The road not taken

 

 

              

                                        Two roads diverged in a wood

                                                  and I took the less travelled by

                                                 and that has made all the difference.

                                                                           Robert Frost

I begin my entry with a line from Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken. This poem describes my feelings about PXGT 6110. When I first wanted to join this class, I was asked by a friend on why am I taking the class that is not popular among students and has lots of work. My answer was that I chose it because it is not taken by many people. I wanted to take the challenge and I felt that I would learn a lot from this subject as there were not many students in it. My road that I chose was not only travelled by less people but I was also far behind other classmates. Wow…

My first day in the class was welcomed by Miss Ng, a pregnant lady wit vibrant personality.I have to walk faster in order to catch up with classmates who are not only far in front of me but they are better equipped with technology compared to me.My steps were not easy as they were lots of pebbles and I tend to get frustrated when I could not understand what were taught in the class.

But on the last class,the journey was very sweet and juicy because Miss Ng assigned us with a simple task of WEB 2.0. (I guess this is her way in making us try the web 2.0 as we always tell her that we don’t have time). ha ha. Bravo Miss Ng. You did it in your style.

I tried to design the web earlier but failed to complete it. Ironically on that particularly morning, I ended up trying 4 types of web 2.0. Need to give myself a pad.

I learnt a lot from this subject and  in every lesson, there’s always new recipes brought in which I can use for my class in IPG Kampus Tunku Bainun.I should say that the last lesson we had for PXGT 6110 (the show and tell session) was the most enjoyable one because it was like the dessert for us. There were lots of videos to watch.

The experience I had during the journey has made all the difference. The difference in my way of thinking,my way of teaching in the future and also my proposal for the project paper.ha ha….Chaiyok shakirah.

Thank you to group members in PXGT 6110, dee, monica and yin.Thank you to all the classmates     and a very big thank you to Madam Ng for the experience I gained this semester.

 

GoAnimate.com: Our+trip by shakieera
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Lecture 12 : Today I learn today I question

 

                                          

For some unexpected reason, I was not able to update my entry for almost one month.I was down with fever and my holidays were spent on bed. And at the same time, I had problem with sleeping disorder.On top of that, my wifi in the house was down too.  I guess the body needs a rest. Unfortunately it was at the wrong time. What else can be done when the ‘battery’ is weak. Taking it positively, I guess this is one way on how God wants me to relax and recharge the battery.

Future education presented by Monica. It was a very fruitful presentation because of her ppt slide.I believe she managed to give us clearer view on the future education trend. To date, teachers /educators are treating their students as clients and we are the service provider. As educators , we need to know what are our clients needs and the strategies we need to have in order to fulfill the needs. As usual, there are lots of ‘wh’ questions that we need to answer before we can figure out the best method for our clients who are digital native which makes them totally different from us in many aspects , be it the way we think and also they way we learn. 

Malaysian  Smart School Project, a very ‘future’ project or vision which to some teachers because they were not involved totally in the planning. Perhaps this is the reason why the project couldn’t achieve its objective as targeted.Lots of money, effort and time have been spent on this project. Even though to some people, it is a waste, to me I feel that it is not. Better late than never. 

Ellsworth (2000)  states that change inside education depends on what the teacher implements and thinks. Based on Ellsworth’s view above it is therefore fitting for us to see how far the practices currently happening in schools are line with educational change in “blueprint” of the Smart School.It is the readiness of the teachers who are going to implement the change in the classroom. This change depends a great deal on the readiness of the teachers to accept and implement the practices.

Frankly speaking, I believe that dreams are very important because we can make the dream comes true.But the issue here is that in order for it to be a reality, those who are involved be it the architect or the labour workers need to put their heart fully on it.Dream it, vision it, sleep with it, bathe with it and eat with it. Smart school is not an easy task but it is not impossible.

                                           

My question for this week is ‘How are we going to change the mindset of teachers especially those who are involved in the smart school project?If more money, time and effort are needed to make this dream comes true, what are the strategies that we need to provide to the challenged teachers?

Blended Learning and Technology Integration Matrix

 

I started this week class by informing Madam Ng that I couldn’t understand the link on technology integration matrix that she asked us to read.After few discussion with her, it was a relief that I finally understand how to read the TIM table.

What is TIM?Who needs TIM? Is TIM applicable in our education setting in Malaysia?

Technology Integration Matrix  is designed to assist schools and districts in evaluating the level of technology integration in classrooms and to provide teachers with models of how technology can be integrated throughout instruction in meaningful ways. The TIM is a guide for teachers to prepare their lesson plan and plan their teaching using technology. It is a good scaffold because teachers will know their roles and this matrix provides examples for teachers in preparing the plan.The TIM incorporates five interdependent characteristics of meaningful learning environments: active, collaborative, constructive, authentic, and goal directed (Jonassen, Howland, Moore, & Marra, 2003). It associates five levels of technology integration (i.e., entry, adoption, adaptation, infusion, and transformation) with each of the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments. Together, the five levels of technology integration and the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments create a matrix of 25 cells. Even though TIM is a complicated table (to me) to understand, I believe it would be applicable to Malaysian setting. All we as educators must do is to take this TIM as positive as we could and try to apply it in our t n l.

Later Chan presented on Blended Learning. Student engagement and interactivity are two important points in Blended Learning. I was mesmerized with the video that she used. It was as if I’m in the cinema watching the Star Wars.Ha ha..as usual there are so many wh questions that came across my mind. And this is my summary..

                                          

What is blended learning?

face to face classroom interaction + computer mediated activities = blended learning

Why blend ?

Blended instructional approach can result in learning outcome gains and increased enrollment retention

Blended learning is on the rise in higher education.

and

How to blend?

The blend of face to face and online materials will vary depending on the content, the needs of the students, and the preferences of the instructor

http://weblearning.psu.edu/blended-learning-initiative/what_is_blended_learning

The second session was about Bloom’s Digital taxonomy by Andre Church.First time heard about it.I didn’t know about this new taxonomy.Shame shame.So, I did more readings on Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy.And this is one of the tables

In conclusion, this week lesson is all about preparing teachers in educating younger generations with the use of technology.Blended learning is a combination of face to face with online technology, an approach that is believed would be able to gain interests of the students nowadays.Technology Integration Matrix will help us in scaffolding our lesson and the Blooms Digital Taxonomy will guide us in preparing questions and knowledge for our students. My question would be are all teachers aware of these new ‘toys’ in teaching. And if yes, are teachers willing to accept the changes and challenges in applying these toys in their classes?

The flipped classroom : an innovation in teaching

 

‘A Flipped Classroom’, a topic given by Madam Ng has flipped my life for a week.When I first read about the title, my reaction was to switch my mind off. The next morning I read again in my facebook account..More questions started pouring into my mind , does she mean  turn the classroom upside down when she said ‘flip’..How?..Why? and then I ended up switching off my lappy and went marketing.. On the way , I couldn’t stop thinking about this idea and the rationale behind it. Oh my..this is very challenging and me …

I started reading on the flipped classroom from the links that Madam Ng gave. My mine was on the flipping classroom should I say day and night.

The experience I gained in preparing the powerpoint slide was very expensive.I spent from morning till night in the library preparing and equipping me on more ‘flip weapons’ as I am going for the battle. ha ha..

On Thursday, after so stressed up with the flipped classroom, I decided to go for a walk at Perdana Siswa and I ended up doing mehdi on my right hand.I haven’t done this for my entire life and I did it now at  this age (???)

My mehdi

 

My friday was spent totally on the flipped classroom from morning till night.I was really indulged with this theory which is not noticeable by many Malaysian teachers including me.

Saturday was the day I’ve been waiting to flip the mind of my classmates.It was not an easy job as the Q-A session began. they started shooting me using from a pistol  to a bazooka.. Ha ha.. And there Madam Ng at the back looking at me and my war..Challenging and interesting battle.Who won? that is not the issue. The issue is that was I able to change their mind into this technology???????????????

What is a flipped classroom?

A flipped classroom is a new way created by Chemistry teachers ,Aaron Sams and John Bergmann to teach students using vodcasting. It started with the idea to give input to students who were absent from classes. Students watch the lecture part of the class at home as homework and have more time in class to work on the assignments.They need to watch the videos before coming to the class. The idea is that students will prepare themselves with the whole concept and by the time they come to the class, they will have some understanding about what they are going to learn. Students will ask questions on the part where they are not clear about and the teacher will revisit the concept in a class.

There have been many arguments about the advantages and disadvantages of flipped classroom which I listed below.

Advantages	Disadvantages
increased time spent with students.	it requires technology that some may not have access to.
students can learn at  their own pace.	students cannot ask questions on the spot.
students can rewatch parts of the lecture	students who have low motivation may not watch the video
mastery learning	teachers need to know how to do the video.
more time to do inquiry

There are also comments that ‘flipped classroom is taking advantages of technology.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2011-10-06/flipped-classrooms-virtual-teaching/50681482/1?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29

Frank Noschese, a physics teacher at John Jay High School in Cross River, N.Y., says anything that gives teachers more face time with students is "a good thing." But he says lecturing, even at a leisurely pace, is still bad pedagogy. "It's just kind of 'Lecture 2.0.'"

 

http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2011/10/five-reasons-im-not-flipping-over.html

I believe there are always  pros and cons on whatever techniques or strategies that we used in teaching and learning. It all depends on the teacher to explore and decide on what is best to be applied for his students. As for me, as long as this technique can make my students enjoy the class, it  will be worth  to give a try.If I can try putting mehdi on my hand at this age, flipping the classroom is just another new experience that I would like to explore.

Even though I am going to apply this technique into my teaching next semester, there are few questions that I am waiting to be answered.Will this technique be approved to be used by my administrator? Do I have all the necessary gadgets to use this vodcasting technique? Will I be able to manage the time especially with my project paper and the video making? and finally Will I be able to make my students enjoy my lesson ?

Whatever it is, I am looking forward for the new year and my new resolution, to change the small world of my teaching.

P/s  The preparation for the flipped classroom presentation has almost make me missed my flight last week, Can’t imagine what else could happen  if I am going to spend my whole semester applying this techniques. Hope I can be as cool as the idea.

Schoology vs Wikispace

 

This week was very exhausting for me.After a discussion with Dee, we decided to prepare presentations on the pedagogical strategies of web 1.0 and web 2.0.As I joined the class quite late, Dee told me that pedagogy 1 means pedagogical strategies used in Web 1.0 while pedagogy 2 would mean the pedagogy used in we 2.0. So I ended up browsing all the presentations of my friends in spectrum so that I have a better understanding of web 1.0 and web 2.0. On the eve of the presentation day, both of us ended up burning the midnight oil.

Unfortunately, when we met Madam Ng in the morning before the presentation, we were surprised that 1 means part1 and same goes with 2..Waaaaaaaaa

Madam Ng decided that I should not be presenting and Dee will be presenting alone. She captured everyone’s eyes when she brought  her ‘schoology’ in, a website which is not  new to me as I have come across it last year but was new to most of the ‘it savvy’ in the class.. At least now I feel I’m not that handicapped as before…..

Frankly speaking, schoology is more user friendly compared to wikispace or facebook,two websites which are popular among the educators. Here are the strengths of schoology that I found in the net.

• Free
  Easy to use as the format is the basically the same as Facebook
  Easy to manage your course and calendar
  Allow schedule any assignments or answer any questions at any time
  Give students spaces communicate on academic areas
  Supports many media forms including audio, video and images
  Several ways to communicate with each other and clarify misconceptions
  Combining social networking with learning managements
  Adjust private settings for all users or create groups/ class by yourself

  but there are also the weaknesses
• Need to be frequently checked for the updates
  Students could misunderstand teacher's post
  Student might lead one and other through posts
  Time wasting with add-on applications

and here are some ideas that a teacher can use in the classroom

• Teacher can use the site to post classroom news letters, assignments and any comments
  Teachers can post recourse for students use at home
  Safe place for students to learn about social networking
  Create different pages/groups for different projects in classroom for the students to be able to utilize
  Create Lounge rooms for teachers and parents' communication

http://wikiatuni.wikispaces.com/Advantages+and+Disadvantages+of+Wiki

http://teachweb2.wikispaces.com/schoology

My question for this week is how are we going to make sure that we choose the right platform for our students if we as educators are still juggling with the platform? Is trial and error the answer ? Are we willing to risks the students time especially when the education in Malaysia is so exam-oriented?

Lecture 8 : Today I Learn, Today I Question

 

I was very tired with the materials to be read for this week as they were all too ‘heavy’ for me. It was very difficult for me to digest and then to reproduce the readings in a layman words.  I entered the class late today (almost 8.00 pm) because I was busy trying to understand the materials that was posted by Madam Ng.

But then, when she recapped or should I say summarised it, the only thing that came into my mind was ..Oh, now I know what does ADDIE stands for. Phew. Finally on my 4th class , then only I know that ADDIE is a model and it is an acronym for Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement and Evaluate.

What I could say is that for a teacher or educator to design a web based learning, he or she needs to do the analysis first. And the best part is there are many small ADDIE in the major ADDIE. There are many processes of designing and redesigning before a web based is created.

On the second part of the lesson, when Jessica presented, I on the other hand was trying to relate what she has done to what Madam Ng has mentioned for. And at the same time, I was trying to relate whether our group assignment has all the criteria mentioned by Madam Ng. Oh my..pity the brain..too much of information processing.

I felt relieved when Madam Ng suddenly asked all of us to summarised all that we have learnt for the past 8 weeks into a graphic. For me it was just four weeks. hu hu. We had some discussion and finally managed to come up with this chart..

We believe that in order for PLE to take place, aspects of web based learning and ADDIE need to  work hand in hand to support TPACK, theories and model of learning in engagement .

My question is : Are we teachers well equipped with all these weapons (the knowledge and also the ability to provide PLE)?

 

shakieera

web design for e-learning

 

What I can say is that ‘internet is unpredictable’ and it is the most important thing when we talk about e-learning.This week we learn about the key features for e-learning. There are so much to consider when we plan our lesson.Even how systematic or efficient your lesson is, everything will go to nowhere if there is no internet access.  Ha ha telling from the experience.huh. Yes, we need to have a back up plan..

We couldn’t do much through online this week as there is a problem with the internet access at UM.But that is not a big problem as Madam Ng has lots of information to deliver to us.Later was a presentation by Yee Hui, which I felt is a very good one.Bravo Yee Hui.What came into my thoughts during presentation was only our assignment 3.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a   crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze

                                                William Wordsworth

This was my feelings when finally Madam Ng asked Yee Hui to explain to us about wikispace and what are the problems that she encountered while designing, and why she used the particular colours and also the particular font. I even asked her to justify her decision on why she used wikispace and not blog for teaching and learning.

 

For me, based on Madam Ng’s and Yee Hui’s explanation, what I can say is that blog is more like a diary compared to a wikispace where you can put lots of things on it. Wikispace has more storage than a blog, So we (I mean my group) have chosen the right medium for our third assignment.

Except we are so illiterate in using wikispace.As usual Madam Ng provided with few websites that we need to read …Ha ha can’t imagine how we’re going to survive without u, Madam..

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” - Maria Robinson