Week 7: Reflections

This week, we have done the following assignments:

i- PROJECT TASK: SUGGESTING A PARTNER TO REVIEW OUR PROJECT REPORT
ii- CREATING AN INTERACTIVE POWER POINT DOCUMENT
iii- DISCUSSION (1): INTERACTIVE POWER POINT
iv- DISCUSSION (2): TECHNOLOGY FOR INTERACTIVE CLASSES

1) PROJECT TASK: SUGGESTING A PARTNER TO REVIEW OUR PROJECT REPORT
On Wednesday next week, May 26, I have to submit my raw project report regarding the technology-related change in my class to a partner in the online course for review and suggestions. Maha Al-Masri, a classmate, has kindly accepted my suggestion that we swap our first draft reports next week for peer-review.

As for the project itself, I have continued implementing my technology-related change that I started last week. My technology change as you can remember is the introduction of blogs in my English 101 (Reading and Writing) course. Last week I asked my students to post their writing assignments (about the pressures of being a student) and this week, I have started discussing some opinion questions related to a reading passage about Information Technology that we have done in class.

Although the responses are good, I feel that it could have been better if I had introduced this project at the start of the course. So far, only six to seven students out of 22 have posted their comments on the blog. I know that that are at least six others who wish to participate but they don't know how to post a comment on a blog! I explained to them in class but it seems that they're still facing a problem.

2) CREATING AN INTERACTIVE POWER POINT DOCUMENT
For this task, I have created an interactive quick vocabulary quiz using the Power Point for my Business students. As you can see in the presentation below, there are ten slides, each of which has a question with three multiple-choice answers. If you click on the right answer, a "Correct Answer!!!" message appears, but if you get the wrong answer, an "Incorrect Answer, Please Try Again" message appears. I can divide the class into two groups and have the students compete with each other. I think this interactive exercise would bring some excitement to the lesson and break the routine.

Vocabulary Quiz1

See more presentations by mohamedhasanuob | Upload your own PowerPoint presentations

3) DISCUSSION (1): INTERACTIVE POWER POINT
After reading the article Unleashing the Power of PowerPoint and viewing Deborah's presentation on Interactive Power Point, I came to know so many interesting things in the Power Point program, which could help English teachers to deliver their lectures more effectively. However, in order to make any success with the Power Point, teachers need to know how to use it interactively. For example:

• There should be as few words as possible in each slide.
• The number of slides should be kept to the minimum.
• The font of the text, its color and size should be appropriate.
• Use animation, hyperlinks, and action buttons in your PPP.
• Do not read from the slide as if you are reading a textbook.
• Do look at students 99% of the time.
• Make your argument is compelling to get the students' attention.
• Allow some time for students to see the slide before you discuss it.

4) DISCUSSION (2): TECHNOLOGY FOR INTERACTIVE CLASSES
In my post on NiceNet, I suggested a number of technology tools that I could use to make my classes interactive. One technique is the use of Interactive Power Point presentations with blank slides as a way of transition to class discussion, where students work in pairs or small groups to discuss concepts outlined in the PPT presentation. This technique, as Heather Macdonald puts it, "provide[s] feedback to the instructor on student understanding".

Other tools included a WebQuest or a Project-task based (benefiting from online materials) that contains interesting subjects to students and the Just-in-Time technique. For the latter, I could post questions related to the subject of the lesson on my blog and use the responses of students to tailor a lesson based on the students' needs. I think the Just-in-Time technique is a great way to engage students in deciding what the focus of the lecture will be and prepare them to the lecture very well. However, I think it will be an overwhelming task for my students and will need a lot of effort from my part to motivate students to post their opinions.


Yours,

Mohamed