d.
Developing Your Own Knowledge of the Resources
Having
made decisions about using some of the resources and opportunities
in tandem, it is important for the teacher in the case study to
get to know the resources well enough to feel confident about
using them in the classroom. It is also important that the pupils
will feel comfortable about using the resources.
We
can focus on this with an exercise that requires that you get
to know a bit more about searching and retrieving material from
a CD-ROM or the web.
First,
try the following two search methods using the web:
- Go
to the Yahoo French search engine
featured earlier, and type in only the phrase "Passé Composé".
Take a note of how many hits you get from the search, and look
at them to see how relevant they are.
- Then,
go to the UK Yahoo search engine and repeat the search, this
time typing in "French Grammar". Note again the number of hits
and their level of relevance.
Take
a look at the results of your search, and visit as many of the
sites as you like. Make a note of the good and bad point of the
sites, and consider how they may help the learners.
Then
answer the following questions - just to give you some focus to
begin with:
- When
you went on the French site, what happened to your search results?
- What
was the difference when you went on the British search engine?
- How
would you describe the sites you discovered during the second
search?
- Do
you know how to copy segments from the web or the CD for insertion
in your own worksheets and resources? If you do, are you aware
of the copyright laws governing this action?
When
you have looked at the web in the light of these questions, and
perhaps written some worksheets of your own to go with web, you
should discuss with your mentor what you want to do with the resource
in the classroom. This can be done in a mentor visit, over the
telephone or by e-mail, and should serve merely to satisfy you
that you are on the right track with your use of the materials.
 e.
Planning the Work of Learners
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