Dear FLE 304 members,
What do you think of the extent of applicability of the webquests to the teaching of EFL reading in Turkey? In what ways do you think the use of webquests can enhance the quality of the teaching of EFL reading? What do you think are the potential drawbacks related to this technique?
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I think WebQuest technique is “teacher helper”. Since it is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the Internet as Bernie Dodge said, teachers embrace it as a way to get benefit from the web while engaging their students in the kinds of thinking that the 21. Century requires which is critical thinking. It is a perfect model for teachers to incorporate the Internet into the classroom environment. It is such a powerful learning instrument that a good WebQuest makes learning interesting for students. It assigns them to use the World Wide Web to learn about a specific topic. It requires synthesis of the new knowledge by completing a “task,” often to solve a hypothetical problem or address a real-world issue. Investigating and collecting new knowledge from web-based sources can also be a more engaging and effective replacement for the traditional methods such as read-the-chapter-and-complete-the-review-questions, etc. They accomplish their tasks and this has an impact on increasing their “comfort level”. As another advantage, students learn to use the Internet for their learning purposes and its activities. They enjoy their journey of becoming a creative researcher instead of surfing aimlessly on the net by wasting their time. They explore selected areas in more depth. However; to do all of these, they should have computers and internet connection. For this reason, its applicability in all parts of Turkey is limited for the time being. But with the developing technology, this method will be more widespread in Turkey as well. I think as it is very useful teaching/learning tool, all barriers to its using in Turkey will be eliminated in a very short time.
ReplyDeleteWebquests are beneficial in the process of learning and it heşps both students and teachers.
ReplyDeleteWebQuests can help teachers get a better sense of the format, depth of information, and variety of resources required to create a good model of professional development.WebQuests are way for teachers to use the convenience and vast resources of the Internet to gain professional knowledge without leaving their classrooms. As technology continues to advance, educators are able to take advantage of many more opportunities via the Internet to achieve their professional goals.Using webquests as an alternative technique is also beneficial for students. Students spend time with the resources presented in the WebQuest, digest what they have learned, and apply their new understanding to tasks an this process is absolutely make contribıtion to their comprehension and such a process and tasks may be more enjoyable for students. Searching topics related to lessons on the web based resources and analyzing it and doing diven tasks are more creative way for students I think.I absolutely believe that it makes great contribution to the learning process but using this teacnique in every part of our country may be difficult ,as Derya said.
I believe WebQuest technique can make things a lot easier for theachers. It can help teachers a lot as its format is inquriy oriented and its information source is the internet, it makes the modern leanring environment and promotes critical thinking. It is excellent for those who want to integrate the technology into their classes and motivate his-her students. ıt has variey of information for student and I think it is mcuh better than traditional methods. books are getting out of fashion and we as teachers have to keep up with th teachnology. as our country develops, I believe we wil intergrate more and more webquests into our classes.
ReplyDeleteWebQuest techniques are useful for both students and teachers. It can help students to develop critical thinking abilities and provide a different learning and teaching environment. Students can use the Internet with an aim, not aimlessly. In these days, technology covers most of our lives. However, in our country, it is hard to apply this technique as Derya said. Not all parts of our country have an access to these utilities.
ReplyDeleteAs my friends said, technology is improving fast. As prospective teachers, we have to keep up with the changes in the world because our prospective students will be very much into technology. For this reason, using the appropriate techniques to teach these students is crucial. WebQuests are just one of them. Teaching something in a permanent way will be much easier by using enjoyable and also efficient technological means such as WebQuests. If they are used appropriately, they may leave traditional methods behind. Our porpose should be to do our best to provide every student with these opportunities no matter where they are.
ReplyDeleteWebquest is a technique which is more different from the traditional techniques in that it requires inquiry and helps the students to do critical thinking, so it is better than the classic techniques like reading a text and doing the questions related to them. These traditional techniques don’t appeal to the students because they are interested in technology more than before and some activities related to technology attract them more easily, so webquests make learning interesting for them and it also integrate internet into the classroom environment so that the students learn to use the net for searching something, analyzing them for their lessons and different activities, so in a way it helps teacher because it decreases the workload the teacher is supposed to do. When it comes to its applicability, today it is a bit difficult to find students who have computers in all parts of Turkey. However; with the advancing technology and widespread usage of computers, I think, Webquest will be more practical to use.
ReplyDelete