Week #2 Wrap-up: Writing Objectives and Questioning Search Habits

On writing this I can't believe that week 2 is ending very soon. The two activities I'm particularly fond of this week: writing ABCD objectives and discussing search engine possibilities.

Writing ABCD Objectives
The acronyms are basic, though comprehensive.
A is for Audience: Who are our learners?
B is for Behavior: What do we expect them to do?
C is for Condition: What have they known?
D is for Degree: How much do we want them to achieve?
The application of ABCD is truly demanding despite the clarity of the instruction. I tend to write overgeneralized aims that are mostly based on my intuitions when designing lesson plans, so being as concrete as ABCD planners will take lots of practice. More specifically, ABCD objectives requires us to think scientific rather than artistic, quantitative rather than qualitative, and learner-centered rather than teacher-centered. In short, ABCD can be one useful strategy that contributes to teachers' art of thinking clearly!

Questioning Search Habits

This week, our instructor, Celeste, has put forward an interesting topic for discussion: What are alternatives to Google search engine? 

We promptly scan through the recommended websites, and we've found useful resources. Take, for instance, the Newseum site curating front pages around the world:

(Screencasted from Newseum. My thoughts and prayers are with the Thai people.)

Jo (Malaysia) goes further by commenting that the website can enrich learners' multiple sociological and cultural perspectives as they have access to the world's most popular front pages. I couldn't agree more!
Getting back to the search issue, all of us has reached the consensus that Google is still the king when it comes to productive search engines. The questions, then, would be how to train learners to search effectively and how to provide learners with websites that support readability as Celeste recommended. My contribution is exposing learners to Simple Wikipedia (https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page). Content is made simple, exposing lower-level EFL learners to a more reader-friendly environment.
Obviously, this week's discussion has challenged my search habits in two ways. Firstly, I tend to rely so much on the proven success of the conventional practices that we might ignore possibilities which might multiply the learning outcomes. And secondly, the status of Google can't be denied, yet its omnipotence is in question. To look for information, I still search on Google. But what if necessary information is SHARED to me via social networks?

(Line Chart taken from Venture Beat)

It's interesting to note the observation: "Nowadays news is discovered through social media instead of directly searched for."
The above data illustrates the way Internet users read news is changing: Googling breaking news is on a significant decline while social media has shown its popular gain. Of course, as educators, we do much more than reading news. It's teaching strategies. It's graded texts. It's online exercise and the like.  However, I believe that social media should not be overlooked as it potentially impacts on our searching habits. For the past months I have intentionally searched a few key words on Facebook. On such cases Facebook Search's space is the first place that I thought of, not Google's.

Welcome social media to the Game of Search!