MA ELTAM Professional Practice Week 3

The World Wide Web as a language teaching and learning

resource

Stage 1980s–1990s:Communicative CALL

21st century:Integrative CALL

Technology PCs Multimedia andInternet

English-teaching Paradigm

Communicative Language Teaching

Content-based, ESP / EAP

View of language Cognitive (a mentally- constructed system)

Socio-cognitive(developed in social interaction)

View of learning Learners have different learning styles

Constructivism

Principal Use of Computers

Communicative exercises AuthenticDiscourse

Principal objective

And fluency And agency

Computer Role TOOL MESSENGER

Based on the Three Stages of CALL + Benson’s Role of the Computer

Learning Types (Bloom et al.)

Cognitive Knowledge

Affective Feelings and emotions

Psychomotor Manual and physical

Cognitive Domain - lower levels of thinking skills

KNOWLEDGE drawing out factual answers, testing

recall and recognition

COMPREHENSION translating, interpreting and

extrapolating

APPLICATION to situations that are new, unfamiliar

or have a new slant for students

Cognitive Domain - higher levels of thinking skills

ANALYSIS breaking down into parts, forms

SYNTHESIS combining elements into a

pattern not clearly there before EVALUATION

according to some set of criteria, and state why

Constructivism Schema Theory

existing background knowledge determines interpretation of new experiences enables us to make predictions

Knowledge is organised We recognise patterns

The learner constructs knowledge making use of what s/he already knows

The learner is not an ‘empty vessel’ Collaboration, negotiation of meaning and

reflection are key for learning

History of WebQuests

Started 1995 (now ten years old!) San Diego State University Bernie Dodge and Tom March Part of teacher training course Now a large and growing site with many

examples for all areas of education

Definition of WebQuests

“A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. WebQuests are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation.” Dodge

WebQuests and constructivism

“Built into the WebQuest process are the strategies of cognitive psychology and constructivism. First, the question posed to students can not be answered simply by collecting and spitting back information. A WebQuest forces students to transform information into something else: a cluster that maps out the main issues, a comparison, a hypothesis, a solution, etc.” March 1998

Scaffolding

“In order to engage students in higher level cognition, WebQuests use scaffolding or prompting which has been shown to facilitate more advanced thinking…

By breaking the task into meaningful "chunks" and asking students to undertake specific sub-tasks, a WebQuest can step them through the kind of thinking process that more expert learners would typically use..” March 1998

WebQuest essentials

1. Introduction

2. Task

3. Sources

4. Description of Process Steps

5. Guidance

6. Conclusion

WebQuest Taskonomy

•Retelling

•Compilation

•Mystery

•Journalistic

•Design

•Creative Product

Consensus Building

Persuasion

Self-Knowledge

Analytical

Judgement

Scientific

WebQuest scaffolding

• Reception Scaffolding

– to help the students get started

• Transformation Scaffolding

– to help the students transform the information

• Production Scaffolding

– to help the students show what they have gained

WebQuest Training

T-spider WebQuest page How to write Great WebQuests

TalenQuests

Dutch initiative to include language aspects to WebQuests

http://www.kennisnet.nl/thema/talenquest/english/index.html?mnndx=13

Example of a WebQuest

Get into groups of 4 Go to

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquestwebquest-hs.html

Read the Introduction

Complete the task

Think about: Pedagogical

Approach Level of Technology Role of the Computer Negotiation of

Meaning

Discussion Papers

Philip Benz - WebQuests for Language Learning http://www.ardecol.ac-grenoble.fr/english/ti

ce/en-webquests.htm

Evaluation Critieria

Validity of source (author/ publisher/sponsor..)

Purpose Accuracy General appearance Ease of use Interest Pedagogical potential

Validity of source (author/ publisher/sponsor..)

Was the site made by an individual or a company?

If a company, how well-known are they?

Is it likely that the site has been checked for quality by anyone?

Is it possible to see the source of the ideas and the activities on the site?

Is the content of the site likely to be original?

Purpose

Is this site designed to prepare students for a particular exam?

Is this site designed to advertise commercial materials?

Is this site designed to promote a particular method of teaching?

Is this site targeted at a particular group of learners?

Accuracy

Is the spelling on this site correct?

Are there any grammar mistakes on this site?

Are there any grammar ‘rules’ given and if so do I agree with them?

Are the facts and figures generally correct?

General appearance

Is the site pleasant to look at?

Are the graphics in harmony with the topic or ‘just for show’?

Are the fonts easy to read?

Do the colours go well together?

Does the screen seem clear or cluttered?

Ease of use

Is it easy to see what the site is about?

Is it easy to see what I have to do?

If I move to different pages is it easy to get back to where I started?

Is it possible to contact the authors and if so how easy is it?

Interest

Is the level appropriate for my students?

Are the topics suitable for my students?

Are the activities interesting / motivating for my students?

How much choice of activity does the student get?

Pedagogical potential

Is this a site for teaching or revising language?

What skills are taught or practised?

What knowledge (grammar rules / vocabulary / cultural information) is taught or practised?

What seem to be the assumptions about language and learning behind the activities on the site?

Can the students work alone or does the teacher need to facilitate the use of the site?