“Bringing students to the computer labs is not efficient as they waste a lot of time walking there, settling down and getting started. We are looking towards bringing laptops into the classrooms and letting students work in pairs so that they can participate more. Teachers will also have greater ease in observing the students. Classroom learning can be more spontaneous and interactive.”
He also shared with me that for oral practice, the students have to make podcasts and send it to their teachers, who will then be able to evaluate and give them feedback on specific parts of their speech or diction that need to be improved on. I think this is a wonderful (albeit slightly tedious) way of assessment and evaluation as students will be able to receive personalized feedback on the areas they succeed in or need improvement. Students are also involved in electronic storybooks in which they integrate digital media into the short stories that they write. This not only facilitates sharing but also allows for greater development of the novel. It also exemplifies self-directed learning as students have the creative freedom and initiative to choose their mode of presentation.
That being said, it seems like many teachers still seem restricted by the notion that ICT simply means PowerPoint slides. Based on my observations, much as students benefit from visual aids, they are not engaged in the lesson if it merely involves the teacher reading off the screen. However, it was heartening to see that many of the NIE trainee teachers were incorporating interesting tools like “Fling the Teacher” in their classrooms. One of them even played “Who Wants to be a Geographer” with her class, which they enjoyed a lot. Hence, just like how technology has evolved, I believe we have moved past the era of simple PowerPoints to capitalize on technology in a way that will enhance student participation and involvement. Our next step would be to further involve students in self-directed learning in a way that challenges them to search for and share resources with their classmates through platforms such as Google Sites. Similarly, teachers also need to be constantly updated and aware of new technologies that could enhance their lessons. I believe the SciTecHuMatics Fair was a good example of capacity building and a platform for teachers from different disciplines to collaborate and share their resources.
Hey Sheena, Carol here.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that the use of ICT tools have to be actively engaged and the skills involved continuously renewed in order to create a general sense of interest amongst students. I too, used to feel that ICT simply meant powerpoint slides as that was what I experienced back in my secondary and JC days, where ICT was slowly being introduced to the schools. I think you were really fortunate to have gone to a school where you could experience and observe how teachers made used of not only the technology that was available to them, but also challenged conventional styles of teaching through the implementation of more creative strategies that you mentioned!
I am definitely going to implement some of the ideas that you mentioned next time when I have my own class!
Hi Sheena,
ReplyDeleteThe use of podcasts for oral examination practice sounds fascinating! I think it will be really useful because I noticed in my ESE, when taking students for mock oral examinations, that I myself cannot properly keep up with the errors the students are making in their reading. In a podcast the instructor will be able to more closely review the speech manner and pronunciation of the students, and thus more specific pointers can be given to those who make habitual errors (such as not enunciating the 's'at the end of some words).
I agree with you that some teachers restrict themselves within the scope of PPT slides when asked about using ICT tools. As Lynde told us during the first session, there is a gap between what we do in class and the exact examination system where the child is to produce something on the paper. so the onus lies with the teacher to prepare the students for these exams and therefore sometimes the use of ICT tools get restricted. But given my little experience at a school, it really helps in teaching the N(A) students and also N(T)s as they enjoy hands-on activities more than drab lectures. The use of ICT has to be made with care so that it caters to all sections of the students and therefore a lot of prior planning is required for different steeams. i have seen the same power point and visualiser method doing fine for a literature class in express stream but that did not yield much result when excecuted the same way!
ReplyDeleteA great challange lays ahead of me, getting accustomed to a new system, but definitely fruitful and effective. Looking forward to it.
Hi Sheena
ReplyDeleteYou've suggested a list of wonderful ideas that I might want to try with my classes in future so thank you for that :) My ESE school does the same method of asking the students to do a podcast for EL lessons to practise their oral and I find that despite it being tedious and all, it was indeed fun and the students not only enjoyed themselves but also manage to learn a lot from the activity. On another note, supplying the students with laptops which can be supplied to the students in the classroom sounds like such a brilliant idea because due to again the limited number of computer labs in the school, it is hard to bring the students to the labs (not to mention the time it consumes).