My own reflection of the course

I found this course is an interesting one and it inspires front-line teachers a lot on how to apply different technology especially web2.0 tools which are really common in teenagers on education.


As a primary school teacher in a small scaled school, using I.T. in education is quite a big challenge for us, especially the limited budget and it is the fact that, some of the colleges are still having a doubt on using technology. However, after this course, it makes me understand that there are a lot of easy and user-friendly tools are provided and if the teachers can be more creative, using I.t. in teaching may not be a trouble anymore. Jack, K. (2009) indicated that recent teaching practice has been changed, learning is no longer just reading from books or from teacher’s lecture. It is all about creating, collaboration, communicating and sharing. Everyone is part of the community of learners, including teachers and pupils.Take an example, asking students to do their learning profolio by using blogs or Facebook fanpage  is a good way for students and teachers to construct knowledge togethervy using the posting blogs or commenting , as teachers and students are encouraged to contribute on building the learning community in this kind of learning style.


On the other hand, by using those web 2.0 tools. Student's multiple intelligence have been encouraged. You can use those tool to draw pictures, using video or picture to presents, and even using recorder to record learning evidence. In the teachers role, the way of the assessment may be changed from a summative assessment to a more on-going way assessment.From the research of Simkins and Schultz (2010), over two-thirds of teachers agreed with the statement: ‘Assessment should shift from writing towards visual media.’ ‘A small but significant group of innovating teachers saw publication of content as an important Web 2.0 area, and felt they had an important role in providing learners with the skills and confidence to do this.’ Most of their respondents rated Web 2.0 tools are having high potential to have valuable educational uses in school, classroom or district.

Anyway, the course really nurturing us for preparing the coming challenges on using I.T. or different 2.0 tools on front-line teaching,


Reference
Jack, K. (2009). Happy Talk. Times Educational Supplement, 4866, 36-39.

Simkins, M., & Schultz, R. (2010). Using Web 2.0 tools at school: a new survey of educators unveils some surprising attitudes about the potential of technology in education and the obstacles to using Web 2.0 in the classroom The Free Library. Retrieved April 11, 2010, from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Using Web 2.0 tools at school: a new survey of educators unveils some...-a0218449008

The Beginning of the End at Palm?

http://spectrum.ieee.org/podcast/consumer-electronics/portable-devices/the-beginning-of-the-end-at-palm

PDA innovator Palm has been bleeding cash for years, and now Wall Street has put the company into play

Reflection on the course

I found this course is very valuable in advancing my teaching techniques using different web 2.0 tools. Apparently in most higher education institutes, we still focus on having a centralized learning management system (LMS) that we can use university wide and centrally support by the university. Due to the heavy workload of the lecturer and probably the limited time that lecturer has in designing their course, a centrally supported LMS seems to be the simplest solution. Although I'm working in the field of enhancing teaching and learning in higher education, I didn't know there are so many web 2.0 tools that we can use to complement the inadequacy of LMS. Blogging can actually provide other functionalities in which LMS is lack of – for example – the ease to change security settings to provide different access to individual, instructor; add in discussion to former students, colleagues of similar interests at other local or overseas institutions for collaboration work, sharing experience and knowledge exchange (Anderson, 2007). It’s been supported by literature that “blogging is a useful practice for the development of higher order learning skills, active, learner centered pedagogy, authentic learning, associative thinking, and interactive learning communities”(B. Farmer, Yue, & Brooks, 2008).

It’s definitely out of my expectation that so many high schools and primary schools in Hong Kong have actually realised the use of web 2.0 learning tools in their classrooms. They seem to be more enthusiastic about utilizing all these tools than we are in higher education. I wonder why it is the case?? Is it because some of these web 2.0 tools hasn’t be realized or generally accepted by the greater commercial community or profession, that’s why that is not widely employed or publicized in the higher education sector? I wonder there’s still the issue of ‘formality’ if it’s to be employed as an official tool in higher education. The higher education should play a significant role in educating the commercial world and the management about the benefits and effectiveness of these learning tools, if these tools are to be integrated or substituted the traditional technology. Moreover, we are now in a world of mobile learning, web 2.0 tools definitely offer versatility and full mobility. We are no longer restricted to access the world in front of a desktop computer, we can access the internet via smartphone, and wifi handheld devices. The popularity of iPhone and Andriod phones generates another knowledge resource – Applications (Apps), these Apps can be downloaded free or at a charge according to consumers’ interests. These Apps ranges from entertainment, news update, recreational interests to educational use. It would be worthwhile to investigate the pedagogy in using these Apps in educational use and how is it different to web-based programs.


References

Anderson, M. (2007). Open-Source Blog Platform Provides Much-Needed Communication Flexibility. Online Classroom, October 2007, 1-2. Retrieved from http://www.vcu.edu/cte/resources/newsletters_archive/OC0710.pdf

Farmer, B., Yue, A., & Brooks, C. (2008). Using blogging for higher order learning in large cohort university teaching: A case study. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 24(2), 123-136

Vanessa's updated risal cloud

Use of mobile technology in schools

Recently, mobile devices are equipped with more and more functions, such as camera, video
recorder, high-resolution touch screen, GPS, Bluetooth and Wifi. However, most
of the schools in Hong Kong do not utilize them as a tool for teaching and
learning. Therefore, I would like to suggest a use of mobile devices for this
purpose.

I think that schools can ask students to buy and use notebook computers with Wifi
technology and touch screen for learning purpose. Also, each classroom has to
install an interactive whiteboard for teachers to facilitate students to work
with multimedia. For example, liberal studies teachers may ask students to
discuss a topic in groups. In this case, teachers have to ask students to use
Wifi technology to link with other group-mates and then use the touch pen that
comes along with the computer to write down their opinions on a drawing pad. At
the same time, teachers can monitor what students are working on using the
interactive whiteboard anytime they want. After the discussion, teachers can
let the groups to display what they have written by connecting to the
whiteboard using wireless technologies and present their ideas verbally. And
finally, teachers can comment on and evaluate the ideas provided by their students.
The advantages of this practice are that, first of all, students within the
group can collaborate and collect ideas systematically; second, students can
browse the Internet instantly when they want to acquire further information
about that topic, leading to spontaneous learning; lastly, teachers can make
comments on students’ work immediately during the class, resulting in a higher
degree of interactivity between students and teachers.

Another example is that, biology teachers can ask students to bring along their mobile
devices with GPS, GPRS, and camera for field trips when teaching topics about
plants, animals, insects and ecology. The purposes of the device are, first, to
plan the route of the field trip using GPS; then when reached the venue, teachers
can ask students to form groups, and ask each group to take photos of the items
related to the topic, look for more information about it through the Web using
Wifi or GPRS and record the search result using notepad or screen capturing
tools; after the field trip, teachers may ask students to write a field trip
report based on the findings and make a PowerPoint presentation by groups during lessons.

In conclusion, the advantages of using mobile technology in teaching and learning
are that the number of paper usage can be greatly reduced, also the motivation
of self-learning can be enhanced since students like surfing the Internet;
furthermore, teachers can comment on and evaluate students’ work immediately
after they have done the work, saving the time in handing-in paper work and
correcting the work manually, and increasing the efficiency of in-class exercises.
In addition, the work done by one (group of) student(s) can be seen by other
classmates through wireless technologies, this can encourage peer learning, and
since students need to determine whether the ideas of other classmates are
correct (suitable) or not, students’ critical thinking skill can be trained in
this way. Last but not least, teachers can monitor what students have done during
class activities in order to provide guidance instantly when they make
mistakes.

Risal Cloud of Dilys

Quite a lot of websites provide us with resources and information on technology in education free of charge.

Kevin's RISAL cloud