Self-directed, collaborative learning

Last week in class, Dr ang asked us to type out our own understanding of Self-directed and collaborative learning. Since my group had not created a blog at that time, I didn;t manage to do the assignment in class, eventhough I did discuss with my partner, Amanda at that point of time.

Anyway, after reading up the textbook and discussing with her, my understanding of these two areas are as such:

Self-Directed Learning:

Self-directed learning is a process in which a student takes initiative in learning and reaching his/her own set of goals. The student does not need help from other people before embarking on his/her learning. The student also approaches people for help when in difficulty on his/her own accord.

Collaborative learning:

Collaborative learning is a process when a group of students work towards one common goal amongst themselves. They are able to display a sense of responsibility and they are able to construct their own understanding within the group. They are then able to share their ideas with one another and work towards their desired goal. Through this, students will be able to build up their interpersonal skills.

1st week's assignments

Hi all, before I start posting the e-learning assignment online, let me complete those assignments which I missed out during the first week of our ICT class. First of all, I openly declare that I did not register for my modules thats why I missed the first week. lol. Anyways it wasn't that I was lazy or anything, the lousy NIE website was down during the several occassions that I tried.

Ok enough about that. Let me introduce myself to all of you guys reading this. Some of you may know me, but I'm sure a lot of you don't.

My name is Reshmi Rai and I am 20 this year. I am from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts/ NIE 4 year art teaching course. Im only in NIE for one year and this is my final year. I am very interested in photography,travelling overseas and anything concerning visual arts. Frankly, I am not the IT person, however, I am trying my best to fit in this changing world.

Besides all that, I recently finished my School Experience at Bartley Secondary School and my experience there was simply smashing! I had the time of my life there and I met the most dearest colleagues. The experience of handling students was really exciting and incredible, and I think I performed pretty well, considering this is my very first time going out to teach. However, there are many more things that I could have improved upon, such as building a rapport with the students. I felt it was quite difficult for me to do that as I was rather strict with them and it was only 4 weeks. If given a longer time, I am sure I will get closer to them.

Learning how to teach is one thing, putting it into action is another and I really love the excitement I receive while teaching my own students.


Reshmi

Testing

I am new to this. Just checking out how to post. lol

Sigh... why isn't anyone posting anything?!!?!?!
Fine. I'll start first.

Firstly, Mrs Xing should lay down all her rules before she allows the students to turn on the computer, or even enter the computer lab. Some lab rules may include:
• Seating according to index number - This is to prevent chattering among students as they don't get to seat with their friends. In cases where there are still students who are chatting among each other, teacher will have to change seats for them.

Stating that they can't on the computer until the teacher says so.

They must NEVER surf the net without her permission

She should have explained to the students regarding the steps to be taken (e.g. how to on the computer, opening up microsoft words.. etc. ) and make sure that they understand BEFORE they even on the computer.

Also, the seating arrangement may be changed. Instead of setting the computer screen facing away from her, they should arrange the computers in a way so that teacher can see the screen from the front. For example,




In this way, she will be able to see what everyone is doing.

Mrs Xing should pair students up to do the peer checking. This way, she will have more time settling technical issues or other problems, and it will be considered as CL.

Alright. Tell me your comments. Reply.

E Learning Scenario 1 Activity A

Implementation Issues That Mrs Xing Faced

• Computers that were not functioning - This is a tricky issue as there was nothing much that Mrs Xing could have done anyway if any of the computers broke down halfway through the lesson. However, she could have prevented some inconvenience by ensuring before the lessons starts that all the computers were working well although this might turn out to be a mammoth task.

• Students were being disruptive and making unnecessary noise - This is an issue related to classroom management and is made more complicated with the introduction of computers. Naturally, some students would be quite tech-savvy and be able to operate a computer on their own. These students could potentially get distracted by surfing the Internet on their own during class and not sticking to the tasks as directed by the teacher. Also, students that do not own a computer might be overwhelmed by unfamiliarity. Competing for the teacher's attention will inevitably disrupt the lesson and cause excessive noise.

• Punctuality - This might be a problem because students would be coming to the computer lab from their classrooms and during the journey to and fro the computer lab, there will most probably be no teacher supervision.

• Lack of time - Generally, and IT infused lesson would require a longer time as students need to be briefed on the instructions and most of the time, they also need to finish the intended tasks during the class itself as it might not be possible to continue the work at home.

• Lack of a "plan B" - Mrs Xing is obviously not very experienced in conducting an IT infused lesson. She did not have a back up plan in case undesirable scenarios cropped up and she also failed to foresee potential probelms that she might encounter. However, to be fair to her, it is certainly not easy to plan and conduct such lessons and she should be applauded for trying it out in the first place. She could have asked for advice from her collegues who have tried such lessons before and ask for tips or advice. She could have also requested for IT technicians to assist her. It certainly must have been quite frustrating for her to try to solve all the problems that were cropping up while trying to keep on track for the lesson.

• Uncooperative class - This is something perhaps all teachers dread. Students might have not been given regular access to the computer lab and when they finally get to enjoy the air-con, comfortable seats and tempting Internet connection on the computers, some might be less interested in cooperating with the teacher who is already having a hard time conducting the lesson.

• Lack of knowledge or expertise in IT - This is perhaps the most common yet unavoidable problem that teachers face. Most teachers might be very good at the subjects they teach like English, Math or Geography, but many would not have received adequate training in IT. This problem is further complicated by the fact that different schools might have set up different systems and a teacher who knows how to operate the system in a computer lab might have to relearn when he is posted to a new school. Plus the fact that schools rarely conduct IT lessons for their staff, the teacher is pretty much on his own.