Is it a Silent Way Activity ?
On-line pedagogical exchange

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Public

  • Teachers interested in discussing pedagogical activities of all kinds: on line, in the classroom and blended. No previous experience of the Silent Way necessary.

Objective

  • Developing our criteria for producing effective activities for our students by examining our own and others' pedagogical activities.

Contents

Asking ourselves, "Is it a Silent Way Activity?" is a shorthand way of saying, "Let's look at an activity and consider":

  • What are the pedagogical objectives of this activity?
  • Does it achieve them?
  • Does it achieve them in an economical way?
  • Does it help the students to develop inner criteria,
  • Does it help students to become autonomous learners?
  • Is it a learning activity or a practice activity?
  • Is the activity long enough? Too long?
  • What do students need to have mastered before doing the activity?
  • Is it clear to the students what they have to do?
  • Is enough feedback provided? Too much?
  • Is it a constructivist activity?
  • What are my criteria for answering such questions?
  • And so on...

And of course there are no simple answers, just more questions...

Format

Activities can be presented:

Discussion will take place through :

  • forums on the platform
  • live audio chat on Skype or similar - one every two weeks

Coordination : Glenys Hanson

Dates : February to July 2012

Timetable
This is an informal exchange. It's OK to drop in and out as you wish. Apart from audio/video chat times, there are no specific schedules. However to benefit from the experience participants should try to log on at least 2 or 3 times a week and spend at least an hour a week writing in the forums.
("Lurkers" are welcome and won't be hassled. :-)

People who are not used to on-line forums, should be aware they can generate a lot of email. It's a good idea to organise your mailer so all the e-mails from the course are automatically filed in a specific folder.

Fees : None

How to enrol
Create an account (free) on UEPD On-Line Platform and enrol in: Is it a Silent Way activity?
Participants who request it, will be given a "teacher" role and a "section" to organise as they wish to present their activities and run a discussion forum.

If you have never participated in an on-line course, you might like to browse around some of the courses on the platform:

Questions

If you have questions, ask them in the General Forum.

If you are not familiar with the Silent Way you could have a look at:

Additional information