“Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy in the Saudi EFL Classrooms”

   Blooms’ Revised Taxonomy is Taxonomy of Cognitive Objectives. It is expressing qualitatively different kinds of thinking. It is adapted for classroom use as a planning tool. It provides a way to organize thinking skills into six levels, from the most basic to the more complex levels of thinking. 

   Critical thinking involves logical thinking and reasoning including skills such as comparison, cause/effect, patterning, and planning. The first three levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (knowledge, comprehension, and application) require lower thinking, while the last three levels (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation) require higher thinking. 

   Bloom’s Taxonomy has a little evident in setting learning objectives in the Saudi EFL classrooms. It is necessary for teacher because teacher should know the level of students whether they are pre-intermediate, or intermediate, or advanced level. Teacher can use Bloom’s Taxonomy to examine students' schemata, understand concept by organizing, comparing, and interrupting, to share opinions by making judgments about information. Bloom’s Taxonomy provides a hierarchy of cognitive skills that teachers can use to frame questions and activities that promote higher order thinking opportunities for students.

  

 

Website Evaluation

We have decided choosing a website for EFL/ESL learners and teachers. Website URL: http://www.learnenglish.de. In association with the Learn English Network. It is educational site. Its title is learn English. Author is Your Teacher at InHand. Since 1999 Learn English has served up a wealth of resources to help people around the world learn English free online. From dictation and pronunciation files, sections on the basics of English, spelling, grammar and other activities such as games, tests and quizzes. In addition there is an extensive vocabulary section which uses pictures and sound and sections on British culture, customs and traditions. The teacher's section is my attempt to share some of my experience and also provides advice on how to use this site to enrich your lessons along with lesson plans and handouts.  The website includes documents/links which are effective and many such as English Conversation, Improve Your English, English Magazine...etc. For example, English Magazine is a free English magazine with on-line articles, recipes, British poetry, articles, and jokes. Now with daily, weekly and monthly content. This website offer practice, Assessment, Feedback. Here are some example, English tests online to test your listening, memory, vocabulary, reading and comprehension, spelling and grammar skills. Content is appropriate for my classroom. The reading level is appropriate for the students. The content is well-written. The identity of the author or sponsor is hidden.  The authors up-front about their purpose. There is no reference list. The authors up-front about their purpose, but there is no reference list. The information is presented clearly. There are some advertisements; they interfere with ability to use the page. The pages are little organized. There are a few mistakes in spelling or word usage. It is free website. The site is load quickly. You can move around the site easily. This website is beneficial for beginner, or advance level and also for teacher.

Wordle in EDU401

The role of WeQuests in learning a foreign/second language

A Web Quest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the internet, optionally supplemented with videoconferencing.WebQuests are based on constructivist learning theory and have been a part of project-based learning and teaching in mainstream education for some time, but they also have a multitude of applications in ESL/EFL, both in ESL/EFL classes that are focused on content/or theme-based learning and in teacher training. 

The role of the teacher is to help the students understanding the lesson, and to give them a clear idea about what she wants to teach them. The role of the student, to learn what is webquest and receives new information. Class environment is going to be interesting and students are motivated because this generation love modern discoveries and invention. When student work in a pair or group, they help each other, share information.

I really like webquest. When I heard it at the first time, I was confused but know when I became familiar with, I will use it as a future EFL teacher because it gives me opportunity to share information among my students. Students can see how the teacher will assess her students.