Group 2A5 Activity 10 

Social media as a professional development resource

I have learnt quite a lot from going through this activity.  The idea of using social media for learning and teaching is relatively new, but it is rapidly growing; in fact, it has been described as a revolutionary way to learn.  Previously, learning in the workplace was done mainly through training initiative organized on the job site; but with social networking, the principle of workplace learning is not just restricted to learning at the workplace but indicates that it is social and informal and can happen anywhere and at any time. Further, it happens everyday; it is not structured and is continuous providing a powerful means by which people can connect, share, collaborate and learn at or off the workplace.  The interaction can be local or across the globe and is a useful method of promoting continuous learning and performance improvement in the workplace and thus helping us to become smart workers.

The use of social networking for teaching and learning is not widespread in my country, although it has been catching on.  The Ministry of Education has been providing training and this has been one aspect of the training.  From this though, I am seeing that the island wide ban on cell phones in schools will have to be lifted to allow for their use as a tool in teaching and learning with social media.

I however feel that there are so many different types of social networking, that educators will need to choose which ones will best help them to be smart workers. 

Group 1B4 Activity 7- Staff Development

Another activity completed!! Great!! Again this was a tremendous learning opportunity for me.
 

This activity was very informative.  The literature provided information of the importance of ICT integration in changing the landscape of teaching.  It reiterates and emphasizes that teachers must be willing to change the style of teaching from the humdrum traditional chalk and talk lecture method but the more dynamic learner oriented pedagogy that will be more accommodating of the different learning styles found in any class.  

I especially liked the fact that we were told of past experiences that we could learn from so that in the effort to integrate ICT into teaching and learning, we do not make the same mistakes.  Additionally, the literature included guiding principles that could be followed.  Consequently, we have a base from which to launch our ICT integration efforts and thus we do not have to reinvent the wheel of ICT integration.

I also liked the idea of sharing our presentation because it helped me to see whether or not, I am interpreting the literature in the same way that others are doing and also to determine what is taking place in ICT integration in schools in my country.

1B4 Assignment 2

A tough assignment to say the least! It was however, very useful because it made us look at the stage of ICT integration in our schools.  As a result of this, I believe that we are able to see that there is a great deal to be done regarding the integration of ICT into teaching and learning across the curriculum. It should have made us aware that whatever we have to do needs to be done sooner rather than later or we will find ourselves lagging behind and that digital divide that we are seeking to narrow will again start to widen.  The training session done is almost like dust on a scale; there is so much more to do!  However, completing this assignment should be a motivating factor that will further propel us into more action and develop in us a greater passion for ICT in teaching and learning across the curriculum.

2A5 Activity 9


This activity has broadened my perspective regarding information on the Net.  Caution and careful evaluation are the key elements, especially when looking for information and activities to use in a school setting.  It is also necessary for us, as educators to help our students to understand that although the internet is a vast storehouse of very good and useful information, there are some sites that are hoaxes.  We therefore have to teach students how to check to see if the information that they are getting from the web is authentic.


Completing the assignment also revealed to me that there are lots of resources for teachers and learners and even parents that can be used to enhance teaching and learning and student performance. 

Group 2A5 Activity 8 Lesson_Plan_Draft

The principal of 'just in time learning' is one that I learnt from doing this activity.  I believe that it makes a lot of sense to teach whatever skills in the context in which it will be used.  As was shown, this is the same for learning to teach with ICT.

I learnt a lot from having to produce a lesson plan with this principle in mind.  I also believe the idea of sharing our plans is an excellent one as it allows us to collaborate and learn from each other.  I found the lesson plans to be quite interesting, but I was most impressed with Bernard Richardson's and Shelly Galloway's plans.

What was especially appealing to me about this activity was the requirement to integrate aspects of ICT (spreadsheets) into our lesson. It forced us not only to think of ways that this could be done, but also how to teach the skills in context.  I also appreciate the fact that I was required to use a tool that I had previously not used very often and also felt that it was too difficult for me to learn; so what I did was use WORD for everything, as that is one of the two programs that I was most efficient and comfortable with.