3. The Activity Context
- The High School in which the activity is taught is located in a poor socio-
economic context.
- The neighbourhood is situated in the outskirts of the city, so the students
have to take the bus or go to school by car. However, this is not usual since the
majority of the schools are in the city centre, thus, the pupils can go on foot.
- All the students use second-hand books (or recycled ones).
- The learners to whom the activity is addressed have computer at home but
they do not know how to use the LMS (Learning Management Systems) or
Web 2.0 technologies in an educational way. However, they are competent in
using the Microsoft Office Tools such as Word or Powerpoint Presentations.
4. Learning Outcomes for the
Activity
By completing this activity, my students will demonstrate their achievement of
the following learning outcomes:
1. Improve their writing skills (grammar, spelling and punctuation).
2. Be more familiar and practice a Foreign Language, in this case, English.
3. Learn how to collaborate with their peers by creating a collective story.
4. Review and criticize constructively their classmates work.
5. How the activity is delivered
They have to use a specific tool called Edmodo to undertake the activity.
So As a teacher I:
- Explain in class how to use Edmodo properly. (They are not familiar with it)
- Simulate, in the computers’ room, they are doing the activity (writing a simple
sentence in a particular space from the tool)
Once they know how to use it:
- The activity should be done at home, that is to say, online.
- The assessment of the task will also be online.
6. Critique of the effectiveness of the
activity
- The task is at first not easy to do by the students, since they are not familiar
with Edmodo.
- Every pupil has a different level of technical skills required to use the
tool, so some of them demand assistance and support.
- Some amount of time (two hours, that is to say, almost all the sessions of a
week) is needed to learn how the tool works and have a good command of it.
- Some of the students are afraid of writing, and they try to confront the
teacher by saying they cannot see the importance of using Edmodo to
improve the writing skills.
7. Learning Benefits of the activity
- Edmodo is easy to set up, since in two hours my students can master the
tool.
- The majority of students are familiar with Facebook, so the way the tool
works is very similar to it.
- Students are more engaged with the contents of the class, since they can
interact with their peers.
- The pupils improve their writing skills by creating simple sentences freely
that will belong to something bigger (a collective and collaborative story).
- The learners improve their critical analysis skills as they have to review
their peers’ work.
8. Improvements to be done
In order to improve the learning and teaching strategies in the activity:
1. I should use LMS and Web 2.0 technologies more often in class,
because my students feel sometimes lost when they have to use them and they
cannot see the relevance of them in the activities proposed.
2. More freedom and less guidance would be necessary to the students by
creating their own blogs (since the majority of them are quite easy to use) and
using Edmodo as a daily and learning tool.
3. They should be encouraged to assess their peers, since they are quite
teacher demanding, that is to say, “only” the teacher has the knowledge, and
thus, the “power” to assess. Under my point of view, this thought is commonly
spread and reinforced by the teachers themselves, in order not to lose their
authority.
9. PART B (Based on Part A)
Identify components of my activity that would benefit from
integration of an online component
10. Benefits of the online section of
the activity
As I mentioned in Part A, the activity consists in writing an online a collaborative and collective story
using Edmodo.
A colleague experience:
- Before using this tool I asked for information and experience a colleague who worked in the
same school as me and was using the tool. She utilizes it to comment on critically with her students the
English language listening and writing activities proposed by her, which consisted of watching videos of
funny cartoons and songs. This teacher told me how the students were participating, since they were
more engaged in the subject. They also used Edmodo to upload and show their recorded at home role
plays. Thus, she gave me the motivation that I was looking for, for me and for my students.
- The present writing activity is supported by the experience of others who are successful using it.
- So, I use Edmodo as a blog, where my students can communicate among themselves and with me as in
a sub-hub, that is to say, when I am out of class, give them extra academic support or provide updates to
students who are absent from class.
11. Literature found in the Internet
- In Edmodo’s blog, there are varied experiences of multiple teachers sharing their experiences with
the tool. Thus, I found an experience that supports the benefits of my online activity. The teacher,
whose name is Anthony J. Garcia and works in Florida states that “Edmodo’s easy to use interactive
design increases the likability factor of any subject exponentially. This in turn escalates student
participating and learning.”
- He also says that “Besides having to use complete sentences and demonstrate the correct
use of punctuation and spelling, they are required to include pictures and links to websites,
and/or videos related to their specified interest.”
- His “students are required to respond to high interest articles with their opinions, and provide
additional digital resources that piggyback upon previous responses. All posts are reviewed and
critiqued on our interactive white board.”
So, Anthony J. Garcia supports my online activity since as I mentioned in Part A, it not only
improves the writing skills but also critical thinking.
12. Literature found in the Internet (II)
In a website called www.educatorstecnology.com I found a range of resources and uses to work
with Edmodo.
- One of them is related to writing in which it is said that the tool is very useful because it “provides
your students with an enriching writing environment where they can compose collaborate and share
their writing projects with peers teachers and family”.
In Lizzie Pinard’s blog reflectiveteachingreflectivelearning.com I discovered a very interesting
idea which is essential to support my ideas on the online activity I planned for my students.
- As she says “For learners in contexts where there is not a lot of opportunity to use English outside
the classroom, a genuine communicative situation is created”. Also “quieter learners may
feel more comfortable expressing their opinions in writing and doing so may help build up their
confidence to increase spoken production later on”. I can add that as my students are afraid of writing,
doing such a collaborative (and almost anonymous) task can prevent them from be ashamed of their
productions, thus, be more self-confident in the near future.
13. My reflections
The key benefits of the online component in my activity:
1. It helps my students to work together as a team, not competing but
collaborating and being more motivated in a familiar environment, since
they use new technologies in their private sphere, with family and friends using
Twitter or Facebook.
2. It enhances their autonomy, because their piece of writing is necessary in
order to build up the story.
3. It opens the door to use the language they have learnt in class
(grammar, vocabulary, spelling and punctuation).
4. It shows them that the teacher is a guide, not the source of knowledge and
the “only one” who can assess. Thus, peer review and assessment is
reinforced.
