Today I learn, Today I question.(Week 3)

It is so wonderful that every time after we attended Madam Ng’s lesson, we always gain new knowledge about internet resources. This week we learn about online games and online learning. Even though the games are mainly for science students and are in English version, not so convenient for me to apply in my history and Chinese lessons, they are so inspiring. It may not be useful now, but I am exposed to the knowledge that I never know, therefore I have a brighter and wider horizon to explore what I could do in future.

Week 3, Madam Ng gave us an online activity, an online chatting on “Spectrum”. It was interesting. But when the chatting was going on, I found that my “second world war” computer cannot function properly. It could not cope with the advance in technology. I have to “refresh” every now and then so that I can see what others were writing.  After typing, and than send, I found that I was always left behind, unable to catch up with the discussion of the group.  I think it is time for me to upgrade my net book. Add some new memory or use a SSD perhaps. I do not want to be left behind in the same chatting in class anymore.

From the chatting, we know that many of us are not so sure about how to make good use of wikispace and webnode. We really appreciate Yee Hui and sailor who make the effort to share with us their experience how they design the website for teaching and learning next week.  Beside looking forward for their sharing, I am anticipating how Mdm Ng enlighten us about more uses of youtube beside download video, how to make it a tool for teaching and learning. That is an exposure for me which I am looking forward to.

During the chatting we were also discussing how we could make Power Point Presentation interactive.  That question keep me wondering because I know how power point presentation could attract attention of the students, but could it be a tool that let instructor and audients interact with each others?  I usually ask questions to the students during presentation, not only to get constant feedback from them, but also to get their attention so that they do not fell asleep. We could make attractive design for the power point presentation, but the important thing is the content.  The purpose to design teaching tool is for students to see more clearly and understand our lessons. If we stray from the objective, adding too much tricks or animation in the design which do not help students to understand the lessons could cause distraction to their studies. Then the technologies we use do not achieve the purpose and we fail in our teaching.

It is challenging to attend Madam Ng’s classes. We do not know what kind of activities she will give us and what topic to discuss. But we know that after the activities, we can learn something new.  Learning in her computer lab is never boring. But honestly, I am still tension about the assignment given online, because I do not know whether I can still handle the assignment every week online or not. But I will try my best to cover all the homework.  

Kong Joo was the first one who made his presentation. He had done good preparation. With the help of video clip and music, we enjoyed his talk and presentation. We have a whole picture about the history and development of the internet in teaching & learning .Well done, Kong Joo.