Week 11: FISHy but not Fishy

When Prof first started throw the the toy fishes to us, I taught the Prof was going to ask questions related to the topic to those who get the toy fishes (past experience). But, no. Prof was introducing one of the elements in the FISH Philosophy - Have fun.
I wondered why it was called FISH Philosophy and I had my question answered the moment I started reading the article the Prof gave us. This philosophy was used first by fishmongers successfully. It has 4 elements:

• Play
• Make Their Day
• Be There for Coworkers (This is more to do with giving your full attention to a task or individual.)
• Choose Your Attitude

In Wikipedia, it is stated that John Christensen observed the fishmongers in the Seattle Market with the four elements mentioned above and later turned into the film FISH! and a series books. Both were translated into 17 and 34 languages.
The article stated that this philosophy is widely used in the corporate world. And upon reading further, I discovered it can be and is used in school even though this is the first time I hear of it. Perhaps I have never heard of it before because the teachers hardly use it or use it only sub-consciously.
I believe this philosophy gives a more human touch to the teacher-student relationship and gives due respect students as well as teachers. When the students are respected, they would definitely feel important and it will promote their sense of industry.

Weeks 9, 10 & 11: Progress with the IWB assignment

As we explore this software more in depth, we began experience more problems and I realised how much there is for us to learn about it.
Some of the problems occurred because we used the older software in the laboratory and later found some features missing when we opened them with the newer version. Sometimes there were some smart technology files that could not be opened and we had to redo our project.
Another problem was that the pages in the software can extend as we us them however, in the end they shrink to fit the window, thus, the font and everything in the pages becomes small. This was a sort of restriction for me as I believe the if the pages could be extended the entire activity could be presented in one page. Therefore, there would be a continuation on it, rather than when it is presented in several pages, in seems like the activity has been broken into several parts.
Prof and the tutors' guide in the making was very much helpful. I had my project done with various backgrounds until Prof raised the question of the relation of the background to the topic taught.
The presentation by some of the groups helped me to rethink on what I have done. The use of this software in the topic we selected need careful consideration. Not all the Smart Board features can be used for all the topics to teach in classrooms. It was important to consider the suitability of the content. My topic was emotions and I often consulted MsChin to check if my activities were appropriate.
Moreover, the extension of the dateline gave us more time to refine and improvise. I must say thank you very much to Prof and the Tutors for it. All in all this assignment I had the opportunity to learn in depth of the use of Smart Board Technology. Even though we have been using Smart Board since the las three semesters, we did not get the knowledge of its usage in the classroom in depth like this. This assigment pushed me into learning more about what I taught is only a refined version of Microsoft PowerPoint.

Week 7 & 8: Exploring IWB

IWB sure seems a very useful tool to be used in the classroom. Initially, what I understood of using IWB was that it is just like a PowerPoint presentation, only the IWB has more interactive features. However, the more I explore it, the more I learn new things of it. The variety of activities that it has opens up so many options to be exploited.
For starters, children would just love the response they get when they participate in the activity. It would be 'magical' indeed for them. This feature can be a motivating factor for them. Since, the Board responds to their moves, the children would easily find it to be fun. When learning is fun, they naturally pay more attention.
This is indeed very important to a teacher. This is because young learners have a very short attention span. They can be easily distracted by endless factors in their environment. Therefore, the teacher definitely needs to come up with something that can get the pupils interested and get them engaged in the activity.
I believe the way is to get them curious. When their sense of curiosity is aroused, they would want to explore the activity and for that, they will pay attention to the activity.

Week 6: A Reflection and An Introduction

I was late for class this week (blame my poor health). But, the good thing was that I did not miss out anything important as the class was just beginning. Sigh! Prof started off with a reflection of our Assignment 2, which was the video project. Through the discussion she introduceed the seven softskills that we would be assessed upon. I must say this discussion gave us space to rethinnk of what we came up with. The video clip was produced under great amounts of stress and tension as we are still learning the lot regarding technology. As such, we did not stop much to reflect upon our actions. I realised the lacking in my 'Suggested Activities' for my video clip when Prof pointed out that some did not provide elaborate explanations. Well... I'm sure to bear that mind during the future assignments.
Then, we were given some explanation of our next assignment. Then, we downloaded the smartboard software. This marks the kick-off of our next assignment!!! Working in the same groups, we firsrtly decided on the topics that we are going to be working on in order to avoid confusions and clashing fo topics within the same group. Next, we drew a rough timeline of our project, to line out what is to be done when. This we hope would help us work systematically towards producing a quality-work.
Hence, we are exploring the smartboard technology bit by bit, as we did not have much experience in utilizing it to the max.

Week 5: Intelligence in Boards

A class 40 students. 1 teacher. What the teacher needs here? Cane? No. Microphone? No. Another teacher? Not exactly. What she needs is creativity to run the class. As the co-founder of Sony Productions, Akio Morita said we all have creativity, but very few know how to use it. Yes, we teachers just have to locate the creative part of our selves to make the best for our students. And creativity is not very hard to be found anymore as we are aided with so many technological gadgets, the latest Smartboard technology.

A board. A board that is smart. Intelligence embedded in a board. What more can we ask for?

A board tha t can remember (record) for you. A board that can do everything to make your class interactive. This is definitely a good bargain for a teacher who wishes for an assisstant. This board strikes as an assintant to me. An electrical assisstant. (glad it doesn't look like robots, I hate them).

But, the most important thing is for we as teachers to know how to make it smart. I mean its like a pair of scissors that own. Its great someone invented scissors (its still technology ok) but we have to be creative in using them; in cutting creative shapes using the scissors. Otherwise, its just a pair scissors. So, the board is going to be smart only as we make it to be.

So, this new assignment sounds absolutely demanding in we as teachers making use of this board smartly. And no canes involved (You can't beat up the board and tell it to be creative, can you?). Hmm...

The first activity that we produceed was not very creative, I should admit. As we haven't learn tp play with this technology yet. With some time I'm sure we will be smart teachers making use of Smartboards in interactive classroom activities.

Week 4: The Progression

This week my group has been busier than bees (for sure as bees never met technology right?) putting together our ideas into videos. It has been a difficult task especially because we had never really explored this side of technology that much. Though some us had some video editing experience, it was merely for fun. When it comes as an assignment, it sounds much more complicated.
I made a mistake by using the most basic programme available; The Windows Movie Maker. I realized it does not only lacks choices but also functions. However, I came to know of this only as I was almost finishing my video project in the latter. As I consulted Miss Ng and Mr Fairuz my friends I realized that I would do us much good if we changed the programme we used. They suggested Ulead and Power Director.
Thus, we started haunting Digital Mall and upon finding Power Director, I seeked th guidance of those who are pro in using this software. Its a shame we had to start over but at least we now know of the difference between those two softwares. It did take some time for me to explore and learn how to use this software for my project but in the end I manage to redo my entire project and sigh with relief as it is definitely better than the previous one. Moral of the story: Consult the professional before starting a project!

Week 3: Structuring Creativity

Creativity is a very subjective matter. Sometimes it can just happen. But what makes it successful is proper structuring. Take for instance J.K.Rowling. She claims that the idea for Harry Potter occured to her in her train journey from Manchester to London and by the time she reached King's Cross, many of the characters had taken shape. Yet, a careful organisation of her ideas for the next five years produced the world's best selling series. I do not know how Rowling organised her ideas but, for us, I have learnt this week that there are Instructional Design Models to help; the ADDIE model which serves as a base for all others, the ASSURE model which is among the latest and the Dick and Carey model which is based on the behaviorist view.

Now, I undestand how as a teacher I can minimize the flaws that most probably would occur in the instructions that I design. ADDIE appears to be the simplest of the three models with five steps; analyze, design, develop. implement and evaluate. Understanding ADDIE does help in understanding the other models.






The ASSURE model which anchored in Gagne's Events of Instruction and highlights contructivism has six stages. What sets it apart from the ADDIE model is the significant fifth stage in which learner participation is required. I can see that this model gives more importance to the process learning rather teaching, thus, the learner needs are considered in every stage.

Finally, the Dick and Carey Model. It sounds much more complicated than th eprevious two though its base is the simple behaviourist theory. The tens stages involved would suggest its complexity easily. In this model, though importance is given to the leaner, what I see is mostly about teaching. The responsibility and choice are laid on the teacher. The teacher seems to act as the ultimate decisin-maker.

I must say here that I do prefer the ASSURE model as it gives more significance to the learner. As a teacher, I would give the choice in te hands of the students and design the instruction based on their needs and interest.