Page 105 - Pedagoška vizija / A Pedagogical Vision

The Creation of Online Mini-Takeaway Lessons as a Reflective Instrument in Teacher Education

using instructional techniques, namely providing clear visual material – for
example, animations, pictures and symbols – but also using supportive ges-
tures and a clear voice (e.g. when video recording themselves). They com-
mented on the fact that since the lesson is intended for asynchronous online
learning and they could not rely on using their body to the same extent as
in a physical classroom, they thought more of using other support, for exam-
ple, verbal and procedural techniques (‘creating and sequencing the tasks in
such a way that they made sense’ and ‘how I will sequence all the activities
in my story reading lesson’). By trying to plan and provide appropriate scaf-
folding in a context without the teacher’s presence, they were able to reflect
on and recognize the importance of various types of support.
This is closely linked to another frequently mentioned aspect, namely giv-
ing clear instructions. Especially in the course of the first reflective discus-
sion, numerous students realized how important this element was, taking
into consideration that they were supposed to give their instructions in En-
glish and had no means of intervening or switching to the L1 in the case of
non-comprehension. They focused on providing what they called effective,
suitable, clear and simple instructions with modified language which would
be effectively supported with visuals. As quite a few students pointed out, it
had been difficult for them to see the necessity of scaffolding and clear in-
structions during their lesson observations in the previous term. It was only
when they were faced with the task of creating an MTL, which did not include
the actual presence of the teacher, that they realized the value of it. One of
the students commented: ‘I really thought a lot about designing activities in
such a way that they would be clear, you know, that the pupils really under-
stand what they need to do even without my help.’
Another aspect that was mentioned by nearly half of the participants was
creating motivating interactive activities, which is closely connected with en-
couraging student participation, cited just as frequently. Students stressed
the importance of offering diverse and attractive activities that ‘keep moti-
vation high’ and of encouraging student participation. As one of them ex-
plained: ‘Pupils should feel as if the teacher was there with them, encourag-
ing them and making sure they can interact with the materials. And the Pow-
erPointshouldbewelldesignedsothatitmakes thepupilswanttoworkwith
it, the activities should be interesting so that the pupils like doing them.’
In the reflective discussions, quite a few students said they knew that mo-
tivating pupils and encouraging their participation with challenging and in-
teresting activities was important for any form of lesson but in the case of
MTLs it seemed crucial as the pupils were meant to work on them indepen-

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