For week 4, I remember the group demo on Skype rather vividly. It was a wonderful and brave attempt by the group to conduct by far the most challenging presentation. 4 members using 4 different computers within the MxL Room to mimick the actual execution of Skype as an ICT tool for teaching purposes. Through their presentation, although Skype is user-friendly for internet and video calls, it might still have its limitations in terms of being used for teaching/learning purposes.
The group proposed the use of Skype as a means for instant feedback between teachers and students during e-learning week(which Mr Tan really did implement during our e-learning week) and as a tool for multi-party communication across nations/organisations/schools for collaborative projects. While these can be somewhat effective for student-centred learning via reflection and cross-border peer-to-peer/ professor-to-enthusiastic-students(like in the COTF experience) learning and sharing, it was rightly pointed out by some of us that MSN messenger is a more widely used tool that can be equally effective. Only advantage of SKype over MSN so far is that it supports up to nine individuals in a video conference call.
But in the near future, with constant improvements and additions to the add-ons that Skype supports, it may not be long before Skype becomes more widely used. The group showed us one of the many additional features and programs supported by Skype, a virtual whiteboard. I've done a little search on Skype and found that many individuals are developing conferencing tools and collaborative tools as Skype compatible free-wares that enhances the whole Skype experience. The potential of Skype as an online teaching tool cannot be underestimated and as student teachers, it does help if we equip ourselves with this cousin of MSN which is fast overtaking it in terms of functionalities. One thing to note is students must be well-equipped with good webcams, mics, and fast-speed internet connections.
Of course, that's only the appetizer for lesson 4. The crux of this lesson is to get us to complete our write-ups on SCLA and to critique another group's writeup. We critiqued on Game-based learning, which is a rather interesting approach to learning. Through games, either via computer or on interactive whiteboards, or even hands-on ones, students are motivated to learn because of the fun and uncertain outcome of the game. However, it's not easy to find suitable games for every lesson objective and thus should only be used when it does enhance the overall learning and not for the sake of having fun and variety alone. Quite impressed that the game-based group propose the long-time chinese RPG gamers' favorite (Romance of three Kingdoms) which may allow students to learn about a certain era in China History but may not truly reflect the historical facts in the right perspective. It can be used to stir up interest though in one of the most talked about period in the history of China.
This lesson also introduced to the framework or structure for lesson planning to be effective, zooming in on writing good lesson objectives based on ABCD (Audience, Behaviour, Condition, Degree) Framework (this happens to be the only module so far that uses this framework, was not mentioned for Chemistry and Math modules). Dr Tan suggested that a framework should be adhered to for new teachers, especially when we have no prior experience to fall back on in terms of lesson planning.
Over the weeks, I've learnt lesson-planning is really tedious, but it keeps the teacher accountable to both the HOD and the students. You plan to fail if you fail to plan... Even teachers, as the "master" of the classroom, need to realise that learning does not take place just because we are know the subject well. One of my tutors say, teaching is like 5 days a week of putting up a show in front of students, in a bid to capture their attention and communicate something to them. It's hard work!!! There's a Chinese saying, "台上十分钟，台下三年功." That's to say 10 min on stage is the fruit of 3 years of hard labour! Lesson plans are like battle plans, knowing your students, knowing yourselves, half the battle's won!
Prepare...prepare...prepare.... NIE prepares us with super hectic project deadlines seemingly for the same reason. Projects Galore!!! Hats off to seniors!!
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