Israel's Ministry of Education Dig into Digital Moodle courses through the Engish inspectorate provide teachers and students with ready made content and tasks that facilitate independent learning.
The courses include automated instant feedback as well as sections that enable teachers to give their feedback.
The Dig into Digital Let's Talk program, for example, provides ample opportunities that encourage pupils to work on their oral proficiency.
Through acquisition of relevant vocabulary and modeling of proper pronunciation, students are exposed to a variety of topics that will be useful in their own lives.
Let's Talk encourages pupils to practice, practice, and practice some more.
Moreover, Let'sTalk helps pupils stay calm and speak confidently, working at their own pace. The message to our students is: YOU CAN DO IT
It’s summertime in Israel. The school year is over. Having published here quite a lot about what has happened with the use of Moodle in K-12 in the Israeli school system in general, and in my work at school in particular, it would be repetitive to recapitulate the main points I have made. I’d rather look ahead.
That was the MOOC in which Nellie Deutsch first introduced me to the wonders of using Moodle with the role of a teacher. Nellie has really inspired me. I have gone some way since that first MOOC (it was NOT the only one I took with Nellie. I was also a participant, and presenter, in some of Nellie's many projects). To mention just one example, two days ago I could present (at an Israel Ministry of Education Meetup in Tel Aviv attended by people who have a say in K12 education here) something that is having, and I guess will have even more an impact on how pupils do their Computerized Oral Matriculation Exam in English in Israel. It is meant to help (it already does) teachers of English in the system, and their pupils. Most pupils in the School system take that exam, so this may concern thousands of pupils. In many ways, this is an outcome of Nellie's influence on education, too: It is Teachers for Teachers as Nellie puts it. Thank you, Nellie! See more https://www.smore.com/6yj5x-preparation-for-cobe-on-moodle
I was the presenter at a Round table, and introduced The COBE template, information about which was made available digitally by means of a QR. I also wrote a post on one of the Facebook groups about the Template (attached image)
The important point, I believe, is that I stressed the collaboration that brought about the creation of this Template, and the fact that we have come up with something that is already serving hundreds of teachers (465 have viewed the Template. I have to find out how many copies have been requested by how many teachers so far. And yet, I believe we will witness the real impact next school year).
Thanks to the support, trust, collaborative spirit, and hard work of quite a number of colleagues and Ministry of Education Moodle people (women who are real professionals, do an excellent job, and go the extra mile to make what seems beyond hope possible), I hope we have come up with something that helps teachers of English and pupils in Israel. It reflects the mission of Moodle (and reminds me of ETAI's goals "The mission of the Moodle project is to empower educators to improve our world by building the most efficient platform for teaching, learning, and collaborating online. "
Ministry of Education Moodle Platform "הכנה לבגרות בעל פה באנגלית -Preparation for COBE"
Dear English High School Teachers,
Help your learners get ready for the COBE (Computerized Oral Bagrut Exam) both from school and home in a way that is similar to the ITest and free of charge. We are excited to announce that we have developed a single Ministry of Education Moodle Platform "הכנה לבגרות בעל פה באנגלית -Preparation for COBE" that not only allows students to record themselves on all three parts of the exam but also allows you to assess their recordings for evaluation.
Would you like to see a sample copy of this Moodle Template and try it out as a student? You can do so by clicking on the link below:
I share the way I help my pupils get ready for their Oral matriculation exam. While there are digital tools that enable teachers and pupils to record themselves and practice to get ready for the Computerized Oral Bagrut Examination, there is ONE ENVIRONMENT that makes it easy for us to do this in ONE PLACE: Moodle. As for me, I use Moodle Mashov, I appreciate both the great work done by Mashov people to get the environment to function well and the support Mashov provides. If you have access to Moodle Mashov, give it a try. If you do not, you may want to get your free Moodle Platforms from the Ministry of Education. Why use two or three different tools (and you can't be sure they are available at all times, and for free, and that you can store data without endangering your privacy and that of your pupils) instead of one, Moodle?. If you use Moodle (Mashov or the Ministry Platform), you can be sure you do not risk any danger or harm, and probably get a good job done.
While the Coronavirus lock-down has disrupted this school year, it has given us a chance to teach and learn English in ways that are different from those of “normal” school times.
"In schools where students with special needs are integrated into the regular education classes, the sudden switch to fully online teaching and learning may have proved to be an extra heavy load for pupils with a learning disability, their parents, and their teachers.
I have been teaching English at The Six-Year Kugel High School in Holon, Israel since 1989. I remember that back in 1997, I had a very smart and outspoken pupil who had difficulty reading and writing in English..." READ MORE
Wow! When I see my article on LMSPulse's page, I can hardly believe I had a share in this. I have to thank LMSPulse a lot.
About LMSPulse: " LMSPulse.com is an independently owned and operated resource for all things about learning management systems. Since 2009, we've been on the cutting edge of development, resources, and community events."
Ah... Yes: Coronavirus. I have had to think differently about how I keep my teenage pupils learning so as to make the shift to English as a Foreign Language Online Teaching and Learning as smooth as possible. I am lucky: Here in Israel, there is much mutual support among colleagues. At the Six-Year Kugel High […]
Using Ted-Ed lessons with Moodle, we, teachers, can help teenage pupils dream big, reduce prejudice (pre-judgment), learn that looks aren’t everything, have the self-confidence to lead the way, and more. (...) Stuart: "I like the idea of previewing content in class. It gives learners a better understanding of the “Why should I be doing this?” or “What should I be watching this?” Too often teachers just ‘give a link’ and expect learners to make the connections. Some will, but some may not, and therefore miss out on the intended value" https://www.elearningworld.org/ted-ed-lessons-with-moodle/
I have prepared four You Tube Videos to help me teach Amy Tan's "Rules of the Game". I will share the videos on this post because there might be colleagues who might want to use them, too. Colleagues might even suggest additions and / or improvements, which will be most welcome. My idea is to do the following: Step I. I will have different groups of pupils use " Collabrify" (if that fails, then a simple Google Doc) to connect to the story before they read it. This will be done at home BEFORE class (Flipped Learning) Some will work on a document to carry out the following task: Read the article “Difference Between American & Chinese Culture” ( https://goo.gl/1bSZ6s ) and find out the attitude of Chinese and Americans to the following values: 1. Family 2. Harmony 3. Humility 4. Obedience Note; There is more - Click here to see the template I will use (I hope you can, at least) Others will do some vocabulary work - Click here to see the template I will use (I hope you can, at least)
Other pupils will do the Pre -Reading activity about Chess and Life - Click here to see the template I will use (I hope you can, at least) I also hope to have a group of pupils fill in the following KWL chart - - Click here to see the template I will use (I hope you can, at least) Step 2: Pupils will present what they have done in class (This means that this part of the lesson will not be teacher centered, but pupil-centered. I hope the presenters are the ones who teach. Step 3: I hope steps 1 and 2 leave me time to introduce the story, having time for discussion. Step 4: Active reading of Part 1 of the story ( Flipped Learning) Step 5: In class: Follow up to step 4 (Instead of reading the story in class, I hope to discuss (and have pupils discuss) different aspects of the story. There will be work using the text book (We use ECB Literature for 5 points Option 1). I guess HOTs will come in here. The following steps follow the pattern set on Steps 4 and 5
The method I have decided to use for teaching the story is "Flipped Learning" (Click here for more on this method). My idea is to have pupils actively learn outside of class and before we take up the story. I will use pre-reading activities that build the background. You can learn about them on this post: "Using Collabrify to teach "Rules of the Game" by Amy Tan (click here to reach that post on this blog). You can learn more about "Collabrify" on this other post I have published (Click here) The following is a link to a video that provides some background to this post. Following are the four videos that I hope to be using with my pupils. I have created one for each part of the stroy. The videos include a very short introduction, a reading of each part of the story by Markette Pierce, some active reading questions for pupils, and a word concerning the follow --up activity for each video. Hopefully, my attempt to apply "Flipped Learning" for teaching "Rules of the Game" might free me from having to read the entire text in class, and give me lesson time to deal with so many other things: getting pupils to actively (the following is not necessarily in the order they might occur) analyse and interpret the story, learn and use vocabulary,, deal with LOTs and Hots, write, speak , etc. I guess it will be better than what I might have done had I not invested time on creating the videos. Time will tell.
This is a post I have shared on the English Teachers Community on Facebook: Hi! Well, it's not Moodle this time, but "Ted Talks to improve your (meaning teenage pupils,) English". During the third week of February there will be the annual "Lemida Becherum" in whose framework I hope to be delivering an online lesson in English aimed at 10th / 11th and 12th grade pupils (and teachers, too, if colleagues want to join). Details are being finalized, but my intention is to discuss, show, get pupils to interact online, and perhaps inspire them to give TED a try and actually take at least one Ted Ed lesson. Some of you may have done that, too. I am trying my lessons out with pupils I teach (Nope: they are not subjects for experiments... I am just trying different ways to engage them). I would be grateful if and when that online lesson takes place, you encourage your pupils to join. More details, soon. Thanks for your time!
A glimpse of the Performance Task on Moodle that I created while I was taking part in an amazing Ministry of Education and Open University workshop (June 27 - July 13' 2017). There will be a 3-day follow up at Shlomi in September, and I have enrolled. I do not know where and how it fits in the EFL program in Israel since our 30% is on Literature. I hope to use it with my pupils anyway.
