LEARNER AUTONOMY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY, CREATIVITY & INNOVATION

 

   During the 2013 Easter and Summer Face to Face, Lower Basic School (LBS) teachers (learners) of the first cohort of the E-learning capacity building program on English Language content which is our language of instruction and formal businesses,  pedagogy and Information technology,  had  manifested weaknesses on the following areas:

I.   Assessment of pupils' essay writing in terms of :
•   Purpose
•   Organization
•   Grammar
•    Spellings
•   Punctuation

II.   Preparation/creation and provision of the appropriate  low cost teaching and learning resources.

III. Plan a technology integrated  lesson  for learners autonomy, child centered and interactive lectures.

Objectives:
I.   Learners should be able to master the Lover Basic level content of the English syllabus .

II.   Learners should be able to assess pupils' essay writing in terms of the stated marking scheme on
•    Purpose
•   Organization
•   Grammar
•    Spellings
•   Punctuation

III. Learners should be able to plan a technology integrated lesson  for learners autonomy, child cantered and interactive.


IV.   Learners should be able to Prepare/create and provide the appropriate teaching and learning resources in lessons delivery.

V. Learners should be able create and share teaching and Learning resources throughout the Gambia

The planned technology tools (Condition) that I applied were the following:

      I.        Creation   of a G-mail and Skype account

    II.        Preparation  of a technology integrated lesson plan

   III.        Applied   the Alternative assessment in the Preparation of a Rubric

  IV.        The application of Project Based Learning(PBL) in class work


The above four technological tools are interrelated in the sense that for effective teaching and learning, for the creation of learners' centred methodologies through the inclusion of the three domains i.e. the knowledge, skills and attitudes should be considered.
First of all, I convinced the learners that they could improve on their language skills through Skype and e-mail, plan a technology integrated lesson that they could assess or evaluate self through the prepared  rubric and in pairs, write a descriptive essay on a given topic using the computer , printer and papers as authentic resources .

All Gambian teachers have been preparing their lessons manually and with unknown gaps in terms of the elements that should be included and make  SMART as follows:
I.    Specific
II.   Measurable
III.  Attainable
IV.  Realistic
V.   Time-bound

The implementation week was scheduled as follows:

Date: 18^th to 22nd November, 2012

Time: 09:00am – 16:00pm

Venue: E-Learning Hall

 Although I am a trainer now, I  have taught English Language for more than two decades. The arrangement of the class creation was done formerly by the notification of my boss who endorsed  the five days  implementation of the change program. 

The permission granted by  the Regional Education Directorate One and the selection of the 20 E- learners from schools that are not far from my office were invited to form my class.

Finally the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and the Director of  Basic and Secondary Education were also acknowledged  on the Building Teaching Skills Through The Interactive Web program and the permission sought for the learners(teachers)  to be away from their schools for 5 days.

Day One –

17 learners reported- 9 males and 8 females

The learners were all seated to a computer and the objectives and rules and regulations of the programme was explain to them. They introduce themselves to each other state their expectations and with the help of the   E-Learning lab assistant each learnerput on his/her desktops.

Task 1.The creation of an e-mail address and Skype account for the building of their language skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing with the focus on formal writing.

Task 2.Each of the learners wrote a self-introduction to their partner and copied the instructor. Used Skype to chat and send messages.

The learners showed interested and freedom and the first step in autonomous learning. Day  one was so interactive that that learners forgot to observe break periods.

They  created a group account and before they left the day two agenda was read to them  .

Day Two

Revised day one activities.

 The new thing on Skype – communicated and saw each other in action.

The location of their residence on the satellite map of the Gambia was rehearsed. After that activity, they class was given the task to locate Silver Spring Maryland in the United States.  The task was completed with the guidance of the instructor and the lab assistance.

Some learners had problem controlling  the mouse and handling the Keyboard.

Task 1 created a folder for resource bank and other materials.

Task 2 visiting the following web sites down loaded some resources-

I.        www.orelt.col.org

II.        khan academy

III.        YouTube

-          Walt Disney classic children’s- Beauty and the Beast.

-          Grammar games for fun- Phrasal (verbs)Partners, an interactive activity.

Some had problems copying and pasting the selected activities word documents

Task 3 prepared the usual lesson plan on nouns. Copied  it below and with the guidance of the instructor modified it to a technology integrated lesson. The class observed the similarities and the differences of the two. They   stated the interactive and child cantered nature of the technology integrated lesson plans.

Day Three

Revise day two activities

Task 1 prepared a rubric. Once learners  are familiar with the use of checklists and rubrics for evaluation, they can gradually begin to assess their own learning and provide feedback to their peers. This aspect of alternative assessment can easily be included in the evaluation segment of a lesson plan.

Day Four

Review day 3 activities.

Task 1- using the rubric as a check list to check the interactive and child cantered nature of the technology integrated lesson plan.

Task 2- improved on the gaps observed on the lesson plan

DayFive

Reviewed  day 4 .activities

Task 1 – discussed the application of  Project Based Learning in descriptive essay writing with the ABCD objectives on a given topic.

Task 2 – visited the Google web site to gather information about the given topic.

Task 3- compiled the information

Task 4 -  summarized information to a one page document and wrote below the names of the group

Task 5- downloaded the picture of the character of the given topic and paste it above the descriptive essay.

Task 6 – send the work as an attachment to the instructors G-mail address and print 3 copies as hard copies.

Conclusion

English is the language of instruction and formal businesses in the Gambia , therefore any idea to facilitate that will be highly welcome by all instructors and learners.

Rubrics will provide them with more information about the strengths and weaknesses of various aspects of their language performance.
Using a project-based approach will help motivate students to learn language for a purpose. I have also found that this methodology promotes community among class members.

In classrooms where traditional forms of assessment are required, this gives the instructor multiple ways of measuring progress without increasing the time students spend taking traditional tests.

Alternative assessment thus gives instructors a way to connect assessment with review of learning strategies.
Features of alternative assessment:
•   Assessment is based on authentic tasks that demonstrate learners' ability to accomplish communication goals
•   Instructor and learners focus on communication, not on right and wrong answers
•   Learners help to set the criteria for successful completion of communication tasks
•   Learners have opportunities to assess themselves and their peers

To conclude, there will be less teaching for instructors and more learning' for learners as the bases for this important innovations of the 21st century. A revamp in the impacting and acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes with the integration of the above mentioned technological tools during teaching and learning.

I do believe that the introduction of PBL in our school system will pay a lot of dividend especially in countries that are striving to achieve quality education.

The five days implementation program was so interesting to the learners that each day was spent beyond the scheduled time. The daily  task were completed with determinations and interest. Some groups stayed for extra hours just  to complete their task.

It is a culture in the Gambia for participants to be facilitated to program venues. As for this program , the learners facilitated themselves and even confirm to me the high priority they placed this program and technology compared to the low priority they had before the technology experience through a questionnaire that they filled.

Recommendation

A real learner autonomy was established during the implementation of my change project.  Teaching in the Gambia is a very stressful and unattractive career in the eyes of the youth and one recommendation in avoiding stress is to lesson ones talking.

After every teaching and learning activity, assessment should be conducted to measure the learners' performance. The appropriate tool to render those services is alternative assessment.

Therefore with the less talk and learn ideology of the PBL model will promote health in instructors.

With PBL, every learner is empowered to listen, speak, read and write to effectively master the language skills.

I am sure the application of the PBL theory in the classrooms will start with my office , a teacher training institution  in the Gambia. Even if we are to start with authentic reference materials like textbooks, World maps, video cassettes, television and radios etc.

To provide the learners the necessary tools and resources to be able to conduct a step down training at their various Lower Basic Schools on PBL to share with colleagues the knowledge, shills and attitudes acquire to facilitate learner autonomy.