Педагогические науки/5. Современные методы преподавания.

Nurassylova Z.K., Gauriyeva G.M.

L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University

Interactive Learning and Skills in Modern Education

Abstract:

Modern ways of teaching vary depending on a number of factors (subject, theme, age group, creative aspect, etc.) Interactive techniques and methods are currently among the highly demanded, consequently leading to the necessity of interactive skills development. In this article interactive learning as well as some of the methods to increase interactive skills development are described.

Key words: interactive skills development, interactive learning, methods and techniques.

The globalization process made foreign languages, English specifically, highly valuable for employees. The labor market dictates increasing need for modernization of the education system, where English is more than a school subject, but a basic element of education. [1] Therefore, pertinent amendments are made and the education process is being improved constantly. There are active, passive and interactive forms of education. Passive is when a student is the «object» of the studying process (passive listening and watching). Active is when a student is the «subject» of the studying process (individual work, creative tasks). Interactive form indicates that both a teacher and a student are equally involved, yet a student has more independency. [2] The modern educational process is characterized by qualitative changes in the existing approaches, placing new demands on interactive forms of studying. This means that interactive skills development is a crucial part of the modern educational process.

The term interactive derives from English ‘inter’ - between, among, and ‘active’ - engaged, meaning that interactive communication is mutually or reciprocally active communication between people. [3] The concept of ‘interaction’ in its authentic sociological meaning refers to actions of two or more individuals who are mutually interdependent. [4] To develop interactive communication in educational process teachers have to develop special skills. Various skills, methods, means and forms of active pedagogy have been perceived as «interactive». In the process of interactive learning, all participants of the educational process interact with each other, exchange information, simulate situations, collaborate in solving problems, assess their peers’ and their own behaviors thereby immersing themselves in the atmosphere of real cooperation and problem solving. [5]

The quality of education is directly influencing the future performance of students at work. Effectiveness of language acquisition is considered to be at its highest when the learner is self-motivated and is enjoying the process itself, rather than is studying solely because of certain obligations. It is a well-known fact that school education includes a wide variety of approaches, where each of them is individually selected in accordance with subject, theme, age group, etc. The benefits of interactive approaches include larger influence on audience, every student is perceived as a singular person with their outstanding points of view, thoughts and expressions. The primary aim of acquiring a language is the communicative aspect. The obsolete system, where a teacher was acting as a dictator and students had to follow is no longer productive. A teacher today is acting more as a mediator between students and knowledge. Thereby, evolving interactive skills in students during the studying process.

An important distinction of interactive tasks and exercises is that while doing them, students not only repeat the previously studied material, but also learn new information. Teachers, who actively use interactive techniques, are confident that the most successful learning appears precisely in the process of interaction. They consider that learners have better studying capacity if learning via communication and interaction. [6] There are several reasons for this phenomenon. Firstly, students are enforced to provide logically structured explanation to their answers and solutions. Secondly, students work with their information more thoroughly because not logically sufficient support to their answers might be easily contradicted. Thirdly, students use their knowledge along with their peers’ knowledge, collectively contributing to the solution of a problem. Lastly, it is a beneficial experience for a teacher as well because teachers can learn something new while teaching others.

There are different techniques of interactive skills development. They all have multiple benefits: the instructor can quickly assess if students truly mastered the material and, if necessary, plan to dedicate time to it. The process of measuring student understanding in many cases is also practice for material - often students do not actually learn the material until asked to make use of it in assessments such as these. [7] Finally, the very nature of these techniques drives interactivity and brings several benefits. Students are revived from their passivity of merely listening to a lecture and instead become attentive and engaged. These techniques are often perceived as more ‘fun’ activities. However, they are frequently more effective than basic lectures at enabling students learning. These techniques include: similarities/differences, ranging, rating, classification, true/false, search for matches, benefits/drawback, find suitable examples to the given rules, role-play, brainstorming, debates, discussion, etc. Obviously, there is a wide variety of other interactive techniques designed to develop inter-communicative skills. However, the selection of them is up to a teacher’s lesson plan, experience, and creativity.

To implement these techniques usually a consequence of steps is created and enforced as an inseparable part of the lesson. Each of the steps has its own peculiar designation and is intended for a particular interactive skill improvement. For example, motivation with the incentive to an action. Motivation is an essential component of every activity. In interactive learning motivation is expected to arise from a student during the action. Motivational tasks have to vary because a student should remain actively engaged. Next step is goal-setting. The skills developed during this step are the ability to focus on the expected results and formulate a student’s own path to achieve those results. Every lesson has its aims and objectives. Usually a teacher would simply enunciate them. However, in interactive learning it is up to students to specify their goals and plan actions.

Introduction to the new material implementation of a variety of interactive tasks are the following crucial elements of an interactive lesson. School subjects are commonly established in a lecturing form. However, there are a wide number of interactive approaches to make a simple explanation more fascinating and engaging. For example, using a form of «Socratic Questioning» the instructor replaces lecture by introducing practice with questions, always asking the next question in a way that guides the controversial toward a learning outcome that was desired from the beginning. This approach would drive students to think more thoroughly and feed their willingness to remember. Students can work individually, in pairs, or as a group. For example, for student action - pairs, one of the greatest exercises is «Peer review writing task» that assist students with a writing assignments, encourage them to exchange drafts with a partner. The partner reads an essay and writes a three-paragraph response: the first paragraph outlines the strength of the essay, the second paragraph discusses the essay’s problems, and the third paragraph is a description of what the partner would focus on in revision if it was his/her essay. This is a great interactive activity, because the students for whom English is a second language are most commonly unwilling to do the writing. But, if writing is done in such a fun, yet productive way, students can evolve their writing skills on par with reflection to their work.

Ultimately, before giving students their home tasks, evaluation, and reflection should be made. Reflection is an important part of an interactive learning. According to Brookfield, critically reflective learning happens when we identify and scrutinize the assumptions that undergird how we work. The most effective way to become aware of these assumptions is to view our practice from different perspectives. Seeing how we think and work through different lenses is the core process of reflective practice. [8] In the case of teaching and learning, the different 'lenses' that Brookfield refers to include that of one’s own prior experiences; along with looking from the different perspectives of the peers and teachers for students, and students, colleagues, and from reading the literature for teachers.

In conclusion, cooperation and qualitative interaction is the key to successful discussions, group work and learning process in general. Interactive skills development should be infused in English language learning because of the role that it plays in all of life's experiences. Students will learn important life skills by working together and collaborating their ideas. Interactive learning infuses social skills training into the academic curriculum. An ideal scene in a classroom would have students in their groups, coordinate roles and resources, and celebrate mutual accomplishments. Students will see the benefits that come from working as a team and accomplishing tasks that otherwise would have been significantly more difficult if attempted alone.

References:

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2. SopovaE. «Tehnologii interaktivnogo obujenija na urokah inostrannogo jazyka», 22 March 2013

3. Goertz L. «Wie interaktiv sind Medien? Auf dem Weg zu einer definition von Interaktivität», Rundfunk und Fernsehen. p. 477-493. 1995

4. Lebedeva I. S., Pavlova E. B. «Definitions of interactivity: creating interactive learning models», Вестник МГЛУ. Выпуск 25 (711). 2014

5. Shodieva K.S. «Interactive learning for the improvement of higher education», 2010

6. Tazhibayeva A.B. «The use of interactive methods of teaching Russian in Kazakh schools», KazNU Bulletin. «Pedagogical Science» series. №2 (39). 2013

7. «Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence». ATLE. http://www.usf.edu/atle/teaching/interactive-techniques.aspx

8. Brookfield, S. «Becoming a critically reflective teacher» San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 1995