Working with Interactive Exercises
One of my underlying goals for this year (2010) was to find a way to trigger some sort of e-learning or b-learning among my students at the university. Being this my third online course this year and second on Web 2.0 tools to host and foster autonomous learning among my students, I feel very happy to have bumped into this Laureate course and groupof colleagues. And although I could not accomplish everything I wished I had achieved this year with my students, every single lesson I get to discover that I can somehow try to make my dream come true.
Now with this unit on Working with Interactive Exercises, I have realized that these gadgets provided by http://hotpot.uvic.ca/ are already a go-of-it. Hot Potato is just like a go-between the regular class that they can have at the university and what they can be autonomously learning anytime, anywhere, with my assistance, of course.
On the one hand, cloze and c-tests in Reading Skills courses sound like a nice way to test vocabulary items we have studied in the course, perhaps using Rebecca Oxford’s theory of the way material should be reviewed, -backwards. On the other hand, multiple choice and matching exercises sound good to me like online self-quizzes that students can perform at home prior to partial or final exams. This could provoke some kind of action plan among students if they get to score low.
And the game-like presentation that you can create for your classes with http://pppst.com/templates.html is a simply awesome gadget that can make one’s class a nice learning environment for our pupils with fun but learning-oriented activities. This will trigger very positive and meaningful learning experiences in class that will make student learning memorable and hopefully unforgettable.
Wondering about which of these gadgets one can use to produce one’s materials, I guess I have to say that all of them are a great “deal.” Depending on what we want to do, perhaps this or that is the most suitable for a given exercise. I guess any teacher a bit hungry for interactive exercises will need to try them all: for in-class practice or for online autonomous exercises.
To conclude, I want to share a free site with all my colleagues: CLEAR, -Center for Language, Education, and Research- http://clear.msu.edu/. This site sponsored by Michigan State University provides users, upon their free registration, 38 free products that you can use on your IWB or that students can access from home through the Internet. This Website is a must in your planning and classes.
I used the QuizBreak, a jeopardy-like game, to play with my students and review concepts and their applications in my Pronunciation 1 class. Take a look at the link and give your feedback:
http://clear.msu.edu/quizbreak/play.php?board=35074-1274464903.
This jeopardy-like activity can be much more fun than an interactive PPT.
Best regards from Costa Rica
Jonathan
Universidad Latina
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