Reflections

It's almost the end of the semester. Frankly speaking, my battery is really running low now, especially with the final assignments for the various modules due and pupils' exams just round the corner. Nevertheless, I'm glad I have signed up for MAE 812. I.T. has never been my forte. In fact, there would be times when I dislike I.T. and wondered why must I.T. be created. However, this module really gave me an insight as to how ICT can be used to teach and learn a language. My perspective of the use of I.T. has been changed. I no longer use I.T. simply to 'clock' in the required number of teaching/learning hours online. Nowadays, when I want to have an ICT language lesson, I'll think twice about whether i have made informed use of ICT or I have merely used ICT for the convenience of Internet websites.

I have attached a powerpoint presentation of my reflections, personal goals and collegial goals. I'll definitely try out more ICT based language lessons after the June holidays.

Corpus, Concordance and Data-Driven Learning

I guess everyone is busy either with work or assignments. For me, my 'battery' is almost flat. I can't wait for the June holidays to be here (don't think many of us will consider the March holidays a real break).

Anyway, in the midst of all the deadlines and work, I managed to squeeze in some time to blog about the previous lesson on 'Corpus, Concordance and Data-Driven Learning'. I won't go into the theoretical aspects as I have to confess... I have not done a single reading yet. What I want to share is the process of how Dr Doyle brought us through the various activities from low-tech to high-tech.

Personally, I find the Multiple-Context Cloze an interesting activity. As I tried out the activity, I must admit, I can't get the answer. I only managed to get it towards the last few clues. It was quite embarrassing for me not to be able to get the answer but it is an engaging activity where lessons, such as finding clues from the context, prepositions, connectors etc, could be generated from it. I particularly like the idea where such sentences come from students' compositions. This is a true example of a learner corpus. I will certainly try this out with my class.

The other activity, the use of BNC online to look up words and phrases, is also an interesting one. However, for students to make use of it, especially at the P3 level which I'm taking, it may be a challenge for them. Students may not be able to differentiate between the right and the wrong. Nevertheless, it is still useful if teachers are to use this to faciliate class discussions.

This lesson has widened my perspective of how ICT can be integrated into lessons. It is an effective pedagogy, away from the use of websites where teachers merely do a show-and-tell.

New Look! What do you say?

Hi everyone,

After browsing through most of the blogs created by my coursemates for MAE 812, I decided to do 2 make-overs for my blog. As you can see, this is my first attempt at blogging so my first reflection was really formal. So the 1st make-over... I've decided to write more personal reflections and do it in a causal style. 2nd make-over which is still in progress... I'm trying to see how I can link everyone's blogs onto mine (as what some of you have done).

After attending Week 3's MAE 812 lesson, I feel that the teacher, students & ICT are actually interdependent. In order for a lesson to be successful, all 3 elements must play their roles well. For a start, I (the teacher) need to know WHY ICT should be used in a particular lesson. Only then can I move on to create an effective task for students. As far as possible, lessons should provide opportunities for cooperation & collaboration rather than using it as a convenient replacement of a pen & paper assignment.

I shan't go on to summarize what I've learnt during the lesson. Instead, I'll share with you what I have in mind and hopefully, some of you will respond. This year, I'm taking a good P3 class. Most of the kids are exposed to technology. I gave them a journal writing title 'My Dream School' & generated a class discussion of an IT school, using Beacon Primary as an example. In fact, I tried to make myself sound 'smart' by using terms like 'laptop', 'tablet', 'stylus' etc... Guess what? The kids knew what these terms mean and could even go on & tell me more!

Using the idea of a blog that Dr Phillip has started with the intention of letting us give comments & gaining more knowledge, I thought of getting my students to have their own blogs too. In fact, some of them already have their own blogs. I will divide them into groups where they're supposed to post reflections after certain lessons (eg. science). Members in the groups will then respond and generate more discussion from there. This will mean that students need not do their reflections in their Science Journals. They'll do them in their blogs & more students can view their work. I'm just toying with this idea as I'm not sure if I'll be able to assess their understanding well based on their blogs. This can also be extented to English Journals so that more students with creative writings can share them with the rest.

What do you think? Have your say please...

Week 2: Self-Reflection

Know the tools and know what the tools do best
In the video, there was an example where pupils did an i-movie based on their reading curriculum. Personally, I feel that this is an authentic task that allows pupils to be engaged in hands-on discovery and imagination. However, not many schools approach technology in this manner. Many schools are currently actively encouraging teachers and pupils to use technology to harness on teaching and learning. Teachers may know the tools but are not able to use the appropriate tools to their best effect. They simply use technology to ‘clock in’ the number of required hours stipulated by the management, something that I’m also guilty of at times. Not many will put in the effort to think through what the technological tools do and what they do best.

Impart technological skills
In schools, teachers are so caught up with completing the syllabus. In order to fulfill the schools’ IT requirements, some teachers overlooked the importance of imparting technological skills. For example, it is easy to tell pupils to do a research online but pupils are not aware of the essential skills to do an effective online research – how to do a concise search? How to use the search engine? How to discern between the right and the wrong? How to ask the correct questions in order to obtain the answers? Therefore, teachers should set aside some time to impart technological skills to pupils. Again, I’m one of the guilty ones here. However, the group discussion in class has motivated me to relook and modify the way I get pupils to do online research from now on.

Being aware of what distributed knowledge is
The final take-away for me is that I’m aware of what distributed knowledge is. Everyone has some knowledge in them. There is no one single depository of knowledge available. In this technological age, it is important for pupils to be aware of the importance of distributed knowledge and knowing where/who to go to for getting the needed information.