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....