Surveys

Some time ago I carried out a survey on the topic of education. The question I proposed was: Which of the following factors do you think influence education in our country the most? Four alternatives were available: 1. Educational policies; 2. Teachers' practices; 3. Students' attitudes and 4. Culture in general.

To be honest, I thought the outcome would reflect my own answer to this issue (culture in general) and the aim of the survey was to try out the new tool. However, the results were totally different from what I expected. The answers showed that 50% of the people who participated think that teachers' practices influence education the most.

These days, while reflecting on what the survey revealed, I am considering that such a complex topic could be better adressed in another way (for instance, a post) so that I have the chance to read not only the opinions but also the reason why they chose a particular option. Nevertheless, people willing to participate might not have time to devote to this task.

Brian's post on videogames made me think about the possible reactions educators may have towards the use of these tools. As we are in our last year at the teacher training programme, it would be interesting to know what our classmates' opinions are as regards this topic.

The new survey about videogames is going to be in the blog for a week. I look forward to your answers. Thank you!

England: the "what" Presentations: the "How"

Working on our second practical work was a really enriching experience, for both the tools and the content. The practical work involved preparing a presentation, either Power Point or Prezi, in the context of a lesson. As well, we were given different topics. Alejandra and I had to work with the topic: "Travelling", which allowed us to focus on any specific item we liked. We eventually came out with the idea of a journey to England. 

You may have a look at the Prezi Presentation and the audio files 1 , 2 and 3, which we have prepared and recorded, meant to accompanied the presentation. In addition, I attach the lesson plan we made up, having in mind a group of teenagers with an intermediate level of English and working with a task-based methodology.

One interesting experience I'd like to share is that, while looking for information to write the script for the listening task, I came across the British Parliament website: http://www.parliament.uk/. Since I was looking for some characteristics of Westminster, it was marvellous to look at the online tours of the palace, in the "Visiting" section. As well, I found they provide educators with resources to help students become responsible citizens by learning more about how the legislative branch works. In the "Education" section, teachers have the chance to download lesson plans, handouts and supporting materias; this power point presentation is an illustration of the resources the website provides. There are also a wide variety of games with educational purposes, such as this one: Create my UK.