My ICT Learning Journey~~

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Reflection 2: Meaningful Learning

During session 2, we learnt about self-directed learning and collaborative learning. I have always thought that self-directed meaning means learning through technology independently, such as e-learning and doing project work research. After that I realised that it is not. Not all students can do self-directed learning well. In order to engage them in such learning, it is important that we understand our learners, so that we can use the effective pedagogy skills for ICT learning. I also agree that ICT can foster better thinking skills for students through this kind of learning. However, I have a question: How do we assess students if they are doing self-directed learning?

During JC days, my JC 1 batch was the first batch to do Project Work as an A level subject. That was the first time when I really had a feeling of how collaborative learning was like. I remembered that we used to have 2 periods of PW session per week with our tutor, and for every meeting there was an agenda, and minutes to be made. I remembered that my project was about racial harmony (in relation to the Holocaust), and my group had the chance to do an interview with an NUS sociology professor. That was the first time when I had a chance to do an interview. I learnt a great deal, from learning how to record to transcribing and analysing. It was the first time that PW was carried out in a long span, and although it was tiring and tedious, but I must say that I learnt alot through this experience. It has stimulated my critical thinking skills, and I learnt how to evaluate sources more effectively. Therefore, I believe that collaborative has developed students in many ways, such as communication/interpersonal skills and promoting creativity.

As for ICT in collaborative learning, I believe that the WIKI which we are using now is a useful platform for the class to communicate, and I believe that in future, teachers will use such tools to communicate with students as well.

by Yu Xin at 11:11 PM |