The Future

The Smart School concept was developed as it was believed that ICT plays an important role in imparting learning desire to all. With the help of ICT, the teaching and learning process will be made easier, more fun and effective in delivery and management. Besides that, students with the exposure to ICT, will get familiar with the ICT world and able to handle ICT tools effectively and this will produce technology savvy new generation needed for the development of the country. Everything seemed well-planned and the idea was idealistic but the reality shows that we are far behind from what was planned. For example, all schools are supposed to be smart, but till now, how many school are truly ‘smart’? I do hope this will become reality so that all students throughout the country have an opportunity to be exposed to the advancing world of technology.

The Upside Down ~~

It all started with a simple idea to help students who are absent to catch-up with the lesson and it gain fame after people find it effective in improving students’ performance and also discipline problems in schools.

The role of the teacher as the sage on the stage is regarded as traditional. What is in trend now is teachers as the facilitator, guiding on the side and students will do the job. The teacher will prepare the teaching materials e.g. videos for the students to watch at home before the lesson. They can communicate with their peers and teachers via online discussion regarding the video watched. When they come to the classroom, with the help of the instructor, concept engagement will happen when further discussion and questioning session takes place in small groups. To flip the classroom, teacher need to identify the educational technology tools to be used and activities to be carried out to create a conducive learning environment for effective learning process.

This whole idea is exciting but the main concern is do I have the time to prepare the videos and the learning activities cater for a flipped classroom and what will be the students, parents and school administrator's reaction on this idea? I do hope when the time has come for me to execute this method, I will receive full support from all parties... =) For the betterment of teaching and learning process. 

The New Toy =)

I was thrilled when Dee introduced “Schoology” in her presentation. Schoology is a Learning Management System (LMS) and a social network for sharing academic content. It looks like something similar to the most popular Facebook minus the distraction. Feel like starting up one soon…

I enjoyed Dee’s presentation on Teaching and Learning with Internet: Pedagogical strategies, Activities, Web Resources 2.0. She started with the definition on pedagogy (a conscious act designed to enhance learning), strategy (the ways to be carried out in order to achieve or reach the goal) and pedagogical strategy (the instructional designs applied in the teaching and learning). Some popular pedagogical strategies are behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism and social constructivism and now we have an emerging theory which is connecticism (Siemens & Downes, 2006). “There is no single pedagogy that provides absolute success for all students”. Therefore, teachers ought to be equipped with a sound knowledge of the pedagogical strategies in order to be able to choose the suitable strategy to be apply in a particular lesson to achieve the intended learning outcome.

To ensure effective E-Learning, there are 7 principles of good practices given by Gamson:

1. Encouraging contacts
   
2. Develop cooperation
   
3. Use active learning techniques
   
4. Prompt feedback
   
5. Emphasize time
   
6. Communicates high expectations
   
7. Respect diverse talents/ ways of learning

Starting and sustaining an E-learning environment will require extra effort than having lessons in school only. When it comes to the Internet (which is full of fun and excitement and distraction), we need to have something in our site that will attract the students to constantly visiting and the teacher’s availability is also very important as students will expect to receive comments and response ‘immediately’. All these will require the teacher to constantly check on the T&L site. Besides, the task given should be able to cater to the ability of all students to reduce frustration. As what had been quoted by Dee,

“What pedagogical principles can and/or should inform and guide online learning?”

“The best principle is one where the student is driven by tasks, problems and engages with the content and this is how the learning happens.”

When the students have the passion to learn, spontaneously, they will enquire more and get themselves engaged and involved in the teaching and learning process.

The Mid of November

It’s already the mid of November and we are half way through the course. Still surviving but I need to do a lot of catching up though… =/

Seems like Web-based Learning in a trendy term where most people will think that Web-based learning will definitely improve or enhance learning experiences. How true is this is yet to be proven. All I know is, in order for a tool to be effective, it requires a lot of sweat and labour behind the scene. Jessica did a detailed and clear presentation with some real-life examples on the tools that she used in her lesson. In her presentation she mention about the implementation of ADDIE Model in developing a web-based learning environment. As research is an iterative cycle, with the help of a guiding model, a researcher will be able to work in a more focus direction and also identify the parts to be repeated (in case of any ‘mishap’).

Setting up a web-based learning tool involves a lot of planning and effort. Sustaining it is another huge issue. I’d always wanted a virtual platform to support my teaching and learning and I did managed to come out with a few but all ended the same fate – abandoned. I really need a strong determination and put in more effort in the planning stage so that I can continue on with the project even after fulfilling the requirement of a certain course.

Designing a Web-Based Learning Environment

Nothing comes easy… There is for sure a reason for me to prefer Facebook over Friendster, a reason to prefer a particular website, a particular search engine, a particular software, a particular presentation etc. All these lie on how those tools are being presented to the consumers & how user friendly are the tools.

From Yee Hui’s Power Point Slides, I found that there are a whole lot of details we need to pay attention too in order to produce something that is able to deliver the message effectively and also attract and maintain the audience’s attention. There is the need of 120% of effort to be able to do so. This is a great challenge.

I used to comment on the Wiki that I created looked blank, plain and not catchy. Now I know that I can actually modify the Wiki. Thanks to Yee Hui’s sharing on her Wiki. I really admire her effort and work in producing web tools for her lesson.

Personal Learning Environment

This is my topic and I should be well-versed about it but instead of becoming the expert on PLE, I, myself got confused over and over again in the process of figuring it while munching on the articles given and some web-searched information. Although I’d done my PPT slides and sort of gotten myself ready, but when it comes to think about the question, “What is PLE?” posted by Mdm. Ng in the beginning of the class, everything  regarding PLE appeared to be still vague. Seems like Mdm. Ng knows that I wasn’t ready, that’s why all my classmates got to answer the questions for me to do some last-minute revision before presenting on PLE. =)

PLE is a potential approach to meet future educational needs & may provide new alternatives that foster learning capacity among individual learners (Bentley and Miller, 2004). Whereas Good & Brophy (1990) stated that PLE consider the individual pupil's interest, needs and abilities and finding out the best learning style for each pupil. From these, PLE seems to be the perfect way to produce productive and skilful workers to meet the demand in the future working world. Through PLE, students learn based on their own pace, ability and interest thus producing human assets who are aware of their strengths and abilities. Therefore, it is crucial that teachers become aware of the needs and interest of their students in order to identify and incorporate suitable teaching and learning methods to achieve the intended learning outcome.

Most of the time, being a teacher, I’ll tend to take up the role of a dictator while the students are passive learner where they just merely follow the teacher’s instructions. This prohibits them from taking responsibilities in their learning and also actively involve in the teaching and learning process as they feel that education is something done on them and the things that they are learning has nothing to do with them. By this, students will not be interested and will not want to engaged in the teaching and learning process.

As teacher, we need to identify and become aware of the activities that will lead to PLE. Having a clear knowledge and understanding regarding PLE will allow the teacher to fully incorporate the activities in the teaching and learning to help the students to achieve the intended learning outcome. So, the mission now is I need to identify the activities that will encourage PLE to be carried out in my lessons and I believe, with the help of technologies, each student will be able to utilize the instructional/ Internet tools in a productive manner which is beneficial to themselves and their peers and further leading them to become a life-long learner.

The 2nd - Today I Learn… Today I Question…

I was hoping to learn bits and pieces about Wikispaces and Webnodes from Yee Hui and Te. Both of them did great. Te introduced the Webnode and the stuffs we can do with Webnode. I hope to use Webnode as a platform for me to put in all my notes which are in Power Point form so that my students can access to them. While for Wikispace, Yee Hui did a great job in showing us the real life example on her Wikispace she created for her teaching and learning. I didn’t know Wikispace can be so cool coz I didn’t manage to produce something useable when I tried to create one the other time and then I abandoned it for quite sometime. =/

Regarding the article “Engaging the Online Faculty: Effective Modelling Strategies for Success”, I was a bit excited coz it was a short one. While reading it, I tried to identify the aim, problem statement, sample and some other stuffs that I normally find in research articles but of no avail and I finally decided that it is a report for sharing experiences and giving suggestions on effective modelling strategies. =) When everybody is trying to include technology into teaching and learning process, how many actually realize the important element of a successful online course is the development of a learning community of engaged participants. Teachers are actually playing a very significant role in designing the instruction when technology is included in the teaching and learning process.

I’m glad that Mdm. Ng shared on the four phases of the Engagement Model where I came to realize that we still and should practice behaviourist theory in our teaching and learning process before achieving to cooperation and collaboration. Therefore, it is not out-dated when we apply behaviourist theory. =) I believe by realizing these four phases,the interest of the students toward  the subject will be maintained and there will be more engagement and thus leading to effective learning. So, the problem at hand is, how should I design the instruction for my lesson in order to fulfil the phases of the Engagement Model to engage students in the subject that they are learning.

Today I Learn, Today I Question

From the first presentation, Evolution of Instructional Technology History and Development of the Internet in Teaching and Learning, I came to realize that Instructional Technology is not just merely a tool or device invented to enhance deliverance of instruction or information but it is a problem analysis, solution design, development, implementation, management and evaluation of instructional processes and resources to improve learning and performance in education and at work (Robert Reiser, 2001). This is so much more about instructional technology and I only know bits and pieces about it. How shameful!!! =/

With the advancement in technology, all sorts of Internet tools for teaching and learning are so available and the devices are getting more and more portable where we can get connected anytime, anywhere. So, as teachers, we need to be updated with the advancement in technology so that we can select the appropriate tools for effective teaching and learning process. I do need to know how to repurpose some of the popular tools like Facebook, blogs, YouTube etc for educational use in order to extend the learning process to outside school hours.

However, there are some controversial issues in instructional technology where Robert Kozma stated that, “Media plays a significant role in supporting the positive change in teaching and learning.” while Richard Clark made a statement, “It is neither media nor attributes of media that causes learning but rather the instructional method”. There  is the interrelationship between the elements technology, pedagogy, content and knowledge. Teachers having the pedagogy, content and knowledge should be able to choose the suitable technology to be incorporated into their teaching and learning to achieve their intended learning outcome. With the current emphasis on active learning where students are encourage to construct, collaborate and cooperate with their classmates and teachers to build new knowledge, I do hope to learn how to use the suitable instructional tools to encourage this process among my students.

October - The First

Woke up to a lazy morning… I miss my bed… so I add another 15 minutes to my sleep time after my alarm rang =)

I was the first among my fellow course mates to reach the class… The moment I stepped into the room, I notice there was this huge board standing next to my usual place and soon found out that it’s the smart board. Mdm Ng used the smart board throughout the lecture and I find the board really cool and that was actually the first time I’d seen someone operating the board coz all the while the board is just like a white elephant standing at one corner in the room.

The class was fun as Mdm Ng did a switch in the way we carry out our discussion. Instead of sitting around and start getting someone to be a volunteer, she get us all into the chat room in spectrum and do our discussion online. We had fun throughout  the whole 30 minutes discussion where there was giggling, laughter along the process. I think this is the trend now-a-days where people prefer to type then face-to-face communication.

In the discussion, we were asked to list 2 types of technologies which are significant to our teaching and learning experience based on the article written by McGreat and Elliot. We started off with YouTube, Webnodes, Wikispaces, Googlesites, Facebook etc. Each one of us have our own opinion and thoughts. In the end, we managed to identify 2 experts from among ourselves to give us more light regarding the use of Wikispaces and Webnodes in the coming classes. I do wish to learn more about Wikispaces and Webnodes so that I can apply them into my teaching and learning process.

Wake Me Up… When September Ends

The last day of September… Time flies…

It had been a really busy and hectic month with the beginning of a new semester after a long, long break. There was no orientation or get used to mode… =/ Everything needs to be on the go but the main problem is TIME!!! I don’t have enough time for everything. Nothing seems to be completed on time. It’s depressing to see the books and work pilling up on my desk in school and in my lappie.

I really need to manage my time better or I need to work even harder and faster or more consideration on the amount of work given… STRESS!!!

The IV

5. “Guide on the side” is often perceived as being absent

“We are paying you! You got to teach!”, “My teacher is not good coz she doesn’t give notes!”, “My teacher don’t give answers!”…

These are some common comments that we will hear when we are trying to “guide on the side”. The students are so used to the spoon feeding system in education causing them to be so dependent on their teacher on everything from notes to answers for their homework. So, without discussing the answer with them, they will not complete their homework especially the questions that require them to do a little bit of thinking. Discussion session will end up becoming a chit chatting session. They will ask the teacher to give them the answer or show them the solution. Therefore, those teachers who trying to promote self-directed learning, constructivist approach will be regarded as not a good teacher as they try to encourage the students to work on their own to solve a problem.

7. Learn while they learn

Learning is a life long process and there is no graduation from learning. When I was a student, I used to envy the adults who do not need to study anymore and no need to sit for exams especially the teachers cause they are the one who set the exam questions. Now that I am an adult, I realize that it’s not fun at all to be an adult as I still need to study to learn new things and sit for exams. It is important that teachers should not feel contended with their current state of knowledge because the world is moving very fast and we need to keep up with the current development of everything especially in the field of science and technology.

One of the things that I enjoy while I was teaching is the mutual sharing and communication between me and my students. I always find that teaching and learning is never a one way traffic process. Whenever the students came up with something that is not in their syllabus and I am not sure about the answer, I’ll check it out and this give me an opportunity to learn new things. I still remember the first time I conducted the frog dissection session couple of years ago. I was as nervous as my students. I’d prepared activity sheets for them, identify the parts and organs in the frog before the big day. Of course, there are a few misses throughout the process but as the time goes by I picked up more and learned more. This year is my third time conducting the dissection session with the form 4 kids and I was more confident than the first time and improvement on the activity was done. So, not only the students but I also benefited and learn something new. =)

22. It’s not all about you – let go of ideas and assignments that don’t work

Nobody is perfect. No matter how perfect the preparation work may be, different students have different cognitive level and when it comes to different students, teachers need to let go and alter ideas, worksheets and assignments in order to benefit the students to the max. For example, I prepared two sets of monthly test paper for two different class of students where one is the elite class while the other is almost the worse performing class in the whole form.The changes were crucial as to meet the cognitive level of the students. As teachers, we need to motivate the students to learn rather to “kill” them with difficult tasks.

29. Leave room for choice in assignments and projects – topic, team, individual/ group, live meetings, etc

Teachers are not dictators. When preparing the lesson, teachers will have all kinds of ideas and activities to be carried out but we also need to put into consideration the students’ interest and respect their ideas.

For example, students can make their own decision in choosing their team members to form their own group to carry out the project for their PEKA folio on the environmental issues. They are allowed to choose the topic they are interested and source out the information on that issue to be compiled into a folio. Besides that, they are also required to do a presentation in front of the class regarding the environmental issue in whatever ways they are comfortable with as long they deliver the message.

The Cool New Genz

Gee… I’m of Gen Y too… being born in different era does affect the way of living of a person. However, not all differences are due to chronological dates but its seems like those New Gens have a privilege of better exposure to the world of IT and this leads to some of the positive characteristics in them where  New Gens are affluent, better educated, comfortable with multitasking (with digital media) etc. On the other hand, researchers also found out that due to the conducive up-bringing environment, the New Gens are somehow selfish as they are being taught to put their own needs first and to focus on feeling good about themselves thus making them not competitive in the workplace and in the society. No wonder I notice the students now-a-days are so dependent on their parents or their teachers because they are over-protected and pampered.

“Having grown up with widespread access to technology, the New Gen is able to intuitively use a variety of IT devices and navigate the Internet. Although they are comfortable using technology without an instruction manual, their understanding of the technology or source quality may be shallow.”

The New Gens are IT savvy in  a way which interest them where they have no problem in surfing the Internet for games, entertainment or social interaction but they are limited when they are required to use the Internet in an educational way like searching study-related information, sharing knowledge etc. They will struggle to complete a task given as they are not familiar with using the Internet for educational purposes. As teachers, we need to keep up with the advancement in technology in order to make use of the technology in our T&L process. With proper planning and pedagogy, I believe, our lesson will be more engaging. =)

“In our twitch-speed world, there is less and less time and opportunity for reflection, which enable us to generalize as we create “mental models” from our experience.”

How true are these statements… Even I find myself is lacking on this matter of constantly reflecting on things and situations. The world is moving faster and faster. In order to keep up with it’s pace, we tend to be ‘touch and go’ on everything as long we get the job done without truly understanding the whole process. Most people cared more on the outcome than the process. In fact, we learn as we pass through the process. As educators, we “need to figure out and invent ways to include reflection and critical thinking in the learning. we must do more in this area.”

The Video

The unique challenge educators are facing currently is to prepare the students to face and survive in this ever changing world. But sad to say, our education system here focuses a lot on the examination grades rather than on the knowledge and experiences gained through the years the students are in school. Therefore, the teaching and learning process is moving towards excelling in examinations with flying colours.

Dr JSB’s question, “How learning must be a lifelong habit?” really strike me. Learning should be cultivated to be a lifelong habit. This means that learning is not only for the sake of passing exams or getting as many ‘A’s as possible in the exam. I think that’s the reason why after the exam, the students will forget everything that they have learned because the leaning process is for them to complete the exam and I doubt that the knowledge that they have learn is meaningful to them. So, what can we teachers do to help make the learning process meaningful to them? I need to get out from the condition of merely ‘pouring’ knowledge into the students’ brain.

Understanding is constructed socially. When students involved in a discussion trying to solve a problem, the learning process that happen during the discussion will be experiential to them as they construct their own knowledge. Therefore, teachers are playing an important role to lead and guide the students towards constructing their own knowledge thus making learning meaningful and real to them. I always feel glad when I hear a particular student explaining to his or her group member after getting an explanation from me. As the student explains, he or she will learn more. As mention by Dr JSB, nothing clarifies ideas better than explaining them to others.

With the help of technology, teachers will be able to extend the learning hours where students will continue to work on their assignments with their classmates in the virtual world of the Internet. So, it’s crucial that teachers have the knowledge on the technology to be use and with the suitable pedagogy to construct a virtual platform for the mutual sharing of knowledge among the students.


I only managed this much for this time... hope there will be more to come ^__^

The First Impression

It’s been quite some time since I have to wake up extra early on a Saturday morning. After gotten ready, I left home and headed towards the petrol kiosk (as my car was complaining me of not feeding it on time)… =)

The moment me and my fellow course mates stepped into the computer lab, there she was, already busy getting ready for the lecture. The first impression was, ‘Wow… I’m going to have a dedicated lecturer.’ After some brief introduction about herself, Mdm Ng Huey Zher started to introduce the course and the assignments that we will be doing throughout the course.  Some cool yet free websites such as Pixton and ToonDo where we can create our very own comic and Web 2.0 for social collaboration were introduced. This does hooked me as I have been trying to source out something which I can use to create a virtual platform for my lessons. I do hope I can explore more about all these cool stuffs.

The lecture went on smoothly… and at the end of the day, we left the room with three ‘homework’ to be completed by the coming Saturday. Now, what I really need is to start disciplining myself to face the challenges for this semester. =)