The role of WeQuests in learning a foreign/second language

 

 

 

 

A Web Quest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from  resources on the internet, optionally supplemented withvideoconferencing.                                                                           

A Web quest provides a means of supplying to students a topic-oriented hotlist of Web sites as a starting point for gathering information or ideas. Usually Web quests are group activities with an end goal of creating a document that collects. Web quests tend to be student-oriented and collaborative, with students engaged in constructivist activities resulting in shared learning experiences and new knowledge.

 

The web quest is important and useful for students. Students who is using web quest, they think together and they compare the information.web quest In the process, the students learn how to search effectively, evaluate what they find, and write it. They can search in group or individual about the information that they need in the web quest.the teacher is to help the students to understand the topic and to give them a clear idea and information about the topics. In web quest, the students can explore the materials, activities, information and ideas that they need it and search about it.

In our school , they don't use web quest too much because no internet available or technology.

      In my opinion, the web Quest, it provides information and a specific ideas  of the topics that the students need it in their study or in their life.     

 

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website evluation:

 

   URL: http://a4esl.org/      

Title: Activities for ESL Students.

It is a website to help students learn English as a Second Language (ESL),or as

 a foreign language(EFL). It is contain Quizzes, tests, exercises and puzzles to

 help students learn English. This website has thousands of contributions by

 many teachers. 

Website general evaluation:

 

The website is very useful for the students to learn English, also it

has a lot of quizzes and exercises that can the students test

themselves. In addition, it has a quizzes for all the level for the

students (easy, medium and difficult).

Advantages:

 

There are a many advantages in this website, it is easy to use and it is  a clear, accuracy and meaningful for the students.  Also, it is interactive website and all the information and ideas links to each other.

On the other hand, the students can use this website free and they

don't need to pay for it. They can know the correct answer in this

 website. It has a good choice of colors that help and encourage the

 students to learn better.

 

Disadvantages:

There is not a pictures or graphics that can help the students to

learn better. Also, no sounds found in the website.

In the end, I think it is very useful website that the

students can learn from it.

 

 

Done by: Razan badawi-Reem salem

 

 

 

                                                                                                      

Interactive Language Learning on the Web

World wide web:

v commonly known as the Web, is a system of interlinked documents accessed via the Internet. With a web browser, one can view web pages that may contain text, images, videos, and other .

 

v Interactive language learning on the web is that the information available on the Web affords teachers and learners access to language learning resources like never before . They can search about anything such as: Online journals, newspapers, and magazines. On the other hand,  Teachers can create their own  interactive language learning activities, worksheets  on the Web.

 

v Why Create Your Own Web-Based Language

Learning Activities?

The search of the Web for language learning activities will produce hundreds of online exercises, lessons, games, and quizzes in many different languages. There are many advantages to creating your own interactive language learning activities for the Web. These advantages include accessibility, renewability, and adaptability.

o   Accessibility: By putting course material on the Web, teachers provide

               students with 24-hour,  updates to Web pages and new assignments are immediately available to

              students.

o   Renewability: Once created, materials can be updated easily and often.

o   Adaptability: Web-based activities can easily be modified to support students at different proficiency levels or with special needs.

v In addition, there are some difficulties in creating online activities involves the variability of students’ access to computers type of computer and browser will they be using?. Also, he connection speed .

 

 

v We can use the web to teach Vocabulary practice, grammar lessons, comprehension exercises, reading and writing tasks, and even pronunciation exercises.

 

 

         Reading and Writing Skills With Discussion Boards and weblogs.

 

 

Vocabulary and Grammar Exercises With JavaScript.

 

 

Listening Comprehension and Pronunciation Practice

With RealAudio.

 

Online Assessment With HTML Forms and CGI Script.

 

 

 

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wordle

Blogs, wiki and delicious

“How can blogs, wikis and delicious be used in the Saudi EFL context?”

I think the blogs, wikis and delicious is very useful in the EFL. The teacher can use it to improve and develop the learning process.

When the students use this websites, they can increase their  knowledge and proficiency in the technology .   

Blogs :

A blog is a website in which items are posted on a regular basis and displayed in reverse chronological order. Blogs are usually written by one person and are updated pretty regularly. The teacher can use this website to post something about the EFL with the students and the students can comment about it. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or reflect the purpose of the Web site that hosts the blog.

 

 

Wikis:

A wiki is a Web site that allows the students and teacher to add and update content on the site by using own Web browser. Visitors can also create new content and change the organization of existing content. wikis make it possible to add or change images, tables, and certain interactive components such as games, the teacher can use some games in the this website to improve EFL.

 Delicious:

Is a website which I can save Web pages I find and share them with other users. The teacher can use this wise in EFL by put some pages about it and share it with the students. Delicious keeps track of how many people bookmark each site and posts the most popular websites on its home page. It's a very useful for students to interact with their teacher and with their classes.

 

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants:

 Digital immigrant teachers :who were not born into the digital world but have, at some later point in our lives, become fascinated by and adopted many or most aspects of the new technology. Digital Native students: students are all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet.

 

Differences between Digital Immigrant teachers and Digital Native students. Digital Immigrants learn – like all immigrants, some better than others – to adapt to their environment, they always retain, to some degree, their "accent," that is, their foot in the past. Digital Immigrants typically have very little appreciation for these new skills that the Natives have acquired and perfected through years of interaction and practice. These skills are almost totally foreign to the Immigrants, who themselves learned – and so choose to teach – slowly, step-by-step, one thing at a time, individually, and above all, seriously. Some refer to them as the N-[for Net]-gen or D-[for digital]-gen. But the most useful designation I have found for them is Digital Natives. Our students today are all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet. Digital Natives: they use the technology every day, but Digital Immigrants

 Those of us who were not born into the digital world but they don't use technology too much.

 

The “digital immigrant accent” can be seen in such things as turning to the Internet for information second rather than first, or in reading the manual for a program rather than assuming that the program itself will teach us to use it. Today‟s older folk were "socialized" differently from their kids, and are now in the process of learning a new language. And a language learned later in life, scientists tell us, goes into a different part of the brain. For examples : They include printing out your email or having your secretary print it out for you an even “thicker” accent. and bringing people physically into your office to see an interesting web site (rather than just sending them the URL). needing to print out a document written on the computer in order to edit it (rather than just editing on the screen).

 

the biggest serious problem facing education today is that our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language.

 

       I think the digital natives will learn the old way. But, I think the Digital Immigrant should learn the new because the Digital Native have little patience for lecture, step-by-step.

      They should learn more about technology and using computer, games, internet in their education

welcome

Hi all. this is my blog :)

the normalization

 

It explains how was the CALL in the past , present, and how it is now. Also, it explains the three phases of CALL . Bax has some argued about this phases and he talked about normalization.

I think we have many areas connecting  the future of CALL with that of language teacher education and learning . And the normalization is consider a big area of the teaching and learning. This will require changes in technology, in the size, shape and position of the classroom and using of the computer a lot in the education.

 

Normalization is To make normal, easy and can understand it in the easy way for the students . To make (a text or language) regular and consistent, especially with respect to spelling or style.

 

 

 

 

I think that the Saudi classroom already used the normalization. But some of the classroom, they did not use the technology too much in the Saudi class or just some of the Saudi class use it.

On the other hand,  the teachers used the traditional way when it comes to teaching in school. They just see teaching as a tool ,reading and explain from the book but not through technology. However, students have more chance to use technology in college and higher education.

 

 

They can achieve this by use the technology  in a good way and how to deal with it. By giving them laptop and ipad. Using project, smart board and PowerPoint  .