The role of WebQuests in learning a foreign/second language

Webquest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the internet. WebQuests increase student motivation. When students are motivated, they are likely to put in more effort, and their minds are more alert and ready to make connections.

The role of the teacher is to design a good topic wih introduction and task to help students to understand the topic correctly and facilitator the process.Teachers benefit from WebQuests in a number of ways. For example, rubrics for each project and Web resource addresses are provided, authentic learning occurs, ideas for projects are supplies, and learning is fun for students while they integrate technology. While the role of the student is to learn what is a WebQuest and how to use it and benefit frome it and being active participants. Classroom environment should be enjoyable and interesting for students. 

Students should be taught to think logically, analyze and compare, question and evaluate. Critical thinking is using by graphic organisers , scaffolding and stating the processes to be developed like compare, write a summary,analyze, etc. WebQuests allow students to complete authentic projects and use technology to find and present information and, at the same time, alleviate some of the barriers teachers may find in their attempt to work in the confines of project-based learning. Collaborative learning on the webquest is important and make a students get more knowledge. learning through WebQuest activities can be a good means of collaboration among students in a class. Multiple teams in a class can be working on the same question that the WebQuest poses. However, the nature of collaboration can lead to different outcomes, depending on the interactions among the group members.

In the future as an EFL teacher, I will use a WebQuest with my students because it is easy for me to create a task and it is very helpful and useful for students. WebQuest ingage students to learn and get more knowledge. It has advantages for students and teachers. 

Reflect on the live session we had with Peggy

The Virtual classroom was about how does Arabic influence the pronunciation of English. It was introduced by miss Peggy, an American English Teacher. The time of the class was for one hour and it was there around 15 students and 2 teachers. Miss peggy talks about the differences between the sound system in Arabic and English language and the problem of how Arab people spell the word correctly. 

The advantages of virtual classroom that Large numbers of students can benefit from distance learning. Virtual classrooms are interactive enjoying increasing popularity, particularly among nontraditional students whose work or personal schedules do not allow for conventional classroom study. The flexibility of the virtual classroom makes it possible for many more people to enjoy the benefits of higher education.

The disadvantages of virtual classrooms that maybe some students feel boring and don't like this kind of learning. Some students have a problem of understanding, they need a time to understand and virtual classroom it may be not a good for them.

EFL Students need to Using virtual classroom in their learning and it will help them to enjoy and make the class interactive. Students sometimes need to learn with different kinds of learning to avoid boring.

Do teachers need to create Web based activities for EFL students in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia? Why and why not?

Nowadays, Creating Web based activities are very important and helpful for students to learn , not only in Saudi Arabia but in all the world. So, absolutely teachers need to create Web based activities for their students.  And I think its very comfortable when the teachers make their own website to learn their students. 

Web based activities have a positive results for students in subject.  It make a subject more easier and make students interesting to do their subject. 
Learners need a new way to learn whatever they want. And teaching with technology it comes with a positive results.  I think learning through a technology is the best way to learn.

Wordle in EDU 401

Grammar

What is Grammar ?

Grammar is the system of a language. People sometimes describe grammar as the "rules" of a language; but in fact no language has rules*. If we use the word "rules", we suggest that somebody created the rules first and then spoke the language, like a new game. But languages did not start like that. Languages started by people making sounds which evolved into words, phrases and sentences. No commonly-spoken language is fixed. All languages change over time. What we call "grammar" is simply a reflection of a language at a particular time.

Do we need to study grammar to learn a language? The short answer is "no". Very many people in the world speak their own, native language without having studied its grammar. Children start to speak before they even know the word "grammar". But if you are serious about learning a foreign language, the long answer is "yes, grammar can help you to learn a language more quickly and more efficiently." It's important to think of grammar as something that can help you, like a friend. When you understand the grammar (or system) of a language, you can understand many things yourself, without having to ask a teacher or look in a book.

So think of grammar as something good, something positive, something that you can use to find your way - like a signpost or a map.

English Grammar Activities

It’s very important for ESL students to master English grammar because it lays the foundation for writing and speaking. Learning all about adverbs, verbs, punctuation, plurals, tenses, and adjectives can be daunting but ESL teachers can use fun activities and games to make the lessons more interesting. Here are some resources on English grammar activities.

CLICK HERE

In this website there are many activates and games to learn English grammar like:

Grammar Ninja, Grammar Gorillas, and Penguins on Ice.

There is some activity in this website like:

Silly Sentence Maker:
CLICK HERE

Social Network Sites

What is your most important reason for using social networking sites ? In my opinion, the important reason for using social networking sites is to communicate with people, interact with each other and to helps in facing some difficulties in courses we study. I use social networking sites for study. For example, using sites to learn any lessons and it really does help me. Also, Sites are helpful to learn a new language and improve your language skills. Is it possible for you to use them in teaching EFL/ ESL ? Concrete example, please. It is possible to use social networking sites in teaching EFL / ESL. It is so useful to use social networking sites in teaching students. Some of teachers now use these sites in teaching their students. For example, I use a site called schology where teacher can give us an assignment and practice that helps us in a course. Also, she open a discussion where can we add a comment in friend's post. Nowadays, there are a lot of sites helps students in learning and write their own words such as edmodo and blogger.