Changkat Changi Secondary School did not have a computer in each class. The classes only had a projector and a screen. However, since all teachers are equipped with a laptop, either on loan from the school or a personal laptop, the use of ICT was not hindered. Also, many computer labs are available all around the school. This shows that the ratio of students to computer is small, in turn achieving the goal in Masterplan 1. In fact, during each computer lab session, every student is provided with a computer.
Although I did not get to observe any lesson conducted in the computer labs, I was told they are used on a regular basis so as to allow students to learn how to access the e-learning website. In doing so, the students are exposed to internet browsers such as Firefox, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. The students are also at times asked to complete their homework using Microsoft Excel, typically for the students taking Principle of Accounts. This coincides with the outcome goal of Masterplan 2, where students should be competent in the use of basic ICT tools.
Also as mentioned in the previous blogs, teachers conduct lessons using programmes such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Powerpoint and videoclips. Little was taught with merely a marker and a whiteboard. This also coincides with the outcome goal of Masterplan 2, where teachers should be proficient in the use of the basic ICT tools.
At least one week in each semester was reserved for e-learning in the school. That is when students would learn by themselves at home, following a fixed schedule planned out by the teachers. And while the students are learning from home, the teachers would track their progress by seeing how many students logged in to the system and how fast is their pace in learning the new chapter. One of the outcome goal of Masterplan 3 is for students to be competent for independent learning. This is also evident in this school.
Monday, 1 August 2011
The world today is not the same as before. Information technology is nowadays an integral part of our lives. Majority of the households now own at least one set of computer that has access to the internet. Some of the students might not have come worked with some of the common programmes that are used these days such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Powerpoint. However, they would have in some ways or other seen such programmes utilized, be it in the schools or their own homes. As such students these days would not be intrigued to participate in the lessons conducted if they seem boring to them. They are more receptive to lectures or classes conducted using modern technology because they are able to relate to these tools used. With the implementation of the three Masterplans for ICT in education, students are now able to think out of the box as well as satisfy their desire for additional knowledge that are out of their syllabus.
As a student, many improvements were made along the way from my time in primary school, then to secondary school and finally to a tertiary institution. Being brought to the computer labs back in the primary school was a luxury and something that I personally looked very much forward to. The content delivered might not be as extensive as compared to that taught in the classrooms due to more time wasted on getting us students to the computer labs, getting us to settle down as well as lacking the necessary knowledge and skill to access some of the programmes. However, these lessons are the ones that I was excited to attend. The content might have been dull and heavy but the learning process was definitely an exciting and interactive one.
In the later part of my education, Microsoft Powerpoint slides were used instead of plain pieces of paper with words written all over and no pictures to illustrate. No doubt the slides and the handouts were still in black and white, it is the way of learning that was different. No longer is the teacher merely writing on the board asking us to copy them down in our exercise books, colourful pictures were used to illustrate some of the things that we do not get to see in our daily lives. It was certainly not easy to picture for example a three-dimensional structure when attempting to solve a three-dimensional vectors problem in mathematics class or to understand how an earthquake or a tsunami arises without the help of multimedia.
Coming to know the vision and goals of the current Masterplan 3 and having learnt very useful teaching methodologies in my recent enhanced school experience, I believe that it is very important for students to be more exposed to e-learning, where they would have a day or two or even up till a week spent at their own homes learning some of the content covered in the syllabus by themselves. This not only instills self-discipline but also teaches students to be more independent. Students would now not be that fearful to respond in class in case of embarrassing themselves with the wrong answer and everyone would now be able to learn at their own pace. Students who learn at a faster pace would then be able to enhance their understanding on the topics covered by attempting some of the supplementary questions provided by the teachers.
Also imperative to achieving the goal for Masterplan 3 are more opportunities for the students to work in groups. This would not only help students who are weaker and unwilling to ask for help but also those who are better in their studies to reinforce the concepts learnt by coaching their peers.
As a student, many improvements were made along the way from my time in primary school, then to secondary school and finally to a tertiary institution. Being brought to the computer labs back in the primary school was a luxury and something that I personally looked very much forward to. The content delivered might not be as extensive as compared to that taught in the classrooms due to more time wasted on getting us students to the computer labs, getting us to settle down as well as lacking the necessary knowledge and skill to access some of the programmes. However, these lessons are the ones that I was excited to attend. The content might have been dull and heavy but the learning process was definitely an exciting and interactive one.
In the later part of my education, Microsoft Powerpoint slides were used instead of plain pieces of paper with words written all over and no pictures to illustrate. No doubt the slides and the handouts were still in black and white, it is the way of learning that was different. No longer is the teacher merely writing on the board asking us to copy them down in our exercise books, colourful pictures were used to illustrate some of the things that we do not get to see in our daily lives. It was certainly not easy to picture for example a three-dimensional structure when attempting to solve a three-dimensional vectors problem in mathematics class or to understand how an earthquake or a tsunami arises without the help of multimedia.
Coming to know the vision and goals of the current Masterplan 3 and having learnt very useful teaching methodologies in my recent enhanced school experience, I believe that it is very important for students to be more exposed to e-learning, where they would have a day or two or even up till a week spent at their own homes learning some of the content covered in the syllabus by themselves. This not only instills self-discipline but also teaches students to be more independent. Students would now not be that fearful to respond in class in case of embarrassing themselves with the wrong answer and everyone would now be able to learn at their own pace. Students who learn at a faster pace would then be able to enhance their understanding on the topics covered by attempting some of the supplementary questions provided by the teachers.
Also imperative to achieving the goal for Masterplan 3 are more opportunities for the students to work in groups. This would not only help students who are weaker and unwilling to ask for help but also those who are better in their studies to reinforce the concepts learnt by coaching their peers.
ENHANCED SCHOOL EXPERIENCE:
PREPARATORY TASK FOR ICT FOR MEANINGFUL LEARNING
Enhanced School Experience: Classroom Observations of ICT Use
(I) Specific Observation
School Name: Changkat Changi Secondary School
Class: 1N1
Profile of the class:
(For e.g., the students’ academic abilities, stream and other characteristics)
Coming from a neighbourhood school, the students in 1N1 were relatively more rowdy at times. The attention span they had was no longer than ten minutes or so depending on the teacher’s style of teaching as well as subject. Having observed the chemistry class for this top normal academic class, I would say that other than a few students who tend to be more playful, the others were all very willing to learn. A little reshuffling of the seating arrangement led to a huge improvement in the second week of the term. Having also relieved taught some of the other secondary one classes, including the express stream, 1N1 gives me the impression that many of the students in that class are trying really hard to do well in their studies, perhaps to hop back into the express stream. However, some of the observations above were not in tangent to what some of their other teachers expressed. This goes to show that the behaviour of the students in the class is characteristic of each teacher. As for the academic abilities of the students, pace of the class cannot be too fast, as advised by my Cooperating Teacher. Despite being the top class from the normal academic stream, these students take a longer time to absorb some of the content taught. This could most probably be attributed to the fact that they are seeing some of these things for the very first time (eg the Periodic Table, burette, pipette, etc), thus taking some time to get accustomed to some of the terms used.
Subject:
What ICT tools are used in the lesson?
Video clips, Microsoft powerpoint, Microsoft word using tablet PC.
Describe how ICT is used for teaching and learning in the lesson.
Video clips were shown in class to deepen students’ understanding on some of the content covered. New terms and concepts such as alkali metal reacting violently with water was conveyed better with illustration as words alone was insufficient.
Microsoft powerpoint slides were used in conjunction with their notes in class. The pictures and clips in the slides help students get a clearer picture of the content. For example, the colours of some of the group VII elements in the periodic table cannot be easily pictured without any background prior to the class.
The teacher also used a tablet PC to go through the handouts in class. Instead of just telling what the students have to write to fill in the blanks, the teacher filled in the blanks with the students as she taught. This not only drew the attention of the students whenever the teacher starts writing, it also made it very clear what each blank is supposed to be filled in with.
(II) General Observation:
How do teachers in the school feel about the use of ICT for teaching and learning? (For this question, you may want to speak to the HOD/ICT and other teachers you know in the school.)
The teachers whom I spoke to regarding the use of ICT for teaching and learning all gave very positive feedback. Majority of them feel that ICT not only made the lesson more interesting to the students but also for the teachers when they are teaching. Rather than simply writing the equations and terminologies on the whiteboard, they are now able to play around with the computer effects to lighten the weight of the content of the subjects.
Another teacher also commented that with the implementation of ICT, students are now given one week in the middle of the semester to learn purely from home. This not only allows more freedom for both teachers and students. For the students, they are now able to learn at their own pace as well to learn more independently. As for the teachers, they are now able to trace the performance of each student better given a chance to take a step back to see how the progress of the students are.
PREPARATORY TASK FOR ICT FOR MEANINGFUL LEARNING
Enhanced School Experience: Classroom Observations of ICT Use
(I) Specific Observation
School Name: Changkat Changi Secondary School
Class: 1N1
Profile of the class:
(For e.g., the students’ academic abilities, stream and other characteristics)
Coming from a neighbourhood school, the students in 1N1 were relatively more rowdy at times. The attention span they had was no longer than ten minutes or so depending on the teacher’s style of teaching as well as subject. Having observed the chemistry class for this top normal academic class, I would say that other than a few students who tend to be more playful, the others were all very willing to learn. A little reshuffling of the seating arrangement led to a huge improvement in the second week of the term. Having also relieved taught some of the other secondary one classes, including the express stream, 1N1 gives me the impression that many of the students in that class are trying really hard to do well in their studies, perhaps to hop back into the express stream. However, some of the observations above were not in tangent to what some of their other teachers expressed. This goes to show that the behaviour of the students in the class is characteristic of each teacher. As for the academic abilities of the students, pace of the class cannot be too fast, as advised by my Cooperating Teacher. Despite being the top class from the normal academic stream, these students take a longer time to absorb some of the content taught. This could most probably be attributed to the fact that they are seeing some of these things for the very first time (eg the Periodic Table, burette, pipette, etc), thus taking some time to get accustomed to some of the terms used.
Subject:
What ICT tools are used in the lesson?
Video clips, Microsoft powerpoint, Microsoft word using tablet PC.
Describe how ICT is used for teaching and learning in the lesson.
Video clips were shown in class to deepen students’ understanding on some of the content covered. New terms and concepts such as alkali metal reacting violently with water was conveyed better with illustration as words alone was insufficient.
Microsoft powerpoint slides were used in conjunction with their notes in class. The pictures and clips in the slides help students get a clearer picture of the content. For example, the colours of some of the group VII elements in the periodic table cannot be easily pictured without any background prior to the class.
The teacher also used a tablet PC to go through the handouts in class. Instead of just telling what the students have to write to fill in the blanks, the teacher filled in the blanks with the students as she taught. This not only drew the attention of the students whenever the teacher starts writing, it also made it very clear what each blank is supposed to be filled in with.
(II) General Observation:
How do teachers in the school feel about the use of ICT for teaching and learning? (For this question, you may want to speak to the HOD/ICT and other teachers you know in the school.)
The teachers whom I spoke to regarding the use of ICT for teaching and learning all gave very positive feedback. Majority of them feel that ICT not only made the lesson more interesting to the students but also for the teachers when they are teaching. Rather than simply writing the equations and terminologies on the whiteboard, they are now able to play around with the computer effects to lighten the weight of the content of the subjects.
Another teacher also commented that with the implementation of ICT, students are now given one week in the middle of the semester to learn purely from home. This not only allows more freedom for both teachers and students. For the students, they are now able to learn at their own pace as well to learn more independently. As for the teachers, they are now able to trace the performance of each student better given a chance to take a step back to see how the progress of the students are.
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