Module 02: The ABCD Learning Objectives Framework and Effective Web Searching

In this module, we had the chance to explore a wide range of search engines and the ABCD Framework to write objectives.

Regarding the search engines, I am surprised by the sheer number of options available on the Internet, which resembles the feeling I had in Module 1 when I discovered many blogging sites. However, I quickly realized that even though a search engine is different, it is not practical. The site I chose to experiment with is Ask.com. It is pretty old, and I have heard about it on TikTok. Despite some blogs praising it, the search engine is almost useless. Whenever I try to search for a topic related to ELT, it usually refers to sites about the definition of ELT and unrelated websites about nursing. Then, I tried searching for different topics about history and technology. Once again, it showed unrelated issues, which frustrated me a lot. Another new site I tried is Choosito (https://www.choosito.com), a search engine dedicated to teachers. It was even worse than Ask.com. I cannot use the search engine at all. If I search for anything, it will tell me it has no article about the topic I searched. I even typed every topic besides ELT, which yielded the same result. This is by far the worst search engine I have ever used.

Another note on search engines is that many have not used Google and Bing fully. Google has many features to offer, including, but not limited to, searching for high-resolution images and curating articles that have a specific word. Last year, Bing had a massive upgrade when Microsoft announced they would incorporate chatGPT and image generator DALLE-2 into Bing. After several revisions, the AI feature in Bing is now called Co-Pilot. People often forget that Bing can generate images, which is handy whenever I cannot find a specific image in a particular context. Google cannot compete in this regard. Although it has Bard (now called Gemini), its AI alternative cannot compete in accuracy and capabilities. 

The ABCD objectives are exciting and valuable. It is used to write lesson objectives; a peer of mine tried to write a whole course objective and quickly found out it was not meant for that purpose. The ABCD framework stands for Audience, Behavior, Condition, and Degree. Each component plays a crucial role in forming a well-rounded lesson objective:

1. Audience: This refers to who the lesson is designed for.
2. Behavior: This is the action you expect your students to perform. Verbs like "describe," "analyze," "create," or "compare" are often used to clearly define the expected behavior. If someone needs help to choose the correct verb, I will refer to Bloom's Taxonomy. It clarifies a lot of confusion. For example, you should refrain from using the word 'understand.' If you do not know why, ask yourself how you can know whether a student understands. Therefore, it is better to use other words in Bloom's Taxonomy.
3. Condition: Here, we specify the circumstances under which the behavior should be demonstrated. This could include the tools, resources, or references the students will have access to during the lesson.
4. Degree: This defines the standard for acceptable performance. It answers, "To what extent does the behavior need to be performed?" This could be a specific criterion, a quality measure, or a time limit.

ABCD objectives should be written in one sentence, which shows what a student achieves after a lesson. It might seem straightforward, but many peers of mine have needed to understand it several times. Although my lecturer did not review my objective, I learned how to self-correct my mistakes after she studied my peers' objectives.

This is the end of this week's journaling. As always, I am eager to learn more the following week about Skill-building Websites for Oral/Aural Skills and Saving Bookmarks.