Reflections

“ICT? Hmm I think it’s some IT course.” That was my first thought when I realised that I had to take QED527. I knew that being a teacher, in this current time, it is not enough by just standing in front of the class, using a whiteboard and marker, talking and writing away. Students are exposed to different elements now, through media or through friends. Most students, I would say are more IT literate than me, setting up their own blogs, writing about their own thoughts and making sure their voices are heard. So we as teachers should not just stick to the old formula of teaching. We, as teachers, should as best as we could try to incorporate IT into our teaching, which will hopefully benefit students in their learning. I still remember during my secondary school days, I felt awed when my new secondary school started using whiteboard instead of the usual blackboard. My classmates and I thought that this improvement would benefit the students who had asthma. This was just one of the many advancement in my learning as a student. Gradually, my teachers started using powerpoint slides to teach. They used visualisers. They used videos and clips to explain concepts. As a student, IT expanded my learning experiences.


So now as a teacher myself, I have to incorporate ICT into my learning. I know what IT is. I know what types of IT there are now. At first I thought ICT was just merely using IT to add ‘colours’ to the classroom teaching. Boy, was I wrong. After going to the first lesson of QED 527, I realised the meaning behind ICT. ‘Information and communication technology’. So it does not revolve only on information but equally important communication. Communication is the key to learning. It has to be ‘two-way’. “Ahah! So that’s the real meaning.” Now I understand.
In my future class, I want to incorporate many ‘two-way’ communication style of learning. I prefer my students to think on their own and realised things themselves rather than me ‘spoon-feeding’ them. So I have to design my lesson planning in such a way. I have yet to design them and I would like to incorporate ICT in my teaching so that my students will find my class relevant instead of ‘backward’. I want to know how to incorporate blogging into my teaching. I want to know how to make use of its affordances to enhance my students’ learning. I want to use games to teach mathematics and make my classes a ‘two-way’ process. I want to use e-learning to teach chemistry so that my students can use search engines and realise that chemistry is not just an isolated subject. I want them to realise that chemistry is everywhere and relevant in real life. Thus, I want to learn how to design such enriching ICT classes.


There are many questions that are still wandering in my mind. “How effective is ICT in learning?” “Will my students benefit from it?” “How can I design classes in such a way that are relevant and related?” I think as time goes by, those questions will be answered.
I am optimistic about it. =)
-Nursakinah