Week 2 : My reflections

Week 2: My reflections

Discussion on search engines

The second week has seen a lot of discussions on exploring non-Google search engines and websites which are useful for ESOL studies. After going through the recommended readings and the links I came to learn about 50  odd search engines and the strategies to refine our searches to get narrow, more useful hits. We can now really see beyond Google and see that 'one size doesn't fit all' and that there are many other alternatives to Google. Participants have shared their personal experiences with various search engines (and many useful websites!) in the class discussion thread to highlight the speed, relevance and accuracy of these engines. At the same time some important issues also came up for discussion regarding child safe search (Saafa ), authenticity of resources at Wikipedia (Diana, Liliana, Robert), search for audio files (Sam) and many other colleagues have given long lists of their recommended websites.

But I feel that the recommended lists are so long that one can easily get lost in the maze. So the guiding principle remains "Choose the search engine that best meets your information needs". All we need to do is to prepare a manageable inventory of search engines and web sites that best meet our major search requirements for our respective learners and for our own academic and general pursuits. Perhaps it can be taken up as a valuable research project where a team can compile a list of such resources along with small descriptive tags. 

Writing learning objectives ABCD style

The second task for the week was to write learning objectives written in Pennsylvania State University's ABCD style .I usually engage my learners in such learning tasks as letter writing, report writing, taking long turns in speech, précis writing, role plays and discussions. I think the learning objectives cast in ABCD style can be very useful in determining, as Lohr points out, specific knowledge, skill, or attitude and specifying what method of instruction and criteria for learner achievement are required. 

An example of learning objective

Given a topic statement and three bullet points,(A) the learners (B) will be able to develop a letter in about 150 words around the given bullet points (C) with no more than 3 mistakes in coherence, cohesion and grammar.(D)

Robert pointed out that section D could be made more precise by adding a performance criterion like "with at least the score of 8 on 10." I also joined discussion with Sam, Liliana, Colomba and agreed with this. I believe that  writing a learning objective in ABCD style is a pretty handy tool for learners and the teacher as it brings much clarity in the teaching and learning operations in a classroom. However, as has been pointed out in the recommended readings, this tool cannot adequately specify those learning behaviors where the learning processes are multiple, complex and more covert as was evident from my discussion with Sam, Liliana, and Colomba. 

My Learners' Profile

The third task was to define the class and learners that I teach. The primary objective was to make some preliminary beginnings towards the project that every participant will be taking up individually. My learners are first year students of a three year degree course in humanities. They are boys and girls in the age group of 18-20 years who have studied English in the literary-humanistic, examination-oriented instructional system for about 7-8 years.The target group has joined a Functional English course instead of a literature-based English course because they want to learn practical skills of English so as to communicate effectively in real life situations. They are used to teacher-centered lecture classes and are not experienced in participative learning methods like group or pair work.Typically these students come to a Functional English class with the mindset of examination-oriented learners and the biggest challenge before a teacher is to engage them to learn English language for genuine communication rather than for passing the examinations. 

My target learners have some basic knowledge of computers and internet surfing, Facebook and online chatting. However, they communicate in their local language using English letters. I think a teacher can exploit their familiarity with the Net and with some training help them get involved in computer assisted/online learning of English. We have a special computer-assisted language lab in our college where learners can spend time learning English online. I would like it much if I could blend classroom learning with online learning. Perhaps this very idea could be a stepping stone for my project. 

Well this week I also visited most of the blogs of my classmates (Diana, Colomba, Liliana) and commented and shared a few things with them.  Another learning was to know my scores using Jupitar Grades, i think it is very good idea to "outsource" grade compilation work and it can certainly reduce burden of organisations where large scale testing takes place.