ENHANCED SCHOOL EXPERIENCE:
PREPARATORY TASK FOR ICT FOR MEANINGFUL LEARNING
| Enhanced School Experience: Classroom Observations of ICT Use |
| (I) Specific Observations |
| School Name: East Spring Secondary School |
| Class: Sec 3E4 |
| Profile of the class: (For e.g., the students’ academic abilities, stream and other characteristics) The students of 3E4 generally engage with the teachers and are able to understand what is being taught without much difficulty. A bunch of very lively students, they bear the characteristic of the usual teenager who is mostly eager to learn but there are occasions when their attention span can be quite short. |
| Subject: |
| What ICT tools are used in the lesson? Online Game ( www.3rdworldfarmer.com) Powerpoint slides Youtube videos |
| Describe how ICT is used for teaching and learning in the lesson. The lesson was opened with the watching of 2 short video clips on YouTube, mainly one presenting the food condition in USA and contradicting it with another video showing the condition in the African nations. These provided the students with the platform to see the contrasting condition before moving on to lesson proper with the aid with the PowerPoint slides. Such slides enable the teacher to better connect the topic together by re-adjusting the points and summarizing certain topics together to ensure that students are able to better understand not only what is taught during that particular lesson but also the topic as a whole and linking it simultaneously to the previous topics that had already been covered. Once the understanding is seen in the students through the asking of questions, they embark on their very own journey of trying to be a third world farmer through the game. Worksheets were prepared to ensure that learning takes place while playing as students have to take note of all the factors that affects the livelihood of the farmer and categories them into environmental of man-made factors. |
(II) General Observation:
How do teachers in the school feel about the use of ICT for teaching and learning? (For this question, you may want to speak to the HOD/ICT and other teachers you know in the school.)
| Within the Geography department, the teachers are generally very receptive towards the usage of ICT for teaching simply because not only is it fun and engaging for the students but it also provides the platform for students to explore the world and the situation and not be limited to the confines of the classroom and the textbook. Mdm Noreen, a senior teacher when asked the reason behind wanting the students to play the online game mentioned that students these days are much more familiar with these online games and the plethora of its availability online should be made use to benefit them. During the lesson, students are able to not only play and enjoy themselves but also became aware of the pressing problem that existed in real life through the representation of the game. This, aided with the worksheets ensures a more holistic learning takes place. Similarly, the other teachers within the school and department felt the same way as the usage of ICT helps to better engage the students and at the same time making the lesson more interesting and thus better learning takes place. |
4 comments:
Hey Rafiqqa,
I do feel that the success of ICT being implemented in this class could be due to its dynamics. An upper sec express class could be more receptive to such tools perhaps? I'm not too sure, but at least in my school, the NA/NT classes were not as interested despite the teachings bringing in more creative ways of teaching. To them, they did not feel the need to learn about "soft" subjects such as Lit and Geog.
This said, I do agree that despite what I experienced, ICT provides for a more holistic form of learning as it can capture the visual, aesthetic aspects of learning that can reach out to the different type of learners out there!
Hi Rafiqqa,
I agree that Geography seems to be one of those CS that adapt particularly well to ICT usage! I tried playing the game you linked and found it fun and engaging. Such resources should be more widely shared amongst schools so that more can benefit from it. I'm also wondering about the possibility of schools developing their own resources along the lines of the game, potentially with students' input as well since they would be in the best position to articulate what captures their attention in the learning process =)
Oh wow I actually clicked on the link and tried to be a 3rd world farmer and it was really interesting! Haha yes, I agree with Pamela that such resources should be shared among teachers and students because it really makes a difference in learning and is quite an exemplification of learning by doing since students have to put themselves in the shoes of the farmer. Hopefully there will be more of such games developed in the years to come!
Hello!
Using games as a part of teaching module is really helpful. Lynde herself highlighted that using games enables the students to have a better perspective as then they try to think and acton behalf of the character they play in the game. So to let them know about a fact in Geog, these games can be really helpful. I wonder if any such games can me modelled while teching Drama, the toughest part of Lit i suppose!
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