Teaching of English to international students is likely to require both face-to-face teaching in class and e-collaboration. This class has been trying to enable students learn the definition and the different types of essays. The concept has to be evaluated to see the level of understanding and application the students have attained. In this class, this shall be done through the use of e-collaborative assignments and projects. The choice of e-collaboration is because the students are international and they require interacting with each other through giving opinions and helping each other especially the students who are not native English speakers. E-collaboration requires focusing on the learner, that is, it is learner-centered.
The class is involved in the teaching on essay writing and description. In this situation, we analyzed various types of essays and classified them appropriately. I further guided the students on the writing of various types of essays. As a form of evaluation, the assignment will involve both individual and group work based on the work covered. The assignment has to be covered with the response to the four tasks posted on my class section on the school’s website.
Assignment
Task 1 (To be answered in group work)
In groups of 3, consider the types of essays we have looked mainly the informative, persuasive and argumentative. Choose to concentrate on one type of the essays. For the essay type you choose, consider one topic posted on the website for the class. Research on the topic as a group and provide all the necessary information to make the essay as interesting as possible. Upon completion of the research, collaboratively prepare the paper, PowerPoint presentation slides and post the researched article on the wiki and your group blog as the final products of the task.
Task 2 (Individual work)
You have to participate in the email discussions based on essay writing as well as take part in my blog discussions. You are also expected to read the essay articles that will be posted by each group on the group blog and comment on the same.
Task 3 (Individual Work)
You are required to download and watch the video clip that is uploaded in my blog under the title “Examples of essays.” Upon watching the clip, you are then expected to give some comments either through email or on the class blog. For example, identify the type of essay discussed in the clip and the reasons for your choice. In addition, give suggestions on how the essay could have been made better.
Task 4 (To be answered in group work)
You are required to visit my pod cast section as provided in the class address. Once there, locate the pod cast on “Necessary skills for easy essay writing.” Listen to the pod cast as a group or individually but do the task collaboratively as a group. It is recommended that you listen as many times as possible. You are then expected to discuss on the pod cast as a group and summarize the main points. The summary that you do is supposed to be prepared in terms of two PowerPoint slide presentation. Additionally, you are supposed to post it on the class blog for the others to read, review and make comments on it. Remember that any question you have as an individual or group can be posted on my blog and the class blog and let everyone feel free to make comments on the same.
Assignment Assessment
Task 1 will be evaluated as follows:
Task 2 & 3
These will be evaluated on a scale of 0-10 for each task. The evaluation will be based on the number of times participated, the level of analysis offered, effective individual collaboration and participation in group work and comments made.
Task 4
The evaluation of this task will be based on the same criteria as for task 1 but the total marks shall be 10 with the highest being 10 and the lowest 0.