Using blog as a communicative tool

Blog is an online journal or information website displaying information in the reverse chronological order. It is a platform where a writer or even a group of writers share their views on an individual subject.

We used blog for reflecting our understanding on five ICT tools. This became communicative tool between the tutor and the blogger. I must say that the use of blog is very beneficial especially for reflection. As I maintain my reflection in blog on five ICT tools, I learnt that we can maintain reflection better compare to writing reflection with hands or typing thoughts in Microsoft word. Unlike Microsoft word, blog has many features where we can reflect I the form of pictures and videos. This makes us able to show clear picture of our understanding and the communication between tutor and the blogger become effective where the tutor can clearly understand our understanding on five ICT tools.

For person like me who has difficulty in communicating face to face with the tutor, expressing thoughts through blog is much better. In blog I can write down my understanding in my own way in ease. I don’t have to fear that the tutor may tell me something if my sentence structure is wrong as I can always come back to the sentences I have written and make changes to convey better messages to my tutor.

So, in future, I am hoping to make good use of platform like blog make my students express their thoughts and understanding of lesson. I know it will be difficult for lower classes to use blog like us but I will find other alternatives of ICT tools for children to express their thoughts with ease.

ICT as Communicative tool

What is communicative tool?

I understood that Communicative tools are systems that allow easy communication between teachers and students or between students outside the physical barrier classroom.

For example; students using e-mail and online chats for messaging the information.

Following are commonly used communicative tools;

 

 

My presentation on Hitler

I learnt more about reliability of information after I prepared presentation on the topic “Was Hitler a gay?”

In order to prepare ten slides presentation, I had to go through different sources to get reliable information. As I went through different sources there were many articles saying that Hitler was homosexual as well as some saying that he wasn't. So, in order to get authentic information for my presentation, I had to see whether the article has author for not and had to look for article with recent date and time. I also look for  the source which is run by government agencies, nonprofit organizations, foundations, or colleges and universities. 

It was difficult for me to know which sources were reliable, however I could come up with the presentation supporting the idea that Hitler was a gay by getting the information by keeping the features of reliable sources in mind.  

Here is the presentation that I have prepared on "Was Hitler a gay?"

ICT as Informative tools

After learning on the topic ICT as informative tool, I learned that informative tools are applications that provide large amount of information in various formats such as text, graphics, sound, or video. Television, radio and internet are source of information. The most preferred source of information is internet. I found that the use of ICT in teaching and learning has lots of advantages.  It helps in Enhancing children’s comprehension. When children encounter any difficult point for them to understand, referring to different information in various formats will help them to understand better. For example; a child who cannot understand the process of rainfall in the text can watch video on the internet and understand better. 

In terms of reading, I think ICT can help the students with the vocabulary and the meaning of the words in the texts they read. For example, when they are reading a certain article online or when they are watching a video with English subtitles, they can look up the meaning of unknown words in online dictionaries. So they can learn many words from the web.

Information from the internet also helps to enrich the way of teaching. Teacher can always browse internet and look for new ideas of teaching and infuse them while teaching in the classroom. Children also learn to evaluate resources in the internet. When children are expose to different source of information they will learn to see which information is reliable and which is not.  

When children are given opportunity to browse internet for information by themselves, they will see different kinds of ideas and creative works. So, this helps them to widen their way of thinking and boost their creativity.

 It is important for us to know that though these tools give information, the user should know how to go for reliable sources as anyone can put any kind of materials on the internet.  I got idea on how to get reliable information. we should look for Established Institutions. It means that we have to look for sites associated with trusted institutions that have been around for a while and have a proven track record of reliability and integrity. Such sites may include those run by government agencies, nonprofit organizations, foundations, or colleges and universities. 

I also learnt that the user should avoid Anonymous Authors. Articles or studies whose authors are named are often—though not always—more reliable than works produced anonymously. If someone is willing to put their name on something they've written, chances are they stand by the information it contains. And if you have the name of the author, you can always Google them to check their credentials.

Another important thing to keep in mind is, the user should check Date and time.We need to look whether the source has date and time or not and if so, we have to go for recent one so that we get most up-to-date information. One way to check is to look for a "last updated" date on the page or site.

Moreover, we need to look for Sites with Expertise. We need to look for websites that specialize in the kind of information we are seeking. So if we are writing a story on a flu outbreak, we need to check out medical websites, such as The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and so on.

Integrating ICT in teaching and learning

What is mean by ICT integration in the classroom?

I understood that integrating technology into classroom is like cooking a meal for important guests. A chef needs to select ingredients carefully according to the meal to be prepared. He or she knows that after finished cooking, the well prepared meal has to be presented to the guests, so that the quests are well-fed and eager to come back for more. Likewise, technology integration requires a careful selection of instructional materials and thoughtful preparation of lesson plans. So that the teacher can present lesson to students in a manner that they acquire required skills and knowledge and make them interested to learn more.

Integrating technology in the classroom means the use of technologies to introduce, reinforce, supplement and extend skills of children. When we say integrating technology in the classroom, a teacher simply using the computer to reward for good behavior or performance by letting children play game are not truly integrating the technology. It is because here, the computer is considered as separate part of teaching and learning. Teacher who integrates technology should add value to their activities such that, if the technology is taken away, the quality of the lessons would somehow be diminished.

Levels of ICT integration

Under levels of technology integration we learnt three different levels of technology integration and different scenarios under each level. The first level is Basic level of Technology Integration. In this level, the use of technology does not have major role and the new technological techniques do not involve a substantial change in the teaching and learning process from previous methods. The use of technology just made the work of the teacher easier.

2)     The second level is Middle level of Technology Integration. In this level, technology has a very important role to play, providing both students and teacher with crucial materials and activities. The teacher uses the technology to provide support at key points during the lesson. The technology is well-integrated into the lessons. Mostly, at this level of integration, technology supports more-or-less traditional models of teaching. That is, teachers continue to teach in traditional ways, but incorporate technology to supplement these teaching methods.

The third level is High Level of Technology Integration  

Here, technology is use by students to help them through a variety of important learning processes. The   lesson will be highly integrative, allowing student to make links among member of content areas, use various learning tools and develop thinking and creativity skills. It will be difficult to conduct similar project or task without the use of technology. In this level integration of technology promote students’ learning by challenging them with complex and authentic tasks, worked in a collaborative environment were technology is used to furnish students with information to support their inquiry and investigation process. 

So, after learning about these three levels of technology integration and different scenarios, I came to know that the teacher who is integrating technology in classroom should go for High level of Technology Integration to have greater effect in teaching and learning.

Why do we need to integrate technology in teaching and learning?

As I learn about ICT integration I came to know that meaningful integration of technology in teaching and learning has lots of benefits. They are mentioned below;

1)      ICT has the potential in preparing students for life in the 21st century. Through learning ICT skills, students are ready to face future challenges based on proper understanding. ICT can help students to develop the competencies needed for the current globalization. This is because ICT can help students to develop their skills, boost up their motivation and widen their knowledge and information.

2)      Integrating information and communication technology in teaching makes teaching and learning lively. The teacher can deal with each topic using different materials and in creative manner unlike teaching with textbooks. For example, teaching through slide shows, pictures or movies adds innovation to the traditional lecture method.

3)      Using ICT increase motivation of the learners. Working through online learning sources, along with course book offers variety and a change from working through the same old exercise book. Working through a mouse and keyboard is motivating than writing. Learning through online games and quiz are appealing to both young learners as well as to teenagers. Further motivating factor is that the learners can work at own pace. This motivates the students for learning any subjects.

4)      Through ICT a teacher can provide the students rich sources of authentic materials with attractive and friendly interface; vivid pictures and pleasant sounds which arouse students’ interest in learning.

5)      Children can get pictures, images and videos on different software and sites like Google or Yahoo. Viewing videos of plays, sketches of the characters or incidents helps in giving the students a clear and realistic idea of the text.

6)      ICT are also applicable for assessment and evaluative purpose. Using different computer programs, the teacher can conduct multiple choice questions, alternatives and essay type questions. Along with this, the grades of each student can be sent to him or her through tools like Email. Not only this but language concerns like speaking, listening, reading or writing skills can also be evaluated through ICT tools like podcasts, blogs, audio recorders, etc.

7)      Infusing ICT tools in the process of teaching and learning encourage shy students to participate. Students who are quiet in the class are given opportunity to express themselves through blogs, text chat or discussion forums.

These are benefits of integrating ICT in teaching and learning. So, I realized that in order to have effective teaching and learning, using technology is important.

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Introduction

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have become commonplace entities in all aspects of life. Across the past twenty years the use of ICT has fundamentally changed the practices and procedures of nearly all forms of endeavor within business and governance. Within education, ICT has begun to play a vital role. Education is a very socially oriented activity and quality education has traditionally been associated with strong teachers having high degrees of personal contact with learners. The use of ICT in education lends itself to more student-centered learning settings. With the world moving rapidly into digital media and information, the role of ICT in education is becoming more and more important and this importance will continue to grow and develop in the 21^st  century.

David Warlick has mentioned that we need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world. I agree with what he has mentioned as in this technologically governed world, if we follow teaching and learning style of past, it will be difficult for effective learning and teaching to take place.

I feel that it is important to integrate technology in teaching and learning. It is because; technology can be a life changer for children. Technology can bring textbooks to life and internet can connect students to their peers in other parts of the world. It can bridge the quality gap.

So, in this blog I am going to post my reflection on ICT being integrated in the classroom as five tools.

1.      Informative tool

2.      Communicative tool

3.      Constructive tool

4.      Co-constructive tool

5.      Situating tool