Sunday, February 22, 2009
Gaming (II)
Trauma Centre is a good game to create self-awareness of stability of hand movements and how sympathetic one feels for the patient. These 2 characteristics may be useful for career decisions based on knowing one's strengths, and also creates awareness for further development of one's potential.
While playing Wii-sports, the balancing game required some form of estimation of weight shifting and I feel this skill will be useful in life; to be aware of one's surroundings and adjust accordingly.
The article on 'what types of games are appropriate for classrooms' opened my eyes to the vast genre of games available in the market nowadays. Indeed, it will be essential to evaluate what we'll be giving our students to play in future. Games under the genre of 'real time strategy' are useful to promote critical thinking while in my opinion, fighting games serve very little value in classroom context. I feel it's always good to collaborate with other teachers in assessing the type of game to be introduced, especially as a department. However, my concern is: will we actually have sufficient time to let students play and learn at the same time? Recalling my life as a student, I can only remember teachers rushing through the syllabus to complete it on time.. even though theirs was the traditional chalk-and-talk method! So if we, as the "new generation" of teachers were to introduce gaming.. will it be possible? I guess this is also in conjunction with the "Teach less, Learn more" movement, but I feel more flexibility should be incorporated first to make it successful.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Edutainment
In Ed Psych, we were asked to give our views on whether learning needed to always be 'fun' in order to engage the unmotivated students. I guess to a certain extent, there's an overlap with that question and what we've learnt in ICT. Gaming is a classic example of 'fun' learning.. students will be more than happy to chuck their papers and pens aside to learn in a new way!
Last friday, I played Trauma Centre (Wii) and some Flash games online. The first game was really interesting! It taught me collaboration (with my fellow 'surgeon'), time management and to care for the virtual patient. The flash game taught me to think and react quickly.. basically, we played some math game and it served to reinforce what we already know.
So in summary, contrary to what the general public thinks about gaming; that they're strictly "bad" cos it's addictive (steals time away from the books), I actually realize the "good" side of it! Through gaming, we can learn social skills like cooperation.. improve our pyschomotor skills, and trains the mind to react quickly to ever-changing situations. I feel the last point is very relevant to our daily life. It isn't anything academically beneficial, but is a lifeskill that we should pick up to survive in this fast-paced world! Well, of course, we have to choose wisely the games we play in order to reap its benefits! :)
Monday, February 9, 2009
Face-to-face Implementation Issues
1) Physical Settings in Schools
1. Insufficient number of computers
2. Students are blocked from teacher’s view by computer monitors. Hence, they are unable to keep up with the teacher’s demonstration on the projector screen and tend to do their own stuff online. E.g.: check e-mail, surf the web and play online games.
Possible Solutions
1. Students can form groups of 3-4 and share a computer. In order to ensure everyone is involved in the activity, various roles (e.g.: group leader, data recorder, time-keeper) can be assigned to each member.
2. During the instructional period, students can move their seats away from their computers to promote eye contact and listening. Teachers can place themselves at strategic positions so that they can monitor each student’s activities (with-it-ness), as well as, is aware of other events happening in the computer room (overlapping).
2) Nature of the Learning Activity
1. Learning is not progressive and students are left confused.
2. Transition from one activity to another and keeping the students on task.
Possible Solutions
1. Teachers can state clearly the objectives and tasks of the lesson before commencing. Students should be instructed to start off with the same activity so that they can follow the teacher’s demonstration for better understanding.
2. Before the lesson, students are briefed on the lesson activities and the movement from one station to another. Worksheets can be given to ensure that students are engaged in the station tasks and complete them.
3) Time Management
1. Teachers are unable to complete the lesson planned due to issues like classroom management or unexpected technical breakdowns.
Possible Solutions
1. To keep students task-orientated, teachers can provide constant time-checks at various points.
2. Teachers should plan a realistic number of activities to be completed within the stipulated lesson time.
3. A Technical Assistant can be present in the room at all times so as to solve any unanticipated technical problems.
4. Rules and procedures should be established and teachers can demonstrate “with-it-ness” and “overlapping” strategies to ensure students are kept on task and able to complete on time.
4) Student and Teacher ICT literacy
1. Students who are less efficient with computers may have problems following the lesson and this hinders their learning.
2. Teachers who are less familiar with technology may not be able to execute a lesson effectively and efficiently for optimal learning.
Possible Solutions
1. Teachers can model the process and create step-by-step instructional worksheets so that students are able to follow. A Q&A session can be held before students begin the activity; this allows them to clarify all doubts.
2. Teachers may undergo workshops or learn from colleagues the necessary ICT skills required for the lesson. The activities planned can be rehearsed once to promote smooth transition throughout the lesson.
3. A technical assistant can be present during lesson time to clear any technical doubt and this reduces time wastage. Peer-to-peer teaching of simple technical problems can be encouraged.
1) Cyberbullying
1. During online discussions, students may send offensive and rude messages in order to be ‘heard’ or communicate their point across.
2. A student being ‘excluded’ from collaborative work online.
3. In the process of information exchange, a negligent student may accidentally open e-mails, links or messages containing undesirable messages that are aimed at a personal attack.
Possible Solutions
1. Educate students on “Netiquette”- etiquette on the Internet. They should not do things to annoy or frustrate other internet users.
2. Educate students on safe and responsible internet use, as well as having respect for self and others.
3. Do not open any e-mails or messages from unknown senders and ignore online bullies.
2) Internet Pornography
1. While doing online research, students may come into contact with pornography through avenues such as forums, online advertisement/pop-ups, e-mails and file sharing.
Possible Solutions
1. Do not open e-mails from unknown senders or suspicious hyperlinks.
2. Switch web browser to “safe search” mode.
3. Install pop-up filters and blockers.
4. Educate students why pornography is wrong.
5. Keep computers in open, commonly used spaces so that parental monitoring is possible.
References
Lim, C. P., Pek, M. S. & Chai, S. C. (2005). Classroom management Issues on ICT mediated learning environments. Journal of Educational Multimedia & Hypermedia, 14(4), 391-414.
Websites:
http://www.cyberbullying.ca/
http://www3.moe.edu.sg/edumall/tl/cyberwellness.htm
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