WebQuests are an eResource teaching approach that helps teachers balance the need to:
1. guide students learning; and 2. give adequate opportunity for independence. WebQuests are an eLearning pedagogy that can be adapted to Traditional Teaching, the Flipped Classroom, a Task-based Approach, Project Learning and other teaching and learning approaches.
Here is a presentation to help you create your own WebQuest. There are links to many useful WebQuest websites on the last slide. Please explore them. To get started, click on the link: Introduction to WebQuests
Create a WebQuest for your Group Unit Plan (GUP) to share with your classmates during the presentation. It is recommended that you use either PowerPoint or Google Sites to format your WebQuest. You may also create a WebQuest website if you like. Adapt the topic, tasks, objectives and language level to the grade level(s) of your unit plan. Be sure to integrate all the components of a WebQuest:
1. Introduction to the task
2. Interesting and manageable tasks that requires students to find, use and transform information
3. Clear instructions on what kind of information to find
4. Set of information resources (links) – these are embedded in the WebQuest
5. Evaluation of the products, tasks or learning outcomes, including a self-assessment for students and assessment for teachers
6. Conclusion reminding students what they have learned
Read through the two PowerPoints presentations . Think about the kind of eBook you would like to create or that your group can plan and create together. There are more resources below for your reference.
Teacher-made eBooks
Ms Fiona Yung, a primary English teacher, made this eBook "It's Okay to Be Different" with Adobe Spark. This is a good example of how to use eBooks in a creative way. Ms Yung inserted an original page into the book, giving a new way that "It's okay to be different" for the story. She wrote, "It's okay to eat macaroni and cheese in the bath!" And she has signed the page with her name.
This is an example to students of what they can do themselves... help write the story! The activity would have all the students read the book and write one of their own pages, including illustrating it and signing. The final eBook could be different for each student (with just each student's own "page" added), or an eBook with many - or all - of the students' pages could be created as a class-written eBook.
Two styles of Adobe Spark e-books from our class
Student-made eBooks
AdobeVoice is also an excellent tool for student-made eBooks. In this example, the teacher taught her primary students how to write a diary, using a story book (Camp Diary) as a model. She then asked them to draft their own diary entry based on a school visit to Taipo Waterfront park. After checking their drafts, students made and shared their own eBook based on their school visit to the park and pictures they took there. Here is an excellent example.
Begin your journey to becoming not only an e-Resources content consumer but a content creator as well. Here are three kinds of videos as examples of something any teacher can easily do without any technical expertise.
1. SELF-INTRODUCTION
Introduce yourself to your students, so they can get to know you. (You're also modeling the language and discourse type!)
2. HOW-TO
Teach something simple, like juggling.
3. STORYTELLING
Read a Big Book to a child or a group of children
Read a story, like The Gruffulo, while showing the pictures in your video.
Remember to complete your video before class starts tomorrow at 9:30 a.m., 11th June 2019.
By creating video content, teachers are preserving direct instruction or other teaching content which they can then use in a number of different ways. For example, a teacher-made video can be given to students for revision at anytime. It can also be assigned as "homework" for a flipped class lesson, which then frees time in class to focus on student practice and student-teacher interaction. Another option is to use the video in class as a model or focus of learning, much like a PowerPoint, but with the obvious advantage of being 'multi-media'
The four kinds of educational videos that we considered earlier are:
1. Talking Head
2. Narration
3. Role Play
4. Screencast
The following two videos are brief tutorials that introduce two of the free Screencast options available to students and teachers. You can get familiar with one of them when you make your group presentation video for our class.
Watch the video below carefully for an introduction to the concept of blended learning. Pay careful attention to the terms, such as 'flipped class', 'online learning' and 'mastery based learning', as you will be responsible for them later. Enjoy the video!
Some technologies are very helpful in allowing us to do familiar things better. PowerPoint, compared with pen on a whiteboard or chalk on a blackboard, is a superior visual experience. But some technologies or IT approaches have the power to REDEFINE learning - allowing us to do things that would be impossible otherwise.
The Flipped Classroom is an excellent example of how to use eResources to redefine the learning experience of your students. The basic idea is that direct instruction does not require the teacher to be present with students, but interaction does. Students may learn better when they receive direct instruction from a video or other eResources outside of the classroom, followed by interaction with their teacher and classmates afterwards.
An interaction period in class allows students to practice, get guidance and receive focused feedback on their learning. There is usually little time for this. The flipped class arrangement "flips" the traditional approach of giving students direct instruction in a the classroom and expecting them to practice what they've learned (without the teacher's help) for homework.
These videos provide a good overview of some of the major concepts and issues in organizing a Flipped Classroom. While watching them, think about how you could design some flipped lessons of your own for students learning English.
1. The Flipped Classroom: Rethinking Space and Time
2. Overcoming Problems with the Flipped Classroom
3. Is the Flipped Classroom for You?
4. Formative Assessment with Flipped Classrooms
5. Tools for Flipping Classrooms
6. Including Stakeholders in the Flipped Classroom
What is your own experience of using e-Resources in learning English as a student? Did e-Resources help you improve your English skills? If so, how?
Provide your answer in the comment section of this post. The length of your comment should be about 30 - 50 words.
The Present
The state of using e-Resources in education is undergoing rapid change. While changes in the use of technology is nothing new, it is the pace of change that is now increasing dramatically. The present state of e-learning in schools is characterized by diversity, uncertainty and many trial-and-error efforts. Fortunately, the community of educators with successful stories to share is increasing. The following video is a glimpse of the diversity that currently exists in HK's education sector in the adoption of e-Resources in schools.
Click on the title to access a video of the television broadcast. Watch the video carefully and take some notes to help you remember the details. To check your understanding, we will conduct an online quiz about the video content. Get ready!
Most English teachers in Hong Kong were students in the 20th century. Walking into a classroom can be like traveling in time back to the 1980's or 1990's. Yet somehow many teachers have kept up with the rapid changes through a lot of effort, professional development, collaboration with innovative colleagues and proactive self development. One way to prepare for the changes in education is to imagine and envision them together. That's the purpose of this activity.
Activity:
Discuss your vision with a group of 3-4 classmates, and write your answer in the form below. Begin your answer with the sentence, "Learning English in Hong Kong in the year 2034 won't be like when we were young, back in 2019."
Answers should be at least the length of one paragraph of 50 - 100 words.
Discussion Question:
What will Hong Kong English education be like in the year 2034, only 15 years from now? Can you imagine?
Welcome to the Effective Use of e-Resources in the English Classroom course! Please help me get to know you and your school better by taking time to complete the questionnaire.
