to because of power failure or the lack of technical support. I had to change my ways but tried to carry out the lesson. I always believe in the good will and innovation on a teacher's part to overcome all difficulties. If a teacher really puts his/her mind onto something, it's achievable.

Wallwisher is a wonderful tool to provide students a common platform to share links to reading materials, video/audio, slides etc of their own choice. Thus it doesn't only enhance learning by sharing but also promote autonomy.

WebQuest is another way of promoting autonomy and my project deals with one that I prepared at Zunal. I'm preparing my draft project plan with apprehension at how the students will react when I announce the project to them. I'm trying to see things ahead and embracing myself for an adventurous ride with my students. Hector signed up the partnership document on the class wiki where Alina, Hector and I are in  a group to review our drafts. I'm looking forward to the next week and to the review of my project plan.

Week 6 Technology Tools, Large Classes & Interactive Power Point

Ask me about the largest class I had to deal as a teacher! It was back in 2005 when Dr. Wayne Scott from the US came to teach at our university as a foreign faculty. The university authority cramped almost all Business Administration students into one class to get the maximum benefit 'out of' a foreign faculty. The course was titled 'Introduction to English Literature' and there were 150 students there! I was there with Dr. Scott not only as an assistant but also as an interpreter. Traditional mode of lecture-based teaching was practiced in the class. The difference was in the assessment. I first got introduced to the idea of having different kinds of question patterns to assess students' learning in easier ways other than the conventional question-answer pattern of essay writing. The classroom experience was not so sweet back then... But as I read the articles given for this week and also take into account of my colleagues' experience from different parts of the world, I feel confident about facing large classes now. (I won't still call for one!)

Now I'm teaching groups of 43, 49, and 35 in three classes. What I feel about using technology aids (Blackboard/classroom clicks) or different techniques (quick-thinks/think-pair-share etc) to ease the 'pain' of teaching large classes and enhance learning is - a concrete planning and a thorough preparation are required. Will the given class time be enough? Did I check all details so that I'm in control? Will I be able to adjust with any mishap, like a power failure or missing handouts? 

Some of the technology tools are jaw-openers for us, especially the assessment tools. But to incorporate these into our system might take a little longer...

I use power point for my classes. But never explored all these wonderful interactive tools before. The weekly task was very constructive as I practiced some new modes. It was also    stimulating as I saw 'things' happening in my slides. I took such a pleasure in making those slides!

It's nice to visualize all the other participants busily working with their students to implement their projects too. I'll be waiting for my turn . . .

Week 6 Refining Project

My project task lost its flow when I suddenly realized that I can’t implement the project in week 6 and week 7 like the others due to the midterm exam of my students. So I had to opt for a project plan instead of a project report. This was quite frustrating as I was thoroughly excited about implementing it. The consolation is I’ve more time to refine the project so that when the students come back to the classes after their midterm exam, I have a well-thought-out project to offer them. I have prepared my Zunal WebQuest for the project last week (as an extra task) http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=182851. As per Courtney’s suggestion I added a category to the rubric (I also entailed the rubric task with the project so that all finally came together to fit in the project). I also added an additional link to my process page this week.

Two significant changes that I am planning to bring are –

1. Instead of implementing the project with just one group of 42 students undertaking Classics in Translation I course, I’ll include another group of 49 who are also studying the same course. The regular attendees are 35 and 45 respectively. 

2. My project plan was to create a class wiki so that students can upload their Vimeo links there. But as I’m already using a blog http://tahsinay.blogspot.com/2013/02/your-task.html for a specific web search task by introducing Noodletools to both the groups, I am planning to use the blog where they’ll upload their links http://tahsinay.blogspot.com/2013/02/your-assignment.html. Peer evaluation can be easily done at Vimeo as comments for a specific video.

I will use the following references to support my planned change:

1. Susan Gaer’s "Less Teaching and More Learning"

2. Jo-Ellen Tannenbaum’s "Practical Ideas On Alternative Assessment For ESL Students" 

3. Bernie Dodge’s "Some Thoughts about WebQuests"

4. Bernie Dodge’s interview

Project related follow-up activity will include peer evaluation. Students must watch others’ role play and post comment at least about one video on Vimeo. I’m also planning to have a follow-up activity in the form of a questionnaire where students will analyze the impact of the project. I'm still brainstorming with this part and thinking of adding the following yes/no questions:

1. Did you enjoy doing the task?
2. Did you explore the web for this task?
3. Did you practice using English in a more interesting and fruitful manner?
4. Did you groom and improve yourself?

5. Was the task different from a traditional assignment given in other literature courses?

But more substantial questions should be added for an evaluation of the task from the students' point of view. I already gave a questionnaire to the students initially just to assess their ‘technology and web-related exposure.’ 

I'll devote the next week in writing down the first draft to be sent to a classmate.