I believe that this is actually the module we all have been looking forward to.We all had our share of teaching experience whether short or long, and we are looking forward to revive our teaching methods and learn to use new interactive teaching tools. In the first session we learned about Edmodo and created our accounts on it. We had a task to pick a blogging platform. Through this task we had to search the internet for pros and cons of a variety of platforms. I benefited the comparison and found about some new platforms. We chose blogger because of a previous experience on it, but we all found out that we haven't explored its full range of features. We discussed how the technology is just a tool that should serve a clear preset learning goal. We emphasized about the importance of parents orientation prior to using non traditional teaching tools so we can gain their support instead of facing their resistance. We also read about Learning management systems and how an LMS serves a different purpose than a blogging platform used as a teaching tool. I needed to confirm my impression about Moodle as a powerful LMS. Personally I had an experience in using it. I felt it was vast,powerful and full of features, but I felt overwhelmed by the time I needed to invest in it.
I liked the part you mentioned about parents' resistance or let's say panic before using an LMS. Everybody panics when it comes to something new. Therefore, orientation is the best solution and I guess constant follow up is also required, which helps overcome any difficulties they face in dealing with LMS.
The article named “Exploring technology to address students multiple intelligence and learning styles” was of particular interest to me. Classifying technological tools according to the different styles was a novel approach for me. The article discussed the properties of each learning style first then gave some recommended links for activities addressing this type of learners. Some of the links were great while others did not work well and I searched for other free applications that really helped me. I used this article to distribute the work among my colleague teachers where each of us took a task of addressing one learning style and mastering one tool and use it to prepare activities for the whole department. One teacher already used rhythms and created lyrics of her own to help her deliver the concepts to her class. She was really interested in the links that would help her generate tailored songs suitable for her learning goals in shorter time. Another teacher liked the applications creating crosswords and puzzles. We are looking forward to next week's meeting to pool our tasks together and get maximum benefit out of this article. Designing the activities targeting the different outcomes rather than learning styles is also a valid point to consider. Some concept require a certain approach like the practical ones, all learning styles must be exposed to this type of activity. Also one student can easily shift between different styles in one session.
i totally agree with you Anan, Differentiating our lesson plan to suit different learning styles is vital as it allow to each students to learn according to his own abilities, Also i do believe in the importance of using technology in the learning process especially that we can notice that most of our students are so interested in having the latest of technology , so they will be more involved and motivated,Actually Classifying technological tools according to the different styles looks like hunting two birds using one stone.
I too liked the article that introduced dofferent tools to use in the classroom. It reminded me of BLOOM's taxonomy 2.0 presentation that also contained a number of tools to use with students in class according to my targeted thinking skills.
I believe that this is actually the module we all have been looking forward to.We all had our share of teaching experience whether short or long, and we are looking forward to revive our teaching methods and learn to use new interactive teaching tools.
ReplyDeleteIn the first session we learned about Edmodo and created our accounts on it. We had a task to pick a blogging platform. Through this task we had to search the internet for pros and cons of a variety of platforms. I benefited the comparison and found about some new platforms. We chose blogger because of a previous experience on it, but we all found out that we haven't explored its full range of features. We discussed how the technology is just a tool that should serve a clear preset learning goal. We emphasized about the importance of parents orientation prior to using non traditional teaching tools so we can gain their support instead of facing their resistance.
We also read about Learning management systems and how an LMS serves a different purpose than a blogging platform used as a teaching tool. I needed to confirm my impression about Moodle as a powerful LMS. Personally I had an experience in using it. I felt it was vast,powerful and full of features, but I felt overwhelmed by the time I needed to invest in it.
I forgot in my comment about the LMS system, I think this time of technology will improve my performance in teaching.
ReplyDeleteI forgot in my comment about the LMS system, I think this time of technology will improve my performance in teaching.
ReplyDeleteI liked the part you mentioned about parents' resistance or let's say panic before using an LMS. Everybody panics when it comes to something new. Therefore, orientation is the best solution and I guess constant follow up is also required, which helps overcome any difficulties they face in dealing with LMS.
ReplyDeleteThe article named “Exploring technology to address students multiple intelligence and learning styles” was of particular interest to me. Classifying technological tools according to the different styles was a novel approach for me. The article discussed the properties of each learning style first then gave some recommended links for activities addressing this type of learners. Some of the links were great while others did not work well and I searched for other free applications that really helped me. I used this article to distribute the work among my colleague teachers where each of us took a task of addressing one learning style and mastering one tool and use it to prepare activities for the whole department. One teacher already used rhythms and created lyrics of her own to help her deliver the concepts to her class. She was really interested in the links that would help her generate tailored songs suitable for her learning goals in shorter time. Another teacher liked the applications creating crosswords and puzzles. We are looking forward to next week's meeting to pool our tasks together and get maximum benefit out of this article. Designing the activities targeting the different outcomes rather than learning styles is also a valid point to consider. Some concept require a certain approach like the practical ones, all learning styles must be exposed to this type of activity. Also one student can easily shift between different styles in one session.
ReplyDeletei totally agree with you Anan, Differentiating our lesson plan to suit different learning styles is vital as it allow to each students to learn according to his own abilities, Also i do believe in the importance of using technology in the learning process especially that we can notice that most of our students are so interested in having the latest of technology , so they will be more involved and motivated,Actually Classifying technological tools according to the different styles looks like hunting two birds using one stone.
ReplyDeleteI too liked the article that introduced dofferent tools to use in the classroom. It reminded me of BLOOM's taxonomy 2.0 presentation that also contained a number of tools to use with students in class according to my targeted thinking skills.
ReplyDelete