BLOG 3: MAKING CONNECTION BETWEEN YOUR ESE AND THE MASTERPLANS FOR ICT IN EDUCATION

Actually I wasn’t aware of the achievements that are evident in terms of the value-add or awards that the school has achieved. However, there was this incident which I feel portrays the outcome of a student under the implementation of Master Plan 3 (MP3).

There was one particular lesson where my mentor assigned some of the students in the class to prepare powerpoint presentation slides to teach the class about periodicity and properties of group 1 metals. The student came up and gave a detailed presentation of the lesson. At times, my mentor would step up and encourage students to ask questions regarding certain important parts of the lesson, prompting the students to think about the concepts and principles used in the reasoning of the lesson. The role of a teacher now becomes a facilitator to ensure that the lesson and discussion are carried out smoothly. He would also throw in a few pointers, explain thoroughly and summarize the points if the student is unable to teach clearly. Beside delivering a great presentation, the student actually said that he consulted a friend who is currently studying chemistry in the university and had provided him with a video of the different type of group 1 metals being cut and used in the laboratory. The student even thought of bringing some of the less reactive metals to school but it was a tricky thing to do and hence he did not. Within the one hour and ten minutes lesson, my mentor and I were really glad, that the required knowledge for the syllabus was successfully taught to the students in an engaging manner.

Yu Tan teaching the class about Group 1 Metals

We decided to treat the student to lunch as a reward and at the same time, encourage the others to also do their best when preparing for class. When the students have to teach the class, they have to understand and break down the information into segments that are easy to deliver and be understood. Hence, this aids them in learning and reading up more about the topic. As for the development of skills in ICT, students become self-directed and independent learners who will research for information from different sources of media and come up with creative presentations that demand the innovative input of the students.

After the class, the presentation slides and links to various videos were uploaded to a sharing folder where interested students may access and learn more about the particular topic. Students may also post questions in the forum to discuss in depth under the supervision of the teachers, who will rectify if required. In this way, students learn more, in and out of the classroom, which is highly beneficial for them, in recognizing the usefulness of ICT in the education of their lives.

BLOG 2: MASTERPLANS FOR ICT IN EDUCATION

In this fast-growing modern society, which is deemed to be full of opportunities and at the same time, competitive, it is imperative to suggest that the nation and her people must improve together with the advancement in Info-communication technology (ICT). As globalization continues to take place, and with the increase in network users, making use of social networking sites, video conferencing, and the sharing of vast information over the internet, it is no wonder why it is important for MOE to develop the three Masterplans for ICT in education, to integrate ICT into the everyday’s lives of the students. This enables students to gain knowledge and skills in administering work using ICT, which then making work more efficient and effective, increasing the individual overall productivity.

When I was in Primary 5, a row of computers were placed near the canteen and students like us, who didn’t own one at home, would flock to the computers during recess time to have a go at the typing or mathematics game. It was then when I was first introduced to the use of a computer. I learned how to switch on and shut down the computer. I also learned how to type at a faster speed and improve my mental calculation with the interactive mathematics software that was pre-installed in the computer systems. In the same year, my science teacher assigned us environmental projects to research about different phenomena of our environment such as ozone layer depletion and present it to the class during lesson. By this time, I feel that computer isn’t an unfamiliar thing but a useful and convenient tool in creating presentable work. Besides, there was Perfect 10, diskette software that we use to do assessment and improve on our subject knowledge. With the exposure to ICT, we come to acknowledge ICT as an integral part of education.

In subsequent years, we watched movies on the Internet during Literature class and music class. I could remember vividly in my Secondary 3 Chinese class, that my teacher played us Jay Chou’s song to teach us phrases that are relevant to the lesson. This is one of times where Chinese lesson becomes up to date and young kids like us then find it easier to relate to the songs. I was also chosen to participate in learning journey where I was sent for macromedia flash and video editing lessons. This gives me exposure to what the use of ICT can offer. During my studies in upper secondary and junior college, there was project work put in place, which we learn to do research, reports, surveys with the use of the computer and other media. As a result of the extensive use of ICT in education, I myself find it very beneficial, that I would be able to do my assignments and work easily, with the help of ICT.

From my enhanced school experience, I foresee that my role as a teacher, or as a beginning teacher, to be facilitator, who will engage the students for self-directed learning. I will then provide guidance and mentorship when I see the need to. This enables the students to know that help will be provided, but that the same time, knowing that they have the tools in acquiring knowledge on their own and will learn independently. With the help of ICT, there will be flexibility in learning, where I can keep track and comment on students’ work out of the classroom, which takes learning anywhere, out of the rigidity of structured curriculum time.

BLOG 1: MY ENHANCED SCHOOL EXPERIENCE (ESE)

I was assigned Fajar Secondary School for my ESE. One of the classes that I observed was 3E3 Pure Chemistry class, under the mentorship of Mr Chew C.B. The class contains students of higher caliber across the level, and is the only class that does pure science subjects. The class size is about 38 and students are arranged to sit in pairs or triplets. During the class, a laptop was used and the screen was projected onto the whiteboard. Microsoft Powerpoint was the software used to show information about the topic: Periodicity.

At the beginning of the lesson, a slide with different headings was projected on the board while students were different strips of paper containing little pieces of information pertaining to the heading. The class was to co-operate as a group, work hand in hand to complete this activity, which is to complete the concept map on the board with the strips of paper. After each paper is placed onto the board, Mr Chew would ask the class if the position of the paper is correct and at times, ask for explanation for the students’ placement. After the activity was completed, the correct answer was shown on the screen and Mr Chew proceeded with using visuals, such as images of the elements in their physical forms and also the blown up version of the periodic table to show the class.

The use of color patterns and categorization of information allow the students to grasp the concepts more easily. This helps to enable the lesson to run smoothly and teacher is able to pack in more details in just one period of lesson. At the end of the presentation, an interesting science video featuring the reaction of group 1 metals with water was shown to the class, which attempts to arouse interest in the students, to look forward to the next lesson. Also, Mr chew would upload the video onto the online class education portal, where the students will be able to access, post comments and also discuss about the video. Not only that, Mr Chew can also upload the presentation slides and other information onto the portal.

As for my general observation, I spoke with some of the teachers in school. I came to a conclusion that the use of ICT actually reaps different impacts on students. At the same time, this actually corresponds to one of the aims of MP3, which is to design the use of ICT that is exclusive to different type of students, in hope of achieving the best effect. Probably because that the students from 3E3 are more motivated to study on their own, Mr Chew is able to make use of this trait of the class, to allow them to go research independently and present to the class. They were given the liberty and opportunity to use their own means to discover the topic on their own.

I attended a professional sharing meeting for teachers to discuss about an upcoming event or project. On this particular meeting, a few teachers were discussing about problem based learning (PBL), which will be introduced to the secondary three chemistry students, during the final week of term 3. Over this week, which is roughly six periods of lesson, students will be given a scenario of a problematic nation, which encounters the consequences of pollution caused by anthropogenic activities. Students will need to find out the reasons behind the pollution and provide solutions for the nation. Students will be able to use laptop provided to research and create their solution plans. In this week, the topic on “Our environment” will not be taught from the textbook or by the teacher but through the learning as the students solve the problem in the scenario.

I learned an invaluable lesson during this meeting regarding how teachers need to think for their students and how they will respond to the exercises given to them. For instance, students in the normal stream and the express stream will approach the situation differently. The students in the normal stream may require more guidance from the teacher to prompt and engage them before they could get down to something. They would need more motivation and encouragement as compared to the other students. Besides, they respond better to more interactive activities. On the other hand, the students in the express stream may be able to get into their groups, read the textbook on their own and do research to find out more. Hence, the way that the teachers facilitate or engage the students need to be revised for different students. Later on, we decided on providing a worksheet with the prompting questions and key points which will aid the students in getting close to the solutions. After the students presented the solutions, the teachers will then provide the suggested solutions and bring out the points that are important in the topic of “Our environment”.

I feel that this PBL will be a great experience for the students as they will be given the chance to make use of ICT for their own learning. As they proceed on with the project, they will acquire skills in the use of the research tools, presentation creation and also teamwork with one another.

As for the graduating classes whom have completed their syllabus, they are doing their revision with past year papers. Hence, it can be pretty dull and rigid. However, it is quite hard to bring in ICT for replacing the going through of papers’ solutions.

I remember that in Unity Secondary, a school I was attached to a year ago, remote controls were used during lesson. Mathematical questions were posted on the screen and students will be given time to solve the question. Once they are done, they will key in their answer using the remote control, which are numbered according to their index number. The correct answer will be flashed and explained by the teacher and the score of the students will be tabulated. An analysis will be done by the software in the computer, which let the teacher know which question require special attention and need to be taught in depth again to the class. The teacher will also know which of the students do not understand the topic enough and would need special help. At the same time, the students are well engaged in using the gadgets for class time, and would be curious to find out how they fare. Since the score will be revealed at the end of the lesson, the students will be curious and stay attentive throughout the lesson. To encourage the students further, my mentor actually handed out rewards to those who did well in the quiz.

Hence, I feel that the use of ICT for education is important so as to engage the students better and at the same time impart certain traits, habitual and skills to the students, such that they will not feel unfamiliar when working using ICT again in the future. At the same time, ICT has to be constantly updated to suit the needs of the students and have to be tailored to fit students of different strengths and weaknesses, to obtain the optimum positive impact on the output.