1. SCLP-related
a. What were some major changes to my SCLP?
The initial idea was to spend more time on crafting the first part of the SCLP, which was to include pictures of the various cation and anion tests and the colour and amount of precipitate formed or the gas tests. However, it was mentioned that this knowledge could be obtained from any chemistry textbook, so we decided to simplify the first part to include only words.
The final part of the SCLP was also slightly simplified. The original idea was to design a website to include all the common bench reagents for the students to use to test the 5 unknowns provided by Desperate Mama. However, upon discussion, we found that it was too time-consuming and complicated to design a whole new template for the website, so we decided to simplify it to using PowerPoint.
b. Why did those changes take place?
Technology is supposed to be a learning aid for lessons and should be as transparent as possible. It is not feasible for the students to use a complicated piece of software which requires time to learn and master. Thus, it is necessary to make the SCLP as simple as possible and as user-friendly as possible.
Being mindful of the point mentioned above, we felt that it was more appropriate to focus our attention to the scaffolding of the activity worksheet rather than to create fanciful programs for our SCLP. Our project focused on helping the students synthesize knowledge by using technology as a tool as opposed to making technology the main focus.
c. What did I learn as a result of creating an SCLP?
I’ve learnt that we can create many interesting and impressive projects by just using PowerPoint alone. Many functions of PowerPoint were discovered, like embedding worksheets or videos into the slideshow, and that it is possible to create entire e-learning lessons by just using PowerPoint.
It was also noted that technology should not be the main focus of the whole lesson and should just be a transparent aid to the lesson. It would be best if the students did not even notice the presence of technology in the lesson. The usage of technology is also more suited for higher cognitive processes like evaluation and synthesis as they are able to help the students scaffold these processes more effectively. It would be a ‘waste’ if technology was only used to help the students to memorize or regurgitate information.
2. What did I learn from QED522? (What was the first thing that popped into my mind?)
The first thing that pops into my mind is definitely the phase “student centred learning” and I’m sure that’s the case for many of us in the class as well. Technology is useless without the proper method and skills to implement it in the lessons and student centred learning is one way that ICT can be successfully integrated into the lessons. Using technology, students can learn better and faster on their own and the role of the teacher would mostly be to help the students structure their thoughts by asking suitable questions and using the appropriate technology.
I have also learnt many new programs from the demonstrations given by other members of the class and how to implement some of these technologies in the classroom. I believe that with the help of technology, learning can be much more effective and should be able to take place anytime, anywhere. Hopefully the load on the teachers and students will be very much relieved too with the help of technology in the future.
Thursday, 18 October 2007
Thursday, 27 September 2007
Reflection on the lesson planning proposal and crtiquing process.
Lesson Planning Proposal
1. The specific instructional objectives forma critical part of any lesson plan as they would dictate how the lesson will flow and what the students need to be able to perform at the end of the lesson.
2. The assessment portion of the lesson plan must be aligned with the SIOs provided and structured in a proper manner to allow accurate assessment of the students’ abilities.
3. The story line has to be fun and interesting in order to capture the attention of the students. It is best not to over-use a type of story or plot in the lesson plan, e.g. crime scene investigation, etc…
4. The incorporation of ICT tools has to be secondary to the lesson objectives. The ICT tool only serve to help the lesson objectives and it is not the main focus of the lesson plan.
5. Storyboarding is an important process as it helps others to be aware of the thought processes of the author of the lesson package.
6. The teachers’ role in the lessons are mostly peripheral; most of the work is done before the lesson and the teacher only serves as a guide and facilitator during the lesson.
Critiquing Process (peer)
1. The critiquing process is important as it helps to incorporate new ideas into the lesson package or to improve existing ones.
Critiquing Process (Dr Ashley Tan)
1. It was a very enriching meeting with Dr Tan as he helped us to focus our attention to the necessary areas rather then spend a lot of time on the parts that are not student-centred.
2. We had a better idea of what the lesson package was going to about and saved a lot of time by cutting out on the redundant portions of our lesson packages.
1. The specific instructional objectives forma critical part of any lesson plan as they would dictate how the lesson will flow and what the students need to be able to perform at the end of the lesson.
2. The assessment portion of the lesson plan must be aligned with the SIOs provided and structured in a proper manner to allow accurate assessment of the students’ abilities.
3. The story line has to be fun and interesting in order to capture the attention of the students. It is best not to over-use a type of story or plot in the lesson plan, e.g. crime scene investigation, etc…
4. The incorporation of ICT tools has to be secondary to the lesson objectives. The ICT tool only serve to help the lesson objectives and it is not the main focus of the lesson plan.
5. Storyboarding is an important process as it helps others to be aware of the thought processes of the author of the lesson package.
6. The teachers’ role in the lessons are mostly peripheral; most of the work is done before the lesson and the teacher only serves as a guide and facilitator during the lesson.
Critiquing Process (peer)
1. The critiquing process is important as it helps to incorporate new ideas into the lesson package or to improve existing ones.
Critiquing Process (Dr Ashley Tan)
1. It was a very enriching meeting with Dr Tan as he helped us to focus our attention to the necessary areas rather then spend a lot of time on the parts that are not student-centred.
2. We had a better idea of what the lesson package was going to about and saved a lot of time by cutting out on the redundant portions of our lesson packages.
Thursday, 6 September 2007
Reflections on ICT e-learning week 6th Sep 2007
1. From a learner’s point of view, how was this week’s activity related to the previous weeks' activities? How do you think it is related to what is to come?
This week’s activities was quite similar to the previous week’s lesson planning in a sense that we were still required to find certain ideas and lesson plans that are suitable for ICT and student based learning. However the ideas provided this week are not as detailed as the lesson plans that were being drafted out last week.
This assignment is largely related to the second part of the written assignment that we are supposed to hand up on the week after e-learning week. Most probably the other assignments that are going to arrive in the following weeks would require us to come up with lesson plans to do with student centred learning and the methods to integrate ICT into student centred learning, be it problem based, inquiry based, resource based, game based or case based learning.
2. From a teacher's point of view, how do you think your instructor designed this task? Why was it designed this way? What considerations did he possibly take into account? What can you take away from this experience?
I think that my instructor designed the task in this way in order to have continuity in our learning process. This course is basically all about student centred learning and the integration of ICT tools to make learning more engaging and fun and more student centred as opposed to the traditional teacher centred learning. It was designed in such a way that the students are able to come up with a proper lesson plan incorporating all the aspects of student centred learning together with assimilation of ICT tools. I guess the instructor did not want us to focus too much on the ICT technological aspect but on how it can help lessons to become more student centred.
In this experience, I learnt many different ways of integrating ICT in different lesson plans such as Chemistry or Maths lessons. I hope it will be helpful to me in the future in planning more student centric lessons.
This week’s activities was quite similar to the previous week’s lesson planning in a sense that we were still required to find certain ideas and lesson plans that are suitable for ICT and student based learning. However the ideas provided this week are not as detailed as the lesson plans that were being drafted out last week.
This assignment is largely related to the second part of the written assignment that we are supposed to hand up on the week after e-learning week. Most probably the other assignments that are going to arrive in the following weeks would require us to come up with lesson plans to do with student centred learning and the methods to integrate ICT into student centred learning, be it problem based, inquiry based, resource based, game based or case based learning.
2. From a teacher's point of view, how do you think your instructor designed this task? Why was it designed this way? What considerations did he possibly take into account? What can you take away from this experience?
I think that my instructor designed the task in this way in order to have continuity in our learning process. This course is basically all about student centred learning and the integration of ICT tools to make learning more engaging and fun and more student centred as opposed to the traditional teacher centred learning. It was designed in such a way that the students are able to come up with a proper lesson plan incorporating all the aspects of student centred learning together with assimilation of ICT tools. I guess the instructor did not want us to focus too much on the ICT technological aspect but on how it can help lessons to become more student centred.
In this experience, I learnt many different ways of integrating ICT in different lesson plans such as Chemistry or Maths lessons. I hope it will be helpful to me in the future in planning more student centric lessons.
Wednesday, 5 September 2007
Reflections of Lesson planning process 30th August 2007
1. What did you learn (or what was reinforced) from the lesson planning process?
Firstly, I learnt that ICT is better used for lessons which are more focused in higher order cognitive skills. ICT can also be used for the lower order cognitive skills like knowledge acquisition or comprehension, but its potential is better tapped on when it is used to facilitate application, analysis, synthesis or evaluation processes. ICT, coupled with student centered learning strategies, would better reinforce these processes.
Secondly, I realized that it was quite challenging to try to incorporate ICT in these higher level mental processes as we were not quite used to them during our schooling days. In our time, the most common use of ICT was PowerPoint slides or videos being screened which were merely passive processes. However, the challenge now is to incorporate lessons with ICT so that they can be more student-centered and more engaging for the students.
Thirdly, the importance writing of good objectives was further emphasized during the writing of the lesson plan. Without a clear and concise objective, it is almost impossible to complete the writing of the lesson plan as a lot of factors such as the activities and assessment hinge on the lesson objectives.
2. What did you learn from the online critiquing process?
I learnt that one should not try to forcibly incorporate ICT into the lessons without a proper idea of the lesson objectives and what the lesson should achieve. Some lessons are better off taught in the traditional method while some lessons can be made more interesting and engaging to the students by the incorporation of ICT. Furthermore, the incorporation of ICT should also be structured properly so as not to incur the student’s confusion. Instructions on how to use the ICT tools should be clearly written and the ICT tools should enable the students to achieve the learning objectives faster and intrigue the students’ interest in the subject.
Firstly, I learnt that ICT is better used for lessons which are more focused in higher order cognitive skills. ICT can also be used for the lower order cognitive skills like knowledge acquisition or comprehension, but its potential is better tapped on when it is used to facilitate application, analysis, synthesis or evaluation processes. ICT, coupled with student centered learning strategies, would better reinforce these processes.
Secondly, I realized that it was quite challenging to try to incorporate ICT in these higher level mental processes as we were not quite used to them during our schooling days. In our time, the most common use of ICT was PowerPoint slides or videos being screened which were merely passive processes. However, the challenge now is to incorporate lessons with ICT so that they can be more student-centered and more engaging for the students.
Thirdly, the importance writing of good objectives was further emphasized during the writing of the lesson plan. Without a clear and concise objective, it is almost impossible to complete the writing of the lesson plan as a lot of factors such as the activities and assessment hinge on the lesson objectives.
2. What did you learn from the online critiquing process?
I learnt that one should not try to forcibly incorporate ICT into the lessons without a proper idea of the lesson objectives and what the lesson should achieve. Some lessons are better off taught in the traditional method while some lessons can be made more interesting and engaging to the students by the incorporation of ICT. Furthermore, the incorporation of ICT should also be structured properly so as not to incur the student’s confusion. Instructions on how to use the ICT tools should be clearly written and the ICT tools should enable the students to achieve the learning objectives faster and intrigue the students’ interest in the subject.
Tuesday, 28 August 2007
Reflections for ICT Week 4 23rd Aug 2007
K: What I already KNOW about this week’s topic
I learnt some SCLA techniques last week like problem based, inquiry-based, case-based, resource-based and game-based learning and some of the ways to apply these techniques in the classroom.
W: What I WANT to learn
I want to learn the different ways and methods of planning an effective lesson and coming up with a lesson plan that makes learning fun yet meaningful.
L: What I LEARNED this week
I have learned many interesting things this week; firstly, I finally learnt how to use skype (after such a long time!) and how to incorporate this ICT tool as a learning aid for the students, especially in times of crisis when the students might not have a chance to come to school physically. Secondly, I learned how to write proper lesson objectives and the things that a good lesson plan should contain. I also had a chance to practice writing lesson plans for a particular topic and my group found that it was not always easy to phase the objectives into proper lesson objectives containing all the ABCD. I also realised this week that the apart from the students’ age, gender, stream, grade and prior knowledge, the past experiences of the students also shape how the students think and learn (behaviourism?).
Q: What QUESTIONS I still have
Has lesson planning become an unhealthy obsession for all Singaporean teachers? A lot of the teachers (especially trainee teachers) I had observed were so obsessed with lesson planning that some of them even stayed up till wee hours of the morning everyday to prepare their lesson plans. Of course lesson plans are extremely useful in the delivery of the lesson but I think such an unhealthy obsession with doing lesson plans might result in burn out of the teacher and might not give them enough time to actually think of how to present the lesson to the students in the best possible way.
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
Reflections on ICT Week 3 16th August 2007
K: What I already KNOW about this week’s topic
I had very little knowledge about this week's topic as I was not familiar at all with lesson planning because I did not have much chance to join in the lesson planning during ESE. However I had some impression of student-centred learning from the past few weeks of ICT lessons. SCLA gave me the impression of concentrating on the learning of the student as compared with the old style of teaching by rote and focusing more on the role of the teacher. In SCLA, the teacher acts more like a facilitator trying to build some structure around the discussion and lead it in the right direction rather than spoon-feeding all the information to the students.
W: What I WANT to learn
I wanted to learn more about SCLA and the ways and approaches that the teacher can go about student-centred learning as opposed to just talking and talking in front of the class for hours on end.
L: What I LEARNED this week
I learned some different approaches to SCLA, namely problem based, project based, case based, inquiry based, game based and resource based learning. My group focused on resource-based learning and it is more or less like giving the students tools to find out information by themselves. The teachers act as facilitators and give the students a few sources of information about a certain topic and the students are supposed to go and find out more sources of information by themselves. The teachers' role then are to give a scaffold to the entire task, like how the task is going to be graded and some questions to guide them along the task. However, the onus is still based on the students to find out as much information as they can by themselves and present it back to the class. In this way, they can introduce the topic to the class first before the teacher starts the teaching proper.
Q: What QUESTIONS I still have
How effective is student-centred learning as opposed to the traditional teaching approaches? I feel that not all subjects can use SCLA all of the time, as it is extremely time-consuming and taxing on both the teachers and the students. Some SCLA is necessary to provide some variety and novelty to the class, but over-use of student-based learning projects can be very exhausting to both the teacher and the students as they can be difficult for the teachers to access and the students might be initially overwhelmed by the sheer workload.
I had very little knowledge about this week's topic as I was not familiar at all with lesson planning because I did not have much chance to join in the lesson planning during ESE. However I had some impression of student-centred learning from the past few weeks of ICT lessons. SCLA gave me the impression of concentrating on the learning of the student as compared with the old style of teaching by rote and focusing more on the role of the teacher. In SCLA, the teacher acts more like a facilitator trying to build some structure around the discussion and lead it in the right direction rather than spoon-feeding all the information to the students.
W: What I WANT to learn
I wanted to learn more about SCLA and the ways and approaches that the teacher can go about student-centred learning as opposed to just talking and talking in front of the class for hours on end.
L: What I LEARNED this week
I learned some different approaches to SCLA, namely problem based, project based, case based, inquiry based, game based and resource based learning. My group focused on resource-based learning and it is more or less like giving the students tools to find out information by themselves. The teachers act as facilitators and give the students a few sources of information about a certain topic and the students are supposed to go and find out more sources of information by themselves. The teachers' role then are to give a scaffold to the entire task, like how the task is going to be graded and some questions to guide them along the task. However, the onus is still based on the students to find out as much information as they can by themselves and present it back to the class. In this way, they can introduce the topic to the class first before the teacher starts the teaching proper.
Q: What QUESTIONS I still have
How effective is student-centred learning as opposed to the traditional teaching approaches? I feel that not all subjects can use SCLA all of the time, as it is extremely time-consuming and taxing on both the teachers and the students. Some SCLA is necessary to provide some variety and novelty to the class, but over-use of student-based learning projects can be very exhausting to both the teacher and the students as they can be difficult for the teachers to access and the students might be initially overwhelmed by the sheer workload.
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
Relections on week 2 of QED 522: 9th August 2007
K: What I already KNOW about this week’s topic
As mentioned last week, many of the schools in Singapore already have some degree of ICT integration in their school system, be it using PowerPoint slides for lessons or bringing the class to the computer lab for graph plotting during Math lessons. I am also aware that some schools have converted the textbook into softcopy form, fully assessable by using a tablet laptop, which also enables the student to take down notes into the ‘textbook’ by directing writing on the tablet pc itself
W: What I WANT to learn
I wanted to see if there were any novel ways of integrating ICT into the classroom environment besides the few conventional ways that most schools use.
L: What I LEARNED this week
The visit to the COTF was an eye-opening experience: the high level of connectivity and interaction between the teacher and the students in that kind of environment really impressed me. Moreover, learning could be done in not just only the classroom, but even when the student is travelling or at home. The palmtops that the students use in the COTF are extremely mobile and makes learning on the go a reality. Apart from formal classroom teaching, the COTF can also aid in most scientific research projects as it is extremely convenient to link-up with other students or professors all around the world.
The videos also showed us some ways of managing the class when in the computer lab. However, I doubt that the students in most secondary schools will be as receptive to instruction as those kids in the videos.
Q: What QUESTIONS I still have
Firstly, how far are we from implementing the COTF in our classrooms? By the looks of it, even if we had the technology to do it, not many schools have the right environment and expertise to operate these gadgets. Moreover, classroom sizes right now are too big to implement COTF effectively. Secondly, would the implementation of technology marginalize the students who are not so well off financially? Some of the poorer students would have trouble buying a tablet pc or a palmtop and would probably feel too embarrassed by their financial situation to ask for help.
Thursday, 2 August 2007
QED522 Lesson 1: 2nd August 2007
K: What I already KNOW about this week’s topic
Before today’s class, I had already knew that many Secondary schools in Singapore were already integrating ICT into the teaching of lessons, such as using PowerPoint slides to replace the use of overhead projectors and interactive learning applets. Moreover, as I was attached to Crescent Girls School (one of the schools which MOE assigned as one of the ‘schools of the future’) for a stint during my ‘varsity holidays, I had some experience with interacting with the students using ICT and designing some applications to facilitate the use of ICT in the classrooms to make it easier for both the teachers and students to benefit from ICT.
W: What I WANT to learn
I wanted to see if I could learn any new applications or use existing applications that I’ve already learnt to make learning more enjoyable for the students and to relieve some of the workload of the teachers.
L: What I LEARNED this week
I’ve learnt this week that this course is not about learning new applications or programming, but about how to make learning more student-centered by the use of ICT. I have also learnt how to use the wiki to upload information and to access other people’s wiki page to see what they have done. I have also learnt that Ashley is a guy’s name. (heh just kidding).
Q: What QUESTIONS I still have
As we know, many older teachers are still not very comfortable with the use of ICT, so are there any programs or courses offered by NIE to target the more senior teachers? I’m sure that by combining their many years of experience with ICT would yield much better results as they would know what the things to incorporate into the applications to make learning more enjoyable. Secondly, although ICT can be a very useful lesson aid, I feel face-to-face interactions between the teachers and their students are still extremely important so we should not have the students stare at the computer screen for the entire lesson and neglect the most important part of teaching – human interaction. (This was more of a comment than a question of course but I thought this was the best place to put it)
Before today’s class, I had already knew that many Secondary schools in Singapore were already integrating ICT into the teaching of lessons, such as using PowerPoint slides to replace the use of overhead projectors and interactive learning applets. Moreover, as I was attached to Crescent Girls School (one of the schools which MOE assigned as one of the ‘schools of the future’) for a stint during my ‘varsity holidays, I had some experience with interacting with the students using ICT and designing some applications to facilitate the use of ICT in the classrooms to make it easier for both the teachers and students to benefit from ICT.
W: What I WANT to learn
I wanted to see if I could learn any new applications or use existing applications that I’ve already learnt to make learning more enjoyable for the students and to relieve some of the workload of the teachers.
L: What I LEARNED this week
I’ve learnt this week that this course is not about learning new applications or programming, but about how to make learning more student-centered by the use of ICT. I have also learnt how to use the wiki to upload information and to access other people’s wiki page to see what they have done. I have also learnt that Ashley is a guy’s name. (heh just kidding).
Q: What QUESTIONS I still have
As we know, many older teachers are still not very comfortable with the use of ICT, so are there any programs or courses offered by NIE to target the more senior teachers? I’m sure that by combining their many years of experience with ICT would yield much better results as they would know what the things to incorporate into the applications to make learning more enjoyable. Secondly, although ICT can be a very useful lesson aid, I feel face-to-face interactions between the teachers and their students are still extremely important so we should not have the students stare at the computer screen for the entire lesson and neglect the most important part of teaching – human interaction. (This was more of a comment than a question of course but I thought this was the best place to put it)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)