Learning Focus
This lesson is the gateway to a new way of looking at teaching and learning.
- It invites you to become a reflective, questioning educator who thinks deeply about your own learning experiences.
- It encourages you to share ideas with other teachers.
- It calls into question traditional notions of learning as school-based, teacher-centred and highly structured.
Lesson Activities
Hi colleagues, this is a nice experience, I enjoy finding a way through technology. It is not easy though, at times I find it challenging to go back to what I have done previously. I believe that I need to dedicate more time on using these sites and trying to integrate them in my everyday teaching and learning experiences. I wish I could remember everything when I’m on my own and surprise our tutors by posting and visiting the site almost anytime, as they are determined to help us develop all the expertise. I find Mindmeister so interesting as I was totally unable to make a mind map using technology
It was not easy for me, i think i was more afraid of failure based on my previous experince with the last online course. The orientation and reflections during the workshop assisted in making me feel at ease. I will now push away my fears and my anxiety and push and learn new skills that will enrich my teaching and my personal development. Other colleagues will surely benefit from the skills I continually learn from this course.
Integrating technology in the learning space is very interesting as the resources that are used require a specific skill and expertise.
Integrating technology into the learning space is really interesting especially when the resources require a particular skill and expertise.
It has generally been an awakener for me. Am truly coming to realize that indeed technology is here for me. My thinking is totally changing from the traditional thinking that HOW WAS IT FOR ME was history till I have eventually made an up date. This reason for me to conclude that much more curiosity with APPS in technology will take us anywhere / anytime.
The fact is at first i was proud to be a student on line but when time went on I felt that the course was expensive because I had to buy smart phone to keep me updated every time in addition to data buddles. But I thank God am now improving on both knowledge and standard of living. So still proud
At the beginning of course 1,the trends wasn’t easy as many ideas introduced almost at the same time. The terms used look familiar but the context seems new. Thank God we still together and progressing.
the need to have an active email,internalise course content,join social networks,create blogs and post,navibate the net etc,etc,etc other job and personal commitments not withstanding was not easy little wonder therefore many seemed to have fallen off the way.hopefully there is hope i will have to adjust forcebly
Course 1 was very challenging in the begining since it required to commit oneself to more tasks with time however the ground seemed to level
I did experienced the same as you. The course was so demanding with lot of information introduce here and there not forgetting the terminologies used.
At the beginning of the course, I was a beginner in computer and therefore everything was strenge and so challenging but as time went by, things turned to be so interesting and educative as we had to visit different sites to research for information.Another challenge was to balance school activities and the CCTIonline course. I am glad to have moved to another level compared to when I began.
Before the first orientation, I thought I knew the computer.
but when we begun the course,
it was like i had never had any skill in computer at all.
But as time went on, it became interesting and i loved it the more.
I was like I was in a tour
kept on adventuring, which is part of ma hobby.
It was not easy for me to start. Even after the orientation work shop, things seemed so abstract but the most important thing for me to do was to get organised and push away all the fears. I also has to stop the habit of waiting for people to tell me which button to press . Learning the hard way, I think is the sweetest experience. we should do a lot of discovery learning.
Honestly since this was my first time to engage in the online studies , it was not the best experience. because balancing teaching with learning was one of the thing i had ever thought of . but eventually i had to move on. again in the course of the studies, the issue of data bundles entered. It was really very expensive to buy bundles day by day. all in all, every thing has its cost there is nothing you can get on a silver plate. we have to endure so as we get the best.
I saw it being the best approach.
keeping on trying till you discover something
The course initially looked like a nightmare.you would get to a computer and you simply get mixed up but the beauty of it all was that collaboration indeed became a necessary evil to cope with situations.However we have to continuously become keen and aggressive in making a positive change in our learning outcomes
It was a real hurdle with the almost no skills in computer knowledge, the course did not come on a silver platter! it was hard to interpret instructions ,opening the accounts in social and web sites! No internet and when it was their, it was not stable and other commitments did not help it at all. One had to work only in the institution’s computer lab due to lack a modem.
Margaret, I totally agree with you!I cannot agree with you more, Prossy! there is always something new, a hurdle to jump , a falling and rising again! This experience has taught me to always keep abreast with new innovative practices in learning. The school visit indicated that anything is possible even when it means digitizing learning to say the least! the biggest challenges still remain: teacher training, expensive internet, and expensive devices. and the methodologies that go with these —-focusing on the learner!
I like the determination which is inline with the old saying that when the going get tough, then the tough get going.
Its very true that the reality is not what we expect sometimes. I had thought the course was going to be only a few weeks and at most maybe a couple of months. So the reality of two years was a shock.I also had misgivings whether I could manage but thank God it has been possible. I thought Module 2 would be a walkover but it seems we still have so much to learn!! Let’s encourage each other and keep going.
so do i!
Thanx for the encourgement especially when things seem not to be going on as expected you are there to push us on lets strive regardless
It sure was not easy as l had thought. Having had prior knowledge of how to use word processor and downloading stuff from the social networks, l did not expect to meet challenges in the course. At times l would even think that l would not get over a particular hurdle but thanks to the most committed tutor and colleagues, l overcame all hurdles and hope to continue doing so.
This is a great learning experience for me in ICT integration with technology which will boost my competencies in integration process. and this knowledge is essential during the teaching learning process
Whenever i would hear the phrase “integrating technology in the classroom” I would feel that for it to be effective all learners would have tools/equipment. However, when I was navigating the web, I came across this link which I feel we can all benefit from. We are in technology-equipment-scarce educational institutions, so this link may improve on our perceptions of this interesting element for improving our students’ learning. The link is http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alisa-berger/technology-classroom-without-gadgets_b_5324611.html. All the best as we progress in this course.
Thanks Jacqueline. We need to be cautious the way we approach technology integration. Otherwise we end up with the proverbial ‘new wine in old bottles’.
Thanks Jacqueline. This will be very helpful.
I guess I am enjoying all this and believe I will greatly benefit from the experience. I am learning more and more that many institutions that hype about ICT are actually not integrating it into education. All they are doing is using ICT but largely keeping the old traditional ways of teaching and learning. Yes there is an evolution of the use of ICT in education, but far from any realization of a revolution. ICTs should be used in quite innovative and different ways if we are to talk about actual revolution.
I know the going can be quite hard, but from that seemingly hard journey I usually get to a ‘profitable destination’ in terms of learning.
Indeed Emmanuel some schools are just digitising the traditional methods and call that integrating technology in learning. Nevertheless ,I think that’s a step forward and they are better than those not using it at all!!
True Prossy, a child can not be born and then walks straight away. He has to sit, crawl and then walk.So the most important thing is to respond positively to the constructive and positive comments given for improvement.
I like the anology Esther, a child has to learn to crawl,walk and even run. However, some children never walk at all. Therefore we have to be committed to this course of integrating technology in teaching by learning to crawl (knowledge literacy), walking (knowledge deepening) and running (knowledge creation).
Hello members it sure was not easy, sometimes I could get to a lesson and did not know what to do such that I had to wait to meet with my group members for help, but with time I realized I had to try my best and do some things my self.
I had to relate processes we went through to complete a lesson just like Sylvia Bahinga at the beginning of her English lessons she noticed that some words in English and French were almost the same and used that relationship to get the meaning of the English words.
I think its good to let students find out some facts on their own, forexample when am teaching ICT to my A level students I tell them to underline the new terms such that they find out the meaning on their own using search engines.
Its true teachers need not be the centre of learning we should involve our students by leting them research and find out some facts by themselvs they can learn even much better.
I agree with you Rehema. I have discovered that my students learn a lot better when I place them into groups and give them a task to do. When they get back to discuss their discoveries in Class, You cannot believe the quality of the work they can present. If anything it is the best way of learning because they cannot forget what they have worked on.
At the beginning of the course things seem to be very unclear and I felt I needed a lot of help from my tutor. I kept asking several questions on certain things and one of the replies I got from my tutor was that he could not help because he was not seeing exactly what I was doing. This put me into task to figure out things by myself and later communicated my success to him. What I have learnt from this is that, use of technology enforces students to think harder to discover more things on their own and this creates deeper learning of the content as well as the urge of sharing new things we have come up with.
I also came to realize that the role of the teacher in the teaching learning process with technology is to facilitate, guide and encourage.
Hallo Esther, I also realized there was a limit to what the tutor could help us do. However the advantage in that is that when we couldn’t access him we were forced to look for solutions on our own. Iam sure I wouldn’t have learn;t so much if I could see the teacher anytime and ask for help.
Yes Prossy, The best way to learn is hands on. The tutor can help guide you but if you are to learn it requires self drive and practicing with the computer yourself.