Feedback on ICT Implementation 2011

The NLB training on 11 Feb 2011

So last Friday, I went for a course on using the Internet for resources gathering.

The topics discussed were mainly:

1) Refining your Internet searches

2) Evaluating websites

3) Making use of online databases

It was pretty interesting and the course got us thinking of a few ideas.

• subscribing to the NUS library yearly so that we have access to the hundreds of online journals that they have.
• coming up with a database or compilation of websites/applets/useful materials for specific topics (e.g. going to the website www.fdasda.com/blahblah/animation.html will give you a good resource on say, a factorisation of expressions)

However the course was very expensive, especially for the scant content. I was expecting something more specific to the topics we teach. But in any case, it did got me thinking of suggestion 2 above :) So... let's not go for this anymore next time.

The internet holds a CRAZY amount of resources (like a gajillion times more than my brain can hold) and even though we've been saying it over and over ("let's use the resources on the internet guys!"), we haven't really gotten down to the specifics and come up with a list of websites with specific resources each subject can use.

I remembered a particularly useful sharing session regarding the k e e p v i d website. It was useful because it was specific. There was no beating around the bush. Keepvid.com is for saving youtube videos. simple as that.

Let's keep it simple. or should I say... Let's keep iCt simple. he he. ok not funny.

Math LMS training on 1st Feb 2011

Honestly, I felt that the training itself was of not much value. My idea of an ideal ICT training would involve learning things that the participants CANNOT learn by themselves, or would have found hard to discover by themselves. The ANL portal is very navigable. Hope that future ICT training session would be more worthwhile :)

Having said that, the portal itself is efficient and neat. It has a wide variety of pre-programmed activities that teachers can use. I find the podcast facility particularly interesting and think that I would want to pursue delivering online lessons, just like Salman Khan from khan academy. It could be for things as simple as a detailed explanation "lesson" on how to solve just one particular question that poses to be a problem for students. Having such podcasts removes the need for repeated explanations in the classroom, and could effectively sieve out students who are unable to understand material without a teacher's presence. I believe there is strong potential in this.

With regard to the ANL forum, I think it is a useful option but the problem lies in ensuring that students do not go off topic. So far, I have used facebook instead to garner feedback, just like how the Math dept is using it.

Hopefully, I'll be uploading more materials to the portal soon and will keep you guys updated on the students' response.

Long Live ICT! :)

3 Things I Learnt During LMS Training
1) The platform provides a very flexible mode of instruction for me to cater to the various types of learners in my class, i.e. VAK.
2) The podcast presence has stirred my brain juice into injecting math concepts into my students in various zany and wacky methods. :)
3) Having already used the LMS for lesson before training, the session forced me to explore the platform in more disciplined and systematic manner compared to the 'trial and error'...oops wrong name...'guess and check' manner in which i learnt about the platform. Training was pretty useful, putting across the various modes we can utilize to facilitate the students' learning. I had already used the forum with the students to a good effect. Personally, though the system offers flexibility and facility to upload our questions or quizzes for our students, the presence of a question banks or pre-made quizzes would prove to be even more heaven-sent for me. Nonetheless, it is definitely an offering I'm going to explore further with my students and eventually push the boundaries of their learning to the next lap. Cheerio

SPH eNEWSTALK Product Launch Event on 20 Jan 2011

Venue: SPH Auditorium

eNEWSTALK is a new Chinese e-learning platform that combines the rich resources of Lianhe Zaobao, with advanced technologies such as text-to-speech, text analysis and social networking.

Five things that it offers:

1. Audio, Pinyin and Word Definitions can be generated real-time.

2. Oral Chinese evaluation system.

3. Difficulty level of uploaded articles can be evaluated.

4. Quiz function

5. Social networking technologies incorporated for fun learning.

Its website is:
http://enewstalk.gistxl.com/

English Dept LMS Training on 31 Jan 2011

The English department had our LMS training on the 31st Jan 2011 in the Library

3 things that we have learnt
1) Creating lessons on the LMS which would allow students to learn at home or even refer to it again when the lesson has been gone through in class. The lessons could also be shared with fellow colleagues which would make sharing of resources easier. This is especially useful in emergency situation such as the H1N1 case a few years ago where students have to stay at home to prevent the infectious disease from spreading.

2) Podcasting
We were shown this video which tells us more about podcasting and how come it became so popular.


3) The use of forum on how we can create a forum for the students to voice their opinions. To target a certain group of students, we could set the permission to only that group of students. The only flaw about it is, the forum does not track the number of posts that each participant has entered so it will be manual tracking on our part.

2 things that we would like to try
1) Use of Forum
- where it is being used for idea generation and promotes thinking.

2) Podcasting
- to develop oratorical skills of students.

Reflection about the training
The trainer spent a lot of time on the basic uses of LMS which was useful for most teachers. It would be even more useful if there was more time spent on podcasting especially on 'Oral companion' since that would be one of our focus.

The use of the LMS portal is user friendly and easy to understand. It is engaging and students can learn at anywhere, anytime as long as they have a computer and a network. The only concern our department has is how do we incorporate the use of LMS into the lessons without losing curriculum time especially if students are not equipped with certain skills that are the pre-requisite of our focus? Perhaps the probable solution would be to incorporate the skills necessary into the ICT lessons of the students.

To move the use of LMS portal to a whole school approach may take a few years but nonetheless, there is a need to do so as we need to keep up with the students' needs for the new century.

------------------------------------------------------

On behalf of EL dept

Carine Liauw

Science: Our LMS Workshop on 1st Feb 2011

All the members of the Science department have went for the LMS training workshop on 1st Feb 2011 at the School library.

3 things which we have learnt during the training:

1. We have learnt how to creat quizzes using ready-made templates and ready-made resources. And in each of the questions in the quizzes, we are able to add in feedbacks as to address the misconception or explain or give more hints for students of different learning abilities. This will help to facilitate an AfL environment in a more effective and efficient manner. This will also aid in addressing the differentiated learning classroom environment that each teacher is facing every day.
2. We could relate to both the parents and students through creating announcement in the portal. In this way, we can foster strong ties with the parents to help our students better.
3. We are able to engage our students via interesting videos, animations and quality forum disccussions.

2 things that we would like to try after the training:

1. Online quizzes and forum discussions to address students' misconceptions to the current topics taught
2. Creating of online lessons for weaker students to utilize

Reflection about training:

Though trainer was very fast, he has managed to equipped us with the basic understanding of the new ANL portal. THis is a rather new idea that can be introduced into each class of AISS as part of the ICT masterplan and AfL strategy. It will excite and keep our students engage our students.

We think that students, through the introduction of this portal, could be trained to take up more responsibility for their own learning. This is part of what the MOE wanted from our students.

However, how do we really go about implementing this portal during lessons and how do we motivate our students to use this portal (without frightening them using CAs grading) are some issues that we must look into and resolve. We believe that we might need to look into (as a team or as an entire school) how our ICT facilities can support us in this ANL portal teaching.

------------------------

Done By:
Gary Lee (on behalf of Science Department)