Week 10: Wrap Up

Can't believe it's Week 10 already! Curtain's almost down and everything's wrapping up. Even the title for this week is 'Wrap Up'. Well, I suppose we are going near the finishing line. It's been a great 10 weeks with my e-teacher colleagues from all over the world, and not forgetting our tutor Robert. Thank you so much everyone! I've learnt a lot from you guys!

Let's flashback on what we've learnt. I remember in Week 1, we introduced ourselves on Nicenet, read the rubrics and discuss the class ground rules. I suppose that's a pretty good way for us to start any class. Introduction breaks the ice, rubrics show us how are we going to be assessed so we know the direction, ground rules remind us of what should and should not be done. I personally did housekeeping like this at the beginning of a new semester but not usually the rubric part in which I think I will do next time. Week 2 was the ABCD Learning Objectives and effective web searches. I like ABCD Learning Objectives. The ABCD module has somehow really makes things clear in setting up the learning objectives. Again, a good thing to be implemented when doing lesson planning and teaching. In Week 3, we shared skill-building websites for oral/aural skills on Delicious. How could I not love it when everyone shared their favourites or what they found useful websites for oral/aural skills. I've bookmarked most of them on Delicious and will continue doing so in the future so I can share my findings with my colleagues. Other than oral/aural skills, there are numerous other websites for other skills as well such as for reading/writing skills (as discussed in Week 4). 

Week 4 too marked an important issue identified in our classroom which can be solved with technology and feasible for our final project. To me, this is the start of the 'seriousness' of this class. This week we started to think of what was lacking in our class and how could we improve it. As for me, the problem identified was my students who put too much focus on examination that they sometimes felt having interesting lessons on the computer was a waste of time. Surprisingly, Week 5 had showed me the solution - project-based learning and WebQuests! Relating my issue to these alternative assessments, I managed to come up with a solution which was to explicitly link examination with their project so that my students could see their learning is meaningful and serves their needs i.e. to prepare for the examination. The result: a WebQuest Fun With Idioms created with Zunal WebQuests Maker. I felt so proud when I tested this WebQuest lesson on my students in Week 6 and Week 7. They were excited to do the project which was to create a presentation on idioms. I even taught them to use Prezi, a creative alternative to PowerPoint (which we learnt in Week 6). In short, I would say that these 3 weeks have been very meaningful for me and my students. We benefited greatly from this course. I will definitely use a lot of these resources to create a lot more technology-enhanced lessons in the future.

Week 8 and Week 9, we were busy writing our project reports, shared them on class wiki with our partners for peer review and rewriting a final version of it before submitting it to Robert. It was a very stressful period for most of us, I believe, but WE DID IT! I'm proud. Now it's Week 10 when finally, we are coming to an end. It's hard for me to let it go especially because I felt I've learnt a lot the past 10 weeks. Besides, I've already gotten used to staying up late doing my assignments so I guess I'll feel 'too free' after this. I do hope that my friendship with my e-colleagues remains and we can keep sharing things we know and learn from wherever we are around the world. I hope to also continue writing on this blog about my passion in education. Till then. :)

Week 9: Learning Styles - Technology Connection

It's Week 9! We're at the final stage of our course  and I feel like I'm going to miss doing assignments till midnight when this class is over. I have successfully submitted my project report on Wednesday *yeay!*. At the same time, I have just completed marking my students examination paper *double yeay!* All done within 5 days. Now that's super teacher. :)

Our discussion topic this week was Learning Styles - Technology Connection. We talked a lot about Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligence. He identified nine intelligence which are verbal-linguistic, logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, bodily/kinaesthetic, musical/rhythmic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, naturalist and existentialist. You can read general information about this theory on Wikipedia.

In our discussion, among other arguments that we had was whether we should classify students according to their learning styles. Personally, I firmly believe that we should not classify and separate them, especially when we are dealing with younger kids. From my observation, these kids are clingy to their best buddies and if we separate them according to their learning styles which may be different, the probability is they would shut down totally and not do their work at all. Furthermore, I believe that all children has all intelligence. It depends on the surrounding to nurture the whole spectrum. The solution? We as teachers will have to do something to cater to all students' learning styles as well as to foster their learning and strengthen their intelligence.

One of the ways that teachers could do, as suggested in the website Concept to Classroom's Workshop: Tapping into Multiple Intelligences is that we could do what they termed as Learning Centres or Learning Stations. To quote from their page, these Learning Centres are "...situations around the classroom that a teacher sets up for students to work in either small group or individual activities. Each of these centers has supplies and materials that work well together and give students the tools to complete activities and mini-projects -- either in groups of two to three students or individually." In short, by having Learning Centres, we can organise various kinds of activities to cater to different students with different kinds of intelligences. Some of the suggestions that could be implemented in light of technology are: 

LEARNING CENTERS	TECHNOLOGY ACTIVITIES
ILLUSTRATION/VISUAL EXPRESSION CENTER(for encouraging students' Visual/Spatial; Intrapersonal Intelligences)	1) Painting using computer softwares (Paint, Adobe Photoshop, AutoCAD) 2) Cameras (digital, webcam, camcorder) 3) Computer with color printer and scanner: e-mail and Internet connection
SCIENCE/EXPERIMENT CENTER(for encouraging students' Logical/Mathematical, Naturalist, Visual/Spatial Intelligences)	1) A whole lot of Science resources online 2) Computer with color printer: probe-ware, robotics, spreadsheets, and timeliners. Science-based software such as The Voyage of the Mimi (Sunburst), The Great Space Rescue (Tom Snyder Software) and reference CD-ROMs
MUSIC CENTER(for encouraging students' Musical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal Intelligences)	1) CD player, mp3s with headphones 2) Various websites of videos (Youtube, DailyMotion) 3) Computer with microphone, speakers, and earphones plus MIDI connector and keyboard: music composition software, CD-ROMs designed for music study, CDs for incorporating sound into multimedia presentations 4) Various softwares for music composition (MuseScore, Noteflight)
PERFORMANCE CENTER(for encouraging students' Visual/Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal)	1) Cassette or CD-player for background music 2) Computer with color printer: designing costumes, props 3) Animation creator softwares (Anima8or, Pencil)

I have also found this interesting picture while I was surfing on the Internet, looking for an appropriate picture on Google Image. I think the picture reflects better on what our children could do (or maybe are already doing) with the presence of technology in education nowadays.

Anyhow, I also believe that we all should know our own intelligence profile. We could use it to understand ourselves better and perhaps, understand our students too. You can check yours too at http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz

Week 8: Teacher Resources Online

It's Week 8 and we were all busy writing our project report draft! They were done by Wednesday May 22nd and submitted to our partners. Now we are waiting for our partners to comment on our drafts. Honestly, I had to work around the clock this week, including the weekend. I had to attend Girls Guide Annual General Meeting at J.W. Marriott Kuala Lumpur for 4 days 3 nights. With all the work undone and meeting on the way, I managed to complete the report and did the task this week. I need to apologise to my partners for being a bit late in returning their project  report draft checklist and comments. Kayyum and Jurgita, if you are reading this, I am truly sorry but rest assured, I am working on it!

In this week as well, I learnt a lot of useful online tools. One of my favourite is HotPotatoes. I've downloaded this software to my computer and have even tried to use the tools such as JCloze (to create cloze passage), JMatch (to create matching exercise) and JCross (to make crossword puzzle). I love it! It definitely makes my life as a teacher easier. Before this, I've never made my own crossword puzzle. I did, but using Microsoft Word where I drew the boxes myself! That makes me so lazy to do exercises like that but now not anymore. I can use HotPotatoes. Thank you Robert for introducing me to such interesting tools.

I am definitely going to explore more on all the links provided by Robert and by my e-colleagues when I have free time later. As for now, let's get back to work.

Week 7: Learner Autonomy and One Computer Classroom

It is Week 7. We are approaching the end of our course. I've finished doing my class project with my students. I'm currently writing up my final project report and will submit it to my friends Kayyum and Jurgita for Peer Review. May the force be with me.

In the meantime, this week's topic reminded me very much of what I have learnt during my undergraduate years. It's about Learner Autonomy. So what is an autonomous learner? According to Little(1991), autonomous learners are those who explicitly accept responsibility for their own learning. The autonomous learner also shows initiative regarding  learning, and shares in monitoring progress and evaluating the extent to which learning is achieved (Schunk, 2005). In today's world, it is easy for students to become an autonomous learner because of technology. Technology helps and aids a lot in education. It is not surprising if one day, there is no more teacher teaching in physical schools. Children gets education online. Who knows? Nonetheless, it is today's teachers' responsibility to prepare students to become one.

Another topic that I learn is One Computer Classroom. This is a topic close to my situation right now. My classroom does not have a computer but I use my personal laptop as a teaching aid. I don't mind at all. I'm also grateful as the school has installed an LCD projector in my classroom. Well it's actually for English Unit but they choose to install it in my classroom. Lucky me! So I've made use of these technology advantages to teach my students. My verdict: every time I use the computer and project anything on the screen, my students are more attracted to my lesson. So technology is indeed a motivation to them.

As for my project, I did the Webquest lesson with my students last week on Friday. I'm in the process of writing the project report to be submitted to my peers. Wish me luck! :)

16 May: Malaysia Celebrates Teacher's Day

                                        Happy Teacher's Day!

Video Sharing

Will this be our future?

Week 6: Engaging Students / Large Classes and Interactive PowerPoint

Large class. Do you have this in your school? We don't. Our classes have in average 27 students. 30 will be the largest number of students in class. However, from time to time, we do have a lecture where we combine all five classes from the same form in one big room to undergo one lecture-style lesson. Sometimes we do that too when there happens to be a lack of teacher due to unforeseen circumstances like sickness, out-of-school duty etc. Handling a large class is not an easy task, especially with younger students who just love to talk and move around a lot. They are more energetic and requires full attention. As for the older ones, the usual problem is inattentiveness due to boredom. This requires motivation.

So, what I learnt this week is related to this problem. We talked about how tools like PowerPoint can be used to attract students' attention. In using PowerPoint too, there are various ways that we could do to make one presentation interesting and powerful to retain students' focus and attention. However, teachers/lecturers should bear in mind not to over-use it. Students will get bored too when we use them a lot, to the point that we rely entirely on the PowerPoint to do the lesson or we just read-out-loud points on the PowerPoint. Techniques such as ConcepTest and QuickWrite may be used along with a special blank slide within the PowerPoint presentation, just to switch students' view. We could also create a quiz using PowerPoint by adding hyperlinks etc. All these are called interactive PowerPoint method.

There are also alternatives to PowerPoint that I learn this week. For example, Prezi, SlideRocket, 280Slides and ZohoShow. These alternative add some spice to the presentation, making it more interesting and appealing for students. Well, who doesn't like something new, right? So I guess I'll be learning more and more of these tools and apply it my lessons. :)

As for the project, I haven't actually done the WebQuest lesson to my students. However, I tried one lesson plan (the one we did for Week 4 on Technology-enhanced Lesson Plan) without Internet in class. I've prepared beforehand by downloading the audio file and have the materials ready offline. It works! Students love it that we do something different and I believe I can expect them to be more enthusiastic when we do the WebQuest lesson this upcoming week. Hopefully... Anyway, one lesson I learnt when doing that lesson is to have Plan B ready because in my situation, things can go wrong anytime.

Anyway, have fun teaching everyone!