2nd Week Reflection (Soo Hoon)

Self-directed learning (SDL) and Cooperative/Collaborative (CL) are the main focus of the previous lesson. Through the videos, activities conducted and the information of SDL and CL on the Powerpoint slides prepared by Dr Tan, I believe I am a better idea of what ICT is all about.

Questions posed by Dr Tan:

How might you as a teacher design meaningful learning for your students?

To design meaningful learning for my students, I must first be very clear of the meaning of 'meaningful learning'. Till now, I have learnt the 5 aspects framework (active, authentic, collaborative, intentional and constructive) of meaningful learning, SDL and CL. Hence, I will make sure my lessons comprise most of the factors which lead to meaningful learning. After planning out my lesson plan, I will double-check it to see if I have taken into account the various aspects of meaningful learning. If not, I may have to re-plan my lesson.

Next, the choice of ICT tools are also important in creating meaningful learning for students. As a teacher, I will consistently upgrade myself such that I am able to deployed useful ICT for my lessons. If I did not upgrade myself, I believe that I will miss out the possible affordance of a certain ICT tools. If that's the case, teaching using the tool may not be very effective.

Furthermore, different students react differently to different form of learning. As a teacher, I should observe the class behaviour and performance during lessons. From there, I need to reflect upon the lesson so that I can better deploy certain tools or techniques to that particular class in future.

I personally prefer CL as many of the times, I will be able to encompass the 5 aspects of meaningful learning. Furthermore, I am a team player. I believe that 5 brains work better than 1. However, it is always a norm to hear students claiming that one of the group member is not doing his/her work. Hence, I will design the task such that everyone has to work and contribute. I will also brief the students of what is expected of them be it their working attitude or the quality of their work before giving them any task to ensure the effectiveness of the lesson.

What should your students be doing to learn meaningfully?

Students obviously should not be day-dreaming, sleeping in class. However, it is difficult for a teacher to monitor the students, checking if they are listening in class, let alone learning meaningfully. Hence, as mentioned in the previous part, a teacher has to plan the lesson such it take into account the 5 aspects framework of meaningful learning.

With that, students should be actively involve in lesson. For students to learn meaningfully, they have to think and reflect in class. They should ask relevant questions in class, response to the teachers' questions and discuss actively in groups. Sharing of ideas in groups and building ideas on others' ideas are very good way to learn meaningfully.

On top of participating actively in class, SDL should take place. After the lesson, students can actually look up the web to google information for the topic taught in class. They can also do some form of reflections through blogging. I remembered a way which I learnt was through group studying(CL). Students should find a few friends who they are able to work with, form a study group such that they can share idea and help one another. This group studying can take place either when the students gather together at a physical place or over MSN and etc.

How will the technology/technologies you select enable this to happen?

Accurate selection of technologies can change the learning environment greatly. Just like what Dr Tan made us do for this module (maintaining Wiki and a group blog), I may ask my students to do so too. By reflecting after each session, students are able to recap and think deeper into the topics. A discussion forum may also be set up to provide a platform for discussions (CL). In this way, it keeps them thinking even after the school hours. Another thing to note is that students can even go online with their HP, so students not necessary have to stay at home for online discussions. Anywhere is made possible!

Dr Tan demonstrated the use of the Mindmeister during the previous lesson. The ICT tool has greatly helped in enhancing CL. With the affordance of the tool, students are able to collaborate as a whole class, keeping each and everyone on the right track (thinking actively). In addition, ideas can be shared and built on among the whole class. Without this tool, the usual whiteboard may not be big enough to accommodate everyone ideas or if possible, it may be too messy and take a very long time.

Oh..Another thing to mention is that Dr Tan always control our activities! He is able to keep things on time as he can control our computer. Whenever the time is up for one activity, he will freeze our screen on the computer such that we have no choice but to stop and listen to his instructions/explanations. There is no way students can surf net and do things which are irrelevant. Students are forced to stay focus on the lesson. This affordance of the computer helps to keep students active in the right track.

With or without technologies, it is the duty of the teachers to design meaningful learning for the students. Teachers are to provide scaldfoldings instead of spoon-feeding the students with all the information and answers. I think it is something which all teachers should keep in mind. Teachers should view the availability of technologies as a tool to enhance students learning instead of something which adds on more workload to the lesson plan. Different ICT tools have different affordance and if one makes an effort to learn them, I am sure that they will be applicable for lesson. Maybe not now, but future.