Complete

 

KNOW-WANT-TO-KNOW CHARTS
(Week 4)

 

 

Instructions:

 

1. Complete the following chart with the information requested (see note below the table). The objectives of this activity are:

2. Use the Discusion Topics section of the platform to submit this chart, under the corresponding forum

 

 You will complete the first two columns in week one, and then you will be asked to complete the third column in week 4. However, you might want to complete it during the course.

 

 

Participant

Area

 

What I know

 

What I would like to know

 

What I have learned

 

Amanda

Vocabulary

 

 

 

 

 I've used HotPotatoes and Quia to create online quizzes.  Students also refer to online bi-lingual dictionaries to help them with learning.  This is mostly asynchronous.

How to make the most beneficial, worthwhile online material, for adults.

 

Determining useful online dictionaries for students

 I was able to play with and explore many sites which I think were valuable (others which I would love to use but are, unfortunatley, banned here at my university!)  I am certainly more comfortable with the idea of giving homework and taking the students to the lab without feeling like it will be a waste of time.

Grammar

 

 

 

Similar response as above.  In addition, I've sent students to sites where there are pre-made quizzes to help them review (not learn) the grammar.

1. Is this mostly modeling?

  2. How is this going to be more interactive than a grammar book?  

3. In what ways can the online environment be a better tool for learning grammar than the traditional classroom?

I learned that there are a lot of very interactive sites already available.  There are also some great FREE sites where I can create material which is suitable for my students

 

Hana

Vocabulary

 

Use Quia for vocabulary review.

 

Searches for websites for reading materials and related lessons

 

Most students like to use computer sites to review material individually and in pairs

How others teach vocabulary online, not just review it

 

Group activities

 

I have seen how teachers highlight vocabulary in online exercises and how they recycle the content for vocabulary and grammar.

 

Seeing that some of what I do in my classes is done by others. It is helpful to know your methodology and activities are appropriate.

Grammar

Correcting essays with color –coding and adding messages

  Use discussion boards and chat rooms for review sessions before tests

  Websites for grammar review

Develop course-wide formal assessments

 

Groups activities online

 

More websites

 

I have learned about many websites that I will explore later

Mark S.

Vocabulary

 f2f techniques in teaching vocabulary, such as word analysis in context.

 

I know that there's probably research that's been done on teaching vocabulary online – what works, what doesn't – and I'm not aware of it.

Some theory on teaching vocabulary & grammar online.

 

Techniques for teaching vocab & grammaronline.

 

Online sites for vocab & grammar development exercises and teacher resources in teaching vocab & grammar.

I liked exploring the different FREE web sites for producing vocabulary/grammar-related exercises, etc. This was valuable learning as I will now use a few of these sites to enhance lessons on my own website.

Grammar

Mary Jane

Vocabulary

 		I have only used vocabulary games and quizzes online through Quia--some of which I created, but mostly games created by others because I'm still learning! I would like to know how other teachers are teaching vocabulary online to promote learning and retention. I was introduced to many ways that Ts are presenting vocabluary online through the site evaluations. Also sharing our own lesson plans gave me new ideas.

Grammar

 		I have never taught grammar online, and I have very little understanding of how those courses are designed. I would like to know what others see as the advantages of teaching grammar online in addition to being able to teach from a distance and on a flexible time frame. I am still not so sure about how to teach grammar online, but  I have seen that there are certainly many online activities for grammar practice and testing.

Keiko

Vocabulary

 		In my reading class, I usually give students key words from the text, and let them find the definition with their dictionary for both vocabulary and brainstorming activities.  I sometimes give them guessing from the context exercise. What kinds of exercises are most effective and not boring.

I have learned that many online practices are enjoyable as well as educational.
I will use the pages for homework.
I also learned that some of the pages can be used for the test. 

Grammar

 		 I don't do much about grammar, but I sometimes do "correct the mistakes" exercise in my writing class. how to avoid L1 interference in writing and what is a natural way to acquire English proficiency about syntax I am not still sure how I teach grammar.  Probably, a lot of interaction will be most effective, considering native speakers’ acquiring grammar in such a short period of time. 

Carolyn

Vocabulary

 		I have never taught vocabulary online, so I’m starting out with a “blank sheet.” 

-Some useful websites which provide vocabulary lessons and exercises.

-How to encourage students to use their newly acquired vocabulary skills in authentic ways online. 

  -Some reading materials which are particularly rich in providing vocabulary development, especially for community college students.

-How to assess students’ acquisition of vocabulary.

-I have made a list of useful sites which were provided by other students and by our instructors.  (Examples: Activities for ESL Students, Free English, Isabel’s ESL Site.)
-In writing my lesson plan, I learned that students can use vocabulary study to aid their performance in class and in authentic situations such as looking for a job.
-The Critchely article provides a rich bibliography, including the following references: Beglar and Hunt (Vocab and Reading…), Helgesen (Bringing Those Books Back…), Hill (Setting Up…), Parry (Building Vocabulary through Academic Reading), Saragi, et.al. (Vocabulary Learning and Reading).
-Dafne’s Whole Language Project suggests a portfolio assessment including written summaries of books read, which could include words used in the selection. 

Grammar

 		Likewise, I have never taught grammar online, so I can only say that I know nothing about the process. 

How to structure an online grammar course; which texts and/or materials to use.  

Web sites which offer grammar lessons and exercises.

How to encourage students to use correct grammar in communicating with one another online.

How to encourage group work and how best to correct students’ grammar exercises.

-A list of materials and websites in Maria Torres’ “Creating Materials Online with Free Teacher Tools.”  Also “Karin’s ESL Partyland” and “One Stop English.”
-Teachers can print out the Discussion Forum threads and then use samples of students’ speech in correcting their grammar.
-Chat rooms for whole class and small group discussions encourage group work.
-Dafne’s Whole Language Project suggests a portfolio assessment which includes story grammar maps.

Karen

Vocabulary

 		I have taught f2f vocab courses using context clues and structural analysis. No online courses. I would like to know how to create vocabulary lessons online. I have learned more about how to create online vocab courses that I will use in all of my courses. I play more this summer and create more exercises with other websites. This course has provided so many resources.

Grammar

 		I have taught f2f grammar in writing classes through lessons. I assigned existing online grammar exercises. I teach grammar as the student needs it through his/her writing assignments I would like to create grammar lessons online and create a web site for the college where my lesson links are present as well as many others.

Learning how to use HotPot. I think I’ll use it a great deal.
Learning that so much is out there that is already designed. I need to have a webpage to put it links on so I can use them to supplement my courses.

Kathryn

Vocabulary

 		As an online teacher doing individual and small group online sessions, I’ve tried to teach vocabulary in context by teaching students to look for context clues. As an online student (I’ve taken several online courses in French, Spanish and Korean.), I think I’ve picked up the most vocabulary from reading and repetition. In my experience as a language learner, I retain vocabulary best when I can associate a new word with an experience, event or some other meaningful context. I’ve experimented a bit with Hot Potatoes for creating vocabulary exercises. I’d like to know what works best to help adults retain new vocabulary. My Korean adult students are always asking me how to study vocabulary. They are accustomed to memorizing lists, but I don’t believe this is effective. I always tell them to read, read, read as much as possible in English. I’d like to design some activities that combine reading and vocabulary.

1. I learned about a lot of great free sites for creating online exercises. There are so many resources, and now I just have to explore them all!
2. I learned about the usefulness of chat and discussion forums for giving students more opportunities to practice English in an authentic way.
3. I learned about some interesting ideas for learning vocab in context, like concordancing.
4. I had fun chatting with the instructors and course participants and trading such useful ideas.

Grammar

 		I haven’t really taught a grammar course online before. I’ve answered my students’ grammar questions during online sessions, but I’ve never taught a course specifically on grammar. Everything! I’ve only tried the usual online language quizzes (as a student) that can be found everywhere on the Internet, but I haven’t tried creating them myself.

1.I learned about more authentic ways of teaching grammar, like the lesson plan I did with electronic postcards.
2. I learned about a huge number of resources for exercise creation and ready-made exercises.
3.  I know about many good sites that I can refer advanced ESL students to for the courses I’ll be teaching in the fall. An example would be the Purdue Online Writing Lab.

 

 

Possible topics to comment on: teaching methods (different from f2f? synchronous, asynchronous?), error correction, individual work vs. group work, teaching strategies, learning styles, assessment.

 

Note: You can copy and paste this table to the editor available when replying to a forum thread, or you can create the table using the "create table" feature of the editor.

 

Dafne
June, 2004