Simulations and Games

I use both simulations and games in my Thanksgiving storyboard. After, the segments of lessons my students participated in a Thanksgiving Jeopardy PowerPoint game. This game checks the knowledge they have learned through subsequent lessons in a fun way.

I use a simulation of what Thanksgiving Day is in my home during their Thanksgiving worked dinner example. Students use subsequent knowledge I have taught them on planning a menu, formal table setting, and more in a home environment to help show students what Thanksgiving Dinner feels like in the United States.

Research-Based Guidelines

One of the main guidelines included in my ESL Thanksgiving Day storyboard was that of Learner Control. According to DeRouin, Fritzeshche, and Salas (2004), "Learner control generally refers to “a mode of instruction in which one or more key instructional decisions are delegated to the learner” (Wydra, 1980, p. 3). In other words, learners are given command over instructional options that were traditionally instructor- or programcontrolled (Ross & Rakow, 1981)," (p. 148).

I implemented learner control in order for my students to have more ability to think for themselves and use critical thinking skills to figure out problems they encountered. They had control in all steps of the storyboard lessons from finding the definitions to the vocabulary to planning, preparing, and more the Thanksgiving Dinner worked example.



Reference
 
DeRouin, Fritzeshche, and Salas,. (2004).  Optomizing E-Learning: Research-Based Guidelines for

     Learner-Controlled Training. Retrieved on November 19th, 2012 from
    
     http://www.qou.edu/arabic/researchProgram/eLearningResearchs/optimizing.pdf

 

E-Learning Principles

There are four e-learning principles I used in my final storyboard project:

1. Personalization
2. Segmenting
3. Pre-Training
4. Worked Example

I used personalization throughout the presentation by using a Thanksgiving themed design for the background, I made each lesson portion directly relate to true life experiences for the students, and more.

I began the Thanksgiving storyboard with pre-training lessons to prepare my ESL students with need to know knowledge for the full lesson portions of the storyboard, for example I pre-trained my students in necessary vocabulary.

I used segmentation when I began the full lesson portions of the Thanksgiving storyboard such as listenting to the history of Thanksgiving in audio and the Thanksgiving video, etc.

Last, there was a worked example portion of the storyboard where all of the ESL students put to use the information they obtained in a true sit down Thanksgiving Dinner.