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Part 2: Presentation Continued [IWB Assignment]

19th September 2007 – The presentations on IWB products were continued with the rest of the groups not presented last week. I would depict the scene at MK2 similar to last week. It seems that the faces in MK2 were again filled with amazement. One could not stop admiring each of the products presented.

Everyone seated in the cinema (MK2) was eager to watch

the PART 2

Below are some of the products presented by my course mates:
- Hanna present on her product to teach Time (Mathematics)
- Iz with her lesson on the topic Money- I find this lesson to be quite confusing.
- Nad came up with her poem in her product. I like the spinning tool from the smart board tools utilized here.
- Alison presented a Science lesson on Food Chain.

Today, my group had to present one of the selected products too. Actually, we were in the midst of deciding whose lesson to be presented until the last moment. Finally, it was Nanthini’s to be presented.

It is a lesson on Countable and Uncountable Nouns. Actually, this lesson is simple yet practical and meaningful to be used with young pupils who still developing the concept on Nouns. The first part of the lesson deals with a self-discovery learning where pupils will have to write their answers in the space provided on the IWB. Following that, pupils can drag the stars at the bottom of page to check if their answers are correct. Next, pupils will move on to a simple task of classifying done by dragging the correct object into the boxes (person, place, thing) specified. After that, pupils can write their answer on what are countable and uncountable nouns. The answers can be checked by using the eraser in the smart board. The most interesting part of this lesson is the nouns and ladder game at the end of the lesson. This is to replace to traditional snake and ladder game. It is something new for pupils to try out snake and ladder using IWB. This game will be able to attract pupils’ interest.

The activities presented by Techno_thinkers:

To recap, all the products or courseware presented last week and this week are wonderful and amazing. I never thought that all of us could come up with interesting activities because we are novice learners in this field. But we have prove that we will strive hard to master the skill of manipulating IWB and smart board tools to contribute to pupils’ learning.

Part 1: Presentation [IWB Assignment due]

12th September 2007 – Have you ever been in cinema and watched a number of tremendous shows in a row continuously without being able to rate which was better than the other? I had a number of experiences of watching a few shows/movies in a row but could pin point the weaknesses as well as the strength of the show besides rating it. But watching the presentations on IWB lessons was something unusual. How should I describe it? (thinking). I could only say, “Wow…. Amazing smart board lessons were released in cinema!”

The lab (MK2) was like a cinema. The presenters were like a professional artist on stage while the rest were like a big bunch of audience who are enjoying themselves with excitement and full of surprise. The only technical hitch was that the IWB (imagine as the cinema screen) was not functioning in the beginning but our technical crews managed to fix the problem (Ms. Ng & Ms. Chin manage to fix it). Due to the technical problem, the show was delayed but it did not lessen the interest of the audience. They are willing to have the show the following week. Fortunately, our technical crews have managed to fix it. Hence, we were able to start the presentation.

Yes, the IWB lessons presented were all amazing and I could not say which one was better. All the lessons were great in its own way because each lesson is unique and interesting. I was speechless when I saw the lessons presented. It was really good and some of these ideas never crossed my mind before. I was really impressed with each of my friends’ product. I am sure, young pupils will be attracted to these lessons and want to be involved in the activity. It is indeed true, SMARTBOARD can do miracle.

All together we only had time for six groups to present the chosen lesson. Ms. Teoh started the ball rolling with her Mathematics lesson on a topic of Money. Wow, there were 100 slides in her lesson. The activities were design in a way that it will really cater with the needs of the pupils as well as the teacher. This is because, there is a session called ‘Teacher Guide’ for each activity which is linked to the procedure and rationale of the activity. This will be useful for the teacher when using the activity. Teacher will not have to think of ways to carry out the activity. Teacher can just refer to the procedure and either follow it or modify it based on the current needs. However, in my humble opinion, 100 slides can be quite confusing. Although, the links are provided to go back to the content page, there will be some confusion if the teacher needs to return to the third question or answer in a different activity to show the pupils some related skills.

Following that, Jeng Yeong presented his superb IWB lesson on a mathematics topic, Time. He used fun animated clips in his lesson with a story. It was a good idea to incorporate story in a Math lesson to contextualize the content. I guess everyone was entertained with his lesson since everyone was laughing out loud. This is indeed a good sign because young pupils need to be engaged in fun learning environment. According to Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypotheses, one learns better if the level of anxiety is low. That means, pupil should not feel threaten to lower their level of anxiety. Instead, pupils should enjoy the lesson.

Next, Lina came up with a brilliant idea of having the pupils to catch the thief using direction. When I saw her lesson, I could recall my childhood memories where we often play games like catching the thief. Pupils will definitely be interested in this lesson, since they can now catch a thief in the classroom using IWB tools.

Here comes Ashah (my ex-roommate, ex-housemate but still a loving friend). Ashah represented her group to present a Science lesson prepared by Anis. I am sure all my course mates whom are taking Science would have felt relieved by now. The lesson was about life cycle of animal. There was integration of video clip of the life cycle of a frog. This will provide pupils opportunity to observe the cycle step by step.

The next actor on stage was Azlan (my classmate, Resourcesaurus group mate- nice working with you, Azlan). He came up with a simple yet interesting lesson. There was a lot of effort put in. I noticed he was having difficulty in handling the IWB. I guess it is still a major problem for most of us.

Before the curtain draws, Mellisa (my great..great ...friend) the great actress step forward with her usual expressions of excitement. Mel presented a lesson on a science topic, SPACE. Well, the design and layout of the lesson slides are eye-catching thus would definitely captivate pupils’ attention. I personally did try out this lesson and I really find it interesting. (Mel, I love the part where pupils have to drag the planet to its name)

The show ended and I could see various expressions on the audience but most obvious was the feeling of amazement. The rest of the groups will continue to present next week. My group will be presenting next week as well. Hopefully, it will turn out well. Prof mentioned that she was really impressed with all our works. Actually, today is the due date to upload the IWB assignment into AIRSET. Today I have learnt a lot of tricks and technigues of smart board tools when designing a lesson. The presentation also has opened my eyes to believe that SMARTBOARD do not restricts one's creativity when designing a lesson.

Note: There were two guests present in the lab. (I am not sure of their names)

Part 2: Discussion Continued & Progress report on IWB lesson

5th September 2007 – Continuation of the previous CONFERENCE … Well, we actually decide to work on our own IWB lesson. At the same time, we did help each other in giving new ideas to be included in the lesson. It was merely a preparation session for each of us.

I took this opportunity to collect material for my lesson. Actually, the NOTEBOOK software installed in my PC has got a very few gallery items that I need. I do not know why I have only a number of items while some of my friends have got a vast number of gallery items in their NOTEBOOK software. Since I am developing a lesson on time, I need pictures like clock face and hands of the clock. I need those pictures as separate items because, I want to develop an activity where the teacher or pupils can move and rotate the hands of clock to show different times. I also gathered other suitable and interesting pictures which might be useful later on. Thus, I occupy my time by copying and saving these gallery items to my pen drive. I have transferred the gallery items to my NOTEBOOK software in my PC. (Yahooooo…. Now, I can further develop my IWB assignment with these gallery items)

Let me further report on my progress on IWB assignment:
After a lot of brain-squeezing, I made up my mind on the main activity to be included in the lesson. The learning area I am focusing is on reading and writing time. Thus, I plan to design an activity where pupils will have to read time by looking at the clock displayed on the screen and choose the correct answer box on the Interactive White Board (IWB). This activity can be either a pair or a group activity.

How to conduct the activity:

1. After the teacher has finished teaching the pupils the function of the hour and minute hand on the clock, the teacher will proceed with this activity.
2. Teacher will first divide pupils into groups of five.
3. Then, teacher explains the rules of the activity:
   * After reading the time, pupils have to discuss their answer in their group
   * Teacher will randomly pick a pupil from any group.
4. Teacher display the first question with a clock showing time and 3 answer options.
5. Pupils will discuss and decide on their answer in their groups.
6. Teacher randomly selects a pupil from a group to step forward and touch the correct answer box on the IWB.
7. Depending on their answer, an instant feedback page will appear (Good or Try Again).
8. Steps 4-6 are carried out with the rest of the questions in this activity.
   

Actually I need those gallery items retrieved from the computer in MK2 for the activity mentioned above. Before that, will be an input session on the function of the hands of clock and how to read time.

For the set induction activity, I have prepared a simple yet interesting activity. I name it as MINI TREASURE HUNT. In this activity, pupils will have to identify the hidden clocks and watches in a bedroom by Dragging and Dropping it in the box provided. Here too, pupils can be engaged with the activity by having them manipulating the SMARTBOARD tools. I am still seeking idea for the follow up activity to complete the lesson. Overall, I am still working on it with a taste of both coffee and chocolate drink. WHY? It taste bitter like coffee when I have so much of trouble handling the smart board tools and taste sweet like chocolate drink when I manage to handle it.

Back to the events in the lab:
Ms. Chin gave us some useful web addresses which will be useful for designing lessons in the classroom.
Below are some of the website addresses given:
- http://www.tutor.com.my
- http://eleaston.com
- http://portalbahasamelayu.fateback.com/index1.htm (do visit this website, you can find out more about Ms.Chin – she is the author)

Later on, Prof Raja came to check on our progress. Prof did ask mine to check on it. Unfortunately, the file I saved into my thumb drive could not be opened. That was when I realized that the Smart Board files can be opened in a PC provided it has the similar version installed in it. After going through some of my classmate’s lesson, Prof gave her opinion and informed us on some important aspect to be taken into consideration while designing the lesson. It is the learning outcomes. Prof told us that learning outcome should be measurable or observable. The changes in pupils’ behaviour should be clearly stated. (I will discuss further on this under the heading ‘What I have Learnt’)

What have I learnt today?

1. What is learning outcome – “statements that specify what learners will know or be able to do as a result of a learning activity. Outcomes are usually expressed as knowledge, skills, or attitudes.”( http://www.aallnet.org/prodev/outcomes.asp)
2. Characteristics of good learning outcome :
   - Pupils’ action measurable
   - Pupils’ action observable
   - Action done by learners
3. “Avoid starting learning outcomes with the words such as “understand”, “learn”, “know”, etc. since these indicate internal mental processes for the students. Focus instead on what students will be able to do, produce, or demonstrate”. (http://www.merritt.edu/apps/comm.asp?$1=40647)

Here, I would like to share some good websites on how to write learning outcomes:
http://www.k-state.edu/assessment/slo/verbs.htm
http://www.merritt.edu/apps/comm.asp?$1=40647
http://www.aallnet.org/prodev/outcomes.asp

Next week, we shall see various groups presenting their lessons. Can wait to see it! Thank you for reading.

Part 1: Discussion on IWB Assignment

29th August 2007 – On this bright, sunny day, a number of mini conferences was held at MK2. ….CONFERENCE?…… Actually, today we had discussion on our major assignment related to SMARTBOARD in our respective groups. We are required to design a lesson to be incorporated with the use of smart board tools and Interactive White Board (IWB). We have to integrate the use of smart board tools for English, Mathematics or Science topics. Each group member is to produce a lesson. My leader has already divided the work to us on a democracy basis last week. Tussna, Nanthini and Loura will be working toward producing an English lesson each while Lali, Maisarah and I will be working on a Mathematics topic each.

Introducing the members of TECHNO_THINKERS present at the Conference. Doesn’t it sound professional? (sigh). Unfortunately, none of the delegates present are techno-savvy. We are all novice to this ICT. However, we will not give up to produce a good lesson each despite of all the obstacles namely lack of ICT skills.

My group discussion was led by Ms. Maisarah, our leader. Maisarah gets the ball rolling with some housekeeping matters namely on the topic chosen and on our progress. Each of us explained our ideas briefly to the group members to let them know the reason why we chose a particular topic and a rough idea of the lesson. The rest gave feedback to each other to further improve on our lesson ideas. It is indeed crucial to have a valid reason for choosing a particular topic to be integrated with the use of IWB. This is because, not all topics are suitable for use with IWB. This has been mentioned by Prof Raja and also has been clearly highlighted in the Assignment 2 outline posted in the Moodle. Thus, it is crucial to discuss why one chose a particular topic so that we can correct each other if we are not in the right track.

Since, I have been assigned to do a Mathematic lesson, I chose to do the topic of TIME.

Why I chose the topic of Time for my IWB lesson?

The very reason why I chose this particular topic is because time has often been traditionally conducted by using clock face and so on. Often pupils are asked to read and write time by looking at the hands of the clock either on real clock or on diagrams of clocks. But are the children really involved in the lesson? It is something questionable. Young learners might be just reading the time by pouring back what they have memorized. Perhaps they have memorized the hands on the clock from 1pm to 2pm (1.05 pm, 1.10pm, 1.15pm etc). Thus, they will be able to read time within this range. However, they may face difficulty, when they are required to read time beyond this range. For that reason, children should be exposed to the real concept of time in order to enable them to read and write time successfully. Learning how to tell time is a skill that will last a lifetime. Learning how to tell time has never been so easy. Based on the Constructivism Theory, one learns better by constructing their own knowledge. Therefore, it is crucial, to engage children in the lesson so that they can construct the concept of time on their own.

Hence, by incorporating the lesson with the use of smart board tools and IWB, teachers can actually evaluate pupil’s understanding. Teacher will be able to detect if pupils have not acquired the time concept. This is because; IWB lessons are aimed for hands on activity to engage the pupils. In that case, pupils can manipulate the smart board tool to show their understanding.

Back to the discussion (conference):
I am still working on my lesson. I really need to look into many other aspects like pupils’ level, learning outcome and practicality in order to produce a quality product. As usual I was playing the role of assistant leader to remind the rest of the important criteria to be considered while preparing the lesson. Some of the criteria were the lesson should be aimed for upper level pupils and to make sure all pupils will be involved in the lesson.

Before signing off, I would like to thank Ms. Chin for giving us some brief ideas on how are we suppose to carry out the task. Ms. Chin showed us some sample lessons prepared by seniors and some master students. It was really useful. Ms. Chin also explained to us that we are supposed to come up with a lesson of minimum 5 slides due to the quarries made.

After S.E.V.E.N weeks

22nd August 2007 – Today we are moving into the seventh week of the semester. Yes….S.E.V.E.N……1..2..3..4..5..6..7th week. Having gone through half of the semester, I have really gained a lot of input on ICT skills needed in education.

“People, do you know what are we going to learn today?” (checking the moodle web to see if there is any announcement regarding the class)

Having no pre-conceived knowledge on what we are up to, I was so not prepared for the lesson.

Soon after that, Prof Raja came in. All eyes were directed on her. I guess everyone was eager to know the agenda of the day. Alright, let us move on to the focus points of the day:

First of all, Prof started off the class with some house keeping matters. This is indeed very crucial for each and every one of us since we will reflect on our progress. There are few questions posed by Prof which made me to reflect on my task development.

1. How many post have you published so far?
2. Have you commented on others’ blog?
3 Have you been participating in the discussion board?

In my personal view, one does not need to answer this question to others. One should just answer to themselves. In fact, I did recall my own development in blogging. I realized that I should improve on my blogs. Prof also told us that we need to visit others’ blog and comment on theirs in order to invite others to our blog. Later they will visit us back.

Next, Prof brief us on the smartboard assignment. We were informed on the criteria to be looked into in order to complete the assignment. The following are some of the criteria:

- minimum 5 slides
- lesson for level 2 pupils
- rationale of the activity
- guidelines or procedures of the activity

Some sample assignments by seniors were displayed. One of my classmate was chosen to carry out a story telling session using the sample lesson. I really find it interesting. Now I understand how IWB lessons can help teachers to make the lesson more interesting and engage learners in the lesson. Having a better understanding of how to go about with the IWB assignment, we have divided the work and planned to further discuss on our ideas and topic for the lesson. My progress will be posted in coming entries.

Till then, have a nice day.

Smart Board.

1. Do you understand the basic knowledge using Note book function in SMART board? If yes which part that you understand most? If not why you did not understand

Yes, I do understand whatever has been taught. This is because, most of the basic features in the SMART Note book is similar to the one in Microsoft Word. The most memorable basic skill that I have really acquired is how to change the font and how use the infinite clone function. It is very useful indeed if we have to get a large number of the similar picture or text.

2. Do you understand the basic knowledge to use gallery feature and attachment picture in SMART board incorporate for teaching English vocabulary for standard 4 students?

Yes, this is another simple element. However it is more complicated and need a lot of practice to master this skill.

3. Do you find that SMART board is useful tool to support in teaching and learning? If yes, why it is useful? If not, what is the problem?
This is a tough question. I am yet to decide on this matter. Well, to certain extent I would say SMART board is useful tool to support in teaching and learning. For insatnce, it makes the life of the educators is easier. It also motivates children to learn due to the fun element like the animations which the SMART board offer. However, it is still questionable, whether it is really effective since it takes time to prepare the materials using SMART board, when one is not skillful in it.

Workshop on Poster Designing

Abstarct:
8th August 2007 - Today we had a special guest who carry out a simple workshop on creating a poster. We were to work in our own group to come up with a poster and need to be presented. Pn. Nazirah also introduce some tips in creating a good poster. The theme is on Independence Day. One limitation in this workshop is that we are allowed to utilized the pictures given only. The end product was good. All groups came up with attractive and meaningful poster.

8 August 2007 – Today a special session on creating a poster took place at MK2.

“Oh Gosh! Surprise! What surprise is awaiting there?” (stepping into the Education Tower @ Menara Pendidikan)

We have been informed in advance via e-mail that there will be a surprise for today’s lesson. Actually, I have been looking forward for today’s lesson as I thought we will be taught on how to use the Interactive White Board (IWB) and the Smart Board tools. For the past 5 weeks, I have been staring at the IWB which stands firmly at MK2. Hmm….my guessing was wrong. Nevertheless, there was something interesting stored for us. We are to undergo a session on creating a poster conducted by this young lady named Ms. Nazirah. This activity is called Designing for Interaction and students’ Collaboration (DISC).

Prior to the poster designing session, we had our cute, Ms. Chin starting off the class by giving a brief lecture on ‘Konsep Pembestarian Sekolah’. It is all about the government’s initiatives to achieve the aim and vision of education in Malaysia. Due to time constraint, Ms Chin had to rush through the lecture. Fortunately, we have technology as we can retrieve the slides and notes from the following websites. (Thank you, Ms. Chin for providing us with this information)
- http://www.smkchanglun.net/bestari
- http://www.moe.edu.my/tvp

Back to the core event of the day:

DISC is actually designed to be carried out with Malaysian primary pupils of 10 to 12 years old, in conjunction with Malaysia’s 50th independence celebration. This activity involves designing A4 sized posters using Microsoft PowerPoint. This session was carried out with us to experiment it before being implemented with the children’s.

We were given 45 minutes to complete this task. After that, each group has to present their poster to the rest. All the groups came up with fantastic posters but some of us have overlooked at simple things like font size and colour. There is still room for improvement. After all this is the first ever experience designing poster using Power Point Software for most of us.

Having gone through this session, we are required to answer for the following questions.

Here it goes…..

Did you face any problem during the session? Why?
I personally did not face any major problem during the session. It was quite smooth that I could sail through it. However, I feel that the activity restrict one from thinking out of the box. This is because, we are to design the poster using the limited pictures provided only. I understand, when carried out with young children, it is aimed to guide them. But it is like over guiding them until restricts their creativity. Besides that, my group had a tough time to select a picture to be included in the poster. In my humble opinion, everyone has their own definition for independence (kemerdekaan). Thus, when one is asked to select a picture out of the few options, one might hesitate because the meaning of the pictures may differ from theirs. Providing a collection of specific pictures put them at stake to ignore their own perception.

What do you think of the instruction?
The role of the instructions was the most significant one in this session. The instruction given was comprehensible and clear. It was straight to the point and not confusing to me. Ms Nazirah tried very hard to convey her message using simple terminologies. She realizes that not all of us are used to this technological terms, hence she adapt to our needs. I would also say she was being aware who her audiences were. She also gave some examples to make it clearer. For instance, she displayed the sample instruction on the smart board to make it clearer to us while explaining.

What improvements can you suggest?
Perhaps, more pictures can be provided. This will allow them to think of various themes instead of restricting the title and their thought to the picture. Searching pictures from the internet would be another idea.

How would you carry out this design session with primary level pupils?

I would introduce, to them a few samples of posters. Once they have a clear idea what is a poster, I will proceed with the session by teaching various method to design poster like using Paint and so on. Then, I will teach them how to create posters using PowerPoint software. Prior to that, I will explain clearly what is to be done and how is to be done?I will also demonstrate while introducing. After that, I will ask them to work in groups of 3 to design a poster on their own with the theme, Malaysiaku Gemilang given. Once pupils start working on oit, I will go around facilitating them

Here I have uploaded the poster designed by my group.

You are welcomed to comment on my group's poster. Thank you.

How to Prepare an effective PowerPoint Presentation

25th July 2007 – Today’s lecture was actually a continuation from the previous lesson.

“Who is this pretty Chinese girl?” (a Chinese girl stepped into MK2)

We are introduced to this new face, Ms Ng as our facilitator. “Ooppss…. Not merely a young girl or lady….but a young facilitator too” She looks stern yet sweet and pretty.
Prof Raja Maznah informed us that Ms Ng will be giving a lecture on how to prepare a good PowerPoint slideshow presentation. Last week (18th July), all the groups came up with fantastic slide shows despite of the time constraint. However, the comments received explain that there is room for improvement. Hence, it is indeed a golden opportunity for all of us to learn how to develop effective PowerPoint slides, for future use.

First and foremost, I would like to thank Ms. Ng for highlighting an important matter which has been lingering in my mind for the past years whenever there was a PowerPoint presentation taking place. Let me ask you people this question, ‘What do you feel if a speaker faces his back and reads out every single word from the slides instead of interacting with the audience?’ I assume most of you will be annoyed and some might even switch off. I certainly agree with Ms. Ng on this matter. Why one have to read it to me? I can read it by myself. It is as if the speaker doubts one’s reading skill. Often, people dress up when they are to be the presenter in order to be the centre of attraction during the presentation. If one is going to read chunk by chunk from the slides, he or she is no longer the focus since he or she will not be facing the audience and not interacting with them.

Let us move on to the main agenda of the day:

Ms. Ng gave us valuable tips on how to prepare an effective PowerPoint slideshow. There are a number of tips which can be applied to prepare a good PowerPoint slideshow namely; visual, colour scheme, no cluttering, objective, audience and the list goes on. I would like to use only one word, ‘SIMPLICITY’ to summarize all the tips. This is because; based on my perspective, the various tips mention above is meant to simplify the slides instead of making it congested with unnecessary input.

Ms Ng also showed us some samples of effective PowerPoint slideshows. Among all the samples, I preferred the one prepared by this person named Dick (I can hear his voice in my mind when I type this). I will further explain on the tips learnt under the heading ‘What I have learnt today?’

What I have learnt today?

Basically the lecturer today has triggered me to find out more on what Garr Reynolds has to say about ‘EFFECTIVE POWERPOINT SLIDESHOWS’. Below is an summary of information I have obtained through my online reading.

Let me further unravel on what exactly I have learnt from the tips given by Ms. Ng:

The most significant thing that I have learnt today would be SIMPLICITY is the BEST POLICY. In simple terms, it means to simplify everything rather than complicating it. It is better to only include limited points and words on a slide. If the slide show is full of words, audience might end up reading the slides on their own rather than listening to the speaker.

Besides that, an effective slide show should have limited slide transition and animation. Preferably, one to two type of slide transition throughout the slide show. A variety of slide transition might disturb audiences’ focus. Selection of graphics and visuals also determines the effectiveness of a slide show presentation. The pictures should be relevant to the topic and not simply add on visuals to fill up the empty spaces on the slide. According to Garr Reynolds, “The less clutter you have on your slide, the more powerful your visual message will become”. (quoted from http://www.garreynolds.com/)

Another important aspect is appropriate font and choice of colour used for background and the text. We must always make sure the colour of the slide’s background is of contrast with the text.

Next, I have come to the realization that we must always keep audience in our mind when preparing a PowerPoint slide show. We must know who the audiences are, their interest, prior knowledge, background, needs and so on. For instance, if the audience are children, we must not bombard them with too many detail at a time since they have short-attention span. It would be better to use one word per slide.

Last but not least, I learned that we must quote the reference if we use texts or pictures which is not ours. As a whole, the key element identified is SIMPLICITY.

HOWEVER...

source : http://iplot.typepad.com/iplot/images/simplicity_complexity.jpg

WHY? Keep on scrolling and you will know.

What have I questioned today?

SIMPLICITY…… Well, I do understand that simplicity is the best way to convey messages without jeopardizing it. My first thought was we have less work to do when it comes to preparing slide shows. But my second thought made me to ponder whether SIMPLICITY is really TROUBLE-FREE. In order to create a simple slide show, one might have to put in the maximum effort and do a lot of brain-squeezing. This is because, we must identify the relevant points and the most appropriate visuals to support the topic. It makes our life more complicated.

SIMPLICITY vs. COMPLEXITY

The session today really helped me a lot. Before ending the lesson, we were asked to improve on our slides prepared last week. Actually, my group's slides was fine because ours did follow the tips learnt earlier. There was one limitation in our previous slideshow which was the colour of the pictures. Having exposed to the tips, we modify the pictures to be in gray-scale so that it will be the secondary focus and the text will be the primary focus. The end.

p/s : I have displayed my group's modified slides in the previous post. Sorry, it is only in the slide sorter form. I do not know how to insert it in a slideshow view.

PowerPoint Presentation

18 July 2007 – First and foremost, we were given a form (questionnaire) to be filled in.

“Oh Gosh! I have very limited skills in ICT. Can I cope with this course?” (completing the questionnaire).

I guessed the questionnaire was aimed to obtain information about our prior knowledge on ICT as well as our ICT skills. In fact, it was good to carry out this questionnaire because the lecturer and the facilitators can gain valuable input which will be useful to conduct the course later on. They will be able to match the intended learning objective with our prior knowledge. This is because, new knowledge are derived from previous knowledge after going through the process of accommodation and assimilation. They need to identify our ability before proceeding with a total new skill. For instance, one of the questions requires the information on whether one has experience in using Microsoft Office PowerPoint. If all the respondents answered a ‘YES’, then there will be no problem. But if some of us answered a ‘NO’, then the facilitators might introduce or guide those who are new to this.

Ooppss….. Why am I straying away from the more significant events of the lesson? This simple questionnaire does matters to me. As future educators, I cannot run away from the fact that we need to know the learners’ previous knowledge before planning a lesson. The same goes here, the questionnaire will provide the lecturer and the facilitator with some valuable input to help them to carry out the course so that it will benefit all (my humble opinion only).

Let us get into the core event of the lesson:

We were required to work in groups to prepare a PowerPoint presentation on a given topic and present it as if we are promoting the product. Before proceeding with the task, we are to get into groups of 5 or 6 and give our group a name. Having formed a group, we brainstormed ideas on possible names for our group and all of us agreed upon my suggestion of TECHNO_THINKERS. My group was unfortunate to get an unfamiliar technological gadget, Digital Camera SLR (Single Lens Reflex) as our topic or should I say we were more fortunate to present on this gadget. We will find out this, at the end of this entry.

Ready….Get Set….Go….Without being a slave of procrastination, we quickly divide the task into 3 minor tasks where; Lali and Nanthini are to prepare the slides in terms of animation and to insert the texts, Maisarah and Tussna are to find suitable pictures and basic input while Loura and I have to search for information on advantages of SLR Digital Camera. We were given around an hour only to complete the task. We managed to prepare a simple yet informative PowerPoint slides. We used only key words and phrases to highlight our message instead of chunking all the information into the slides which might confuse the audience. We were almost done when, Mr. Shahril asked us to transfer our PowerPoint presentation to his computer. Meantime, I was trying very hard to digest the information collected since I will be the presenter for my group. I had a tough time digesting the information since I am not familiar with this technological gadget. Below are sample of slides prepared by my group:

(the watch on my wrist shows 2 p.m)
We were the first group to present in MK1. Following us, was other groups which presented on other topics namely; Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, Hotmail etc. After each groups’ presentation, Mr.Shahril gave constructive comments to help us to further improve on the slides.

What have I learnt today?
I gained valuable information on SLR Digital Camera, its’ functions and the advantages of it. I also did learn about the use of Hotmail, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk and so on. I also receive some tips to prepare a good slide.

My Question?
The name of this course (Technology in Primary Education), will suggest to us that technology is applied in primary education. Well our presentations on various technological inventions were informative and did provide valuable knowledge but it would not be significant if it is not applied in the context of primary education. Thus, I was just wondering why we were not exposed to the application of these technological inventions in primary education.

My suggestion
Perhaps we can identify and present on ways to use these technological inventions in a classroom.

Welcome everyone..........

Hello everyone........ At last I am ready to blog. All these while I have been struggling to get used to this new environment in University of Malaya(UM). Metaphorically I was lost in the middle of a gigantic forest and without compass. Can you imagine this? My journey of finding the route to get back home before it gets dark was extremely tiring. Throughout my journey, I had to overcome all sorts of obstacles. I had to remove all the sharp stones along my way which disrupts my journey. Yeah... we should remove all the obstacles as proposed by Robert House, an American Psychologist.

House (1971) proposed that one of the things which a leader should do to achieve a goal is to remove the obstacles. Well, as a future teacher, I have to behave like a leader too. Teachers are guide and model for childrens. Teachers are the main leaders in the classroom. In fact, teachers are responsible to remove obstacles and find alternative to make sure the teaching and learning process runs smoothly.

After all, it is part and parcel of students' life to overcome all obstacles such as time factor, Internet access problem etc.... Anyway, I am more settled now and I can proceed with my blog entries without failure.

Thanks for all those who have helped me.

Can u see the pathway? At last I found my way.....

Moving into the World of Technolgy

First PKEY3101 class

11th July 2007 - Today was my first lecture for the course PKEY3101 and here I have described and reflected on my experiences in this class. My first thought when I entered the computer lab (Makmal 2), was I should hurry to get hold of a computer. This is perhaps due to my previous experiences where there was always not enough personal computers (PC) for everyone. It is not the case here. The computer lab is well-equipped and spacious too.

When Profesor Dr. Raja Maznah informed us that we are required to write blogs in a weekly basis, I was terrified. I have neither the experience nor the slightest idea of how to go about blogging. This is the first ever blog I have ever done. Frankly speaking, I have always perceived blogging as a waste of time. However, the thought-provoking question of 'Why Blog?' posed by Prof. Raja has opened up my eyes on blogging. Below are the reasons which I have gathered during the lecture on why one blog?

Why blog?
~ record experiences

~ voice out opinion

~ publish stories or poem for FREE!

~ self-reflection

~ express feelings

~ to make announcement

~ to advertise product

The point of publishing stories for free raised by one of my course mates caught my attention. Well, as future primary educators we can utilize the stories published in the blog as our teaching materials in the primary ESL classroom. Instead of using common contemporary stories for young learners, teachers should grab pupils' attention by developing new and interesting resources published by various people of varied interets. One might question the practicality of doing this. Well, we can always adapt the material to certain extent to suit the curriculum while retaining portion of the material which appears to be interesting and suitable.

Moving on next, Prof Raja made us list down the reasons for integrating technology in Primary Education. Below are few of the reasons collected during the brainstorm session:

~ goes beyond the classroom

~ make life easier

~ fun & interesting

~ new discovery

~ enhance teaching & learning

~ integrate real life situation

~ diverse experience

Well, I do agree that integration of technology in primary education can make teachers' life easier and make learning fun. However, i doubt the practicality of integrating technology in teaching and learning processes. Based on my personal experiences, it has always been devastating for us students to shift our focus to traditional method of using blackboard and text books from modern gadgets like camputers and return to our classroom to continue the lesson instead of occupying the computer labs as scheduled. In my humble opinion, the issue here is not whether the ICT facilities are easily accessible in schools but whether the teachers are skilled in using ICT. There is no point of having a large number of high-tech computers arranged row by row in an air-conditioned room without being utilized. The computers are only going to collect dust and serve as home for spiders.

"Dirty computers : Revenge of the dust bunnies" ( source: techrepublic.com)

In that case, the problem lies not in the ICT tools but its our mentality not to change. We are just not willing to take risk. We will never know what we are able to do until we try it out. If we want to lead a luxurious and comfortable life, we need to work it out. If the Wright brothers did not strive hard and take risk, we would have been still sailing on the ships and boats for months or years. Thus, we need to change our mentality towards technology. Teachers especially need to be willing to take risk and equip themselves with this ICT skills and not avoiding the ICT tools to the maximum. Therefore, this course, ICT in Primary Education would be a good start for many future teachers of this cohort who are IT blind.

Next, Prof. Raja brainstormed us on the use of ICT during our School Experience Programme (SEP). I had to rewind my memory, but it wasn't that difficult to recall. Yeah.. I had an opportunity to observe a Mathematics lesson using ICT tool. The teacher used a Mathematics CD-Rom with the aid of LCD to carry out the lesson. Actually, the content of the CD-Rom is very interesting and definitely will appeal to childrens. However, the lesson did not turn out to be as successful as been expected. Instead, it was a failure because the teacher was not highly skilled in utilizing it. It does not mean that with the help of technology, teachers are supposed to be relaxed. In this lesson, the teacher just stood at the teacher's table while the pupils are trying to grasp the mathematic concepts and do the exercises which was displayed on the screen. The worse thing was the volume was too low until those who were sitting in the front rows also could hardly catch the words.

This particular lecture has changed my impression on technology to certain extent. All these while I have been utilizing technology merely for entertainment and for completing tasks. This class had made me to question my own perception towards technology and my ability to use these ICT skills. I hope that this course will be useful for me to equip myself with ICT skills which will be very useful for my future career.

p/s- more post will be posted. Sorry yeah for the delay.... had some problems....