Reflection
Since
18th July of 2008, Bhutan has been pronounced as a GNH driven country where we
have the privilege to educate ourselves without having to pay a penny besides
other aspects .Under the leadership of successive monarchs , Today almost 90%
of our citizens have been entitled to
free education and has given access to various international assistance.
As
addressed by his majesty, "climb higher on the shoulders of past
achievements- your task is not the fill the old shoes or follow a well trodden
path, but to forge a new road leading towards a brighter future." So, as a
responsible citizen, I personally feel the paramount importance to be given in
the field of information and communication technologies (ICT) in order to enhance and shape a
effective future to the coming generations.
Having
the liberty to learn and teach, I have come to a conclusion where ICT has taken
massive troll on individuals overall understanding. It is vital for educators
to use computing methods and techniques while teaching that will enable the learners
to use their knowledge more efficiently. In this computerized era of 21st
century, majority of the task is done with the use of computer or technology
and it has become a necessity. Learners
are advantaged with various methods of teachings with the use of video effects such as slide
shows, motion graphics and info-graphics.
This
paper describes and analyzes on different types of information and communication
technologies (ICT) used in engaging
students in better learning.
The five types of ICT tools discussed are informative, situating, constructive, communicative
tools and
co-constructive tools.
From
the first session, I could understand the core meaning of information and
communication technologies which is a collection of technological tools and
resources. ICT is used to communicate, design, develop and manage information's.
Examples of ICT in teaching and learning is about enhancing teaching and
learning process, motivates students, and helps to achieve the lesson
objectives.
The
importance, advantages and the disadvantages while integrating ICT in the
classroom are, the creativity and motivation of the teacher plays a crucial
role in enhancing better teaching and learning process. We must make use of
this skill set to educate students on how and when to use the ICT for learning advancement.
The IMPORTANCE/VALUE of using ICT in the classroom includes;
1.
Development of practical and presentation skills
2.
Helps both the teacher
and the learner in knowledge comprehension.
3.
Provides opportunities
for teacher and students to operate, store, manipulate, and retrieve
information.
4.
Communication;
relationship and extraction of information.
5.
Gains more knowledge.
The BENEFITS of using ICT in the classroom include;
1.
Gives a break from
monotonous classroom.
2.
Interactive class to
improve students’ concentration and attendance.
3.
Encourages slow
learners with the online resources.
4.
Teacher can help
students with their doubts online.
5.
Students can improve
knowledge retention for longer period of time.
Paradigm
shift explains that the educational experiences provided today must prepare
students for the future. It is important to have a change in paradigm in the
process of teaching and learning for a better change. For decades, our country
has been trained to traditional pedagogy approach in teaching and learning. The
teacher lectures and the knowledge are transmitted from teacher to the learners.
Traditional pedagogy ICT takes vital roles in education where students can work
online and independently. ICT has brought change and made the nature of work
easier.
The
shift from teaching to learning will help the student become self-regulated
learners. Self-regulated learners are those who are aware of their own
knowledge, understanding, knows best of what to do and what not to do. It
develops communication and early literacy skills and allows a child to
collaborate which helps them develop moral skills. This develops social
interaction with friends while working in a team.
(Digital native and Digital immigrants)
We
learnt about the reason why we use technology in our classroom and one of the
prominent advantages of using technology is that it motivates learner in
learning in the sense it makes the class
more interesting and the learning takes place efficiently. With the use of ICT
tools, students are fully engaged in their learning process and they perform
their given tasks in a collaborative
manner. Use of technology in our classroom also improves knowledge retention
where students can keep the information that they gained for a longer period of time. It also encourages
individual learning and students can learn using life skills through
technology.
We
also learned on the topic of digital
native and digital immigrants. Digital native is when students from kindergarten to colleges are grown up with the
technologies. People who have much familiar using computers, videogames, and
digital music players, cell phones and other digital tools age falls under
digital native. Digital immigrants are
peoples who born without much knowledge of technologies but they learn
technologies later in life. By learning this two topics on digital native and
digital immigrants, I understood that digital natives receive the information
very fast at the very young age and they have gained lots of knowledge on the
usage of technology. As they are brought up with the technology, they become
more knowledgeable and life for them becomes much easier. For the digital
immigrants, since they learn technologies later in life, I think it will be
challenging for them with the usage of technologies and they won’t learn the
same way as the digital native students do.
Their ways of learning and the way they believe in
the technologies will be different as they are not grown up with the
technologies.
Different learning styles
We
discussed on different learning styles. Visual Auditory Kinesthetic (VAK) style
helps us design learning methods and experiences that match people’s
preferences. Every person’s learning style is different and unique. It can be
either or combination of auditory, visual, and kinesthetic in terms of way he
or she learns the best. There is no style that teaches all the best. It depends
on the individual. Students tend to learn more by hearing, seeing or moving
information as a part of processing it. We prefer it in our way to learn and
understand. While learning, individual differences prevail. This is why it is
important for a teacher to apply different styles of teaching in our daily life
as a teacher. Different ways of learning depends on the background knowledge,
environment and their understanding level.
A
primary teacher in making must focus on kinesthetic and visual ways of teaching
and learning in order to gain their attention and to keep them preoccupied.
Kids are always interested in kinesthetic activities where they need to make
use of their gross motor skills. A certain interval is must for the kids in
order to keep them interested in the class activity. A different learning style
develops different skills, such as, social interactions, improves thinking
skills and becomes expressive. Right style must be used for the right learner
and that would help them learn and understand drastically. Auditory learners
learns the best through listening, visual learners learns the best through
teacher’s body language, gestures and facial expressions to understand the
lesson, and Kinesthetic learners learns the best through games and activities,
where there is bodily movements. This is the reason why a teacher needs to
include all the styles while teaching for the learning to take place.
