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The Role of Web Quests in Learning a Foreign/Second Language

        A web quest is a lesson format in which all the information the students will learn comes from the web. It can be created using different programs, including a simple word document includes links to websites where they can find the information they need to learn. A web quest is used for different learning purposes and different levels.  The learners who are involves on the web-quest task has the opportunity to learn, search, read, rewrite, reflect and provide a valid information about whatever they need to learn.

            Web quest are designed to guide the students and show them the way on how they can take out information they need from different resources which are giving to them by the teacher. Web quest can contains activates and tasks which helps the students to be self-educated with the help of the teacher, on other words the learners are learning independently.

               Teachers can make a web quest for cooperative purposes.       For example: the teacher provides a task with a chosen topic then the teacher asks the students to find out more about that topic by surfing the sources that the teacher has provide them with, to come up with the information’s needed. Also The teacher can provide a complex tasks based on challenging questions or problems that involve the students' problem solving, decision making, investigative skills. The students according to this need to find answers, evidences, materials, solutions, recommendations, ideas and hypothesizes that are not available in the sources they have been given to improve their critical thinking skills. And this can be considered as Anther sample of web-quest cooperative work that is called project-Based learning (PBL).

             Finally, as a future EFL teacher, I will use Web quests with  my future EFL students in Saudi Arabia. Because it is a very helpful tool to be used in the learning process for both students and teachers. For the teachers it’s going to save their time so they can spend that time helping the students and guide them. Students will be improved in different areas like: reading, writing and even their critical thinking skills. They will learn how to take out information they need with out copying from the net.

Web Site Evaluation

 

 

 

 

 

Website URL 

 

            It is an activity website for ESL/EFL (English students). The website URL is http://a4esl.org/. This web site includes a variety of quizzes, tests, exercises and puzzles with different levels to help students learn English whether as second or foreign language. It provides a huge number of languages, which makes it helpful all around the world not only in a specific country or continent and it can help people to learn not only English but other languages too.  

 

        It's easy to use this web site because it has many sections and every section presents a skill, exercise type, which begins from easy level till it, reaches the difficult level. This web site is effective for vocabulary and grammar. Having different levels of language exercises makes it very useful. It gives feedback while taking the quiz. If one answer is wrong it tells you what is the right one and then before you finish the quiz you will be asked the questions, which you answered them wrong. At the end of every quiz the student will be given a percentage out of 100 of their performance. 

          

          The things that make this web site very helpful are, it is easy to use, and it’s free, the way quizzes are presented. It can be opened on the iPhone or iPod. It provides the students with different kinds of online dictionary to help them improve and search for the words meaning in an easy way. To improve this web site the quizzes should be corrected at the end not while the students are answering. Then they can see the right answers and they can be graded to know their level.

As a future  English language teacher if i want it to provide my students with a website like this or even a sources, I will taking into account that:-

 

1- web is real.

2- web is valid.

3-web is based on my students need.

4- web is attractive and written with highly Professional ways.

5- web is authentic.

6- web which can assess them with a feedback.

7- web for all the skills.

8- web for students special needs.

9-web with quizzes.

 

 

Written By : Ala’a Al-abbadi & Reham Hossan.



Interactive Language Learning on the Web

        There are so many language learning resources on the internet. Learning via the internet is exciting. There are so many tests on the internet.

Teachers can create their own interactive language learning activities on the internet. I would like to discuss some challenges for teachers who want to design their interactive web based language learning activities. One of the challenges is that many teachers does not know how to use technology, and there are some questions which must be answered by teachers.

 

 

 What type of computer and browser will they use?

 

 

 What is the connection speed at which they will be accessing activities?

 

 

The have to put in minds that also Web pages must be designed for disabled students.

 

 

 

 

 

       Now I would like to address the question of what we can teach on the web. Many things can be taught on the web such as vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.

 

Reading and writing skills can also be tough on the web. Games are tools through which a person can learn new vocabulary. Pronunciation can be learnt through listening to native speakers of English talking on the internet.

 

 

 

Wordle for EDU 401

Blogs, Wikis and delicious be used in the Saudi EFL context

  There are a lot of teaching methods which should be used on what to be adequate with the way learners. For example, there are blogs, wikis and delicious.

 

 

The blogs are very helpful for the use of Saudi EFL context. Writing upon the blogs can improve the students’ writing skills by writing in English. This makes them sharing or providing.ideas about the lesson and following the  latest updates and comments toea chother, and the teacher can also know about their comments and feedback.

If I were ateacher, I would put down some activities on my own blog for example writing activities: e.g.: Write about 500 words for digital immigrants.

The delicious is very helpful on the use of Saudi EFL context. They can storage links on it, make a list of websites which learners want to explore or enjoy and they can search other users’ tags for whatever they want and even if they don’t have their own computer they can accesses it from any  where.

On delicious I searched for writing quizzes and I found one site which involves games, activities, and quizzes related to reading skill. I’ve highlighted the bookmark as the following link:

http://www.real-english.com/new-lessons.asp

 

The Wiki are very helpful for the use of Saudi EFL context. On wiki, the teacher may post different questions or thoughts which they want the students to respond to. At the same time students can also create their own pages to display the final work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Digital Immigrant teachers and Digital Natives

 

       From time to time changing techniques and methods used by humans to the lookout for new knowledge and electronic digital life are evidences of these changes. The people who were working on the technology found that technical filed is divided in to two. They are categorized as Digital Immigrant teachers and Digital Native students.

Firstly, the digital immigrant is the person who was born before the existence of digital technology and adopted it to some extent later in life. Secondly, the digital Native students are the people who are all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet.

 

There are a lot of differences between digital immigrant teachers and digital native students. The digital Immigrant teachers come with self-education, a lot of patience, and they like to learnstep-by-step. One the other hand, the digital native studentsare receiving information really fast, like parallel process and multi-task, and they prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite.

 

The digital immigrant accent means the people who used to turning to the internet for information. Furthermore; they prefer in reading the manual for a program rather than assuming that the program itself will teach us how to use it. For examples, they use to send the URL links by email rather than to share it with other by using a delicious or the edmodo or they may not know about them either, also they need to print out a document written on the computer in order to edit it (rather than just editing on the screen, and they still are usingold methods of lecturing and teaching.

 

In the field of education there are a lot of problems. One of these problems is that teachers who are not on the experience in the area of these new technologies insist on teaching originally. They feel more settled and familiar with it and comfortable with enough traditional way of experience most of the times.

 

A strong competition between the rejection of digital natives to deals with the old ways of their teaching methods, and the persistent of digital immigrants with their old ways of teachingI think that the quality of education must be the goal for both sides and the digital immigrants have to introduce themselves to the newworld, so they can help others and help those in need of their expertise.

 

If the digital immigrant educators really want to reach digital natives they have to follow up the methodology and the content of the digital natives. Moreover; they have to learn how to communicate in the language and style of their students.

 

     Finally, I’m very happy because I live on days where every thing became much easier and I’m proud because I'm one of the digital natives.

Normalization and Call

Bax argues that, "Our aim should be to attain a state of `normalisation' in which the technology is invisible and truly integrated"

4. Reflect on reading 3 and post:

a. In brief, paraphrase the changes which Bax suggested and the means proposed of achieving normalizations.

b. Explain how these changes and means could be applied to our Saudi context.

c. Your first post should be entitled: "The Possiblity of Reaching Bax’s Normilasation in our Saudi context: Why is it possible? When is it possible/reached/achieved? How will it be reached?

     Stephen Bax is a Professor in Applied Linguistics, his 2003 article on CALL won an Elsevier prize. According to his analysis of the CALL, he Changes form phases to approach then he provides three phases and CALL, their dates and a little.

    The first approach was the behavioristic CALL which is related to practicing, drill, behaviors, and theories; the second approach was the communicative CALL which is based on flexibility when dealing with the students, the third approach was the integrative CALL which is depended on multimedia and on the internet. It allows us to use a variety of media such as sound and video. He also provides a tree steps in order to achieve the normalization of CALL. The first one was mentioned to identify the critical factors that are needed for normalization, the second one was mentioned to make sure that the teaching context drives by these criteria, the last step was mentioned to adjust our practice and experience in each element for the purpose to encourage normalization.

    In my country the CALL may not get as much attention as that normalization. In my opinion even not the time to rely upon.  

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