Role Play as an Effective Learning Strategy

Role-play is an effective and active learning strategy because it helps in encouraging the otherwise passive learners to participate and gives the learners the drive to do things and also to remember what they have learnt. It helps in ensuring success and also making learning enjoyable. It also helps the teacher to know the learner more. It helps the learner to appreciate the experience of the characters they are playing. The learners get to relate Education with experience and at the same time, it promotes collaboration.
When it comes to a project, the teacher has to ensure that the roles are well spelt out and that each member of the group understands the role they have to play and what is expected of them. Role playing is not a difficult thing to incorporate in a lesson because our learners only have to assume a character for that moment. They have already witnessed what people do in real life  and taking on role play should be an imitation of the real world, the very people they have met and are meeting in their lives. Taking them to carry out their own observation of the characters is another way in which they can learn about the characters they have to play.
For instance in a Literature lesson, it is easy to get the learners to take up roles of characters within the  play. When they take on these roles, it helps them to understand the texts more. They get conversant with the plot of the play and the characters as well. It also helps them to remember  the content.

 

The Challenge Phase of a Project

The challenge phase of a project  is the most important part. It is the hub on which the project revolves and therefore it should be well structured so that it links well with the introduction, and  all the subsequent  steps in a Webquest. 

I   think that my draft introduction is as it is but not as it should be and that it is temporarily enough to grab the attention of my learners. I feel that with time, through a lot more practice, I shall be satisfied with it. I also think the task I have set for the learners is enough for the S.4 level. It is within the subject matter of their Literature syllabus and at the same time it is not removed from the real world. It is something they live with and experience every day, Leadership and its challenges.

My introduction and task are addressing a topic that is somewhat familiar to the learners. Some of them have been in leadership positions and have experienced its challenges. They have had to make decisions that have affected the people they have led. They have been tempted here and there. Some have fallen prey to the temptations whereas others have tried to withstand them. Others wish to be leaders in future. The task will surely help them to know more about leadership and its challenges, and it will educate them more on how to be better leaders.   

Secondly, the words and graphics used are appealing enough and I feel that my learners attention will definitely be captured. The questions are thought provoking enough to get them thinking and working. It is not an easy task though to come up with attention grabbing words and thought provoking tasks. It is a nice experience.

My Initial thoughts About a WebQuest

 Well, my first thought of a webQuest was that it is a very difficult task to accomplish and true it is not easy. I have tried several times to make it impressive and attention grabbing but I feel I have not done enough.  The good thing is that there is provision for updating whenever one is ready.

A WebQuest according to Tom March, Circa 2003 is;

“ … a scaffolded learning structure that uses links to essential resources on the World Wide Web and an authentic task to motivate students’ investigation of a central, open-ended question, development of individual expertise and participation in a final group process that attempts to transform newly acquired information into a more sophisticated understanding." 

A WebQuest  constitutes;

·         Introduction

·         Task

·         Process

·         Resources

·         Evaluation

·         Conclusion

·         Teacher page and it also has a welcome page

There are some 21st century learning and innovative approaches and these include;

·         Quality questioning and in-depth thinking

·         Research and synthesis

·         Small group discussion

·         Using technology and posters

·         being creative

·         Simulation

·         Demonstration

Project Learning Goals

The initial idea of this project revolves around the nature of our leaders in and outside school. The essence is to get the learners to analyze  and present a short skit to the community showing why and how leaders at virtually all levels fall short of people's expectations and how they can and should be helped to become better leaders.

Curriculum objectives/Goals
ü  to read, understand and explain the causes of bad leadership as shown in the play Betrayal in the City.
ü  To analyze the Character of the leaders from the grass roots to the last man/ top man in the Play Betrayal in the City  and to evaluate the reasons the playwright comes up with to justify their actions.
ü  Dramatize the most revealing sections of incompetence and inefficiency of leaders in the play.
ü  Design a play to incorporate all ideas about leadership and how leaders should/ and can be helped in their leadership roles.

21st Century Skills

ü  Critical thinking and problem solving.
ü  Communication and collaboration.
ü  Research.  
ü  Creativity and innovation.

Higher order thinking skills
ü  Analyzing.
ü  Evaluating.
ü  Creating.
ü  Applying.

Way forward

I will get the students to view the play first and carry out a class discussion. I will then get them to observe their own student leaders within the school, some of the leaders from the local communities and top Government leaders. They will then carry on more research, make their own decisions as a team, share tasks and create a finished product. I will be there to guide and motivate them.
The project is all about getting to realize and understand why and how leaders betray the trust of the people, and how these leaders should/ and can be helped to change for the better. The learners will come up with  ideas to share with the rest of the school community to create awareness and provide solutions too.

 

The Essence of Projects

My earlier thinking was that if anybody was to get learners to engage in project work, it should be scheduled outside the school program on the assumption that it needed a lot more time than could be accorded it on a school time table. Secondly, I assumed that apart from being time wasting, the learners can be easily distracted and at the end of the learning time nothing would be achieved. All this has changed because I have come to realize that when learners are engaged in something that requires a hands-on experience, their interest will definitely be aroused and they will do a bit more learning than they would otherwise have done. From the videos that I have watched in this lesson, I have seen that the learners instead get to focus on the project at hand and everyone is actively involved. They even go ahead to share ideas and build/create something beautiful at the end. The excitement on their faces all the time shows they are enjoying the learning process and this is how learning should be.
The strongest arguments to using Project Based Learning include;
·         The learners are effectively engaged and direct their own learning
·         They learn to work together and exchange/ share ideas
·         They are better prepared for higher levels
·         They learn well and remember better
·         The presentations they make help boost their confidence and communication skills
·         They develop creativity that later helps them in improving their communities
·         The learners are more likely to meet the more demanding standards.
In short, Project Based Learning promotes critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity.
Implementing this approach has its challenges. For instance in our country today, the curriculum is rigid, and the resources are not available because of financial constraints. Getting learners to have personal tools they could use such as digital cameras, laptops etc. is a challenge in itself. Most of them come from families that are either average or living below the poverty line and cannot afford such luxury.

 

Innovative Learning Approaches and Digital StoryTelling

In this course I have learnt that I can transform my learners from being knowledgeable to being knowledge- able by engaging them using the technology and social media. I have learnt that learners need to be in charge of their own learning and do things themselves. They need to be engaged in order to do this. They need to collaborate and add to the existing knowledge. In order for them to become knowledge-able, they need to practice. They need to embrace real problems that they do not know the answers to. They need to be able to harness and leverage the relevant technology tools. They need to work collaboratively on tasks. They need to learn the art of critical thinking and go beyond just seeking meaning. I have learnt that through critical thinking and problem-solving the learners build knowledge.

 

Although the learners are addicted to social media they have not been using it for Educational purposes. I have learnt that introducing the social media as a tool for learning would be beneficial to the learners because they are already very interested in it  and would therefore be inspired to search and research on given topic. It would also make the lessons more interesting and take away the boredom that is exhibited in the traditional classrooms.

I have learnt that with innovative approaches to learning with technology, my role as a teacher  would change for the better. I would no longer be the giver but the partner.  I would be the guide to the learners as they explore, research, recreate and put together using technology. My task would be to ask the right questions, trust the children, and Set the goal high and let them reach for it.

I have learnt that Game-based learning is one of the best ways to teach because it brings fun into learning process. Games help the learners to increase their fluid knowledge which is used in problem solving.
I have learnt that technology can support other forms of learner engagement through; Adaptive methods, Transformational, Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating and Transferring.
I have also learnt that Digital Storytelling  helps learners to develop critical thinking, report writing and media literacy.

Game-Based Learning

It has not been an easy task to design a game as a team bearing in mind that my team members belong to other subjects and we are in different locations, with different responsibilities and work load. Let alone the challenge of internet accessibility. Getting everyone to work at the task at the same time is like taking a horse to the well and forcing it to drink.   
Games are very exciting to play and each time I would fail a step I would become desperate not to fail the next number. The games keep you on edge and give you adrenaline rush as you strive to get everything right. Like in the kahoot game in the course, there were times when I just had to guess what the answer would be and at times I would get it right at times not. I felt the pressure to get all answers right.
Games are good at knowledge building as they force one to analyze and think critically before making a decision. It is equally important for learners to play as well as to create games because this boosts their creativity as well as their problem-solving skills. They even make the learners smarter because in most cases as they play there is maximum multi-tasking. ie They chat voice, chat text, operate character, manage short term objectives, manage long term objectives, and manage interrupts.
Game-based learning brings so much into the learning process. It brings;
·         fun and entertainment
·         passion and Motivation
·         engagement and involvement
·         Creativity
·         experiencing
·         interactive entertainment/Collaboration
·         Problem-solving skills
·         Decision-making
·         Research
·         Learner-centered
Ways in which games address curriculum standards;
·         maintaining a balance between fun and learning
·         Making academic content integral
·         planning the role of the learners and that of the teacher
·         not divorcing de-contextualized components from fictional content
Games can be integrated into the Literature subject through;
·         Quizzes
·         Word play/ Puzzles
·         Role play etc