A literature review consists of a summary of key sources. Bangert-Drowns (2005) defined literature review as a descriptive, analytic summary of the existing material relating to a particular topic or area of study. In this session, Dr. Fariza exposed us to variety of sources for scholarly articles such as Academia, ResearchGate and Google Scholar. These sources are the platforms used by researchers to share papers, monitor their impact, find collaborators and also follow the research in a particular field. We need to evaluate the resources to make sure that they contain information which is valuable and pertinent before deciding to incorporate what we have found into our literature review. Hence, we need more careful thought to ensure the quality of resources especially when the resources we retrieved are not collected by an academic library, but conveniently accessible through Internet search. When reviewing the literature, we will want to focus on primary sources which are original and provide firsthand information. Common primary sources include research reports, theses, conference proceedings, manuscript sources and government publications.
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As the continuation of the last session, we have been exposed to elements in Weebly. Weebly elements are the essential building blocks of our site. Adding text, images and more is as simple as going to the Build tab and dragging an element onto the page. As we add more elements to our page, the page section will expand to accommodate them. We can also choose to add multiple sections for content using the Section element. In short, after we set up our page, we can add images, slideshow, photo gallery, embed documents, upload files and add links to the page. In addition to these features, there are additional features available for Weebly users. Such elements are audio, HD video, YouTube video, flash and Google Maps found under the Media section. Other elements available under the More section include search box, block quote, contact form, newsletter form, survey, etc. Furthermore, we can also embed Padlet and Google Forms on our page. Google Forms enable us to create custom forms for surveys and questionnaires at no extra cost. It is easy to use and one of the simplest ways to save data directly to a spreadsheet. The data collected will be analysed right in Google Sheets. For me, I prefer using Google Forms as it is easy to share the forms to specific people or to a broad audience by embedding the forms on my website or sharing via other social media. For the learning theories, we came across with behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism and connectivism. Behaviorism is a learning theory that focuses on observable and measurable aspects of human behavior. Learning is defined as nothing more than the acquisition of new behavior based on environmental factors. Behavior is directed by stimuli and the key element to this learning theory is the rewarded response. According to Parkay and Hass (2000), the desired response must be rewarded in order for learning to take place. Cognitivism is a learning theory that focuses on the processes involved in learning rather than on the observed behavior. It focuses on the mental processes such as thinking, knowing, memory and problem solving. The most widely used cognitivism theory in education is based on Bloom's taxonomies of learning objectives, which are related to the development of different kinds of learning skills (Bloom et al., 1956). Constructivism suggests that learners construct knowledge out of their experiences. It promotes active learning, which means learning by doing. Although both the cognitivism and constructivism conceive of learning as a mental activity, constructivism believes that learners do not transfer knowledge from the external world into their memories; rather they build personal interpretations of the world based on individual experiences and interactions (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). Connectivism is a learning theory promoted in this digital age. It explains how Internet technologies have created new opportunities for people to learn and share information among themselves and across worldwide. Learning does not simply happen within an individual, but within and across the networks. One of the example is the massive open online course (MOOC) which aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web to facilitate learning and sharing. After the learning theories, we came to Weebly, a website builder where we are requested to host an e-portfolio and personal webpage. Upon using it, I found it surprisingly easy to create a website or blog. The drag-and-drop functionality of Weebly makes the web design process simple and easy. Weebly as e-portfolio serves to collect documents, images, videos and others that showcase learning outcomes in all subjects. It also helps students create a digital identity and collaborate with peers. In this session, we have learnt about approaches to educational technology. They are hardware approach, software approach and system approach. Dr. Fariza put the main focus on system approach as it is the basis of the majority of modern educational technology-related development. System approach is a systematic attempt to coordinate all aspects of a problem towards specific objectives (Parankimalil, 2015). It represents the latest concept in educational technology. It is a systematic way to design, carry out and evaluate the total process of education in terms of specific objectives. This means planned and organised use of all available learning resources, including audio-visual media, to achieve the desirable learning objectives by the most efficient means possible. The ADDIE model is a systematic instructional design model consisting of five phrases, which are Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation. This model has found wide acceptance and use. Educators use it as a framework in designing and developing educational and training programs. The ADDIE model aims for a student-centered rather than the traditional teacher-centered approach to enable effective learning take place. For me, this model is very useful because having stages clearly defined and every component of the instruction is governed by the learning outcomes. At the end of this session, we have been introduced with Coggle, a mind-mapping web application. I found out Coggle is the simplest and cleanest mind-mapping tool on the web. It is a beautiful and powerful way of structuring information. I like using Coggle due to its real-time collaboration feature where we can invite others to work with us at the same time on our diagrams. And not only create loops and join branches, Coggle also offers unlimited image, video and link uploads to the diagrams. For our first lecture with Dr. Fariza, we have been exposed to the three modes of using computer in education - tutor, tool and tutee. According to Taylor (1980),
To use the computer as tutor and tool can both improve and enrich classroom learning, and neither requires student or teacher to learn much about computers. The computer tutor can easily adapt its presentation to accommodate a wide range of student differences. For the computer tool, student might use it as a calculator in math, as a map-making tool in geography or as a text editor in language subject. Besides the three modes of using computer in education, we came across with TodaysMeet and Padlet. TodaysMeet is a toolbox for teachers. It helps managing our digital classroom even easier by allowing students to participate in discussions in virtual classroom created by us. It can be used in a variety of ways to encourage students' engagement in class and it is very easy to use, even for beginners. TodaysMeet offers an opportunity for all students to voice their ideas in writing, which encourages more active participation from the entire class and the teacher can hear from everyone. Same as TodaysMeet, Padlet is a community-centered online tool that allows users to easily express their thoughts on a common topic and read what others have to say. It is a virtual bulletin board in which users can create and organize posts of any content type, whether it be text, documents, images, videos, links and others. For me, Padlet is a great tool for tracking class updates. By using it in the classroom, we can track current and upcoming class assignment's topics and their due dates. In closing, as 21st century educators, we should facilitate the latest tools of technology in our classroom so that our students are able to enhance their knowledge as well as to experience current technologies. |
Welcome!I'm Christine, a preschool teacher who enjoys every bit of my job. I'm passionate about early childhood education. I believe in learning through play, finding new ways to inspire creativity and using our imaginations to explore the world around us. I'm so happy that you drop by here! Reflection 1
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