Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Week 14

Week 14 - Final Week




This is the last week for this course. We hand-in and presented the final assignment.


My group presented the points below:

a) LEARNING PROBLEM

b) THE ADDIE MODEL ANALYSIS(FLOW CHART)
c) WHY USE BLOG IN TEACHING?
d)
STORYBOARD 1

e)
STORYBOARD 2

f)
REFERENCES

Why we choose Blog?

  • Practicality: blogs can be developed easily by opening a blog account and start blogging with students. It can be updated and accessed easily by everyone.
  • Students would be able to improve their writing skills and techniques of giving and receiving comments positively.
  • Parents can also monitor on their children progress
  • Can be an online class forum that enable students to discuss between themselves and the teacher.
  • Blog encourages students to write and also to read on a topic they wish to comment on.
  • Encourages continual search, filter and posting of ideas and information - higher order thinking skills.
  • Using blog as one the educational sources, education can be done anywhere and at anytime.
  • Makes education to become less formal. It is because it allows elements of fun to come together along the learning process.

Our blog: 6 Adil Science Class Blog

Video and podcast by Chrispin


Our blog emphasized on the ways to prevent animals from extinction. The green layout is prominent and significant as it shows the theme of nature.

All in all, after presenting our instructional material, I felt the benefit and effectiveness of using the ADDIE model in constructing this instructional material. It is much efficient if compared to the planning of assignment 3. This model really helped us to keep on the right track and produce materials that will benefit children's learning.


Week 13

Week 13 - Final Project Part 2

The discussion for our final project continued. I got everything planned and divide the job to each group members.


Here are the progress:

How the topic emerged?

We have analysis it based on the Addie Model and we have come up with the flow chart.(* The flow chart is done by me based on my group's discussion and Prof.Dr.Rohaida's help)

Generally, it started from the big topic, which is Animal Extinction.

Then, it had been narrowed down to the ways to prevent the extinction.



STORYBOARD 1


A special thanks to Prof Dr Rohaida for the advice and guidance given to us.

Week 12

Week 12 - Final Project

This week’s class is the discussion time for the final assignment (assignment 4).

Factors to consider for technology integration in Science education:

a) Suitability of the topics

-abstract

-comprehensiveness

-contextual

-virtual lab/experiment for dangerous experiment/too costly for young learners

b) Accessibility

c) Time

My group decided to use BLOG again as a platform for the students to acquire the knowledge skills.

We discuss about the development of our blog based on the ADDIE model. For instance, we have discussed about the layout, content and also the storyboard. Other than that, our goals and aims in the project is to come up with a blog which is suitable for pupils to access yet at the same time, providing pupils a meaningful learning experiences through the enriching activities. So, all of us plan to integrate application of video and podcast and chat room in our blog in order to use blog in a maximum way and effectively in order to create meaningful learning experiences.

This is the product from our discussion:


Week 11

WEEK 11 - ADDIE Model



This week's class is about ADDIE Model.

The Five-phase instructional design model

-Analysis,
-Design,
-Development,
-Implementation,
-Evaluation

This model is vital for teachers in planning their instructional materials. Analysis should be first done

analyse whether a particular topic should be taught indepthly. This is then followed by the design of the

material (floor plan etc) and then move on to its development, implementation and evaluation.


Week 9

Week 9 - Assignment Presentation

This week is presentation week. After submitting the assignment, we need to present our project which is about the Web 2.0. My team chose BLOG as a platform that can be use in teaching the Science subject.

This is the link for our blog which ishttp://6adilscienceclass.blogspot.com/

The topic for the blog was ‘Animals Extinction’

Here are some pictures of our group presenting our Blog:


The objectives of the blog:

1)Students would be able to learn in a collaborative way through interaction and sharing of knowledge between themselves and with teacher.

2) Blog is going to be used as a platform of discussion as sharing between the students themselves and between students and teachers.

3) To implement blog as a vital part of the class teaching.
There are several pages in the blogs and each of them has their own purpose.


1) Lessons

In this part, there are lot of notes for all the lessons taught regarding the topic. Besides that, it is also arranged effectively in a weekly basis to ease students finding of notes.

2) Chatbox

This is a space where students can interact with teacher and among themselves on topic regarding to the lessons learnt in class. They can share websites or web-tools URL that serves as an additional knowledge to what they are learning.

3) Video (podcast)

Here teacher will attach a video of extra information that students might need in order to understand the topic better. As a result, the students can also give feedback by commenting.


4) More Readings and Materials

In this section, teacher will attach or embed the URL of all the materials that students might need to improve their learning such as the notes on responsibility of human beings on nature, video on protecting endangered species, facts and statistics of endangered species and tips for the upcoming quizzes or test.


5) Need Help?

This is the part whereby there will be some tips or hint given to the students about the examination questions.



Based on the presentation, we found that there are many advantages of using blog:

In this high technological era, it is applicable and practical to use the blog in the education field. Other than that, it makes learning independent of time and place, from teaching at a certain time and a certain place to teaching at anytime and anywhere. For example, if the teacher cannot make it for a class, he or she can upload the notes and tasks for the students and the student can still learn without teacher teaching in front of the class. Moreover, it makes the education to become demand oriented and participant-centered. It changes the usual way of learning which is from one way teaching and supply orientation where teacher is the one who control the learning process to participation by everyone. Another point is that, using a blog can motivate the students to learn intrinsically and eventually they will be having fun and at the same time, they also will be learning. For example, the teacher can upload videos and songs to make the educational blog to be more interesting and attractive to the students.

However, there is some weakness that we need to improve based on our blog. For example, in extra reading materials, we really need to be very careful and alert when selecting the articles so that it suits the language proficiency of the students. For example, we cannot put some articles that have bombastic words which eventually will cause the students to misunderstanding and lead them to confusion.



Week 8

Week 8 - Software Evaluation Rubric

We are introduced to Software Evaluation Rubric, Researched and Developed by Kristin Miller and Jacqueline Bach, SAS in School Interns, Summer, 2001. This rubric covers several aspect which refers to the software or websites. These softwares and websites are evaluated based on the several aspects such as the instructional contents, curriculum connections, graphics and multimedia, lay-outs, technical aspects, adaptability and accessibility, learner engagement and interactivity, teache and learner support material, assessment, age/grade level, and lastly flexibility.

Moreover, teachers need to be very alert and careful when choosing a source from internet so that it has a high validity and useful to us and the students. We need to make sure that the source we took from internet fulfills certain criteria or aspects such as the reliability, accuracy and the value itself. In addition, we need to bear in mind that the information exists in net can be facts, opinions, stories, interpretations, statistics and it can also be fake too. Therefore, we really need to investigate by surfing all the nets and choose the best one which suits our needs and the criteria such as the accuracy, reliability, and much more.

I found other website evaluation rubrics:

http://www.vitalknowledge.com/reviews/AcadiaUniversityFall2002/software%20evaluation%20for%20educators_files/software%20evaluation%20for%20educators%20revised.htm

http://www.ncsu.edu/midlink/www.eval.html

All in all, teachers should select source that have high validity and is in line with the curriculum to make sure that children are moving and learning on the right track.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Week 7

Week 7 - World Wide Web

This week we learnt about World Wide Web such as Web 1.0 and Web 2.0.


Web1.0

Berners-Lee consider it as "read-only web." This means that this early web only allow us to search for information and read it. There was no user interaction or content contribution. Actually, most website owners wanted that, which is to establish an online presence and make their information available to everyone.


Web2.0

Web 2.0 allows users to ‘interact or collaborate’ with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of content that was created for them. Web 2.0 gives the users opportunities to give feedback on the web.
The
examples of Web 2.0 include social-networking sites, blogs, wikis, video-sharing sites, hosted services and web applications.


Blog (Blogger etc)

A type of website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order, which means the latest post will show up first. Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs.


Wiki

A website that allows the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used to create collaborative wiki websites, to power community websites, for personal note taking, in corporate intranets, and in knowledge management systems. Wikis may exist to serve a specific purpose, and in such cases, users use their editorial rights to remove material that is considered "off topic." Such is the case of the collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia. In contrast, open purpose wikis accept content without firm rules as to how the content should be organized.


Social Networking (Facebook, Twitter etc)

It is a social structure made up of individuals or organizations called "nodes," which are connected by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.


Media Sharing

This occurs through digital communities with a comprehensive platform, social networking and diversified interfaces to aggregate, upload, compress, host and distribute images, text, applications, videos, audio, games and new media. It is the interactive process of sending via email, instant message, text message, posting or linking to media on a website or blog and other methods of sharing media to a targeted audience. As media is shared it takes on a variety of different contexts and meanings.


In my opinion, Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 are crucial for the both parties whom are the teachers and the students. The teachers can use Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 to get extra information regarding their teaching strategies, approaches, information about the subjects meanwhile the students can use it as a platform to widen their knowledge and eventually they can enhance their learning process.

As future educators, I know realized that I should use technological knowledge such as Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 as much as possible because children are born in this high-technological era and teachers should use that to connect with them.


Week 6

Week 6 - Micro Computer Based Laboratory(MBL)


Week 6's class was held at Micro -Computer Based Laboratory (MBL). (MBL) is one of the strategies in the Designing Application Tools. My group members and I chose to do an activity on the topic Electricity. We use a device called Voltage Current Sensor to conduct the experiment.


We first discussed about the steps as it is good to plan before engaging in the experiments. There are a few steps that we followed while conducting the experiment:


1. The sensor is being plugged in to the computer.

2. EZscreen or DataStudio is selected from the window or programme files.


3. The voltage leads is being connected to one battery. The red lead is connected to the positive of the battery while the black lead to the negative.

4. Choose “Table” from the list of items in Datastudio.

5. Click “Start”
6. The voltage and ampere of the battery is displayed on the screen.
7. The data is being recorded on a piece of paper.
8. Step 3 to 7 is being repeated with 2 and then 3 batteries.


The Suitability of MBL in Primary Science classroom’

I think it is suitable to be used only for Level 2 Primary schoold students and more appropriate to be used in secondary schools.

Firstly, it is user-friendly and safe to use especially when an experiment requires dangerous substance like acids and bases. The data collected is very fast and accurate. In addition, the data can also be converted into graph and table by clicking. As a result, I believed that this is very convenient for students to see the whole picture and concept of an experiment fast.

However, the teacher needs to be well-trained so that each function of DataStudio can be used to the fullest. Besides that, this strategy also cannot be used for all experiments. Moreover, basic process skills cannot be integrated or acquired as students will not get the chance to learn how to use certain basic apparatus like thermometer and ammeter. As a result, they will be failed to acquire science process skills.

There are a few advantages and disadvantages that we have discovered:


ADVANTAGES

User friendly
Uses computer solely.
Manipulative skills can be acquired.
Data achieve is very precise.
Saves time in collecting and tabulating the data.


DISADVANTAGES

If there is no electricity it cannot be used anymore

Students cannot acquire science process skills. This is because all the data are ready and students do not need to measure.

It can only engage with some lab apparatus such as battery, bulb and beakers.

The cost is also very high. Not all the students can have their own unit of Voltage Current Sensor and use it simultaneously.

All in all, this was a totally new experience for us to use this MBL and we really wish to use in school once a week and not all the time so that it will be a exposure and bring a new experience for the students to learn and they still can acquire science process skills too.

Week 5

Week 5 - Strategies in Designing Application Tools

Week 5 lecture is about Strategies in Designing Application Tools. These are the 7 strategies to teach Science:

1) MBL- Micro Computer based laboratory
2)Drill and practice
3) Tutorials
4) Stimulation
5) Problem-solving
6) Information retreival
7) Education games


Out of all these I personally find simulation interesting.


SIMULATION

Simulation is vital in enhancing students’ learning in science subject. This is because simulation is useful for displaying things that students cannot see with their bare eyes and touch it using their hands. For example, simulation could help students to understand about cells in human bodies. Students gain better understanding about cells in human body as they can now see how it is really like in 3D and animation form.

In conclusion, teachers can apply all the strategies given in their Science lessons. Students can surely learn better and it will produce a meaningful learning environment if we use all these strategies. T

here are indeed many strategies that can be used to teach Science to suit all the learners regardless of their learning styles such as visual, kinesthetic,tactile and much more.

Week 4

Week 4 - Learning Theories

This week's topic is ' Learning Theories'. There are 2 learning theories: Behaviourism, and Cognitism/Construtivism.

All these learning theories are vital and crucial in guiding the teacher to educate students well.

Behaviourism

Behaviorist focuses on the changes of behavior and the focuses on the product. According to behaviorist, they believe that stimulus should be given to the students because stimulus will produce reaction. The repeated reaction will then create long-term behavior.

Constructivist/ Cognitism

On the other hand, constructivist believes that learning is a process whereby it connects the prior knowledge to the new experience gained from the environment. Besides that,learning is also viewed as an active process whereby the learners are actively constructing mental models and theories of the world around them. The knowledge is constructed through logical organization, interaction among learners or teachers and from the integration of prior and new knowledge. Basically, also can be considered as Piaget's theory of cognitive development proposes that humans cannot be "given" information which they immediately understand and use. Instead, humans must "construct" their own knowledge. They build their knowledge through experience. Experiences enable them to create schemas - mental models in their heads. These schemas are changed, enlarged, and made more sophisticated through two complimentary processes: assimilation and accommodation.

Personally,I believe that all these learning theories are vital and crucial in guiding the teacher to educate students effectively. Each theory has their own significant function which can be used by the teacher in order to teach his or her students effectively. These theories will certainly help us to make the right approach in handling our young learners to learn science better. For example, the constructivist approach focus on hands on activity and independent learning. Therefore, a teacher should let the students to think and figure out the answer or the concepts on their own. As a result, it can develop the students critical and creative thinking. However, we would find some cons in using this approach whereby the students may not have the existing schemata that she or he can relate to with the new schemata (concept) that bring into their brain. Therefore,as a future teacher I believe that we should have the knowledge of this learning theories before we can really use it in the teaching and learning process.

Besides, I also found out that constructivist theory are not about making the correct decisions but it is more to the thinking process that can enhance students learning. For example, we need to choose a food that iis suitable to be brought to space based on our own interpretations and nothing to do with the knowledge about the gravity in space. So, it shows that critical thinking is crucial in the Constructivist Theory. Hence, I can also use such strategy in future too in order to impart some knowledge that will help the students to think appropriately before they can construct science concepts or knowledge regarding the subject matter.