mylife

Well it is true that a second or even a third set of eyes is always useful. It seems that we never can see the mistakes that we make ourselves; we are just too close to the project. I had a few errors in my HP activities, such as one question having no correct answers (opps), and a second having a spelling mistake, located by fellow workers before I posted the Web Page. I should have also learned how to spell Moreton Bay before trying to establish that I was some kind of expert on the history of the region (Oh No!). Well it happens to the best of us.

The students from my language class who I tested it on seemed uninterested in this topic. I have always struggled to find things that they are interested and a happy medium between the doing nothing that they enjoy and the challenging projects that foster belief in their abilities and independence that I love is not possible. Perhaps I need to choose something that they enjoy like movies or sleeping (?!?) Perhaps my next attempt will involve links to music lyrics or popular movie stars official homepages so they can write a biography of their life or learn about their interests. Again however as I have not had a chance to try out the WebQuest on them they are perhaps not interested in the topic yet.

In order to interest my students I would have to make them read some of the information as one of those who reflected on my web page noted she did feel more interested in Brisbane after doing the activities, though both commented that they were a little bit of a challenge. These games I should have pointed out are designed to be done after learning about Brisbane as a kind of follow up galvanization of what they have learned and the English skills that they need. However all this aside given they were able to choose which area of history they researched I should have not made the crosswords in particular so challenging.

I could have also added pictures to the match and puzzles however I had considered this but many of Brisbane’s historic pictures are copy-written and there are not too many of the buildings left due the fire that ravaged Brisbane early last century. Still more colour perhaps may have made it more appealing to the students, as would have any pictures that I could have found. I also could have linked the history text to the puzzles that required it for completion. This would have meant that students would not have to keep clicking back and forth to figure out the things they did not know. This saves time and allows students to recheck facts that they are unsure of.

However one thing is certain, linking computers and the Internet to English lessons makes things more interesting for the students and the teachers as it challenges and motivates us to try harder. It also makes them more interested in a topic as one of the people who commented on my page noted, she is now more interested in Brisbane’s history then she was before. This extra interest in turn produces more competent language creators who are more focused on the task that they are involved in. It also helps to foster in learners that sometimes elusive trait of autonomous language learning.