How effective was the teaching strategy?

I used this teaching strategy with two sections. With one section it went very smoothly. I paired the students in groups, so they could watch the YouTube video and help each other out. When I explained the class activity for the day and told them they had to watch a video and apply the steps themselves to create an interactive flash website, they were initially overwhelmed. I encouraged them by telling them that they had done well in the previous activity and that this one will be simple as well. Without much arguments, they immediately got to work. Their main motivation was that they could leave if they finished early since they would usually have to wait longer if I had taught this myself. They faced few challenges during the task and since I was facilitating the activity, I could guide and assist those in need. The students who finished their task then started helping others out since they would have face the similar challenges (especially in the coding part). The lesson went smoothly and all groups completed their task and found it very simple to create a flash website.

However, with my second section I faced a lot of resistance. I had introduced the topic in the same way as I did with the previous section. However, they were sure they would not be able to understand a video and perform the task on their own. They wanted me to show them the steps as opposed to learning on their own. They argued that they didn't come to college to learn on their own and I explained to them how self-learning was an important skill for them. How they will be required to do this in their workplace and how they need to be life-long learners. After many discussions when they felt that I wouldn't budge, they started doing the activity. Some groups started stating how confusing the video was and how they couldn't understand anything. However, before I could say anything, two groups of students who found the video easy and simple to follow, replied to the other groups concerns. Pretty soon all groups finished their work with similar challenges that the other section had faced.

Overall, it was a very successful learning experience both for myself as well as the students. It gave the students confidence that they could do something on their own and in the end they produced a working website. Since I was facilitating students work, I could give individualized attention to each group which I would not be able to do if I was teaching this in a traditional way.