Reflection (6): ICT as Tutor - Teaching with Educational Software

What is ICT ?

ICT stands for information communication technology. The ICT is to use technology and multimedia in several places and fields.

ICT in Education:

ICT in education means implementing of ICT equipment and tools in teaching and learning process as a media methodology. It is generally to familiarize students with the use and working of computers, and related social and ethical issues. It helps students to

explore topics and generate their own knowledge. 

Types of Educational Software:

Drill-and-practice: Which is an instructional strategy and familiar to all educators. It refers to small tasks such as the memorization of spelling or vocabulary words, or the practising of arithmetic facts and may also be found in more sophicated learning tasks or physical education games and sports. Drill-and-Practice help learners master materials at their own pace.

Tutorial: Tutorial software is to instruct the learner. This type of software may include some practice, but it is primarily used in a teaching capacity. Tutorial software usually assesses the learner's skills, them presents new instruction, gives practice, asks a question and depending on the learner's response, either re-mediates by re-teaching, or moves on to the next level.

Simulation: Simulation software is to provide an analogy of real life situation. Simulations have historically been used in driver education, flight training, and medical diagnosis classes. This type of software presents a situation to the learner, the learner makes a choice, and the software responds to that choice by taking one of several paths.

Instructional games: Games that have been designed to teach people about certain subject, expand concepts, reinforce development, understand an historical event or culture, or assist them in learning a skill as they play. They include board, cards, and video games.

Reflection (5): ICT as MindTool

ICT as MindTool

What is (ICT)?

It is widely acknowledged that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be used to improve the quality of teaching and learning at any level of education. (ICT) is defined as computer based tools used by people to work with the information and communication processing needs of an organization.

Information and communication technologies offer several opportunities in education:

• First, they can be used as a means of preparing the current generation of students for future workplace.
• ICTs can make the school more efficient or more productive.
• ICTs are seen as means to reform teaching, that is, to stimulate learners to learn actively and independently in a self directed way or in collaboration with others.

What are ICT mind tools?

ICTs are seen as means to reform and innovate teaching that is to stimulate learners to learn actively and independently in a self directed way and/or in collaboration with others. Using ICT in the form of ‘concept maps’ or ‘mind maps’ in stimulating thinking has been a widespread an important area of investigation not only in education but also in other areas. Mind maps have also been used as a means of communication, to help others understand the rationale of an argument or the structure of student’s knowledge, illustrating how ideas are interrelated.

One of the ways of using ICT as a mind tool is: Concept mapping, it is a visual learning approach which is one simple and useful way to organize data while also showing the relationships between the information found. It is an excellent means of getting a look at current levels of understanding. Also it helps student to organize new information and to make meaningful connections between the main idea and other information.

As we can see in the picture, it organizes information by grouping facts and concepts; learning is at a higher level than just memorization of facts. And its easy visualization fosters long-term memory. I think that Visual learning helps students to see how ideas are connected and realize and how information can be grouped and organized. Also students can use diagrams and plots to display large amounts of information in ways that are easy to understand and help reveal relationships and patterns. Finally, Visual learning helps students think critically.

Some useful sites:

1. http://www.stanford.edu/dept/SUSE/SEAL/Reports_Papers/Vanides_CM.pdf
2. http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/concept_maps/

Reflection (4): WebQuest

            

What is Web Quest?

  It is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web. Also we can say that it is an educational model for the light regulation of information easier for the learner to explore and draw using the computer knowledge and source of knowledge available on the internet, and facilitate the evaluation of student performance and measure the development of higher mental skills as Bloom’s Taxonomy of mental processes such as analysis and synthesis. These can be created using various programs, including a simple word processing document that includes links to websites.

What are the aims of using Web Quest?

  Web Quest gives students the functions and specific activities to enable them to use source of knowledge available to solve the problems raised in addition to learning life skills such as discovery, reasoning and inference and generalization, so the responses when dealing with knowledge is not specified in advanced, but there is creativity and learning an active and sustainable.

  Also Web Quest is a modern and fantastic occupancy and activation of the students to explore knowledge in a planned and sequential through educational activities, methods of technology and work groups such as the methods of problem solving and active learning effective, which makes the student center of educational way.

  Further to know Web Quest allows students to explore specific issue and achieved self-knowledge and achieve the building of his own knowledge and creativity of this, the student can deal with knowledge in a way beneficial process does not depend on the conservation and memorization.

For an excellent Web Quest:

 
Web Quest should be well suited to all levels of students must also contain educational activities and develop the capacities of their different needs and allows them to deal with the educational content and knowledge and develop a balanced personality that stands for all the views and possible solution to the issue of research.

Reflection (3): Inquiry based learning.

What is Inquiry based learning?

"Inquiry" is defined as "a seeking for truth, information, or knowledge -- seeking information by questioning." So Inquiry based learning is mainly involving the learner and leading him to understand.

From what I read and know, the inquiry process is mainly the gathering of data and information and applying them to senses like smelling, tasting, touching, hearing and seeing. For example, infants use inquiry to build their sense of the world, the babies turn towards voices, put things in their mouths, grasp things, and observe faces that come near.

Inquiry depends on the possessing skills and attitudes of students, which allows them to ask questions about new resolutions and issues while they are gaining new information. It also helps in developing the mental process, to think widely and deeply.

I think that traditional ways of teaching are discourage the process of inquiry in this modern age, especially with the huge and magnificent technological development. Because students of this century are more open to new things, looking to know everything surrounding them, so memorizing facts and information is not the most important skill now days, because it is more than just memorizing and asking questions. It is a complex process involved when individuals attempt to convert information and data and try to understand how to make sense out of them and turn them into useful knowledge.

To use every available technology, students insist to learn, know and discover; seeking appropriate resolutions to questions and issues. This development of inquiry skills will enable individuals to continue the quest for knowledge throughout life.

Finally there are several ways that teachers can implement Inquiry-Based Learning in the classrooms such as problem-solving activities, and the use of critical thinking. Also giving students a chance to discover things on their own can make concepts click to where they understand what is being taught . Students prefer this type of learning approach because when they become involved they understand concepts better.

Reflection (2): Advantages and Problems of Student-Centered Learning (SCL) for teachers and students.

Hello,

Today I would like to write about advantages and problems of Student-Centered Learning (SCL) for teachers and students. But First let us see what is Student-Centered Learning or (SCL) means :


  .  .  "It is an approach to education, focusing on the needs of students."


  As we all know, traditional instructors focused on what they did and learn, and what they what to teach, not on what the student's are learning. in result students become passive, apathetic and bored.


  .  .  "Teachers should not interfere with this process of maturation, but act as a guide." (Simon 1999)


  Well, my dear instructors we are in 2011 !! Students now are more likely to become involved and it can be by putting them first and focusing on their needs, abilities, and interest.  With a variety of hands-on activities in order to promote a successful learning. Also by allowing students to actively participate in discovery learning processes will give them the chance to learn more and explore a lot of new things. One of the best ways to share knowledge and experience is using groups. Two or three students in each group to focus on key concept and report back to the other students in the class and by expanding the group size over time will lead to richer class wide discussions and other benefits. In my opinion using such methods students will be capable of achieving life-long learning goals.

  "From activity to activity, learning by doing"; Students will develop their learning and other skills and gain meaningful knowledge that help them throughout life. Also students will discover that learning is interesting and fun !

  In the other hand, teachers will have less traditional work to do, and students will be more attentive and participate in the class. And last but not least, teaching will be more interesting and more fun.

Reflection (1) : How teacher use the computer as tools, tutte, & tutor?

Who does not know how to use a computer now a day? In fact no one! Computers are involved in everywhere around the world.

In a perspective of a teacher, computers are used in all areas at school. Because of the helpful tools that are available in computers and programs that installed such as: MS-Word and MS-PowerPoint; teachers can do a lot of educational tasks such: Lesson plans, electronically lessons, Presentations and Grading students by using MS-Excel. Also by using a Web Browser teacher can search and get any information easily and in a short time.

In another way of using computers, professional teachers can use one of any programming languages such as: Java or C++ to make programs that help students to learn more, also tests and electronic lessons are made by these languages. This kind of lessons interest students more and make them acquiring to learn more, not only about the lesson, but also about the program itself. I think that new ways of teaching are like of a refreshment process of the student mind because new ways of teaching refers for new thinking and ideas.

Last but not least, teacher can use computer in applying a lot of teaching aids, which are aims to clarify information visually and acoustically. Of course electronic lessons or teaching aids are not a substitute for a teacher or a replacement. It is mainly used to improve the learning process and education with clarifying the meaning and ideas in an ideal way and center.

About Me !

 Hello,

My name is Nora Ahmed Alsubaie. I graduate from AMA University in 2008 and my major was Computer Science.

I start teaching in Sep 2009 in Al-Wafa High School in Isa Town. Recently I started in the PDGE course in Bahrain Teachers College.

I like reading, drawing, and discovering new things in technologies.