ICT for Meaningful Learning

Part A
What are some characteristics of digital natives? (What are they good at? What are they poor at?)

Digital natives are good at:

• Being creative
• Multitasking
• Improve thinking skills
• Fun

Digital natives are bad at:

• Technology-reliant
• Addictive

Which portrait did you select? (In your blog, create a link to the portrait.) In terms of their digital background, how similar was that student compared to a Singapore student?

I selected Olivia's portrait. I feel that Olivia's ase is quite similar to a number of singapore students. During my attachment last year, I came across a few students who had no access to the internet and computer at home. They either came from very poor or broken families. As Food and Nutrition requires constant use of the internet and computer, those students would come to school to do their work.

How might teachers in Singapore today engage and teach our digital natives?

Students nowadays are very it-savvy. I personally did not know what a blog was when I was in lower secondary. But my sister created her first blog when she was just 12! Black and white lectures and worksheets are the norm. Colours, videos, pictures and other interesting animations will interest current students.




Part B

As you look into the possible future of the educational landscape, what sort of impressions, fears, or possibilities crossed your mind?
Personally, I am really excited and can't wait to witness the changes in future. I especially liked the video "Singapore's iN 2015 vision ". However, I do not think what was showcased in the video will be available by then. I'm thinking maybe 2025 instead.

What might living, learning and working be like in the future?
Work may jolly well be home based. More meetings might even be held from home, involving people from all over the region and from different countries. There might also be more e learning sessions in future.

Part A

Definition of a Digital Native

Someone who is born when digital technologies are already in existence and live with the convenience of computers, internet, mobile phones and other technological devices.

Characteristics of Digital Natives

What are they good at?

1. Developing hypertext minds
2. Enhanced thinking skills
3. Interacting with others across the globe - teachers, parents, employers
4. Articulating well in the digital language of computers and other technologies
5. Dealing out visual and dynamic information through games
6. Discovery-based learning
7. Control over complicated technology skills
8. Taking risks
9. Being very creative

What are they bad at?

1. Including reflection and critical thinking in the learning process through gaming
2. Easily frustrated when things do not go their way
3. Too dependent on technology that they prefer being in an electornic environment with online friends

Comparison between both good and bad

1. They are good at multitasking and multiprocessing but bad in holding on to their concentration and cognitive overload.
2. They have longer attention span for games but shorter attention span for reading.
3. Thyey are good at practising something that is visually enhancing but bad at practising something that is boring.
4. They are good at being online for hours but bad in using that amount of time being online to do other things, e.g. practising piano.
5. They are good at sending lots of emails, smses, etc but interactions are a little shallow with little thinking and evaluation.
6. They are good at talking things out because they are not afraid to speak up but they are very self-centered and is careless of the feelings of others
7. They are good in creating multiple personalities by being someone they can never be in reality or someone that reflects their reality but bad in drawing the line between providing confidential information to strangers online

The portrait that I am going to review on is Sam, 13 years old. Through the clip, I realise that students nowadays learn through a very different yet interesting way compared to our precursors. One thing for sure is that students nowadays are not afraid to take risks and develop a method of learning which is through trial and error especially if it is through a game that contains different levels of accomplishment. And like what Sam quoted, “If something doesn’t work out, just go back and try something else.”



Sam is similar compared to a Singaporean student in the ways that she is also pretty much involved with school activities and outside school activities like the band but always have the time to surf online and do a lot of interactions with others. I am sure that students nowadays have a second life through digital media. The digital media allows them to explore many great things, engaging them to a discovery-learning based and also to speak up for themselves. Students do act much crazier in second life. Second life provides space for students to “fit in” with others. The popularity of expressing themselves through video blogging, like how Sam did, instead of writing them down on their blogs, is steadily increasing. (Slowly but surely) Students would also go into the expense of purchasing eBooks because it will help them learn something faster as the eBook will read to them what is written.

Teachers nowadays would have to keep up with digital native because these are the only things that would maximize learning for students. Rather than the traditional reading from the textbook or doing worksheets, make a video or a PowerPoint with interesting effects that could engage students out of the lesson. Any means of digital interaction would most likely be support effective learning. This distinctively different learning style would be a challenge but it would help mould our students’ learning at the end of the day.


Part B

In the future, most of the things that are likely to be automated. Robots would replace humans that would help to eliminate human errors. In line with the movie I-robot, Human errors are potential hazards to inefficiency or the decrease of productivity. Human errors can prove costly to any industries. Automated mechanisms or technology can help reduce errors and are more reliable. Technology is a convenient tool and it reduces time for work to be done. Technology provides a no barrier communication. Therefore, the possibility of being somewhere else through digital means can happen just by inserting a disk and you are there, exploring the place in the convenience of being in your own room without going through the trouble of going to that place.

The only fear that I have is that we are going to be too dependent on technology that it removes critical thinking since technology is doing everything for us. Other than that, with the uprising and continuous improving technology, I fear that it can be too complicating for us to keep up with. NIE has allowed us to be prepared to teach lessons that would be more meaningful for the students through the means of ICT. For me to be prepared for my teaching in the future, I would need to keep up with the latest technology and find what are the things that students are into so that I could get more connected with my students. I would also explore the various ICT I could use in my lesson, not only to make works as relatively simple for my students in the shortest way possible but at the same time, getting them actively engaged in my lessons.


With that, I would like to end this reflection with a video. Do watch it and hopefully technology allows us to go far beyond than what we have in the future. And this is just so cool! Enjoy!

The Pomegranate Phone. The best phone you've never heard of.

I chose Olivia as the subject to my second e-learning as she reflected to one of my students whom I used to teach during my one year of contract teaching. There are a percentage of students who were financially unstable and they could not afford to have a computer at home. So during the e-learning week, they would come back to school to complete their assignments.
Although they do not have a computer at home, they are not behind track with the technology. In fact, they have a good digital background.

I believe that majority of the Singapore students are well equipped with the pre-requisite IT knowledge and therefore, computer lessons have been introduced as part of the module in their studies.

Some good characteristic of digital natives are :

• Multimedia oriented
• Web-based
• Less fear of failure
• Multitasker
• Active
  
• creative
• Expressive
• Egocentric
• Widening gap to information access
• Share a common language
• Feel a sense of entitlement
• Striving to be independent

And the poor characteristic of digital natives are:

• Impatient
• Less structured
• Preference for electronic environments - dependent
  
• Have electronic friends - cyberwellness
  
• Aren’t looking for the right answer
• Constant engagement- addiction

These are the pros and cons of the having digital natives. From my point of view, there are always the advantages and disadvantages so for engaging digital natives in Singapore, we should be aware of the both characteristic of the digital natives would develop.

Part A



I have selected the portrait of Virginia, who is 14 years old. I find that she is rather similar to a Singapore student as both are multimedia orientated and spent most of their time on the computer and depend a lot on technology. However, in the case of Virginia, she leads a rather active lifestyle and was able to balance up life with technology. She also managed to realize that she was getting too dependent or addicted to the computer. Singapore student is rather similar to Virginia. However, unlike Virginia, Singapore students are much more fortunate that her as technology is readily available for the student in Singapore.

I feel that students nowadays are much more ‘IT’ savvy than the teachers. Thus, teachers must be able to catch up with the trend in order to engage with the students. Teachers should also try to integrate the available ICT tools into their lesson to engage the students and at the same time making the student understand the topic or subject easier.

Characteristics of Digital Natives:

Good:
• Multimedia oriented
• Web-based
• Less fear of failure
• Instant gratification
• Multitasker
• Active involvement
• Very creative
• Expressive
• Share a common language
• Risk takers
• No cultural distinctions (global)

Bad
• Impatient
• Less structured
• Extremely social
• Need a sense of security that they are defining for and by themselves
• Egocentric
• Preference for electronic environments
• Have electronic friends
• Thrive with redefined structure
• Surface-oriented
• Information overload
• Widening gap to information access
• Technology is a need
• Aren’t looking for the right answer
• Feel a sense of entitlement
• All information is equal
• Striving to be independent

Part B

After viewing the video, I feel excited to be in that era. However, I feel that in future, we tend to be too dependent on technology. What if one day, it failed and not working, what will happen to us?
I feel that NIE had equipped us with the basic knowledge of integrating ICT into our teaching and at the same crafting it to make it a meaningful lesson. In order to prepare myself for the possible future, I would have to keep myself abreast of the latest technology and trend and trying out the latest technology or software whenever it is possible.

The past 3 ICT lessons have been an eye-opener. It was my first ever time getting to play games in class.. The 1st of the 3 weeks, I got to play Wii Sports as well as update Gee's theories. I hardly play games at home as I do not have any other consoles or mediums besides my laptop. Wii Sports can definitely help one lose weight, in a fun way. Schools could probably introduce it to their Holistic Health Programme.

3-2-1 Strategy

3 things I learned:

1) Writing a good and detailed SIO using the ABCD model.
2) The verb wheel based on Bloom's Taxonomy.
3) The different procedures for lesson planning.

2 things applied:

1) My group and I have applied what we know in writing a good SIO using the verb wheel based on Bloom's Taxonomy.
2) Also, we have incorporated ICT-based activities meaningfully in our lesson plan to match our choosen learning outcome from the subject syllabus.

1 thing you want to know more:

1) I would like to know more about analysing learners and identifying which goal that suits them the best.

(Sorry for the wordy post!)

It is definitely easier for me to see the possibilities of using different teaching approaches in the classroom when they are categories into:

Case-based learning
Inquiry-based learning
Project-based leaning
Resource-based learning
Game-based learning

Have you come across any of the pedagogical approaches as a student? What was your experience like?
We are constantly relying on some of these pedagogical approaches unknowingly to exchange information and learn from each other. From my past experience either as a student or as a teacher, project-based, inquiry-based, cased-based and resource-based learning was most commonly used in the classroom. Whereas game-based learning was not as popular. I am anticipating session 6 of our ICT course as I have yet to try any game-based teaching and learning.

Like what Atika has mentioned, most of us are tied down with project-based learning most of the time. I figured it may be deemed as the most beneficial and efficient approach to be carried out during lessons. It is a good way of ensuring that every student is participating if the project is to be completed in groups. It also allows us to understand how our classmates think when tackling certain question, in another words, know more about each other.


What do you think is the relationship of these approaches?
I feel that all of the approaches requires students to explore and pursue information and knowledge. Students have a better chance of remembering what they have learned through their own experience of pursuing information.


Case-based learning, similar to problem-based learning, requires students to imagine themselves in the narrative and looks at the problem from different perspectives. This process of imagination compels students to think and search for a solution by using supporting studies/research.

The definition of inquiry-based learning as seen from the ICT manage class page (Amanda's group), is to 'gather information and data through applying the human senses -- seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling'. Evidently, teachers do not give direct instructions while students are encouraged to utilize their senses and various ICT tools to acquire answers.

I feel that it is most effective to encourage group work for project-based learning. It allows a group of students to progress together, interacting and experiencing the problems, questions and knowledge enquiry. Students will commonly search for the required information through the Internet or through books. PBL also promotes collaborative learning.

Resource-based learning is present in most of the other approaches. It is the resource component of student's learning process where students exanimate the appropriate information from media, printed/reading materials, websites as well as human resources like interviews, shadowing artist or teachers.

Game-based learning motivates students to learn important knowledge while they play or provides a form of training for certain skills or techniques. Through playing games, students are able to enjoy themselves while learning from their mistakes (when they have lost in the game).


Note that there is only little participation of the teacher role in these approaches.

Another aspect is that they are all alternatives to a 'chalk and talk' approach, which is less interactive and not as interesting. As what Atika have said, they are student centered as compared to traditional teacher led lessons.


What roles do the various ICT tools play in these approaches?
ICT allows learners to acquire information in a very short time as compared to books. It will minimize the time constraint that students normally face during the learning progress. ICT tools are also a vital part of fast and efficient communication (between student and student or teacher and student) as it can be access anytime anywhere. By 'anywhere', I refer to the wireless network connection that is available at many areas of Singapore now. I was surprised to find that even one of the coffee shop (those that are affectionately called 'kopitiam') in Clementi is equipped with WIFI. Lastly, ICT tools can be utilized for managing any of the learning approaches and also managing student's reflective processes in a systematic manner.

Upon entering the ICT class, I was rather puzzle with as I saw my classmates seated in columns as its an uncommon sight. Tables with labels could be seen around the class too. The table near my seat was label with "Resource Based Learning" and this really makes me more puzzle of what we are going to do on that day. I then found out that we are going to learn a new activity called the 'Jig-Saw Activity'.

I find that this activity is very engaging as it incorporates SDL and CL in a new perspective and at the same we are able know and understand the approaches better. I feel that the "jig-saw" activity in away helps to inject fun at the same time reinforce the approaches that we had found with the rest of those who are doing the same approach before sharing it with my group members. This helps to reaffirm that what I had found is correct and get more ideas and pointers when we share.

I wish to learn more of these strategies so that I could implement it in my classroom, in future.

Have you come across any of the pedagogical approaches as a student? What was your experience like?

Throughout my learning experience, I have been exposed to all the different types of pedagogical approaches in a way or two. And I am very sure that most of us are usually tied down with project-based learning most of the time which I feel is the most effective approach of learning. I feel that through projects, students get the opportunity to build self-confidence when presenting in front of others. Students get to know things that they might have not known by learning new things and through projects, we get to minimize our own workload of research and share our findings. And also through projects, I manage to bond with my friends.

The other approach I enjoy doing most was through game-based learning where students learn and have fun at the same time. Like for my experience in game-based learning, we did amazing race where students are to find their way to places and then gather information regarding the place. This promotes the learning of geography and history at the same time. And during interaction games through learning, we learn to interact better with each other and learn to understand the other party.


What do you think is the relationship of these approaches?

The common factor which incorporates all these approaches is that they are all student-centered where the teachers do not teach them but become their facilitators to lead them in their learning. These approaches are less structured compared to traditional teacher-led activities; for example, in project-based learning, students are given equal opportunity to organize their work through effective time management and take leadership in some aspects.


What roles do the various ICT tools play in these approaches?

ICT help students to obtain up-to-date information and allows interaction through a global platform. It brings students beyond the classroom context, going further more than the limitations of a classroom by exposing them to other countries and not just local context. ICT also serves as an administrative tool where teachers are given the convenience of managing their students’ progress in learning. This way, teachers can interact with students and help them identify their strengths and weaknesses. ICT allows communication to take place where students can receive information at the same time but being in various places.

I agree with Claire in respect to the question most of us have attempted - Scenario 1 Activity B. But I feel that the reason for this is due to the fact that many of us view classroom management problem as one of the most challenging issue we, as teachers in training are facing right now.

After completing the e-learning tasks and reading up on the opinions of others, I realized that it is impossible to reap the benefits of ICT without proper planning, anticipation and classroom management skills. I've also learned that no learning process can take place without a good learning environment. This scenario is one of the examples where students are distracted; not getting the attention of their teacher, feeling frustrated and bored in the classroom which stops the learning process.
I feel that this is a chance for us to familiarize ourselves with most ICT tools, understand the various difficulties of their usage in a lesson and thus avoiding future mishaps similar to Mrs Xing’s.

On a side note, I’ve enjoyed reading the different approaches of my classmates on solving scenario 1 & 2. I’ve always been very interested to know the various tactics available to deal with student’s antics in the classroom. I used to try varying types of teaching methods to every different class during my 1 month school experience (ESE). Hopefully these suggestions come in handy when I encounter similar incidents!

E-Learning week has been fun on the whole. I have learnt quite a bit from here. However, I noticed that the majority of the class attempted the same question as me i.e. Scenario 1 Activity B. This is probably because the question is the easiest to relate to.

I received 4 comments in total for my e-learning assignments. All of which had views from different perspective which I feel were very important in my learning. Razali and Atika both had different takes on what I had offered. This I feel is very important as it gives me an on-looker’s view. I feel that certain things could be done for Mrs Xing’s class. It’s just a method of how we argue our point and how logical and rational it is.

I feel that it is a very good idea to put mirrors around the lab. With mirrors in the classroom, students will be more aware of their teachers and thus more attentive in class.

On the other hand, I also read through the other groups’ blogs where some members attempted different questions. I also learnt quite a lot from them.

Claire

Summary Posting for Scenario 2: Activity D

Despite the few response I got from my peers, I find that the comments I received so far were pretty convincing and they were of something that I would have never thought of. Like what Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes, “Our best thoughts come from others.”

I do believe that the main issue from scenario 2 was of plagiarism and those students of especially a younger age group probably is not well-informed about the consequences of copying and pasting from the net and copyright issues. As mentioned by lyxt., students would not be able to understand plagiarism when it is being taught just verbally to them maybe due to the complexity of the word plagiarism itself. Through this, I learn that we as teachers need to breakdown this concept into smaller components so that students will be able to complete their work on their own and using their own words. However, this does not necessarily means that we should forego the need to inform them about the consequences of “copying” or plagiarizing.

Amanda has taught me something new. I did not know the meaning of “Netiquette” till I saw her comment on my post. Netiquette is a set of conventions that covers from social networking and interaction over the networks. And I do believe that all teachers know the importance of having ground rules at their first lesson. It should definitely be the same for the first lesson of e-learning.

Razali brought an interesting point that I have never thought of. Issuing notice forms does not mean that the parents would have read it. Perhaps the students themselves forgot to show it to their parents. An acknowledgement letter by the parents would certainly be helpful to ensure that they are aware of their children’s e-learning sessions.

Thank you for your constructive comments!


Conclusion/Reflection

• Have I achieved my learning goals? How did I make that happen?
  
  I certainly achieved some of the learning goals throughout this course and since it was only 2 face-to-face lessons of ICT we had so far, ICT has been manageable and relatively easy to understand. In some parts of the ICT course, I do believe that it also serves as a form of recalling back the time we had in school using IT. Personally, I achieved a better understanding of the various mediums of meaningful learning in SDL and CL through the comparisons I make during my learning time in secondary school. I believe through reflecting of my past and making improvements with it by using the different forms of ICT that is developing day by day, it keeps us better prepared on how we would want to deliver our lesson effectively with the help of technology. However, there is more yet to come and I am all in all excited to know more about what technology has in store for us.
  
  
• Were my learning strategies effective and efficient? How might they be improved?
  
  My learning strategies are efficient considering I tried my best to read up before the start of every lesson and reflect on what was being taught. But I would not call it effective yet because I have yet to gain a better understanding on the different uses of ICT. It would help if we had more hands on activities in class (like the one on the cyberwellness map using MindMeister). Maybe what I can do is to explore on my own on the different mediums of ICT instead of learning them through class. Probably, I need the drive to do my own Self-Directed Learning!
  
  
• Did the group processes support my group’s learning? Why and why not? How can I/we improve?
  
  The group has been helpful in providing thoughts and comments for each and everyone of us. Whatever we might say or think, others may not know it. Through this group blog, we are able to share ideas vice versa. Also, we help our peers to see any possible mistake they made and share our own opinions to it and at the end of the day, we are all able to learn through it collaboratively.
  
  Perhaps, I was late in posting my entry that I did not receive many comments from my peers. And I figure that I was also late in helping to evaluate my peers’ ideas. I am sorry that I did not manage to do it earlier. On my part, I should be more prompt the next time round in posting. Aside from that, the group blog would have been much more effective if everyone was constantly responsive.
  
  

As for my reflection of the course so far, I would say that I've definitely learnt alot. The learning goals which I stated in my wikipage during the 1st week were:
1) To become more practised and proficient in IT.
2) To know of the existence of more interesting and useful applications which may be helpful in my career later on.
3) To learn and understand how ICT will enhance the learning of my students
4) To learn and practise how to incorporate ICT in schools
5) To learn how to engage my students with the use of different forms of ICT.

1) To become more practised and proficient in IT I've definitely become more practised in IT as I'm been using my laptop for my school work every single day. These involved quite a few applications which I wasn't familiar with before like wiki and Microsoft Excel. However, I still feel that there's alot more I could improve in. Thus, I would say that I've only achieved maybe half of this learning goal.

2) To know of the existence of more interesting and useful applications which may be helpful in my career later on I would think that there're thousands of useful and educational applications out there. However, I've only learnt of two applications, namely pbwiki and mindmesiter. No doubt these applications will be useful in my career in the future. However, there's alot more things and applications I would like to come across and use them to facilitate my teaching. Thus for this learning objective, I wouldn't say I've achieved it as well.

3) To learn and understand how ICT will enhance the learning of my students I've read through the ICT Textbook and the resources provided on pbwiki for this module and so far its been really useful in my learning of the subject. I've learnt certain rules and tips on how I can incorporate ICT into my teaching. Thus I'm glad to say that this learning goal has been achieved!! :)

4) To learn and practise how to incorporate ICT in schools I've learnt how to incorporate ICT in schools through the lecture PowerPoint slides and textbook however I haven't officially practised how to do it as I haven't have the chance to really take over a class. However I feel that I will surely be able to incorporate what I have learnt and incorporate it into my practicum come next February. For this learning goal, I'm sure I'll be able to achieve it come my practicum.

5) To learn how to engage my students with the use of different forms of ICT. Personally, I feel that the mindmeister is a very good medium to use for students to be active and share their views with one another. Thus, when I start teaching, I will definitely use that application. Other thatn mindmeister, there're plenty of other forms of ICT out there like forums and youtube. These can be used to enhance the learning of my students in the future too. Thus, this learning goal has been met.

On the whole, the group has deifinitely supported my learning these whole time, be it my group blog members or my projet group members. Their comments have been really useful as they set me thinking in a different perspetive and make me learn new things all the time.

For me, learning is a life long journey. There is no end to it and I look forward to learn new things. With the knowledge and skills learnt in the ICT classes, really helps to improve my learning/delivering strategies and perhaps in planning my classroom lessons in future.

I also learnt that IT is a very useful tool for teachers/educators in sculpting a lesson or delivering it. It provides a wide range of opportunities for the student to have a 'Meaningful Learning'. It helps to cultivate a range of learning strategies, such as self directed learning to collaborative learning.

However, as IT keeps developing and newer/better versions of software/programme keeps appearing, we need to keep up with it. I also learnt from the e-learning activity the importance of knowing the programme/software well before using it to deliver the lesson. Not only that, we should lookout for the programme/software which really suits the lesson.

Lesson Plans and Ground Rules also plays a vital part in delivering a lesson. No matter how good the IT skills or knowledge the teacher have, it will not worked if the teacher doesn't have a good Lesson Plan. Briefing the students and setting the ground rules also help to make the much more conducive.

I find using blog for the e-learning activity really supports my group learning processes. We are able to comment and indirectly learn from each other post and contribute ideas/pointers to improve the idea. Here we could really see how self directed learning develops in collaborative learning and see how a good idea develops into an excellent idea.

So far, I’ve attended only 2 lessons of the ICT module but I’ve to admit that I’ve learnt quite a bit. I learnt above the existence of pbworks-wiki and mindmeister, both of which I’ve never come across in my entire life. Session 2 was about self-directed and collaborative learning. To be honest, I’ve somehow been incorporating these types of learning into my life indirectly which I never knew until this week of this module.


So, we were made to discuss what we understand from the terms, self-directed learning, cooperative learning and collaborative learning. I did my discussion with Amanda. Both of us were very blur initially and didn’t know what this lesson had in stored for us simply because we are very new to this “IT-proficiency” course. But after watching the video provided and reading the PowerPoint slides, we got the hang of the whole thing. All this time during the discussion, we were actually doing something called, “collaborative learning” together as a pair.


Right now, I’m consolidating what I’ve learnt about SDL and CL and that indirectly is a reinforcement of my self-directed learning on this topic as I'm increasing my knowledge not by defining it but by applying examples to justify why and how I've learnt through SDL. Even though, we have to learn things as they come by ourselves, SDL is actually very useless as it really makes you think and understand the facts of it. It is not always necessary that we’ll learn something from a lesson with a teacher giving lectures.


I have always not been a big fan of lectures. Most of the time, I’ll somehow be daydreaming away. When exams arrive, I would take out my notes and start studying from there. This I would call “self-directed learning”. I feel that from SDL, I can somehow concentrate better and have a greater understanding of the subjects which I’m studying for.


I feel that in years to come, these learning methods will definitely be incorporated into schools. Students will become more IT-proficient as time goes by thus these methods will surely suit their lifestyles.


As for my reflection of the course so far, I would say that I've definitely learnt alot. The learning goals which I stated in my wikipage during the 1st week were:
1) To become more practised and proficient in IT.
2) To know of the existence of more interesting and useful applications which may be helpful in my career later on.
3) To learn and understand how ICT will enhance the learning of my students
4) To learn and practise how to incorporate ICT in schools
5) To learn how to engage my students with the use of different forms of ICT.

1) To become more practised and proficient in IT
I've definitely become more practised in IT as I'm been using my laptop for my school work every single day. These involved quite a few applications which I wasn't familiar with before like wiki and Microsoft Excel. However, I still feel that there's alot more I could improve in. Thus, I would say that I've only achieved maybe half of this learning goal.

2) To know of the existence of more interesting and useful applications which may be helpful in my career later on
I would think that there're thousands of useful and educational applications out there. However, I've only learnt of two applications, namely pbwiki and mindmesiter. No doubt these applications will be useful in my career in the future. However, there's alot more things and applications I would like to come across and use them to facilitate my teaching. Thus for this learning objective, I wouldn't say I've achieved it as well.

3) To learn and understand how ICT will enhance the learning of my students
I've read through the ICT Textbook and the resources provided on pbwiki for this module and so far its been really useful in my learning of the subject. I've learnt certain rules and tips on how I can incorporate ICT into my teaching. Thus I'm glad to say that this learning goal has been achieved!! :)

4) To learn and practise how to incorporate ICT in schools
I've learnt how to incorporate ICT in schools through the lecture PowerPoint slides and textbook however I haven't officially practised how to do it as I haven't have the chance to really take over a class. However I feel that I will surely be able to incorporate what I have learnt and incorporate it into my practicum come next February. For this learning goal, I'm sure I'll be able to achieve it come my practicum.

5) To learn how to engage my students with the use of different forms of ICT.
Personally, I feel that the mindmeister is a very good medium to use for students to be active and share their views with one another. Thus, when I start teaching, I will definitely use that application. Other thatn mindmeister, there're plenty of other forms of ICT out there like forums and youtube. These can be used to enhance the learning of my students in the future too. Thus, this learning goal has been met.

On the whole, the group has deifinitely supported my learning these whole time, be it my group blog members or my projet group members. Their comments have been really useful as they set me thinking in a different perspetive and make me learn new things all the time.

Looking back, when asked what I thought I'd learn from this ICT course, these were the five things that I had stated in my wiki page :
- What is ICT,
- The importance and relevance of ICT in today's classrooms,
- Alternative methods to make classroom teaching more interesting and engaging, using ICT tools,
- The importance of staying relevant in terms of delivering the subject content by using tools available on the world wide web and
- How to manipulate ICT tools such as YouTube and Blogger and use it to give students a more hands on and meaningful lesson.

Having said that, my learning goals for this course is a summation of the 5 things I thought I'd learn. They are:
- To understand ICT and
- To be able to use ICT to engage my students and make their learning experience more meaningful.

So, have I achieved my learning goals?

I'd say yes and no. Yes, I now have got a better understanding of what ICT is compared to the very first day I stepped into class. How did I make that happen? For a start, attending class regularly and with an open mind did help a lot. Each week, there is something new to be learnt and with that something new learnt, I get to deepen my understanding of ICT and its works. Reflecting on the lessons on the group blog also did help me to recapitulate on what I've learnt in class and how it has affected me.
However, I am yet to be truly able to put what I have learnt into real practice. I am looking forward to the group demo as it might have a serious impact on my understanding of ICT and how it can affect my lessons in the future.

Were my learning strategies effective and efficient and how can they be improved?

I do think that my learning strategies are working for me right now but I know that something better is always in store and its up to me to explore new strategies to help me be a better learner. I could, for a start, on my own, try to find out the ICT tools currently used in secondary schools right now, especially in my subject-Home Economics so that I'll be in the know of what is going on and how I might be able to keep myself in line with the current strategies used or, better still, how I might be able to introduce new ways of incorporating ICT in the future.

Did the group processes support my group's learning?

Yes, it definitely did. I believe that there is always something to be learnt from others, be it from their success or their mistakes. Through collaborative learning, we get to fill up each other's knowledge gap and at the end of the day, we all become better informed. That is what being a teacher is all about. As what Razali higlighted in response to my e-learning post, we as teachers should not only teach, but learn as well.

An area that my group can definitely improve in is to be more reponsive towards each other's post. Besides reading the posts put up by our peers, we should also respond to them, let our views and thoughts be known and most importantly, be open to the opinions of others. In this manner, we can all learn to look at things from an analytical perspective and develop our own thoughts and opinions. By being more receptive towards the opinions of others, we are also teaching ourselves to be more understanding and accepting of the widely diversed world that all of us will be stepping into in the future.

***
|.eikha.|

When it comes to learning, I strongly believe in quality and not quantity. Although I may have only 3 responses to my post, it should not discount the fact that I did learn from the views of my peers.

One of my suggestions that managed to get a response from my peers was careful pre-planning of her lesson.

Razali pointed out that a teacher should not only teach but must also learn, even from her students and I agree with him. Since Mrs. Xing knows that she is not particularly IT-savvy, she should have sought the help of IT lab technicians to ensure that all the computers are in full working orders so that none of her students will have to share computers to do their work. She could have also sought the help from the more IT-savvy students in her class to help their classmates with simple troubleshooting.

Atika pointed out that Mrs. Xing was probably at a ‘trial and error’ stage. Although Mrs. Xing is new at incorporating IT into her lessons, she should have been more prepared in terms of anticipating how the class would turn out and what are the possible problems that might arise. Although a small part of me wishes to strongly disagree with Atika’s view, I reminded myself that to err is human and no lesson is perfect. We teachers should frequently gather feedback from our students regarding our lessons and then work on the flaws to ensure that the next lesson is more successful than the previous.
[255 words]

***
|.eikha.|

Personally, I thought what Mrs. Xing has planned for her students to do is rather broad and not specific enough. Having students to cover on a new topic and having them to research on every areas of energy, I felt that it was too much for them to handle within the 1 week break. Furthermore, covering on every individual’s concept maps can be rather taxing and Mrs. Xing herself would only be able to look at them when school reopens the following week.

As for myself, I would alter the lesson in a way students not only learn through Self-Directed Learning (SDL) but also works collaboratively. Before the e-learning week, I would

• assign students to different topic discussions on energy.
  
  I would get groups to discuss on the different forms of energy, the principles of conservation energy, energy conversions, etc. This way, students can also do research on their own before working collaboratively. This gives me the benefits of
  
  1) looking at the students’ ongoing process of discussion (if I logged in together with them during their discussion) which also accounts for the weightage on their individual participation
  2) saving time by looking on group’s work instead of individual concept maps without having to worry on which particular mindmap to choose for the follow up face-to-face lessons in school
  3) having a well-constructed and hopefully a well-collaborated mindmap to build up upon

Other than that, I would engage in

• the use of MindMeister instead of Freemind.
  
  I would prepare them before hand and ask them to register and I would add in their names to the list of editors of the particular topic of discussion. Through MindMeister, students are able to engage in a real-time collaboration where they can edit the same mindmap at their own homes and at the same time. It is more engaging and exciting this way.
  
  But the above only works when students of the same group exchange their email addresses for IM activities like MSN and Skype. (preferably, skype would be a better option because it engages students to do a live conferencing while editing their mindmaps through MindMeister.
  
  Apart from that, as the teacher, I would get to see the students’ work before school reopens.

Moreover, through this scenario, I felt that Mrs. Xing was not doing anything much during her students’ participation on e-learning. I would suggest that she provide her students

• a list of designated timings when she is free for consultation through Skype (or any other mediums of conferencing online) on a first-come-first-serve basis.
  
  Through this way, students are able to seek help or report of any incidents like the ones when they failed to open up their PowerPoint file. And if this option was not available be it students are too shy to talk or students do not have microphone, Mrs. Xing could give them her email as a second form of communication.
  
  
• ongoing discussion with students through their forum discussions.
  
  With this, teachers are able to check the students’ progress and students are able to know if they are moving on the right track.

Following up to the matters above, here are some of the other preparations I would do to tackle the different problems Mrs. Xing had faced during her attempt at e-learning during the school’s e-learning week:

1) Problem of pornography or any other unacceptable website

• Issue a notice form for parents on e-learning week.
  
  This way, parents are aware of the content that their children should be looking into. Not only that, it helps create parent-support on their children’s Internet use for teaching and learning purposes.
  
  
• Parents to set up appropriate content filters.
  
  This helps establish parental control and the protection of their children where these filters provide a reliable barrier, blocking access to unacceptable content which can be morally damaging to their children’s development.
  
  
• Educate students to practice own responsibility.
  
  The teacher can advice students not to venture out to these sites and to emphasize responsibility for their own learning. (E.g. Making time for learning and surfing the net. Do not lie to their parents that they are doing their work but end up surfing the net instead.)
  

2) Unable to open the PowerPoint file

• Typing out the instructions, recommended websites and guiding questions manually on the LMS page.
  
  I don’t find it necessary for Mrs. Xing to contain this information through PowerPoint presentation.
  
  
• Uploading PowerPoint file on the web
  
  Scribd, SlideShare, Splashcast, SlideAware and Zoho Show are some of the hosting services for uploading these files on the web. Through this, students are able to watch these slideshows online without having to worry of not being able to open their PowerPoint file through LMS. All the teacher has to do is to provide the link on the LMS.
  

3) Cutting and Pasting information from website (Plagiarism)

• Educate students on Plagiarism and its consequences.
  
  Before the commence of e-learning week, students ought to be aware that cutting and pasting information from website without giving credibility to the author is an act of plagiarism, an act of dishonesty. It simply shows an ignorance of completing their assignments properly. In addition, inform students the loss of marks they will get when they plagiarize.
  
  
• Get students to declare assignment as their original work.
  
  Provide an assignment cover sheet when school reopens for students to declare that the assignment was their original work and they have understood the consequences of plagiarism should they fail to comply.

As a beginning teacher, Mrs Xing should have made a lesson plan since she does not have good knowledge with ICT. By having a lesson plan, it means that she has already completed and researched the subject and carefully reviewed on which method she will use as men tioned that only one-third of the class who were familiar with computers had logged on.
She should ensure the conducting of composition writing will be good start before she instructed her class.

• Mrs Xing should also have at least set a couple of ground rules and its consequences before the students entered the computer laboratory so that they will behave in a more orderly manner.
  For example,
• Mrs Xing could have asked them to sit according to their register numbers so as it is easier for her to monitor them.
• She could have also affirmed that computers are costly therefore they should observe the computer laboratory’s rules.
• She could have gave them the specific timeline of the initial lesson such as

1. The students are given five minutes to do mind-mapping
2. Followed by fifteen minutes to complete their essay and should complete the task fifteen minutes before the class ends.
3. At the end of the lesson, she would be able to do some conclusion or maybe at least to finish her first round of editing.

This is to ensure that the lesson will be conducted smoothly and to hinder from students to make unnecessary noises.

Class management problem is a serious issue that will definitely hinder the learning progress. In this instance, I’m referring to managing the student’s emotional and behavioral problems.

There are quite a number of examples illustrating classroom management problems in scenario 1 which I will focus on in this blog entry as I was unsure of how to ensure that every student is contributing to the learning task when we are encouraging Collaborative learning previously.

Class management problems
I agree to Eikha’s first point ‘Failing to plan and anticipate’. Mrs Xing failed to anticipate the reaction and behavior of her students in the presence of technical devices like computers.

Problem 1: At the start of Mrs Xing’s class, some students were surfing the net while others were confused about usage of the computers.

Solution: Clear instructions should be given before student even enters the computer lab. They will be instructed to sit in front of the computers and wait for further instructions before proceeding. Give step-by-step, concise instructions after entering the computer lab; make sure everybody is doing the exact actions. Stop any time to discipline the class if any student is distracted. The progress will be slow but ultimately Mrs Xing will be able to establish control.
Like what Claire had mentioned, I’m in favor of the ‘providing blue and red cups (taken from the Secondary School Video Clip)’ idea. It is one way for the students to ask for assistance while not disrupting the class.
Another solution will be to engage a computer lab management software which allows screen sharing, Blank student’s screen, Transfer files to student’s computers and Remote control.
There are a variety of these management software to choose from – LanSchool, NetOp School, Apple Remote Desktop etc. (http://www.wtvi.com/teks/02_03_articles/labmanagementsoftware.html)


Problem 2: Mrs Xing could not see the students as they were blocked by the computers.

Solution: Constantly walk around the students to provide help or discipline any student who is distracted. After this particular lesson, Mrs Xing may want to suggest installing mirrors in positions to reflect every student’s faces.
In this fashion, she will be able to monitor student’s computer screen using the computer lab management software while monitoring their attention using the mirrors.


Problem 3: Students who finished their assignment faster than others were making noise. When Mrs Xing was editing their script, they became restless and made more noise.

Solution: As mentioned earlier, Mrs Xing needs to foresee the possible interference to her lesson. She could have prepared a short quiz or a video to occupy the students who have completed their work.
Furthermore, as they were all holding tablet PC, it will be even more convenient for Mrs Xing to edit an individual student’s script and share it with the class while walking around with it and commenting. Students will focus their attention to her while students who are unsure of the way to improve their writings are able to learn from others. Hence, Mrs Xing will be utilizing the facilities to a larger potential.

I feel that Mrs Xing had an unreasonable expectation of the students considering it’s the first time that she is introducing ICT into her lesson. She may also want to take note of her lesson content as she seems to have neglected the interest of her students in her effort to integrate technology to the class. When students take no interest in her subject, they may not be willing to get involve or take the effort to understand the topic.
Lastly, I’d suggest giving more time for students to familiarize themselves with using technology to their learning benefits. Introduction to the various uses of technology should be accomplished before any commencement of lesson with ICT.

1. Mrs Xing brought her students to the computer lab but only one-third of the class were familiar with the computers.

• Mrs Xing should have briefed the students beforehand in class on what they are required to do in the computer lab before actually bringing them there. She could have asked the class to find out who the more it-proficient students are and make them the row or group leaders. These row/ group leaders will be in charged of assisting their less it-proficient classmates should they meet with any problems.

2. The students who had managed to log onto the computer started surfing the internet, leaving their classmates desperately trying to get help from Mrs Xing.

• Mrs Xing could have locked the computer screens of the students who had managed to log onto the computer. This will prevent them from distracting the other students and "force" them into helping their other classmates log on on their own accord so as to kick start the lesson proper quickly.

3. Mrs Xing could not see the faces of some of her students as they were blocked by the compouter monitors.

• Mrs Xing could have also provided blue and red cups (taken from the Secondary School Video Clip) for the students. As these cups will be placed on top of the monitors, there will be visible to Mrs Xing and will be a form of alert to her should the students need any troubleshooting.

4. Two computers were not working and the affected students had to pair up with their classmates.

• Mrs Xing should have gone into the computer lab to check on all the computers beforehand to ensure that every student would have a chance to use the computer independently. She could have postponed her ict lesson if she had found out that the two computers were not working.

5. After the students were instruted to write the narratives, Mrs Xing noticed that some students finished earlier than the others and begain distracting the rest of their classmates.

• To decrease the chances of this happening, Mrs Xing could have acquired the timer stopwatch and allocate a certain amount of time for the particular work to be completed in. This would have pushed and "pressureize" the other students to finish their work in a shorter time.

6.Mrs Xing realised she had became the bottleneck by having the edit all of her students' scripts and this resulted in some students becoming restless and making more noise.

• Mrs Xing could have assigned some work to be done by the students while she was marking the scripts.
• She could also have locked all of ther students' computer screens and make them watch a movie or short video clip associated to her subject; English to keep them entertained. (Idea gotten from: Ministry of Eduacation (2008). Movies in Language Learning. Retrieved from http://www3.moe.edu.sg/edumall/tl/it_integration/engaging_it_practices/1movies.htm)

Claire

So as to be prepared for the lesson, I did a little reading up about SDL and CL before class last Friday. I thought I had a clear understanding of what SDL and CL is. Well, in theory, at least.

Then came Friday and I stepped into class. I learnt then that reading about something is one thing. Experiencing it is a totally different story. I paired up with Charmian for the THINK-PAIR-SHARE activities where we shared what we know about SDL and CL and tried to fill up the gaps in our knowledge.

Basically, Self-Directed Learning occurs when one decides what he wants to learn, how he wants to learn it, what are his learning goals and outcomes, what he needs to learn what he wants to learn and then evaluating his experiences. In other words, a self-directed learner takes ownership of his own learning.

In Collaborative Learning, a group of people with the same learning goals will come together to pool their knowledge and solve the problem.

For our group assignment, come this September 18, I teamed up with Serene, Charmian and Yani. We will then have to put SDL and CL into practice as we will decide on what we want to do and how to do it and we will share our knowledge and experiences to execute this assignment well.

SDL and CL seems to be a good teaching techniques for me to implement when I get posted out to schools later.

I believe that one will retain information and remember better the things that they experienced for themselves and I think that SDL and CL will be able to fulfil just that.

xoxo,
|.eikha.|

Classroom Management

Mrs. Xing also had problems managing her class. She should have implemented basic classroom management skills such as assigning seats. By assigning seats, she will be able to better monitor her class as students will not be able to stick to their own cliques and start talking among themselvers. Ultimately, what Mrs. Xing would want is for her students to give all their attention to her and to engage them in their learning .

As I watched the video posted on the ICT E-Learning page on managing a full-computer lab as a learning environment, one interesting point that I noted and felt that Mrs. Xing should have implemented was the using of colored cups to indicate if the student needs help and the appointment of an IT rep to help the class with simple troubleshooting. This will definitely help in maintaining order in the classroom and cutting down the noise level. It would also probably help to eliminate Mrs. Xing's problem of desperately trying to get her attention on what to do with the computer. She would also have better control of the class although she could not see their faces from behind their computer screens.

Pre-Preparation

For an IT-based class that would need all the students to be able to use the commputers to do their assignment and submit it during class time, Mrs. Xing must ensure that all the computers are in working order. This is because having students to share computers in case of a computer breakdown would mean that the students sharing the computers will either have to rush through their work to allow their peer to be able to do their work or one of the students will not be able to finish their assignment. Hence, as pre-preparation to her lesson, Mrs. Xing should have liased with a lab assistant or IT personnel in the school to check and ensure that all the computers are in good working order before the lesson.

Mrs. Xing too should not have asked the students to write-up a piece of work on the spot in the lesson as it is time consuming. She should have gotten the students to write-up a piece of work in an earlier class and get them to type it out in the IT-Based lesson and then submit it to her via the shared folder for her to check. Students who are not used to typing compositions on the computer might take some time to get used to the keyboard and how the word processor works.

If Mrs. Xing had planned her lesson well, she will also have realised that it might not be possible for her to edit all forty scripts and return it to her students in one lesson. She should have planned for a follow-up IT based lesson for them her to return the students' edited scripts and re-type them.

***
|.eikha.|

Well,its the third week of school.
I was absent on the first week therefore I guess that's the ultimate reason why I feel so lost. Heh, I've tried to understand a little about the Self-directed and Cooperative learning..
So today,I'm slowly trying to figure out the best for the e-learning assignment :)

Based on Scenario 1, Mrs Xing could have taken several steps to enhance her classroom management, (controlling and giving instructions the students), but at the same time making the lesson much more meaningful.

IT REPS
Since 1/3 of the class is rather IT-savvy, Mrs Xing should have appointed them as her IT reps. The IT Reps could have come earlier for her lesson to check if all the computers are working and also help to set-up the Lab. She could have briefed them on their roles before the class starts and also get them to help their classmates who are in need of help.

SEATING ALLOCATION
Mrs Xing should have assigned the seats to the students instead of letting them to sit freely. They should also be required to log-in to the computer using their own passwords (which could be issued earlier) to give them a sense of responsibility to the system.

LAB RULES
She could have given a proper briefing on the objectives of the lesson prior to the lesson. Rules and regulations should be made known and enforced to the class.
If the students faced a problem, instead of them shouting for help, they are to hold up a ‘help’ signage that is placed on every work place. The IT rep will then proceed to help. Teachers are to assist only when the IT reps are not able to rectify the problem.

Online-timer could be used to help Mrs Xing keep the student to the allocated time for each activity in order to keep the students ‘in sync’. Mrs Xing could also use the environment, such as switching off and on the light to get the attention of the students. Alternatively, she could have used the remote desktop controller to freeze their desktop whenever necessary.

OTHERS
Instead of going around to correct the students work, Mrs Xing could have used ‘Wikispaces’ and create a class page and get the students to do the essays on their own personal page and correct it at the end of the class. She could then use 1-2 of the students work as an example and correct it together with the students in ‘real time’. As the essays are available online, students are able to complete their essays even after lesson time. Students are also able to edit their work and at the same time Mrs Xing will be notified and keep track of any changes made by them. On top of that, students are able to view their classmates’ essays and also view their corrected essays online.

Last Friday, we learnt the two types of learning using ICT which were the self-directed learning and collaborative learning or SDL and CL in short. Besides from knowing what they are, we also read about the different tasks the teachers and the learners have to do in promoting these self-directed and collaborative learning. As per usual, we did activities in class with our partners and our groups. Personally, I had a blast working with the MindMeister! It was very easy to use and I am very sure that I would be seeing myself using it often in the future.

K: What you already KNOW about this week’s topics

• The purpose of SDL and CL and its usefulness.
• The outcomes of SDL and CL (like how much students would actually benefit more from these types of learning).
• Able to identify works in secondary and NAFA as SDL and CL.

W: What you WANT to know more about

• The different types of SDL and CL and which ones are more effective.
• The way to measure each student’s understanding through SDL or CL.
• The rate of using SDL and CL during our teaching in the future.

L: What you LEARNT about the topics

• Through the two videos, I gained a better understanding about what SDL and CL are. However, I would like to know how the teachers go about planning it (especially the video on the Collaborative Learning; Space Mission – Ice Moon). And also how did they come to a decision to select the appropriate software for students to use. Do they have to survey all the different software before coming into a final decision? Was it planned individually or with a group of teachers?
• I managed to discover more about the roles the teachers and the students play during both types of learning.
• SDL and CL being a part of meaningful learning and covering aspects of being authentic, intentional, active, constructive and collaborative.

Q: QUESTIONS you still have about the topics

• How long does it take for CL to carry out and reach the final product of this learning?
• How do you measure effectiveness of SDL and CL?
• How do you assess students who are working through CL?

That's about it!
Enjoy the long weekend everyone!
Don't forget the e-learning tomorrow.

Smile always. :D

Nur Atika

As what Razali has mentioned, in the process of contributing information into Mindmeister Cyberwellness map in class, we 'Goggled' the net for more ideas. I feel that this is one example under the influence of ICT where students are motivated to search and read up on a particular subject. Furthermore, students are able to assess independently if the information provided on the net is authentic and reliable. This tool fulfills both the SDL and CL aspect of learning progress.

1) Self-Directed Learning:
A learning process where the learner is motivated and able to formulate his or her own learning goals. He or she is capable of identifying the right human and material resources that helps in his or her learning. The learner understands and uses the appropriate strategies and finally, reflects on what he or she has learned at the end of the day and changes accordingly from his or her own mistakes.

2) Cooperative Learning
The learning task will be divided among the learners and different parts will be combined at the end of the project. Learners may or may not interact with their group member in the course of completing the project.
For example, a class project to survey the public's opinion based on the theme of 'National Education' will be fragmented and task will be delegated to the designated group members. There will be someone to conduct the survey, a person to compile the survey results, another person to write the report and someone to do research on 'National education'. These components of the project will then be re-assembled and finalized as a whole.

3) Collaborative Learning
Learners show considerable amount of interaction with each other throughout the whole learning process. During the time of interaction between group members, they exchange knowledge and information concerning the learning task. They also establish common learning goals and work towards them by constantly expressing their thoughts and opinions, observing how the others think and learn and teaching each other reciprocally. Collaborative learning also requires the learners to constantly assess each other's ideas with the appropriate evidence or supporting theories. Furthermore, they will be able to negotiate in a mature manner to resolve any conflicting views.

In my opinion, the size or number of the group is not one of the aspects to gauge the difference between cooperative learning and collaborative learning.

Cooperative learning and collaborative learning are vastly different in terms of their advantages/disadvantages and their working style. I feel that cooperative learning concentrates on the completion of the task while collaborative learning focus on the process of the task, which allows learners to achieve more. In another words, Cooperative learning is 'Self-directed learning in a group' whereas collaborative learning defines 'group learning together'.

Although it is apparently beneficial for teachers to aim for Self-directed learning and Collaborative learning in their lessons, I have some doubts about applying them in local secondary schools.
As I've mentioned earlier, Cooperative learning divides the task and workload is equally shared.

How do we ensure that every student of the group is contributing to the learning task when we are encouraging Collaborative learning?

Activity 1: Think-Pair-Share

1) Self Directed Learning:
* Learning from you own mistakes - Independent Learning
* DIY (Do it Yourself) - Individual Research/Ideas
* "Contained"/"Closed"/Limited Learning
(only knows to the best of his/her own knowledge)

2) Cooperative Learing
* Restricted to a small group (Sharing of Knowledge)
* Learning from each other (People with different levels of abilities/knowledge)

3) Collaborative Learning
* Made up of 2 or more small groups
* A bigger 'sharing pool of abilities and knowledge of people
* Able to correct/comments/improve each other thoughts

Activity 2 - Think, Pair, Share (Video)

SDL is clearly illustrated in Video 1, where students (group of 2 - 3) decides on a problem/task to solve. The conducted research independently or between themselves. Teachers were there only to facilitate their projects. However, in the later part of the video, CL can be observed when students takes on the 'Service Learning' project as a whole/class.

Meanwhile in video 2, SDL and CL could be seen in progress. Students were broken into groups where each group were given different tasks to solve(SDL). Once each group had managed to solve the problem, the collaboratively put up all their findings to save the astronauts.(CL)

Activity 3 - SDL & CL in Action

In my opinion, both method, SDL and CL plays an important part in the students or the teachers development. Students needs to be able to learn independently and yet able to share and received comments/feedback and learn to realise what they had left out or missed or other useful pointers that the might have left out or never think of. Meanwhile, I feel that when students works collaboratively, students who are not interested or lost might not be contributing and just seat thought the process. However, this might still generate interest in them as they might be interested with all the commotions that is going on around them.

Activity 4 - Think, Pair and Share

When doing the mind map, using the "Mindmiester", we were able edit/contribute our thoughts and ideas as well as change the contribution by other groups which we think is out of point in 'real-time' and also look at what other groups had contributed. Thus this is one good example of CL as we all contributed to get a bigger picture. However, in order for us to input our thoughts into the mind-map, we need to know what is required, therefore some of us 'google' for some ideas. Thus, I feel that SDL also plays apart in this exercise as well.