Session 2- Engaged Learning

K: What I already KNOW.
Yet another pedagogical term.

It allows students to take responsibility & ownership of their own learning. In contrast to traditional teacher-centered learning where it's all chalk & talk, we can now expect higher invovlement & self-initiated thinking from most, if not ideally, ALL of the students. Hopefully, this will allow students to be more empowered in their pursuit of knowledge.

It usually takes a whole load of planning on the teacher's part, especially in the preparation of the resources, organization to the execution of the lessons. Hence, time may be a constraint in many schools.

The success of the lesson also largely depend on the various students profile, ranging from the different learning styles, motivation, attention span, co-operation etc.

L: What I have LEARNT.
Today's lesson is a fine example of how an Engaged-learning lesson plan may progressively unfolds. Students were kept on their toes all the time, acitivites ranges from individual work to that of collaboration. It allows opportunities for group-sharing as well as time for personal reflection.
In addition, dimensions & indicators of engaged learning were also introduced.

W: What I WANT to learn.
The various ICT strategies that may be employed. I would think that initiatives that can successfully leverage on students' interest may prove to be more effective in meeting the objectives. Perhaps online games that set off students on investigative tasks?

Q: What QUESTIONS I still have.
How do one gauge if students are actually engaged?

Seriously I think it's quite subjective. In any case, how are we to judge that the traditional one-way teaching methods are not sufficently engaging?
An important factor in engaged learning is that of the child's mental processes. I swear I was stressfully engaged between notes-scribbling, following the lectures & fear of being called upon by the teacher. (Of course, there are also times which I simply switch off as I master the art of goldfish sleeping.)

Session 1- ICT & MasterPlan 2

K: What I already Know

It's hard to define what I already know. There are new intiatives & changes taking place everyday in our life that most of the times, I just take them for granted. ICT is not something strange & unfamiliar, proabably just a new fuzzy packaging name that goes "Information and Communications Technologies for Engaged Learning"... Lo and behold! A whole new teaching concept has dawned on us all. A little daunting for some, its quite a mouthful of words I must say, but truth to be told, it's simply a matter of time.

It started with the good old trusty OHP & transparency, coupled with multimedia materials from then CDIS, moving on to Powerpoint presentation with cool animations. And before we know it, students today are loaded with internet research, video-making, web design, webcasts ... yadda yadda.. and trust me, the students know a whole lot more about ICT than the teachers going through this course. What an irony.

In the 6months stint I have in my contract school, teachers are 'volunteered' on ICT courses while departments have to come up with lessons plans that include at least 2 ICT lessons. Almost all schools have their own intranet where teachers share their resources and students are able to download learning materials. Other ICT intiatives include forums, wiki, podcasts & blogs which provide alternative platforms for peer-learning. Most of the time it seems to me that it's the teachers who are having a hard time coping than the institution is concerned with students being engaged.

I can't help but wonder, are teachers going through ICT courses to teach the kids, or to be taught the new language the kids are conversing in today?

W: What I Want to learn

1) It's all nice & easy for academic teachers to encompass ICT in their teaching. What about PE teachers? Being out in the field 80% of the time, I find it a little challenging to encompass ICT in lessons. Besides wet weather programs & perhaps video-shoot, I hope to find out more ICT skills relevant to my teaching field.

2) I've seen the practical use of wiki, blogs, forums & podcasts in our classrooms today. Now I'm excited to explore the possible uses of Wii, 2nd Life, PSP in our teaching too. Cool~

Q: What Questions I still have

Students are inevitable engaged when they are having FUN & we can successfully tapped into their interests. Even teachers enjoy teaching better when kids enjoy themselves. But I can't help but wonder if learning has indeed taken place, and if yes, to what extent have they being internalized? It's one thing to be engaged but another to have actually learnt anything.

L: What I Learnt

This being the 1st lesson, I've learnt...
1) ahem- the various tasty habits of my potential heads & colleagues.
2) The prevalence of ICT in education
3) Master Plan 2 -which is in summary, the use of ICT for the empowerment of teachers in their teaching vs the individualised learning of the students.

My words.

Right, so I'm 'obliged' to start a new blog.

I'm not used to blogging with an audience in mind, and it doesn't help that this time, I know it's my lecturer & collegues who are reading. Well well, doesn't that makes the whole reflection a little forced & 'superfical' in nature? Oops!

"I better mind what I say before I get marked down!"

Hmm... I guess the intention is to provide a platform for engaged learning & ultimately gain deeper insights from one another. But I guess we can only harness the full benefits if everybody blog with an open & constructive mind.

(I don't happen to be the most politically correct student or teacher for the matter.)

But hey! You never know till you try..
so here I go in making my first educational blogpost =)