Week Two Reflections

 


Dear all,

In general week 2 was more fruitful.

My first reflection is here is the best search engine I found " http://funnylogo.info/engines/Google/Red/ouarda%20khouni.aspx" try it and you wont regret as all you will have is a smile. Just for fun.

Now, let's start to be serious.

What I did and learnt

            First I started by having a look at readings and week assignments where I skimmed articles about  writing course objectives and browsed through Noodletools that represent a great treasure of knowledge about search engines. I appreciated reading the following links:

1. Classifying objectives

 http://edtech2.tennessee.edu/projects/bobannon/classifications.html#bloom
 http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cognition/bloom.html

This  link is about blooms taxonomy of objectives which is a crucial issue in lesson planning because as teachers we should classify objectives because the type of objectives attempted dictate the selection of instructional methods, media and evaluation used in the lesson. Objectives may be classified according to the primary learning outcomes that take place. (said by the author of the article on same link). According to this taxonomy, objectives are classified into three types: the cognitive domain includes objectives related to information or knowledge, the psycho-motor domain, including  objectives that require basic motor skills and/or physical movement such as construct, kick or ski and the affective domain  includes objectives pertaining to attitudes, appreciations, values and emotions. From the reading also, we can know what kind of verbs we can use to describe the learning outcome or learners' behaviour which is very important to determine their type and make them measurable. 

2. Writing objectives

http://ets.tlt.psu.edu/learningdesign/objectives/writingobjectives/

What I really appreciated in this article is tackling the issue of writing objectives from a practice perspective. The examples given in detail helped us a lot in revising our previous objectives and rethinking about our problems and mistakes. It was a great experience for me. Also the list of references provided maybe served for further research. 


3.  How to Write Learning Objectives that Meet Demanding Behavioral Criteria


 http://www.adprima.com/objectives.htm

In this  article writen by Dr. Bob Kizlik, the importance of objectives is well stated and explained.

and that was expressed in one sentence said by the author :


"  The purpose of a learning objective is to communicate" ( Kizlik 2013)

               Therefore, a well-constructed behavioral learning objective should leave little room for doubt about what is intended. A well constructed learning objective describes an intended learning outcome and contains three parts, each of which alone means nothing, but when combined into a sentence or two, communicates the conditions under which the behavior is performed, a verb that describes the behavior itself, and the degree (criteria) to which a student must perform the behavior. If any one of these three components is missing, the objective cannot communicate accurately.

Therefore, the parts of a learning objective are:

1. Conditions (a statement that describes the conditions under which the behavior is to be performed)

2. Behavioral Verb (an action word that connotes an observable student behavior)

3. Criteria (a statement that specifies how well the student must perform the behavior).

Another thing I've just learnt is the revision of Bloom's Taxonomy which can be represented in this image. 

                          (Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html)

So what I learnted from week 2 is: it was a means to activate my schemata and bridge the gap between my prior knowledge and new things I learned during the course.  Further, the course started to refresh my motivation and encourage me to express my ideas, thoughts and reflections which I didnt do since a long time.




What I may apply in my teaching

As  a teacher, I'm thinking about three main things:

- To make further research and write a paper about demystifying the notion of objectives to clarify things for my colleagues and students.
- To organize a workshop on that and help teachers who still have problems to write objectives.
- I will revise all my lesson plans
- I will use blog assignments and consider them as a part of the course to train my students to use blogs and web activities and motivate them to use new techniques of learning.

Finally I will inform my students and colleagues about new search engines that they may use easity instead of Google.

Looking forward to hearing from you and reading your comments and reflections

Regards

Warda in Arabic (or Rose in English)