Week 5 “Taking Students on a Field Trip to the Web”

Though having used different tools to motivate students before, I was always a grammar-based, very traditional teacher. Traditional teacher-centered lesson is not all bad, but I think that made students passive learners. What teachers need to do is to train students to be independent learners.

For that purpose, project-based learning and WebQuest type tools, when used properly, will be very beneficial to the educational system.　Students will have a specific topic to talk about, otherwise they are sure to talk about what TV program they watched the previous night. It would be so hard to stay still and keep quiet for 50 minutes. When they have a project that they have to finish in a certain time limit, I am sure that what they talk about in class is their project. Many of the questions I would receive would be about how to deal with the project or what this sentence means instead of “Can I go to the restroom?” What could make a teacher happier?

So, I think a well-thought-of project based learning lesson will change students’ behavior as well as teachers’. I would rather spend much more time thinking about my lesson plans for students than any other odd jobs that are required to do as a public servant.

In “Less Teaching and More Learning” (http://www.ncsall.net/?id=385 ), Susan Gaer said that her students develop a sense of community. I see the project –based learning could create the learning field to connect students to each other. My first technology-assisted PBL is “Intergenerational Activity on Saving Local Folktales”. The reason I chose this topic is that I wanted to make a connection between the young and the elderly to preserve a part of Okinawan culture and good old folktales told by them.

As the birth rate in Japan is going down, there will be a lot less children and much more senior citizens. But working with the elderly is not so appealing to young people and there are not enough workers in nursing homes or rehabilitation facilities. I hope this project will help my students interact with the elderly as well as appreciate their rich culture.

Another thing we learned this week was creating a webquest.
Thanks to the clear and precise explanation on Zunal WebQuest Maker (http://www.zunal.com/part1.php ) and WebQuest. org (http://www.webquest.org/index-resources.php), I was able to understand its concept. It has been quite nerve wracking. It took me much time making every component of a webquest, but every time I felt the burden making it, I went back to the goal, “what do I want students to learn through the inquiry I present to them?” The work has to involve the use of the web, discussion, team collaboration and cooperation and oral performance. I searched the web for projects that matched my topic, a kind of method I want to take and the English proficiency level of my students. I wanted the topic to be something related students to the community, and something some students are familiar or all of the students should know about.

I appreciate pioneers and predecessors so much for their hard work on creating webquests. On the base of their works I was able to make my webquest.
Without using the examples of the projects of “WebQuest Explore Oregon” (http://ces.nwasco.k12.or.us/staff/lhughitt/webquests/exploring_oregon.htm) and “Travel Brochure WebQuest” by Miss Kelli Grammes (http://www.beth.k12.pa.us/schools/wwwclass/kgrammes/kgwebquest/kgwebquest.htm#process). I could not have finished making it. The URL of my first webquest is http://questgarden.com/96/22/9/100211050643/ . It is unrefined and not polished but I enjoyed making it.

What I like most about school is I learn something new. This week I learned the web to be the field where students go around and learn by seeing and touching. The webquest would be a field trip. Teachers need to watch over their students and make sure they do not get lost. That is the metaphor I used for the web and webquest.