The future it paints is one where everything is done much more conveniently, where technology allows instant and easy transfer of information, services etc. Everyone, even grandparents are connected and tech savvy. Some the technologies imagined are pretty cool, like having the car windscreen as a computer display, or a watch that opens flat into a touch-screen phone. I like the heart-rate monitor/watch thing. Things like that will certainly be useful and will improve health care.

But in some sense, the future it paints is also quite alarming. It means no privacy, no down time. I can imagine that work will haunt you. You will be notified immediately when mail is received, and it will demand your immediate attention. We would have to watch what we say, because a simple statement can execute a command to buy or sell an item or send a document online. It would be terrible if one accidentally sent out a confidential document, or bought a big ticket item by mistake. It also means that our children will be far more exposed to the dangers of cyberspace, including exploitation, cyberbullying and uncensored materials.

As much as we may protest, I can see that the future is inexorably moving towards this. It is unavoidable. We will just have to adapt and adjust.

On the bright side, technology may help us to talior-make education for students, so that each student’s needs are met. Karl Kapp talked about this in his blog. I like what he described – a customizable, flexible, self-paced education system that is technology enabled. I can imagine what it could be like: students can advance at their own pace, with the fast students moving ahead to the next level and the slow students given more time to learn and complete work at a slower pace. That means that bright students can finish schooling faster. Students may also have the option to pursue their preferred electives, and develop independently. Those who are sports people can have the flexibility to fit in schooling around their training and competitions. Wouldn’t that be great? But i think that we are still far off from that picture. Technology may be moving ahead, but the schooling system will need to have a major revamp. A paradigm shift. A restructuring. Not just changing how teachers teach, but how the whole system works.

Are we prepared? No.. not really. Not for the future that Kark Kapp talks about at any rate. But I think NIE is taking steps in the right direction. We are being taught how to engage students in the classroom with ICT, and challenged to understand the the present generation of digital natives. We’ve been introduced to many new pedagogies, including game-based learning. Personally, I’ve been stretched.

I think what’s important is that educators continue to grow and learn and adapt to changes. We may never be as comfortable with technology as our students, but we can certainly improve.

The article about digital natives made me think. How do we capture this generation? They like the interactivity of games. Can we give that to them in the classroom? How about game-based learning? They excel at problem-solving, so why not give them real cases to analyze and solve? They may learn better when they are given a project that is challenging… You could say the article makes what we’ve been learning about engaged learning seem all the more relavent and necessary.

Week 1 – makebeliefscomix & quandary

Week 2 – skype & youtube

Week 3 – GoogleDocs & Photostory for windows

Some of the demos (skype, GoogleDocs) are things I’ve used before, But I learnt new features and ways they can be employed. Some are completely new to me and I’ve learnt how they are used. I found the lesson plan suggestions quite useful. It really helps to have many examples of how ICT can be used in the classroom. These is much to think about and digest.

I’m quite taken by the mindmap tool Mindmeister. I think it’s great how it allows real-time editing and collaboration with the “chat with skype” function. I also like how it allows one to review the history and development of the mindmap. It’s an amazing tool. I wish I knew of it sooner.

I never realized that so much learning takes place when we play games. I’ve come to realize that most games develop problem solving skills and help us learn cause and effect. They develop hand-eye coordination and other psycomoto skills. They also affect us affectively. In this respect, I think that games can be a positive or negative influence depending on the choice of game. For instance, there is that story in the papers where a boy shot his parents who confiscated his game (halo-3) just to get his game back. He was adicted to playing this violent game. Pehaps it was his gaming that influenced him affectively to feel that violence is normal and acceptable. This story is sobering and stresses the need to monitor the types of games our students play.

Paul Gee’s interview made me realize how different game-based learning is from conventional classroom methods.

Firstly, video games are all about ongoing assessment and learning is not separate from assessment, the player is always getting assessed and feedback, and failure is part of the learning process. This differs from what typically happens in the classroom, where students are first taught a topic before they are assessed and failure has consequences. The experience of failure in a game is expected and it is  through trying and failing many times that we learn and improve in gaming. In games, the weight and consequence of failure is not felt, for if one fails, one can just try again. When students fail in class tests or exams, they may feel that they are failures and give up trying. I think that it is unfortunate if class tests are the only form of assessment students get feedback from. We must provide students with opportunities to fail without consequence so that they don’t give up trying. Teaching via game-based learning seems to be a viable method to achieve this.

Secondly, in gaming, most adopt a ‘play first and read the manual if i need it later’ attitude. The manual is like a textbook that is whipped out for reference when a problem is encountered. Information in the manual is read as the need arises and a desire to understand or improve is felt. This is so different from conventional schooling, where students often are forced to memorize the contents of their textbook when there is no experienced context for them to relate the information to. This makes the information dry and difficult to remember.

Games also provide “language on demand” or “language just in time”. Instructions on how to handle new situations is provided only just when they are needed, where there will be immediate application of the instructions received. I think this is a good strategy for teaching. We should teach one concept at a time and allow our students opportunities to apply and master the concept taught before teaching another concept.

Possible implementation issues in face-to-face learning situations:

1.    Classroom management issues

1. Teacher monitoring – (physical layout of computer lab) students are blocked from view by the computers, and so take the opportunity to play computer games or use MSN illicitly
2. Establishing and maintaining order and flow when transiting from one activity to the next
3. Managing group learning processes

Possible solutions:

1. Teacher monitoring – Teacher keeps moving about the classroom to ensure that they are constantly aware of what is happening for all the students, and communicate their awareness to the students (“with-it-ness”)
2. Give outline of lesson to students at the start so that they know what to anticipate (facilitates flow)
3. Set discipline specific rules and procedures to ensure order and promote attentiveness: e.g.~
   • Use assigned seating – prevents rush for computers & allows teacher to seat problematic students in easy to monitor locations
   • Gather students to the front of class to brief them about activities away from the computers to prevent them from being distracted
   • Give warning 5mins before end of activity to provide students time to save their work and to prepare for the next activity
4. Establish educational rules and procedures to facilitate pair and group work:
   • Assigning roles such as group leader, recorder… etc with clearly defined duties to ensure accountability
   • Social rules – one person talks at a time… etc

2.    Technical problems due to poor student/teacher ICT literacy

1. Wastes time – affects time management
2. Students feel frustrated, overwhelmed and turned off
3. Disruption to flow of lesson → classroom management

Possible solutions:

1. Teachers provide step-by-step instructions and model for students how to use software
2. Students assistants appointed to help other students who are lost
3. Technical support staff employed to help out, can also help to test each computer before the class to make sure that all are working correctly

3.    Time management issues

1. Students work at different pace – unable to complete tasks
2. Technical problems

Possible solutions:

1. Plan lessons tasks with aspects that can be completed at home
2. Provide adequate scaffolding for students – resources and questions to help students focus their work
3. Check on each students progress and provide additional guidance for those who are struggling
4. Have a set time for students to complete tasks, inform students of amount of time set for task and give warning 5 mins before end of activity for them to save work

Possible implementation issues in online environments:

1.    Cyberbullying issues

1. In online collaborative work, students my respond rudely to each other or SHOUT their opinions. In an online environment → difficult for teachers to monitor
   Possible solutions:
   • Teach students Netiquette – to be polite to others online just as you would off-line.
   • Set-up a specific platform for class discussions for teacher monitoring.
2. Students may be naïve and open themselves to cyberbullying or exploitation.
   Possible solutions:
   • Teach students the importance of not giving out private information online
   • Teach them what to do if they are faced with a cyberbully (inform teacher/parents, stay off-line for awhile, keep messages as evidence for legal action)

2.    Internet pornography

1. Students with internet access may stumble onto or deliberately access internet pornography sites
   Possible solutions:
   • Teach students why pornography is wrong
   • Encourage them to report to teachers if they notice others surfing inappropriate sites
   • Encourage parents to install pop-up blockers and filters

References

Lim, C. P., Pek, M. S. & Chai, S. C. (2005). Classroom management Issues on ICT mediated learning environments. Journal of Educational Multimedia & Hypermedia, 14(4), 391-414.

Lim, C. P. & Myint, S. K. (2006). Managing teachers’ barriers to ICT integration in Singapore schools. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 14(1), 97-125.

Websites:
http://www.cyberbullying.ca/
http://www3.moe.edu.sg/edumall/tl/cyberwellness.htm

One thing I did find quite useful, was that we explored specific examples. This really helped to give me an idea of how engaged learning can be taught in the class room, and how to plan lessons to be student centered. I think that ultimately, that’s the most important, not so much how well we label or identify the pedagogies, but more on whether we can find a student-centered approach that is suitable for our needs in the classroom.

Something else i’ve discovered – the benefits of google docs!

You can upload, create and edit documents directly on google docs. No need to download then re-upload. Also, you can share documents with others by specifying their email adds. Depending on what options you choose, then can then view, edit or even further share the document with others.

Basically, teachers play the role of facilitators and do not do very much teaching of the content per say. Students are given a structure or “scaffolding” as well as appropriate resources and are responsible for their own learning. They learn through group work or interaction with others.

What’s great about this approach is that students develop independence in their learning. They also become more tech savvy and are more adept at problem solving. They not only learn the necessary content, but are equipped with important life skills that will stand them good stead in the market place.

As I was considering what constitutes engaged learning, I realized that I’ve not had many such classroom experiences myself. Most of the time, content was taught to us in the “Traditional Classroom” approach. Very often we were rushing to complete the syllabus.

Speaking of time constraints… Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me that teaching in the “engaged learning” model would mean that we need to provide students more time to explore the content being covered. With the need to finish the syllabus, is it really feasible for the entire syllabus to be covered in this approach?

Engaged learning seems like a great model for the class room, but my concern is that it may be too lofty an ideal to adopt 100%.

Part of our first assignment was to insert a photo into our own personal page on the wiki. During my experimenting with the wiki, I tried clicking on the button “insert plugin”. I don’t exactly know what a plugin is, but since I couldn’t find anything labelled “insert image” I thought I’d give it a shot.

There are so many different types of plugins you can use! The one I tried was “slide photoshow”. It’s really straight forward and easy to use. The website provides clear instructions. Plenty of ways to present your slides too!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Jill