The materials of this week are the most valuable for me from the beginning of the course. As I lecture on several linguistic disciplines and have to teach large classes, the issues raised are highly topical for me. It is not so simple to deliver a lecture, I must not only dwell on serious scientific questions but also control how the students comprehend the material and can apply it in practice. It’s an undeniable fact that the role of a lecturer has greatly changed recently. The lecturer is not the single source of information as he used to be in the times of first universities. Today students have wide access to information and can find and learn about any problem raised in the course. That’s why the position of the lecturer and the methods of presenting the material in the classroom need thorough reconsideration. To many questions, which I put to myself, I found definite answer in the articles we were to read. Most of all I liked ‘Teaching large classes”, “Online assessment”, “Interactive lectures summaries of 36 formats” and ‘Presenting with Power Point”. These articles helped me to systematize my ideas how to involve and motivate my students during lectures on theoretical linguistic disciplines and how to promote their active learning and critical thinking skills. For them not to be “little vessels ... ready to have imperial gallons of facts poured into them until they were full to the brim” (Ch. Dickens “Hard Times”), but active discerning citizens.
One more issue that is of great interest for me is online assessment. I have read how to make an online test with Blackboard, the Grade Center. I consider this task is a rather challenging one and I haven’t tried it yet.
This week I am working on my Webquest. It is based on the topic “Profession of a Teacher”. I am slow with it as I plan it to be a part of my project. I am looking for some interesting sites to incorporate into it and work out the instructions.
