Learner autonomy and one-computer classroom - Week 7 reflection

The topics in the past two weeks have been very interesting for me, as both of them highly reflect what I experience in Indonesia. Teaching large classes, though sometimes dreadful for most teachers, is actually as beneficial as teaching smaller ones; it is highly dependant on how teachers approach and engage this matter, especially through the employment of technology.

Nevertheless, sometimes limitation of technology, which in this week's context is the availability of computer, makes us wonder whether it is still possible to carry out teaching and produce students' learning results as high as possible?

I feel very fortunate to be part of this week's discussion as I am reminded that there is a very detrimental factor that must be considered in carrying out a teaching plan, especially to those related to large classes: learners' autonomy.

As I have expressed before, Indonesian still face cases in which teachers are faced by the obligation to teach a large number of students packed in a single class with very limited technology available.
With this obstacle on hand, we need to be able get around and maximize our students' learning experience, by guiding them to be autonomous, although many teachers still struggle to embrace this concept. As for my case that I want my students to improve their grammar and vocabulary ability, I hope I can maximize their interest and guide their autonomy to reach that goal.

Teaching large classes and technology - Week 6 reflection

Teaching a large class has been dreadful for so many of us. When we are confronted with a large group of students, as teachers we tend to come up with a question, 'will the lesson I am going to teach them be understood effectively by them?'

I also had this question in my mind when I came to face quite a large number of students in a class. Thankfully, through this week's readings, tasks, and discussion, I know that it is also possible to make the best out of a large class, especially through the careful use of the combination between teaching methodology and technology.

Of course, sometimes it seems quite difficult to engage a large number of students. However, by dividing the students into smaller groups so that they can work more effectively and we can manage efficiently the time to run the class, this challenge is slightly lightened, if not totally eliminated.

In relation to the condition that I face in Indonesia, in which my class usually consists of 30 - 50 students, I do believe that initial trigger of interest plays a very significant role in determining the course of the lesson as well as students' interest. However, how can I effectively utilize the students' interest to reach the bigger goal, which is to provide them ground on which they can practice and enhance their language ability, especially in terms of grammar and vocabulary?

Right now, I am thinking of dividing the students into several smaller groups, consisting 2 to 3 people. After that, I will ask each of the group to decide on a topic, from a list of topics I already prepare beforehand, that they want to work on. What they have to do is that they have to conduct a research on the topic of their choice. It means that they have to surf the internet, read books, discuss with their peers about their topic. In other words, by doing this task, they at least unconsciously expose themselves to useful language inputs, which can directly or indirectly develop their ability in grammar and vocabulary.

to be continued.... :)

Problem Based Learning

http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/images/8/87/Problem_2.jpg

At first, when I found out week 5's topic, 'Problem Based Learning', the first thought that came to my mind was (1) how to maximize the process as well as product of this learning method with regard to class time constraints and (2) how to make students engage themselves further in working on the project, so they can end up with a project of considerable quality and not that is 'copied-and-pasted'.

The discussion in nicenet gave me quite significant insights in answering these two questions:
(1) In order to maximize the process and product of this learning method, surely it is a bit impossible to rely on class time only. I was thinking to extend the project outside the class by using internet. One way that I think possible is to ask the students to make a blog / wiki / forum. In here, they can regularly post how far they have progressed with their report and their peers can also see as well as comment on the works. Teachers can also periodically control whether students have progressed or not, and give suggestions as well as hints.

(2) Then, students' submitting works with 'copied-and-pasted' materials is quite common to be found. Of course, as teachers, we consider this as something undesirable. Nevertheless, I was wondering how to make students engage themselves further in producing a good quality work.
The answer is: rubrics. To put it plain words, through the discussion I just reminded that rubrics can also serve as a 'contract', in which students are informed what they are expected to do and how good / far they have to do it. I think this is more than enough to ensure the students to keep their work quality.

Technology-supported lesson plan

In this week, I am introduced to the task of integrating technology in the lesson plan. In my mind, I always want to apply the principles of corpus linguistics in the teaching of vocabulary and grammar. What I find interesting about this week's topic is the example of how to integrate technology in the lesson plan. Also, with all the experiences shared by fellow teachers in nicenet, I get various helpful insights of how to apply technology in lesson planning as well as teaching.