Week 2: The ABCD Learning Objectives Framework and Effective Web Searches

This week there have been a number of assignments to complete, which means that I have learnt a lot of new things about technology. Trying to follow the instructions so that not to get lost, I first explored the variety of search engines and portals to look for materials I could use in my classes. Actually, the idea of using some other search engine than Google was stunning. After several hours of doing this research I came up with a shortlist of web-sites which I most probably will make use of for some teaching practice purposes:
http://www.cluuz.com - a visual search engine
http://www.definitions.net/ -a great tool for finding definitions along with translation of the word (the citation is produced automatically and can be easily added to the lesson plan's bibliography)
http://www.merriam-webster.com - as multiple-purpose dictionary (definitions, synonyms, rhymes, and examples of usage).
http://www.newsnow.co.uk/ - a search engine for breaking global news headlines (all the links of the search list are indicated as of British or American origin)
I should also thank the other course participants for sharing their findings, from which I have borrowed:
http://www.infotopia.info - search engine
http://education.iseek.com/iseek/home.page - search engine
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/187549/engineering - encyclopedia
http://www.doaj.org/ - directory of open access journals
http://ed.ted.com/ - design of video lesson plans
http://www.englishcentral.com/courses#!/index/3-business-english/all/easiest - English langauge courses
The next step was to describe the class I teach and create a learning objective, done in the ABCD style (Audience-Behavior-Condition-Degree), for that class. For now I can see it like that: "Given clear instuctions and examples to follow, the engineering students will be able to ask questions and give responses on the subject of short reports, when participating in a follow-up presentation discussion at B2 level (of Common European Framework Reference)". I am planning to arrange a blog so that the students could have a space outside the classroom for communication and would be able to present their scientific project's ideas and discuss them by leaving comments. Easier said than done, as the saying goes...