Authors: Lidija Lidija Branilović

Abstract:

lidija_prof@yahoo.com; lidija.branilovic@skole.hr

My name is Lidija Branilović and I'm an English teacher and a webmaster of our school websites: www.os-inovaka-macinec.skole.hr. Here is a project which I decided to put across my students who also take ICT classes.

PUPILS: 5 – 8 graders AGE: 10 – 15

NUMBER OF PUPILS: 2 groups of 15 (total 30)

PROJECT: Web Pictionary (Programme)

TIME LIMIT: 4 – 6 months

DESCRIPTION: - elderly students are going to do a web pictionary – from A to Z writing the words for Internet safety and also drawing, making images and pictures representing the words and / or definitions. - The vocabulary would be consulted with an ICT and an English teach (there are lessons on computers and Internet in every English Students' Book nowadays). - Except the pure vocabulary, students would make their own warnings on the topic. - Their work will be presented to all the teachers and younger students who are going to use it in their classrooms. - Students at our school are mainly Roma population (almost 80%) so the language barrier is something we deal with everyday – I decided to do it in English (without any translation into Croatian, as it isn't even their mother tongue), but it can be done in German, too.

POSSIBLE VOCABULARY: HTML, HTTP, ISP, WAN, LAN, WEB, WWW, blog, site, upload, download, virus, firewall, etc. from the simpliest to the most complicated. Warnings on the Internet Safety would be totally students' work.

OBJECTIVES: - developing creativity - developing language skills - developing working habits - teaching tolerance - teaching younger students the basis of ICT - encouraging students to present their own work - making students aware of all the (dis)advantages Internet brings - not being afraid of talking about the Internet safety and asking questions about it (no matter how much or little they know about it)

INNOVATION: - Younger students (grades 1 to 4) in Croatia don't have ICT classes in school. So, they should be taught the very basis about computers, programmes (hardware/software) and the Internet. - Also, older students (grades 5 to 8) take ICT as an extracurricular class, and not all of them take it. - So, in the process of making this programme, we would include mainly students with ICT knowledge, but they would as well teach others. - Each student would have his small group of 3-4 students and mentor them until they get it all right. - Also, parents would be involved in the process: workshops on Internet safety and doing research on-line.

STUDENT INVOLVEMENT: - students from grades 5 to 8 who take ICT classes would be working on the programme itself, and later on present it to all the other students, parents and teachers. - All the students would get short notes on how to use the programme.

SUSTAINABILITY & REPLICABILITY OF THE INITIATIVE - Younger students should be taught the very basis of ICT but this should be done by elderly students (with the supervision of an ICT teacher), because 37% of students learn and remember more when they hear it from another student then from a teacher. - This programme could be in every computer in school, and every classroom could easily have access to it. Teachers could ask students to find something, or they could do it themselves. - Also, this project could be easily done in correlation to any other school subject, for example - it could be done in German as well

LEARNERS' OUTCOMES: - elderly students will develop and practice their presentational skills as well as their speaking skills (they'll become tutors and mentors now) - younger students will learn the basic information about computer hardware and software - They will listen about the Internet safety, the advantages and disadvantages of the Internet - they will discuss the warnings on Internet safety as well as make their own afterwards

TEACHERS INVOLVED: - English teacher - ICT teacher - The principle

TELL ME AND I'LL FORGET;

SHOW ME AND I'LL REMEMBER;

LET ME TRY AND I'LL UNDERSTAND!

Link: http://eskills.eun.org/web/teachtoday/home/-/blogs/web-pictionary

Publish Date: 5 February 2011, 9:47 am