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." ;)