Not the End... but the Beginning...

Well, its almost the end of the course, albeit we still have a major assignment to complete. But I don't see it as the end, but the beginning of many more days of experimentation and learning to use more ICT in the language classroom. It had been a very enlightening journey for me, taking this module. It has been a paradigm shift for me, from assuming that using ICT merely refers to the use of IT to enhance my lessons presentations; I now know that ICT represents the nature of instructional relationships that is mediated by digital technology. Language acquisition has moved from being drill and practices to that of authentic discourse in the real world.

There is so much more to be done now that I am aware of the resources that are out there and from the knowledge I had garnered from the course. First and foremost, the Administrator and Management of my private preschool have to be shown and convinced of the advantages and feasibility of using ICT in the classroom setting. Budgets need to be reviewed to include more hardware, as well as teachers' training. One of our selling points of being a better preschool than the rest, would be little graduates who are confident in the use of ICT as they do their learning. Imagine our framework for development is to support learning in early childhood through information and communications technologies! I don't think many preschools in Singapore can use that as a selling point!

I can go and have a discussion with the IT head at Headquarters, but I think I should encourage him instead to get enrolled in this course to get the full meaning and understand the extent of what it means to use ICT in the classroom!

Its the beginning of many more exciting learning journies with the students, as we navigate out from the 4 walls of our classroom to access a vast array of information through communication technology.

Week 7: Would I use Data Driven Learning? (20 February 2008)

I found this week’s lecture extremely interesting and an eye-opener in many aspects. When I was trying to make sense of the assigned reading, Corpus Linguistics and Second Language Instruction, I looked up the word “corpus” in the Oxford dictionary. It was defined as – body, collection especially of writings on a specified subject or of materials for study; e.g. linguistics – a collection of examples of spoken and written language. I thought that was a fairly apt definition. Imagine my surprise, when during the course of the lecture, I realised how the dictionary was compiled and that it had gone unchallenged up until 1987! This did level some of the absolute trust I used to have in dictionaries. The irony is that this is the first time I had actually used a dictionary with regards to the readings.

To the question: would I use data driven learning and adapt it for my context? the answer is “yes!”

I found the Key Word in Context (KWIC) exercise in constructing a low tech concordance with the word “economic” very viable. Here the learners are used as resources as we generate examples that contain the key word. Thus data are from the learners. From the examples collected and the way they were presented, aspects of the word and its collocation became apparent. In this case, words used in connection with “economic” were inflation, forecast, impact, recession, etc. For starters, I would use a simpler word for my students.

The mid-tech activity of a Multiple Context Cloze (MCC) was quite engaging, and this is what we want to do – engage students in their learning. To find the key word as the cloze sentences unfold requires hypothesising and activating prior knowledge. It encouraged rethinking of hypothesis and revisiting context, development of inference skills, and will lead to deeper understanding of the word and its usage in different contexts. There will also be self-correction if and when grammatical errors occur.

The Death of Cyberspace (28 January 2008)

After the last entry on the 3 interfaces and augmented realities, it was quite a reverse this week to talk about the death of cyberspace. ‘Cyberspace’ means a type of fantasyland where an individual can take on cyber-identities and engage in virtual reality.

Warschauer (2001), suggests that the concept of cyberspace is slowly dying out, because the significance of online communication lies not in its separation from the real world, but rather in how it is impacting nearly every aspect of the real world. Therefore, information technology is transforming our societies, our lives and eventually our minds, rather than creating alternative worlds.

So, if we believe that there is no separation of cyberspace, and realised instead the important impact of online communication on real life; then the logical course of action would be to teach (read, write and communicate) our students to use this important medium of the 21^st century.

Educating the Net Generation (16 January 2008)

It’s been a while, quite a hiatus, since the last entry; but I have not been idle. In fact, it has been one assignment after another and as a breather – I am blogging! What a change.

Educating the Net Generation was central to our lecture that day. Who are in the Net Generation? Apparently anyone younger than 21 in 1999 is part of this generation. Well, that counts me out! Years ago, having a desktop computer in the home was such a novelty and it was with great apprehension that it was finally turned on. Then with great trepidation it was put to use. Nowadays, I wonder how I ever worked or lived without my laptop. So, although I am not part of this Net Generation, I have come to appreciate what this marvelous thing called a computer, coupled with the internet, and other technological devices can do. So, imagine the impact this technology and media have on children who virtually (pun intended) grew up with them.

Dede (2005), in his article, Planning for Neomillennial Learning Styles: Implications for Investments in Technology and Faculty, pointed out how technology and media used by children during their formative years do have an influence on how they learn. He talked about 3 complementary interfaces that will shape how people learn over the next decade, which I thought were spot-on. I am witnessing these phenomena now…

First, he called the familiar “world to desktop” – such as through the internet to access distant experts and archives, like the way we would access on-line e-database and e-journals. It also enables virtual communities of practice. I likened this to our e-learning exercises or collaborative group work on assignments which distance and time do not permit us to meet physically to discuss, so we work on-line.

Secondly, is the “Alice in Wonderland” multiuser virtual environments (MUVEs), which is linked to all the advances in internet gaming, providing the participants with interactions in a computerised digital virtual context. Taken to the extreme, this MUVEs existence has created problems to parents whose children have become addicted.

And thirdly, is ubiquitous computing. In the real world, we see the infusion of mobile wireless devices with virtual resources everywhere.

According to Dede, the Net Generation learning styles stem primarily from the world-to-desktop interface; with a growing prevalence of interfaces to virtual environments and augmented realities.

Being aware of these interfaces now, how should I (who am not part of this Net Generation) react to those whom I teach (who ARE the Net Generation)? It would be foolish to react like the proverbial ostrich by burying my head in the sand and hope this will all go away, because it is not going to happen. I reckoned the best course of action is to try to embrace these realities, get to know the users better and try to understand bit by bit from their perspectives. It would go a long way if we show some appreciation too for some of their accomplishments, rather than oppose them and arrive at a stale-mate or a no-win situation.

MAE812 Lecture 2

On Wednesday, 16^th January, we met the second time for MAE812. The night’s emphasis was on Contexts, issues and problems: student’s language, communication and literacy needs in the Digital Age.

The Bemidji State University video raised some issues and some opportunities pertaining to the use of technology on teaching and learning. Issues raised include Motivation, Achievement, Assessment, Students’ Involvement, and Teachers’ Involvement; and opportunities such as Communication, Authentic Assessment, Creativity, and Team Work, to name a few.

Technology is evolving very quickly, not only in the area of hardware and equipment; but it also has the potential to change the thoughts of the users, like the faculty members, teachers and students. The hands-on and real-life opportunities for the use of technology make learning for the students more understandable, and as they become knowledge seekers, a life-long skill. It brings to mind an old Chinese saying, “I hear, I forget. I see, I remember. I do, I understand”. The wisdom of this is apt. In our situation, is this not why we are learning to blog by actually blogging?

Amongst the opportunities mentioned was the Communication between the teachers and students, via the networking of computers, thus not only building rapport but also creating a borderless classroom. Also mentioned was Authentic Assessment; an electronic portfolio which involved filming the process and product of the students’ learning. The I-Movie production showcased the students’ enjoyment and creativity as they worked in teams, and that is precisely what we want to see in our students – motivated learner. As I watched the students filming around the school and the neighbourhood, one question popped up - the matter of privacy of the “live” subjects, as the product may and can be made available for public viewing.

In our Group discussion, we were asked to consider the question: What do language students need to know and do with digital technology, especially in the area of the use of technology?

Firstly we asked ourselves whether as teachers we are to teach the hardware and software, or to impart skills of their uses to the students. We concluded that students will be computer savvy, so our task would be more to impart to them the availability of a variety of software and their specific purposes, and to teach the skills necessary to use them appropriately. Some of the points raised in the use of technology were:

1. Cyber safety: The emphasise to students the necessity of this and what the pitfalls are.

2. Academic purposes: Technology is not just for social or entertainment purposes only. Therefore, they need to be critical users of information; learning how to distinguish authentic and reliable materials (e.g. published journals, research paper publications, etc.), to use search engines, to do citations, etc.

3. Empowerment to life-long learning at finger tips: Students can learn to harness the power of technology instead of being harnessed by it.

4. Cooperative learning: Computers enable us to learn outside of the classroom by using the “virtual” classroom.

5. Responsibility: The users of the Web have to use it in an informed way and to see that it grows in healthy and productive ways.

This concludes some of my thoughts with regards to Lecture 2.

Trip to USA, Indiana 2008

Carriage
















House















View from the window














Model of a House Cake















Lonely Tree

First -timer

I am new at blogging and if you are seeing this message, do drop me a line. Eleanor