My Personal Reflection

Here's my personal reflections from the course:
What I already know:
- ICT is engaging and interactive and hence will engage and sustain pupils' interests since they are digital natives
- ICT fosters independent learning and self-paced learning; hence the possibilities of differentiation in the classroom
- availability of resources anytime, anywhere

What I have learnt from the course:
- to blog!! (like what I am doing now!)
- tools that can be used to teach language eg cancordance
- use of ICT is in line with constructivism as it provides opportunities for pupils to explore and discover concepts; make students be independent learners; and it creates a learner-centred environment
- teacher is key to success of an ICT lesson --> how open-minded and competent are we in carrying out an ICT lesson? am I ready for it?
- mixing desk!! I find this so useful as it helps me to make clearer decisions with regards to the ICT lesson that I am carrying out. More importantly, it makes me be more conscious of the purpose of using ICT in my lesson and not just use it for the sake of using it.
- use of digital media

What I would want to know:
- more tools/resources to be able to teach language effectively
- to be a more effective and competent language teacher in an ICT class environment
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With reference to the above, here are my goals:
Personal goals :
- to continously upgrade myself to keep abreast of the tools & resources available to teach language and to be a more competent teacher
- to rise to the challenge and explore various ways of using ICT to teach language eg voice recording (oral) using MP3, writing through blogs
- to attend more professional development courses of such nature to help me be a more confident teacher in an ICT-centred classroom

Collegial goals:
- to have frequent sharing sessions on ICT lessons conducted in classrooms.
- introduce colleagues to the mixing desk

Department goals:
- to re-evaluate school's current practices of ICT lessons. Using LMS & Powerpoint is not necessarily an ICT lesson.
- To re-define ICT-based lessons. Introduce the rationale, objective and purpose of the mixing desk.
- To rethink of assessment mode. Yes, ultimately there is PSLE. But pupils can be assessed on activities that incorporate the use of ICT since it engages them so much. With good ICT tasks, perhaps, pupils will learn and benefit more than traditional textbooks.

I also feel that IP Heads in schools should attend such a course so that they understand that ICT does not simply fall on the ICT HOD. ICT is technology that helps to enhance learning. Hence, all teachers are capable of learning what exactly is a good ICT lesson and how to put that into practice.

After this course, I feel more confident saying "I know what a good ICT lesson entails." ;)

learners' role + teachers' role

Sometimes we don't really think about why we are using ICT for a particular lesson. We used it more because we are 'forced to' perhaps.
After this session, I am determined and convinced that I must from now use ICT purposefully. Learners' roles must vary according to the context and task. Sometimes we get so caught up in our work that we assume their roles to stay constant. This stiffles the use of ICT and hence, we have failed to integrate the use of ICT effectively in our teaching.
I think this may also lead to teachers not fully convinced to use ICT.
Whatever it is, I think it is important (not just for us teachers but for pupils too) to understand why they are using ICT.
I must make a more conscious effort to do this ;)

the video....

What's striking about the video is that the focus of the lesson was on language and the teachers simply integrated the use of imovie.
I think it's fair to say that we teachers here try our best to infuse ICT in language teaching. However, there are times when the focus shifts to teaching the technology aspect in isolation.

I think ICT is definitely not a silver bullet. It's simply a tool that we teachers should try and leverage on to make our lessons come alive. Since our pupils are all born in this digital era, shouldn't we try and make the effort to learn the technology and see how we can engage them?

Blogging and emailing are one of many ways for pupils to write as and when they feel like it to us, teachers ;) and we all know that they are experts at both ;)

Should we be hopeful or concerned about ICT?

While I try to stay hopeful with the presence of ICT in our society (especially with our children), I am concerned with the increasing popular internet gaming. Why? Gaming addiction!!
Such a worry! I see children as young as 6 years old walking around with game boys, x-box and what not! They are so addicted to gaming that they dont seem to realise teh detrimental effects it will bring them in years to come. (I think they may lack the social skills).
Also, recently I read in the newspaper about a teenage boy failing his subjects in school simply because he got too addicted to his internet gaming (where people from other parts of the world play together online). He lost his friends as he is stuck to the computer 24/7!
I think it's becoming a worrying problem here!
But from what I know, the ministry is trying to overcome this problem by introducing cyber wellness programmes in school.
As such, I hope to stay hopeful with ICT.

I think, with any new technology advancement, there are always pros and cons (i mean, there are hackers out there coz they are simply too smart with programming!!). So as educators, we must try to teach our pupils to use technology wisely and obey copyright laws of course!

ICT is here to stay - so I hope all of us can overcome any concerns ;)

are we OVER TEACHING?

Hmm... I think what he said about we teachers over-teaching is very true. I mean, I think we sometimes overlook the fact that we don't teach our students to ask the right questions in order to get the answers that they want.
And it's just so enlightening to be able to see a fresh perpective of things - the fact that we sometimes over-teach and hence, make our students see us as the one and only source of information! sad but true!
but then again, is the education as such? i mean, with the national examinations and all?
oh well...whatever it is, to meet the challenging demands of globalisation, I think we must teach our pupils to be critical with the information they have and how they can get information and where to get it from. with that in mind, hopefully, our students will be equipped with the right life skills to survive in the working world!

Why should I use ICT in language learning?

I suppose if I can conclude that our pupils now are of the digital age, then perhaps, as educators, we should try to tap on this medium to effectively engage our learners.
More importantly, as educators, we must ensure our pupils are kept up-to-date with technology so that they too keep up with the demands of globalisation.

Hence, I think to continuously engage our pupils, we should also use ICT in language learning. We must embrace technology ;)

Where am I now?

Well, basically, I think it's fair to say that I have tried infusing the use of ICT in my lessons eg the use of emails, blogs and movie making. I suppose as much as possible, I do try to seize the opportunity to engage my digital savvy pupils using ICT.
However, there is definitely much to learn with regards to using ICT in the curriculum especially in language learning.