This ICT group assignment in creating a lesson idea incorporating ICT tools in conducting a lesson has been a rather insightful experience for me personally. Most of us future teachers are certainly aware of MOE's advocation for ICT to be employed in our teaching but our knowledge of the tools available for use and the extent to which we are expected to incorporate it in our lesson delivery is rather limited. Our knowledge of ICT tools is contrained to the more common ones such as Microsoft Powerpoint and the Internet. This ICT module has taught us various tools that we could make use of for the benefit of our increasingly technologially-savvy students.
More interestingly, we have learned the process involved in the creation of a lesson plan. Much hype about it been spoken of and talked about among us but no one really has a clear idea what a lesson plan is and how crucial it is in designing and preparing for our lessons.
This group assignment in particular puts us in the shoes of actual teachers who go through several stages and process in achieving a lesson idea or a lesson plan that is sound enough to be implemented. As it seems, designing a lesson that makes full use of ICT is an extremely tedious process. Having experienced it for ourselves we are more prepared and know what to expect when faced with a similar situation.
We have also learned the limitations and the affordances of the various ICT tools recommended for use. This knowledge would be beneficial when we go about designing future lessons.
I have been appointed the leader of this group and it has honestly been a testing position for me. We had meetings almost every week ever since we started immediately after session 8 and even though we had a rather sound idea to kickstart the project, it did not seem enough. So I encouraged my members to keep thinking of fresh new ideas that could beef up our project even further. It was not easy as we are rather new to this and face dilemmas of trying to juggle other assignments at the same time. It was certainly hard on all of us that we were still editing our materials up to the day of the presentation. However we've managed to pull through and I am pleased with my group for their committment and conviction and the effort that they have put in in making sure we have a good assignment done.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Glenn's Reflection
The ICT group assignment has been an eye-opener. It enlightened me on the benefits that ICT tools can bring about in lessons. The usage of programs such as HotPotatoes instills creativity and fun into the lessons to prevent it from being mundane. Activities such as crossword puzzles can be created with ease as well. The difficulty that I underwent while undergoing the presentation was time management. It was really tough juggling both the frequent meet ups alongside the other group meetings that I have from the other modules. Nevertheless, being a in a group of fun-loving and efficient people really do help preparing the ICT group assignment a pleasure. Special credits have to be given to Musa too for the adverse effort put in to guide us and make the entire assignment a success!
Having this assignment also pre-empts me for the future since teachers do have to come up with lesson plans for all their lessons. It shows the effort that every teacher put in to bring about an enjoyable lesson for their students and I seek to do the same. If it is possible, I would try to slot in an ICT tool into my lesson every fortnightly to bring about joy and fun to my students.
Having this assignment also pre-empts me for the future since teachers do have to come up with lesson plans for all their lessons. It shows the effort that every teacher put in to bring about an enjoyable lesson for their students and I seek to do the same. If it is possible, I would try to slot in an ICT tool into my lesson every fortnightly to bring about joy and fun to my students.
Reflection- Zheng Han
Going through this ICT group assignment has made me more aware of certain ICT tools such as J Quiz and the process by which quizzes can be created for the students and incorporated into the curriculum. The process of ding the ICT group presentation was very hectic at times. We had to balance our workload for other modules with this project. We were constantly on our toes making sure that we do our work progressively.
I realised that if much effort was needed to come up with an assignment based on ICT tools. One would have to be very versed in the subject to be able to come up with a good assignment based on something such as Hot Potato. Thus much research should be done before the ICT. There were many constraints such as a shortage of teacher or time.
I think that if I had the time and resources, I would like to rope in more teachers to recreate a quest/ game through the use of ICT that would come down to students as being interesting and fun. Such games, though time consuming, will no doubt help create interest in a particular subject.
Overall, this project has given me an opportunity to work with new people and made me aware of the amount of planning required to come up with a lesson. Sure exposures would be important in preparing us for teaching in future.
I realised that if much effort was needed to come up with an assignment based on ICT tools. One would have to be very versed in the subject to be able to come up with a good assignment based on something such as Hot Potato. Thus much research should be done before the ICT. There were many constraints such as a shortage of teacher or time.
I think that if I had the time and resources, I would like to rope in more teachers to recreate a quest/ game through the use of ICT that would come down to students as being interesting and fun. Such games, though time consuming, will no doubt help create interest in a particular subject.
Overall, this project has given me an opportunity to work with new people and made me aware of the amount of planning required to come up with a lesson. Sure exposures would be important in preparing us for teaching in future.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Fauzi's Reflections
Based on the overall development and the completion of this project, I feel that our group has put in a lot of effort in ensuring that all aspects of the project is being covered.
Whether your group progressed as scheduled?
We had made early planning on how we were going to approach the process of creating this lesson plan especially for the students, paying particular attention to the requirements for the subject of History.
Problems/Difficulties
As our lesson plan includes an out-of-the class learning experience (a trip to the Singapore Museum), we have to ensure that learning do take place over there. We also have to take into consideration on the student to teacher ratio, on whether the teacher can manage the whole class, and if not, what are the best solutions to it. On how learning can take place by going for the museum trip, we also have to consider on how the assessment should be made and what kind of activities will be suitable. Also, the safety concerns should also not be neglected when carrying out an out-of-the classroom learning experience.
We also have to think about how we can apply what have been learnt from the museum trip into part of the curriculum assessment. In this, we have decided that it will be a project-based approach in which students will work together to craft out a video on their interpretation of the Japanese Occupation. Assessment Guidelines were given out so that students will know which component has high weightage and therefore a proper development of their video project can be made. In this, we also have to consider on the technicalities, whether the students know how to create a video using video editing programs and whether they have access to computers and the programs. This has all been analyzed thoroughly and a solution was formed.
Revisions / Conclusion
Overall, it was a good lesson plan to work on and the challenges of including ICT into it stimulates our thinking and how we can embrace and incorporate modern technology into our teachings. Not only does technology changes the way lessons are conducted, but it also changes the way in which students learn as well. Gone are the days whereby learning is all about the memorization of facts! Teachings and lessons should now be made to stimulate student’s critical thinking and also active self-directed and collaborative learning.
Whether your group progressed as scheduled?
We had made early planning on how we were going to approach the process of creating this lesson plan especially for the students, paying particular attention to the requirements for the subject of History.
Problems/Difficulties
As our lesson plan includes an out-of-the class learning experience (a trip to the Singapore Museum), we have to ensure that learning do take place over there. We also have to take into consideration on the student to teacher ratio, on whether the teacher can manage the whole class, and if not, what are the best solutions to it. On how learning can take place by going for the museum trip, we also have to consider on how the assessment should be made and what kind of activities will be suitable. Also, the safety concerns should also not be neglected when carrying out an out-of-the classroom learning experience.
We also have to think about how we can apply what have been learnt from the museum trip into part of the curriculum assessment. In this, we have decided that it will be a project-based approach in which students will work together to craft out a video on their interpretation of the Japanese Occupation. Assessment Guidelines were given out so that students will know which component has high weightage and therefore a proper development of their video project can be made. In this, we also have to consider on the technicalities, whether the students know how to create a video using video editing programs and whether they have access to computers and the programs. This has all been analyzed thoroughly and a solution was formed.
Revisions / Conclusion
Overall, it was a good lesson plan to work on and the challenges of including ICT into it stimulates our thinking and how we can embrace and incorporate modern technology into our teachings. Not only does technology changes the way lessons are conducted, but it also changes the way in which students learn as well. Gone are the days whereby learning is all about the memorization of facts! Teachings and lessons should now be made to stimulate student’s critical thinking and also active self-directed and collaborative learning.
Lynn's Reflection
I suppose the discussions that took place in class helped our group in the scaffolding of this project. We had our discussion led by our tutor in class, which steered us to the right direction. hence we could established the foundation of this project well.
Personally I thought that the efficiency of this group was incredible. Firstly because, we had a great leader who is very efficient in delegating tasks. Furthermore we all adhered to the deadlines set by him and thus could finish our project on time.
Having gone through this module, it was really helpful as we found out that there are many more technical tools to use other than the conventional pen and paper. With the increasing amount of the different types of technologies being invented, we as teachers also have to keep up with the technological changes in order to keep up with the modern times, and also the younger generation like our students.
No doubt the creation of the lesson package and the tools that we have to use were slightly tedious, the whole project was an enjoyable one overall. The self-directed learning that we were required to do, allows us to explore the applications that were taught in class and conduct a hands-on experiment ourselves. As what the framework for the Collaborative Learning states, we learn from one another, the different perceptions and opinions on issues.
In short, this project would be helpful to all of us in the future to conduct the lessons when we start to teach.
Personally I thought that the efficiency of this group was incredible. Firstly because, we had a great leader who is very efficient in delegating tasks. Furthermore we all adhered to the deadlines set by him and thus could finish our project on time.
Having gone through this module, it was really helpful as we found out that there are many more technical tools to use other than the conventional pen and paper. With the increasing amount of the different types of technologies being invented, we as teachers also have to keep up with the technological changes in order to keep up with the modern times, and also the younger generation like our students.
No doubt the creation of the lesson package and the tools that we have to use were slightly tedious, the whole project was an enjoyable one overall. The self-directed learning that we were required to do, allows us to explore the applications that were taught in class and conduct a hands-on experiment ourselves. As what the framework for the Collaborative Learning states, we learn from one another, the different perceptions and opinions on issues.
In short, this project would be helpful to all of us in the future to conduct the lessons when we start to teach.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Development on Video Component
As a follow up, here are some ideas on what we can ask the students to do for the creation of the video for the project.
After the students have answered the quiz, and gained the knowledge learnt from their field trip to the Singapore museum, they will somehow have a general idea and their own perception on how life was like during the Japanese Occupation. As they will be doing this in a group, then each group member will have their own opinions, thus there needs to be a discussion process whereby they will decide on what they are going to show in the video.
Maybe there could be a group reflection to be done first and that they can seek assistance from the teacher if they are facing any difficulties?
After the students have answered the quiz, and gained the knowledge learnt from their field trip to the Singapore museum, they will somehow have a general idea and their own perception on how life was like during the Japanese Occupation. As they will be doing this in a group, then each group member will have their own opinions, thus there needs to be a discussion process whereby they will decide on what they are going to show in the video.
Maybe there could be a group reflection to be done first and that they can seek assistance from the teacher if they are facing any difficulties?
Friday, March 26, 2010
Meeting #3
Fauzi's idea of incorporating the video to assess their eventual learning was well-received. We thought it was an excellent way to make the assignment more interesting. It also gives us the opportunity to turn this assignment into a inquiry and project based learning where a final deliverable or product will be expected from the students. With a product, teachers may then have a more concrete way to assess their learning. It also gives the assignment a form of direction that the students can adhere to and follow.
We discussed possible ways in which the video could be incorporated into this assignment. After much deliberation we have decided that it should be the final product that students will need to submit for their overall grading and assessment. The video will need to portray their own personal opinion or interpretation of the event which they will first share with the class prior to it. What will be filmed is their group's acting in portraying their historical interpretations. This is in line with one of our objectives of trying to educate students on the way history is often presented and the agenda that tends to accompany it.
This meeting had us finalising all details of the lesson idea so that we may begin on the Powerpoint Package and the Powerpoint Presentation. We also discussed and finalised the way we would like to carry out the presentation and tasked different members with different parts of the presentation. We unanimously decided that due to our increasingly busy schedule and work committment, we should make use of online meeting more often through MSN rather than physical meeting.
We discussed possible ways in which the video could be incorporated into this assignment. After much deliberation we have decided that it should be the final product that students will need to submit for their overall grading and assessment. The video will need to portray their own personal opinion or interpretation of the event which they will first share with the class prior to it. What will be filmed is their group's acting in portraying their historical interpretations. This is in line with one of our objectives of trying to educate students on the way history is often presented and the agenda that tends to accompany it.
This meeting had us finalising all details of the lesson idea so that we may begin on the Powerpoint Package and the Powerpoint Presentation. We also discussed and finalised the way we would like to carry out the presentation and tasked different members with different parts of the presentation. We unanimously decided that due to our increasingly busy schedule and work committment, we should make use of online meeting more often through MSN rather than physical meeting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)