B.A. Torekeyev, Zh. Ryssaldiyev, A. Dauletbayeva
Taraz State
Pedagogical Institute, Kazakhstan
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DISTANCE LEARNING COURSE EXPERIENCE
INTEGRATING INTERNET INTO THE ENGLISH
CLASSROOM
Computer is avery suitable means for learning,
particularly when studying foreign languages, as it generally requiresa
multimedia environment, almost impossible to create through traditional
methods. The use of information systems is rewarding, stimulating and
motivating. It is apparent that technology-mediated learning promotes the
learning of a foreign language through interaction.
The acquired
skills we implemented at the classes of English for specific purposes. First,
at the beginning of the course M. Krauss gave the task to create social network
– Ning. This social network is no longer free unless you are a US teacher and
you apply for a free Ning sponsored by Pearson Publishing. The participants had
the possibility to use this Ning free and nowadays such type of network is
created for Kazakhstan teachers of English by the US Embassy for educational
purposes and experience exchange. At our classes we teach the students how they
as the future teachers might use a social network in the classroom.
At the end of the
week the Grading Grid was completed after every task and at this grid all the
participants can see each other’s progress. At our classes we also present the
similar table for students to let them know at what stage they are at. During
the study there are obligatory and additional assignments and this way the
differentiation in teaching is realized.
When evaluating
sites it is useful to follow a checklist of things to look for. This will help
you to judge if the site is “trustworthy”. At trustworthy sites the reliable
information can be found for scientific work, because the students mostly use
the www.wikipedia.com
but this source cannot be considered as reliable. At the Taraz State
Pedagogical Institute we have JSTORE, electronic library, which has the access
to journals with reliable information. All foreign universities pay the fee for
the access to different electronic libraries.
So, this course
was divided into theoretical and practical parts: at the beginning the articles
are presented for reading and for discussion. In the article “What’s on the
Web, “Sorting Strands on the World Wide Web for Educators” by Tom March, 2005,
and the author provides a framework which classifies materials found on the
internet into 7 categories. The objective is to try to provide a workable
organizational structure which can be applied to the wildly expanding
Web.Another article of this author “Working the Web for Education, Theory and
Practice on Integrating the Web for Learning”. This article, though “old” is
also “wise”. It builds on the pedagogical concepts presented in the earlier
March article. The focus is on “activities” one of the 7 categories discussed
in the prior reading with the students.
“Activities” is where
the action is for the students. They learn how to create their own online
learning activities and/or how to find appropriate learning activities created
by others. This article provides great examples of five types of web-based
activities, and explains which might be best in particular learning situations.
What are the formats? Filamentality let us create five different formats
(hotlist, treasure hunt, sampler, scrapbook, and web quest). It’s easy to
create one or all of the formats. The
teacher can choose the order of the activities. For example, you might want to
begin by striking a positive attitude with a Subject Sampler. Then you might
provide learners with factual information through a Treasure Hunt. Finally, you
might engage them in a long term project using a Web Quest. Then again, maybe
you want to start with a Web Quest which thrusts students immediately into a
compelling or controversial aspect of a topic. This way, from the beginning,
students gain a broader perspective and a better sense of why this topic is
important to study (i.e. it’s challenging and doesn’t offer a simple black and
white answer). Here is the list of activities with explanations:Hotlist: a list
or internet sites; Multimedia Scrapbook:
students explore your collection of multimedia links (photographs, maps,
stories, facts, quotations, sound clips, videos…), decide which resources they
prefer, and create something new;Treasure Hunt: like a hotlist; but includes
questions based on content from the sites;Subject Sampler: learners explore
your collection of multimedia links, includes questions based on content from
the sites and how they feel or react to it; more complex than a treasure
hunt;Web Quest: uses the sites you select as the starting point for a complex
activity that involves multiple perspectives, possible group collaboration and
a final project of your choosing.
The next topic in
the syllabus was “Searching the Internet/Getting Started with Social
Bookmarking (Diigo)”. The Common Craft video, “Social Bookmarking in Plain
English” is introducing Social Bookmarking with Diigo. The video presents a
social bookmarking site called “Delicious”. An even better and more powerful
site is called Diigo. Not only can you collect your bookmarks there, but you
can highlight Web pages, makes notes on them, and create groups in which your
colleagues or your students can jointly create collections of bookmarks. Saving
bookmarks (called favorites on Internet Explorer) has limitations. When you are
at a different location, away from your computer, you can’t access your
bookmarks. It is very important if you could have your students collect
bookmarks on a topic of interest, sharing all these with Diigo.
Moreover, in this
course the current controversy surrounding the widespread use of Multiple
Intelligences in education. Recently, researchers have pointed out that there
is very little empirical evidence supporting the use of Multiple Intelligences
in the classroom. There are also interesting findings that go against some very
common advice that teachers have followed for years concerning how student
learning can be maximized (“Forget What You Know about Good Study Habits.”).
The teacher can learn more about Multiple Intelligences and take a short quiz
to learn about your multiple-intelligence learning style. Concrete steps to
take in implementing multiple-intelligence concepts into the classroom are
studied from the source – “Edutopia”. One more site – “Technology Integration
for Teachers” by Nadine Norris. This Web site is truly treasure trove. Its
philosophy closely mirrors the terms of content-based teaching and a focus on
student-centered learning. Some of the things the learners included:
– featured
websites to enhance teaching and learning in each core content area as well as
high quality resources to find lesson plans and support
– guidelines for
planning a project based unit that will use technology in a way that enhances
your students’ learning experience
The powerful
means in teaching English as a Foreign Language is using:”Visuals for Content
and Language Learning”. The students read about “Images Can Make Powerful
Slam-Dunk Lessons” by Jamie McKenzie. This gave us a foundation in exploiting
multimedia resources in the classroom. When the students are ready to build
lessons around images or video they used the source “The Best Online Sources
for Images” by Ferlazzo. No matter what content area the students are
exploring, they are able to find appropriate images or video sources without
restrictive copyright protections. For the teachers to make use of the images
they find on the Internet, they may print them and take them to class. However,
we are more likely to want to download them to your computer so you can
incorporate them digitally into Web pages, blogs, or other Web-based tools we
were taught how to download images, audio or video. Usually I give the source
“Images Can Make Powerful Slam-Dunk Lessons”.
The last topic
the students like is “Problem Solving with Scenarios”. Scenarios, a format used
by Joan Berger, an Internet educational consultant, may be used with students
individually, with cooperative groups, or as whole-class Internet lessons. This
activity format poses issues to be explored or problems to be solved. There are
teacher-made questions to guide the student and an Internet site(s) that serves
as a resource to provide the needed information to complete the task. The
student researchers the Web site(s) provided by the teacher and reports (orally
or in writing) after examining the problem. Joan keeps a “Scenarios Box”, full
of Scenario assignments, so that students can pull one out of the box and work
on it at any time, using a computer located in the classroom. Such kind of work
with scenario is an intrigue stimulating creativity. The students share
scenario with everyone and then make assessment.In redesigning the process of
teaching I pay attention to create more activities that will the critical thinking only in this way the thinking can
be visible (critical writing, critical listening, critical reading, critical
speaking). These idea will be incorporated into redesigned lessons taking into
consideration purpose, concepts, inferences, implications, assumptions, and
points of view. In my opinion, the problem-based activity is one of the main
activities to develop the culture of thinking developing four above-mentioned
main skills. Integrating Internet helps us to use modern approaches in teaching
English, but because of information overload we do not have to forget about
critical thinking.
In conclusion, we
have to underline than critical thinking is the key point in Teaching English
as a Foreign Language. We, as Teachers always should remember about the main
work of Paulo Freire “Pedagogy of Freedom” – “Teaching is not just Transferring
Knowledge”. “The idea of “producing
critical and creative language learners is by no means an easy task, but it can
be achieved by engaging the Pedagogy of Question, which was proposed by P.
Freire. P. Freire added that teachers tend to adopt the pedagogy of answers
because they are sometimes afraid of questions to which they are unsure of the
answers, and also because maybe the questions do not correspond to the answers
they already have. Thus, it is extremely vital that teachers have positive
beliefs and attitudes towards questions. They should also be prepared to ask
questions in different ways in order to enhance the cognitive development of
learners. Friere’s problem-solving methodology helps us to implement critical
thinking on the base of innovative technologies in teaching.
References
1.
R. Land
and S. Bayne eds., 2011. Digital Difference: Perspectives on Online
Learning, Sense Publishers. The Netherlands, Rotterdam. Page 133
2.
Van
Weert, Tom J. and Mike Kendall eds., 2004. Lifelong Learning in the Digital
Age Sustainable for all in a changingworld, Kluwer Academic Publishers.
USA, Boston. Page1