Session 8 Homework.

URL of widget: Hangman - http://dummyqiuyi.blogspot.com/

Through a fun game at the right sidebar, the students will get to learn a new word daily.

Teachers often hope to get students to keep a vocabulary book of their own, writing down new words that they come across each day. However, few students actually put it into practice.

If a class's blog is somewhere they visit daily, it will proof fruitful by the end of the school term to learn a new vocabulary each day.

Furthermore, it attracts students' attention because it is a game and they are learning through fun.

P.S: A feed has been added to this blog.

Usefulness of Weblog in learning.

How useful is blog (based on session 1 of blog) for enhancing students learning?

Various aspects have to be considered in order to comment on the usefulness of a blog to enhance students' learning.

1. Creativity - Weblog is a relatively new method to enhance learning outside of the classroom. Teachers can change the background (i.e blogskin) of the blog much more easily than asking the students to paint the concrete classroom's walls. This allows the students to stay fresh and fascinated.
   
2. Effectiveness - Students nowadays spend alot of time online, hence it is a plus point to be able to reinforce the things taught in the classroom by uploading materials, and allowing students to pace their own learing.
   
3. Interaction - The only obvious feature that offers interaction is asking students to leave comments. Teachers will need to search for other interactive games or methods (such as poll / discussion forum) in order to engage the students more.

My understanding of Engaged Learning.

Engaged Learning is moving on from teacher-centred learning environment to student-centred. Engaged Learning keeps to the 5 principles of: use of pedagogies, leaning experiences, tone of environment, assessment for learning and learning content.

Traditionally, teachers set the objectives of the lesson and carry on teaching in the classroom. In Engaged Learning, students are encouraged to come up with the objectives they wish to achieve by the end of the lesson and to observe their own progress they have made, as well as the achievements they obtain.

Instead of being dependent on textbooks, teachers devise effective learning tools. Teachers guide the students along, implementing Guided Discovery.