How To Promote The Usage Of Computer Labs In Schools?

Nowadays, almost all schools are well-equipped with the computer labs. However, not all teachers make use of the computer labs. actually, tehre are many things or activities that teachers can do to promote the use of computer labs.

Blogging-Teacher can asks pupils to create a blog. But, it is important for teachers to teach the pupils on how to create the blog. There are so many things that pupils can do with blog. They can share their interest with others, share their opinion about certain topics, express their feelings and many more. As for teachers, they will be able to assess their pupils in terms of the pupils' writing skills and fluency. Blogging will have the pupils to improve their writing skills and teach them to be reflective thinker.

Software-Teacher can teach the pupils using the software that are available. This can developed the pupils' computer skills. Besides, it will also make the learning become more enjoyable and fun as teachers integrate the use of games in the lesson.

Conferencing-Teacher also can encourage pupils to share their views with the teacher and also their friends through chatting and forums. This online discussion will help the pupils to improve their communication skills as they are interact with each other.

Internet skills-Teacher can improve the pupils internet skills with the use of computer labs. This can be done by asking the pupils to do the activities such as gather materials for their portfolios. This can help to developed their skills in searching, downloading, encoding, storinga nd etc.

Competition-Teacher can also create a competition among the pupils about computer skills. This can be done by asking them to work in groups and create e-book, doing the photo-editing, audio-editing and etc. Other than developing the skills, teacher can developed teamwork among the pupils.

Obviously there are so much things that teacher can do to promote the usage of the computer labs. However, the teachers themselves should become technology literate first before they start to promote it to the pupils and other teachers. Besides, teacher should be able to facilitate their pupils in the computer labs. Thus, there will be no problem occur in the computer labs and the pupils will acquire the knowledge that they should have.

FISH! Philosophy

I've learned another new philosophy from Prof. FISH! philosophy. What is it? FISH! It is a skill that provides the process, tools and language to generate the skills necessary to design a workplace full of inspiration, creativity and innovation. FISH! It creates a common language that will help improve your culture. There are four simple practices in FISH! Philosophy which are 1) Be There, 2) Play, 3) Make Their Day and 4) Choose Your Attitude. FISH! is an invitation that enables people to care about each other and their commitments. FISH! is an ongoing journey and a practice and a skill that develops over time creating a positive workplace and a vibrant culture each time it is embraced.

What is meant by those four practices? Be there- Teachers should always available for the pupils no matter what the conditions are. We should be able to listen to the pupils’ problem no matter what their problems are and this includes both personal and learning problems. If they have difficulty in their learning, teacher should be able to facilitate them to understand the topic better and teachers should be willingly to sacrifice their time in order to help their pupils. Play- Young learners like to play so much. They need something fun and enjoyable to enable them to participate in the learning and understand better in their learning. As teachers, we should create the learning environment whereby the pupils can make enjoy the teaching and learning and this can be done by designing activities that suit to their interest and familiar to them. Teacher also can create the learning environment that can make them explore new things and learn through autonomy. Make Their day- Only by smiling to the pupils, teacher can make their day. Many teachers do not apply this simple practice in their life. With this simple practice, it can bring positive impact to the pupils on that day. Another thing is praising and motivation. Teacher can praise them when they success in performing their tasks and motivate them when they are having problems. These can give a great impact to their learning. Choose Your Attitude- Teacher plays the role as a role model to the pupils. Thus, he/she has to portray a good attitude to the pupils. Being responsible, honest, caring, loving and etc can make the pupils respect the teacher and this will develop a good relationship between the pupils and the teacher.

FISH! Philosophy can benefit both pupils and teachers. Teachers will be able to design activities that can make the pupils enjoy and have fun in learning. For the pupils, they can be more focus to the teaching and learning as they are interested.

Lots of things have been overlooked...

This week, we have to choose the best product from our group to be presented to the class. Mine is not the best product, we decide to choose from others. This presentations really helps me a lot to evaluate my own product. There are some products which are good only need some improvement and some really need to think again of their products.
Comments from Prof, tutors and friends for the products that have been presented are really helpful for me to consider and think of my product.
There are lots of think that need to be improved. It is true that, why we need to use the IWB if the activities that we design can be done and presented in the paper...I really need to think the suitablity of my activities with the tools and software from the IWB in order to be able to prepare an interactive lesson.
It means that tehre are still lots of work to do..next week is the due date..Chayok!!

Week 9

The submission date for 3^rd assignment is just around the corner. My work was only 60% finish. I still not achieve the requirements of our tutors and lecturer that by this week class we should already finish 80%. In order to help us, Prof. and tutors wanted each group to send a representative to do the presentation. We had to choose the best of our work to be presented to them and our friends. Besides, Prof and tutors wanted to see the progress of our work and give us opportunities to improve on our work.

Besides the tutors and Prof themselves being the evaluator, our peers also being the assessors for the presentations. It had encouraged peer-assessment. When there was a group presenting, other groups become the evaluator. We need to evaluate each others work. All of us need to think critically on the products that had been presented by our friends and gave feedback both positive and negative. This presentation had helped us a lot in completing and does the final touch for our work. This was because, during the presentation, we got a clearer view on how our work will be assessed. We should take into consideration many things. We become aware of the quality of the product that we will produce.

There were a set of criteria that should be taken into consideration in order to meet the expectations both parties; lectures and students. For instance, the creativity, the organization, the practicality, the content and etc. These criteria will help us to produce product of a good quality so that it will be very useful to be used in the classroom.

Assignment 3..progression..

Assignment 3..I still do not have the idea on what topic to choose for this assignment. Last week, my group members have decided on the subject that we are going to use. some of us will be doing English and some will be doing Mathematics. I only have two weeks more. I need to put on my thinking cap on what topic to do. There is not much time left. I have read the article on IWB and I already have the idea on how IWB can be used. Now, what I need to do is try to implement the information and knowledge that I have gain from the smartboard workshop and the article on IWB as well.
Hoping that I will be able to produce activities that can make the children's eyes "sparking".
Insyaallah..

ICT and the Learning Principles of the Primary School Curriculum.

Primary school teachers should be able to incorporate a range of teaching and learning resources into their teaching methods in order to be able to support children’s on-going realization of their individual potential and as the member of the society. Thus, the aims of the National Education Philosophy to produce individuals who are developed holistically in terms of physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual can be achieved. Technology tools are able to transform classroom learning and teaching as through the use of ICT teachers and students are offered educational tools and resources which extend their learning environment.

There are 3 approaches in using ICT in teaching and learning which are learning about ICT, learning with ICT, and learning through ICT. Learning about ICT is when both teachers and students develop skills and knowledge in using ICT to support learning. Teachers need the skills and knowledge in order to develop resources. As for students, they need the skills to enable them to understand the resources or tools that have been used by the teachers. Both teachers and students will be able to extend their learning environment with these skills. As they acquire the skills needed, they will be able to use ICT resources to support the learning. When they are able to use the ICT, therefore they are able to transform the teaching and learning in new ways as they learn through the ICT. In order to successfully use ICT tools to support the curriculum, it is necessary to learn about ICT.

The curriculum has provided a range of principles in learning which should exist in the teaching and learning in the classroom. ICT are able to support those principles by providing suitable teaching and learning activities, tools, and resources that can be used by the teachers for the students.

Based on my reading from the book, the teaching and learning strategies using ICT suggested have considered a few factors that relate to the children for example, the characteristics of the children, in terms of their age, proficiency, background, previous knowledge, their cognitive and etc. Moreover, in each strategies suggested, the support are provided to enhance children’s learning. Most important thing, ICT offers teaching and learning strategies that can help to develop children in all aspects which are intellectual, physical, emotional and spiritual development.

The Use of Interactive Whiteboards In Schools

The article on “The Use of Interactive Whiteboards in Schools” is very useful for me. It gives me the idea of the practical suggestions that give benefit to the teachers and future teacher like me. This article contains of 4 parts. The first is the technical bits. It tells about the physical part of the interactive whiteboard. We need to be familiar with the entire physical parts o the board before starting to use it. Even though it is just a small thing, we should know how it functions.

The second part of this article talks about the software that is used in the board. Here are five different types of software that can be used in IWB. IWB operating software, the support tools, the generic tools, interactive programs, and remote access. The support tools and the interactive programs are the software that most captured my interest. The support tools provide useful libraries of software tools. Besides, it included tools that are very useful to be used for the primary students. Meanwhile, the interactive programs offer interactive activities that can be used in teaching such as games. This software can be used as hands on activity to make teaching and learning more fun and interesting.
The third part gives information about the levels of interactivity. And the last part included twelve teaching techniques using the IWB which are very useful for me as future teacher. These techniques make teaching and learning process become interactive as it makes easier for teachers to prepare their resources. “Developing Tray” for instance enables teacher to use a variety techniques to reveal their resources. This is very useful as teachers can use this technique when they want deliver info separately. Another technique that I like is “Multiple Pages”. It is very interesting as teachers will not have problem about space anymore. It allows teachers to go back to the page that they have used earlier without having to write them again. Other techniques such as “Prepared Links, Boundaries, lesson Outlines, Brain Storms, Handwriting, List Sorting, Simulations, Video Shorts, Maths and Science Symbols, and Concept Maps” also very useful for the teachers.
The workshop carried out by Miss Fenny gave me knowledge about IWB and this article has increase the knowledge by giving me the idea of the teaching techniques using IWB, the software included in the IWB and etc. All the knowledge that I have gained will be very useful and will help me a lot in designing the teaching resources using the IWB for the assignment 3.

Educational Websites..for teachers and students.

In nowadays world, we are facing the globalization in education. It's true. With just a click on the mouse, we can get anything we want regarding education. Education nowadays has become modern and conquered technology. Dealing with technology enables teachers to have the latest information on education, and resources in teaching. Educational websites such as EduwebTV, CikguNet, Etems, MOE and etc can help teachers in their teaching and learning process. Teacher can ask their students to go into this websites in order to give them a wider knowledge.
Teacher can give the web address to their students in order to ensure that they surf for the right websites. This is because, some websites are not good to be logged on. Good websites as I mentioned are good to be recommended for the students.
Educational websites are useful for both teachers and students. As for teachers, they can share any new teaching methods, approaches, resources and etc with other teachers all over the world. As some people say, sharing is caring. Meanwhile, for students the learning will not just centered in the classroom but become wider with no boundaries.

The matter here is how we as teachers exploit the resources available for us and make it useful for us as well as the students.

SMARTBOARD..

Technology has become an important thing for teachers.
Teacher can use technology to make the teaching and learning become more meaningful and interactive. SMARTBOARD, an interactive whiteboard that can make students engage in learning, interact in learning. Using this interactive tool, teachers can involve their students in the learning as teachers can design many interactive activities using smartboard. This tool is very user friendly, students can write on it, drag things from it, and so on. The archive in this technology being very helpful for teachers. it provides colourful pictures, interesting videos, animations and etc that can help teachers to design teaching and learning activities which have the quality.

Before this, I don't really like this tool very much because I did not know how to handle it. But, with the latest version software from smart technologies, I think that I have to learn and be comfortable with this tool because it is very useful for teachers.

Guess I have to learn and explore more on the software so that I will be more comfortable when using it.

Video submission

The time had come when we had to submit our assignment 2. At last, I was able to finish it on time. we had to submit it in groups. all of us made it on time. Making a video that is going to be used for primary school children is not that easy. we had to consider lots of things such as the target audience for that video, their age, previous knowledge, the outcome that we want to achieve when they see the video and so on. All these things are very important because this will ensure whether the message or input from the video is delivered and children are able to gain knowledge from it.
My video in meant for the upper primary children for teaching science.

In completing this video, I used windows movie maker. It was the first time for me dealing with this software. I learnt how to import pictures, insert music, and how to add text in order to produce a 3 minutes video. It was not that easy for a new learner like me. But that didn't make me lose my motivation. With the help of my friends, I was able to complete it and I was very satisfied with my final product. I don't know how well or bad my video is but the main thing is, I satisfied with my work.

The most important thing is I learn a new skill and gain lots of new knowledge.

3rd Week already!!!!

It's already in the 3rd week..
I'm not feeling well..
Really need energy to complete this video assignment.
I've change my topic for the video..Hope that things will be alright..
Insyaallah..
Only a few more days to complete this assignment..
Hope that it will be ready soon..

the assignment..

I should have post this for the 2nd week. But, something come up that hinders me from post this for the 2nd week..very thankful that my draft for the assigment is acceptable. I've asked Ms. Ng why i can't proceed for the vidoe. she explained that she might miss my draft. thank god. i thoght that there's something wrong with my draft..now, i'm looking forward a few vidoes in youtube. i hope that i can do the best for my video.

How you as a teacher will be learning?

A teacher who uses technology in his or her classroom is a brave and creative teacher. As a teacher, technology will allow me to learn wherever I want. I can always prepare the content for my teaching anytime. Besides, technology introduces me to other resources that I can use in my teaching. Instead of using traditional teaching aids such as cue cards, picture cards, word cards and etc, I can use animation, video clips, e-book and etc. These types of resources are more interesting and attractive especially to the primary school students. The teaching will be more exciting and attract students’ interest and sustain their interest towards the teaching and learning process. Moreover, through the use of technology, I can find out new approaches that can be used in teaching such as silent way, audio-lingual method, total physical response and etc.

How technology is going to affect how your students are going to be learning?

Using technology can affect students learning in many ways. For instance, using video clips or songs as introduction for teaching can stimulate students’ interest towards learning. Besides, it can lower down the students’ affective filter. When their affective filter is low, they will be relaxed. Thus, learning will takes place and they will learn and understand better. Moreover, colourful pictures, interesting animation, and etc make learning become more enjoyable and exciting. By using technology, students are able to comprehend the learning better instead of continuous explanation.
Furthermore, technology can enhance students’ learning. It is because it acts as a scaffolding tool for students to acquire the language or knowledge since students are able to manipulate the technology to enhance their learning. Other than that, if teachers use technology in their teaching, it will involve student’s participation in the learning. Besides, it also encourages students to be independent and confident by exploring the technology with the help of the teacher. Moreover, technology can increase students’ motivation and achievement in learning. In addition, most students are already familiar with the technology. For instance, computer, camera, radio, calculator, mobile phone and etc. thus, by using technology in the classroom, teacher will be able to produce students who are innovative and creative.

Assalamualaikum..

This is the first time for me to have a blog.

I'm not really good in dealing with technology.

Nevertheless, it doesn't make me to be unmotivated to learn in this class.

Having Prof. Maznah as the lecturer and Ms. Ng as tutor makes me looking forward to learn more about technology.

I can imagine that I will enjoy this class eventhough I know nothing about technology.

Hopefully I can get an A for this subject with the guidance of Prof. Maznah and Ms. Ng.

To Prof. and Ms. Ng, I really need your guidance to become a technology literate.

To all my friends hope you guys can help me in this class.

I will need your help and guidance also.

salam..