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CHAPTERONE.
WEB-BASEDACTIVITYFORMATS
OneofthemainassumptionsbehindInternet-basedactivitiesshouldbefostering
constructivistlearning,whichmeansthatinsteadofthetraditionaltransmissionof
knowledgefromtheteachertothelearner,thelatterisprovidedwiththeactivity
equippedwiththemotivation,resourcesandguidancetohelpactivelysearchfor,
evaluate,analyseandconstructknowledge.WilsonandLowry(2001)statethat
constructivistlearninginvolveshelpingstudents"developindividualcompetence,but
withinacontextofeffectiveparticipationwithingroupsandcommunities."Theypropose
threeprinciplesforeffectiveuseoftheWebforlearning:"Provideaccesstorichsources
ofinformation,encouragemeaningfulinteractionswithcontent,bringpeopletogether
tochallenge,support,orrespondtoeachother."Consequently,theroleoftheteacher
haschangedfromthemaster,thesourceofalltheknowledge,thedecisionmakeron
whatelementsofthatknowledgeandinwhatwayshouldbetransmittedtothelearner,
toaprompter,facilitator,computerskillsresource,and,aboveall,organizerand
controller.
Contrarytocoursebooktasks,whicharefiniteintheamountofmaterials,correct
answersandthewaysofachievingthetaskoutcome,Web-basedlearningwithitsalmost
infiniteresourcesopensupawealthofopportunitieswithoutimposingthesamelearning
pathonalllearners.Thus,Internet-assistedteachingisnaturallyconducivetothe
developmentoflearnerautonomy,which,atthesametime,alsoinvolveslearner
independenceandmotivationtobeabletospecifyandfollowone'slearningpath.Similarly,
Web-basedactivitieshelpbridgethegapbetweentheclassroomworldandthereallife,
exposingstudentstoauthenticinputandposinglife-resemblingtaskstobetackled.
Asworkingwiththecomputertriggersmainlystudent-computerinteractionand
createsfavourableconditionsfordevelopingreceptiveskills,theteachershould
rememberaboutbalancingthiswithpair-andgroup-workproductiveskillspractice
(speakingandwritingskillsdevelopment),aswellasgrammarandvocabularyfocuson
thebasisofInternetmaterials.Therefore,asdescribedindetailelsewhere(Krajka,
2003b),theusualformatofInternet-basedinstructionwillinvolvethedivisionofthe
lessonintopre-,while-andpost-stages,wherethefirstandthelastareusuallyoff-line
andconsistmainlyofgroupworkandpairworkspeakingskillspractice,whole-class
grammarorvocabularywork,whereasduringtheonlinewhile-stagestudentswork
individuallyorinpairsontheNet,searchingformaterials,extractinginformation,
writingtexts.ThefinalcomponentofaWeb-basedlessonisusuallyafollow-upstage,
eitherconstitutinghomeworkorapartofthesubsequentlesson,whenstudentsprepare
foranddeliverpresentationsofthefindingsofthewhile-stage,inpairs,groupsortothe