Web Quest Experience

Designing a Web Quest, was one of the favorite tasks I was asked to do by Dr. Amal Farhat. It was a new experience which I really enjoyed doing. It is easy, enjoyable and makes students practice using different technological tools that are offered by Google. I think I will be using this method "Web Quest" a lot in my up-coming lessons.


Web Quest is an easy way to direct students' projects. It enhances safe search and enjoyable for kids at the same time. My colleague, Zainab and I thought of teaching grade three students how to write an "Informational Report" using Web Quest. One of  Web Quest's aims is to facilitate students' work, thus making it easy to use. In the Web Quest we designed, the students would find everything they need to use to write an "Informational Report". They were provided with the needed links, diagrams, organizers, samples, and videos. The material provided would ensure the students' safe search and they would do what they are supposed to do efficiently.

Click on the link below if you are interested to explore the Web Quest Zainab and I designed. hope you like it!
 
             https://drive.google.com/open?id=10YiWgp1ZBL_rK9fbdB0UZOKO93egaxVf

What Is Media Information Literacy?

As an English Language teacher and educator, I had the opurtunity to get involved in an EU funded project for youth at schools and with syrian refugees three years ago. That's when I found about the media information literacy thing. I thought, and to a certain extent, that I am somehow familiar with social media and the whole media stuff. Until then, I found out that I as well as many others my age, younger and even older, all were media illiterates at a certain level.

Later after that, after getting trained by international experts on this topic, I realised that the word literacy doesn't only mean knowing how to read and write. In the 21st century, it also means how to use all media forms in order to make sense of our fast-changing world which is media one of the factors causing this speedy change.

And here I quote what Ute Schaeffer, "the head of media development  in DW Akademie" wrote about this topic:

"Communication technology is developing rapidly throughout the world. Digital connections are improving and devices like smartphones are getting more powerful, affordable and easier to use by the day. All this opens up vast opportunities for people to communicate, engage in global conversations, and make their voices heard—even in developing societies. But in order to obtain access to this global wealth of information and participate actively in the conversation, people
need knowledge and skills. They need to know how and where to find reliable information and how to communicate safely and freely. They need to be media literate. This involves knowing where to find relevant information, how media shape popular culture and opinion and influence personal choices, and how to navigate the Internet and ensure personal privacy in the cyber world". 

Impacts Of Social Media On Youth

Social Media has become extremely dominant in our lives. It is affecting all people of different age range; old and young. Statistics and studies show that young people are mostly affected by social media. Teens use social media more than they do anything else during a day, even when they are studying, they keep on posting on social media nad interacting with their friends.

There is a need to say that our youth aren't experts in using social media apps at the privacy and safety level. Therefore, they need to be guided by media experts in order not to fall for the virtual world deceptions. They must be aware of  how to protect themselves and also be aware of the netiquetts (the Do's and Don'ts steps) to follow while online.

From a personal point of view, as a teacher and a trainer of youth on such topics, our national curriculum must include a subject called Media Information Literacy that must be taught to our youth in schools in addition to other subjects being taught.

Ignorance of social media dangers is causing a lot of problems that our youth is facing and we as educators must take action. I believe it is our call!

Down here is a link to an article I came across while preparing for a three-days workshop, delivered last month; March 2018, in Zahle, Lebanon. I hopefully think it will be beneficial to share with our students.
https://turbofuture.com/internet/effects-of-social-media-on-our-youth

The 9th Annual English Language Teachers' Conference

Location: Amman, Jordan
Date: August 18-19, 2017

Last August, My colleague and I had the chance to attend the 9th Annual English Language Teachers' Conference held in Amman, and whose participants (400 persons) came from different Arab countries. The presenters were Arab school teachers and university professors, in addition to American presenters. This conference is organized annually by the Embassy of the United States in Amman.

The conference was rich in presentations which were held from 9:00 am till 5:00 pm for two consecutive days. There were seven presentations held in seven different halls at the same time.
The most difficult thing in this conference was to decide on which presentations to attend because obviously, I couldn't attend more than presentation at a time. the presentations' brief were all interesting and make one feel like he has to attend them all. Anyways, my friend and I decided to attend the presentations we felt most interesting separately, each one of us attended a different workshop so that we can benefit to the maximum since we agreed to share our benefits later on.

One of the workshops that I attended was "Teaching The Four Skills In English Language Classroom", prepared and presented by Professor Eman Ahmad Irsheid, Jordan. Ms. Eman was among other presenters, very kind to share her power point presentation with us, the participants.

And here I am sharing the presentation on my blog. It could be a benefit for some of you.

Webinar Title: 12 Keys to High-Quality Early Childhood Inclusion

Webinar Date: 28/2/2018                                                              Duration: 1 hr

An Edweb moderator started the broadcasting. She introduced herself as well as the presenter. She was happy to find that more than 300 attendees from all over the world were attending the webinar. 

The topic is interesting of course, but the delivery of such a topic wasn't effective enough. The presenter talked for the whole time. No activities or polls nor questions were asked to involve the participants. 

The webinar emphasizes the importance of including all children in education no matter what difficulties they suffer. It is extremely important to understand the services provided by the inclusion collaborative, and by increasing understanding of what the high-quality early childhood inclusion is, 12 inclusion practices are presented associated with high quality, how to utilize the inclusive classroom profile to support improvement, and the ultimate goal is to build a culture that values all children and a community that embraces diversity and supports lifelong quality inclusion for everyone by strengthening, sustaining and ensuring inclusive practices. 

About this Course "Educ560"

It seems like this course is interesting; I liked the apps we have learned about so far. It has lots to learn from and I am looking forward to it. This course is opening wide windows to equip teachers with new strategies and effective tools and techniques to be qualified enough to apply a beneficial fingerprint on pupils' educational journey. And since technology leads us to fundamental structural changes that can be integral to achieving significant improvements in productivity. 


Technology supports both teaching and learning, technology fills classrooms with digital learning tools, such as computers and handheld devices; expands course offerings, experiences, and learning materials; supports learning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; builds 21st -century skills; increases student engagement and motivation, and accelerates learning. Technology also has the power to transform teaching by stating a new model of connected teaching. This model links teachers to their students and to professional content, resources, and systems to help them improve their own instruction and personalize learning.