Module 3 Activity 7

I honestly don't know how I managed to miss the first part of the activity however I did the second part dealing with handling big groups in regards to using the spreadsheet software.  Instead of the teacher solely keep records of students' grades, I think that it is a good move to teach them to be responsible in keeping track of their own grades using spreadsheet especially after completing exercises for the different subject disciplines.  This will help to control a big group where using spreadsheets is concerned.

Module 3 Activity 11 reflections

The only professional learning network that I have ever engaged myself in was this very CCTI course.  After doing this activity I have learned that any social network could be utilized as a PLN.  Most persons use social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date on friends' and families' lives and to share their experiences. I, too, am guilty of this, especially on Facebook. PLN have the power and potential to assist us on a professional level. I see social networks a bit differently now they can be used to link and collaborate with colleagues who may share their expertise or ideas. I hope to build on the PLN that I created on Twitter and in the future build a PLN on Youtube.

Module 3 Activity 10 reflections

In this activity which dealt with us being smart workers using social media, I was drawn to the reality that the majority of us do not use social media such as facebook to collaborate with persons on a professional level. In Jane Hart's blog she posted 8 key features of a smart learner. All are quite important but the one that impacted on me the most is the learner learns best with and from others. In this ICT course, for example, we collaborate with other colleagues to see things from another person's point of view or have tasks being clarified. We even encourage and praise each other's efforts. So I, as a smart learner, would come to the realization that I don't know everything and find support from other colleagues.

Module 3 _ Activity 9

This activity really enlightened me as to how to check and evaluate websites as I do research for my lessons and also for my personal benefit. Some websites would seek to mislead the researcher but I have learnt to check for the purpose, reliability, biasness, credibility and accuracy of the websites. All are important but I think that the most important ones to me are evaluating the accuracy of the information being searched for and the credibility of the website because I must find the utmost correct information from a legitimate and trusted site.

Module 3 -Activity 1 reflections

In this activity, I thought it really amazing to see other participants' ideas as I typed mine into the brainstorming application. It was also insightful to see the many different roles of the educator and how they were spelt out by the author, Emilia Potenza. I have performed these roles everyday without actually realizing it. I particularly liked that the roles were in order of the duties that we perform. We must first know the students whom we are teaching to design instructions that would meet their needs. Then lead them in a path that would let them unlock their true potential. Then we still have to evaluate our strategies and continue to research to sharpen our skills. Then we have a responsibility to our community and to be the assessor of learning to ensure that it has taken place. I think that the last role comes naturally as we must be knowledgeable in what we teach to students

Activity 9 reflections

After analyzing the STaR chart I thought that it was a rather useful tool to show where my school was in terms of being ICT ready. I learnt from it because it also showed me where need to realistically reach using the available ICT tools which my school has. I will be visiting this tool from time to time to track my school's position  and progress as we embark on making ICT an integral part of daily school life.

Activity 5 reflections

In the activity 5 which dealt with the integrated approach, its challenges and whose responsibility it is to oversee it, I have learnt a lot. The integrated approach, as far as I understand, basically stresses on the reason for using the computer and not how to use the computer to accomplish tasks. I did the latter when I was a student in secondary school and now that I am a teacher I see the importance to teach students the skills that would prepare them for the real world. The challenges that I may face when using this approach may include working with limited resources and the necessary upkeep of students' net books since many of them are in need of crucial parts e.g. chargers, batteries or even keyboards. I do not consider myself entirely computer savvy but  little by little I will attempt to integrate ICT into my lessons.

Assignment 2 reflections

This assignment required a lot of critical analysis and evaluation. The lesson plan that I chose to evaluate from the many was appealing to me as it showed students using ICT to aid in solving a problem at their school. This lesson provided the students with skills that they would be able to use in later on in their lives. I was actually proud to see my strong points being acknowledged by the assessor with ticks and my mark had improved from the previous assignment. However I still do have a lot to improve on. For the next assignments to come I plan on reading ahead and sending them for the assessor to critique.

Assignment 1 reflections

I have learnt a lot from doing this assignment. I think this assignment attempted to test my ability to use skills in computer literacy to apply to a real life situation such as processing the data from the survey that I collected using graphic representation. This was a skill that I had learnt a long time ago but never really used it often  in a meaningful situation such as this. This assignment shows that teachers have to remember to allow students to partake in meaningful transfer of learning with subjects that we teach and link it with the real world setting. However my survey had some flaws which I will do my best to improve the next time around.

Acivity 4 reflections

It was interesting and insightful to read about Vygotsky's theory and Dr. Mitra's findings. They both have similar ideas in the sense that children learn by donig tasks spontaneously. However, it is my opinion that although students can learn on their own, they still need a guide (teacher) to build on their prerequisite knowledge and to steer them in the right direction to be competent in a changing technological world. I have learnt to talk less and allow students to be in charge of their own learning because I believe in this way tasks will be more meaningful to them.

Activity 2 Reflections

After reading the article by Silvia Ferrero, I found myself nodding in agreement with her. It is true that the younger generation find it a bore to use ICT and the various other modern technology because they are termed as 'Digital natives' (they were born into it) while the not-so-ICT-savvy ones are termed as 'digital migrants'. I consider myself partly a digital migrant because I still have more to learn where ICT is involved. I know sufficient to get along comfortably.  I think that older teachers who are digital migrants can do just as well as the younger generation of teachers.

Relieved

I was glad that we had a meeting today to clear up any misconceptions and problems that we might have had.  Today  was a learning exprience. I think that we all need to know that we are all on the right track.

Hello

My name is Gillian Bradshaw. I am a 5th grade teacher at the Dorsetshire Hill Government School. I am hoping to have a fruitful and successful course with all participants.

New blogger

This is my first ever blog. hooray!