On Friday, my ICT project group came together and we discussed about our project. We are going to do a podcast and blog for the project. It is the first time that I'm using a podcast, and I'm kind of excited about it. I'm sure I will learn alot throughout this project. Me and my group members have come up with a draft of our project, I think it's going be an interesting project for all of us.
During the meeting, we brainstormed for ideas and some of our group members shared their experiences. After the end of the meeting, we combined our ideas and came up with a final decision for our project direction. I guess that is what collaborative is all about, with everyone contributing to ideas and learning from one another throughout the process. :)
During our last session, Dr Quek brought us to the MXL lab for our lesson. It was the first time that I've visited the place, and I'm sort of amazed by the design and layout of the lab, especially the cubicles for different learning tools. Even the Wii is in the lab as well! This shows how updated we teachers must be in order to keep up with our students.
In the lab, we were given a demonstration about what Second Life is. Actually I have heard about Second Life during my university days, but I did not get to try out as I did not know where I can find this Second Life game. I have always thought that it's a game that's out in the market. However, during the lesson, I've finally known what it is all about after the demonstration. It's actually free and it's really very interactive. And the graphics are really cool, with 3D, animations etc. It has made me want to register for a Second Life account too. :)
If we were to incorporate Second Life into teaching, I think the pedagogical approach used will be game-based learning. I am sure students will be interested in this, as it is very interactive, and the graphics look really pleasing. However, I wonder if Second Life would allow the viewing of Chinese characters. If not, I guess it would be difficult if we were to incorporate this into teaching Chinese. This session has made me realise how important it is for us teachers to be updated with technology today, and it is also important for us teachers to keep up with our students' trends and understand them, so that we can apply better pedagogical approaches into our teaching and make lessons more interesting for students in future. :)
This week, we had a e-learning week for our ICT module. We were to discuss a topic in our class WIKI. The topic my group was assigned to was based on the problems a teacher faced when she carried out ICT lessons in the computer lab.
I have learnt that good classroom management is necessary when teachers carry out ICT lessons in the computer labs. In order for the lesson to be effective, teachers must brief the students with clear instructions and set lesson objectives before students are to carry out the activity. Teacher should also set rules for the students so that there will be no disruptions to the lesson. Also, time-management is an important factor. Teachers should therefore set a reasonable timeframe for students to complete their work. Lastly, I also agree that teachers should consider the abilities of the students before carrying out ICT in the classroom.
E-learning allows us to participate actively in the WIKI and discuss on topics with our classmates. I felt that I have learnt meaningfully this week through the e-learning. Through our classmates' comments, we also learn to improve on ourselves further. It is nice seeing everyone participating actively in the WIKI. :)
In the previous session, we learnt about different types of pedagogical approaches, namely: 1)case based learning, 2)inquiry based learning, 3)project based learning, 4)games based learning and 5) resource based learning. I seldom come across 1), 2), 5) for the teaching of Chinese. However, during my ESE I have seen how teachers try to incorporate games into the learning of Chinese. I had a chance to sit in and observe a Sec 1 NA class. For the lesson, students were to play a game that teaches them about new vocabulary. During the lesson, the students were rather rowdy and they didn't exactly play the games that the teacher wanted them to. Instead, they were doing other stuffs, such as MSN and facebook. It wasn't easy for the teacher to settle them down. When I had a chance to stop the students from msn-ing, I asked why they didn't want to play the games, some of them replied that the games were too boring, and it did not interest them.
Thus, I feel that when teachers are to incorporate game-based learning into teaching, it is definitely important that we give specific instructions to students before asking them to start. Also, a great deal of classroom management is very important especially when teachers bring students to the computer labs for lessons. It is also important that teachers understand the kind of games students are more interested in. Perhaps games with interesting images, and games which involve role-playing will be good, and students will then immerse into the virtual environment so that learning will be more effective.
Last week, two teachers came to do a presentation for our lesson. One of the teachers presented on the use of Wii in the lesson. I learnt that not only must games be fun, they must also create meaningful learning for the students as well. Fun and realism of the games is an important factor as well. After the presentation it kept me wondering about how to incorporate such Wii games into the teaching of Chinese. The second speaker also shared with us about her incorporation of ICT into the teaching of Pri 4 students. I was amazed by the kind of work students can produce these days. The students showed a great deal of interest in doing the video. However, it requires a lot of time allocation in letting students do such projects.
During my ESE, I also attended a meeting on the incorporation of ICT into the teaching of Chinese compositions. Students from the Sec 2 NA classes were to write a narrative composition about a fighting incident in the classroom. The teachers shared with me about their experience. For the first time when they asked the students to write the composition, students wrote the essay without any help, with the teacher just showing the title of the composition. They were to complete the essay within 1 hour. For the second time, the teachers then made a video which shows a fighting incident. Students then were to write the same essay again. At the end of the study, the teachers concluded that students scored and wrote better for the second time, as they were able to relate to the incident with the showing of the video. I was glad that I had the chance to sit in for the ICT meeting. I learnt that students were able to relate to images more than words. It would give students a better idea about how to write a good narrative essay in future.
