E-learning

E-learning week was great for me simply because it meant I didn't have to make the daily trip down to ulu Boon Lay for lessons and gripe about early morning (6am) wake up calls, or in-between five hour breaks. I could do the work as and when I was awake and alive to do it (mostly between the hours of 11pm and 5am; I am Nocturnal) and follow my own happy schedule the rest of the time.

E-learning I guess is good in the sense because it frees me up to do my own things when I want to; and also because ironically I do more work during E-learning week than just sitting in tutorial/lecture absorbing the lesson without actually being engaged by it. But er I guess I want to just listen too, sometimes, without being engaged :P

The gripe I have is that a lot of our E-learning seems a bit contrived; the postings aren't too creative and we post for the sake of posting without really getting involved; sometimes I have to confess I just post my own stuff without reading other people's posts; whereas in lesson I would have had listened to what the others have to say.

Other than that E-learning is okay :)

COTF

Just finished visiting the Classroom Of The Future (COTF) in NIE for coursework. Wow. I was pretty much blown away. It looks really fantastic and very well designed - we got to use Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPCs) and touch screens all over the place; the guide demonstrated how the technology would be used for international conferencing, picking up ads from TV Mobile, homework games etc. Really really cool.

That’s the cafe setting in COTF…there was also a lab setting, a train, a house, and a classroom. All very gorgeously furnished and lighted and all. That’s the touch screen in the middle, with our UMPCs docked simply by placing them on the pull-out tray.

The COTF was really an eye-opener. I was overwhelmed by the thought and preparation that went into the place because it was evidently well-planned and well thought out; the guide, Chris, was terribly helpful and a great teacher :)

I enjoyed the presentation yet at the same time felt that it was rather idealistic.

Firstly, the number of schools with the kind of budget that would allow for COTF implementation would most likely be the same schools that have a certain caliber of students - the good schools, in other words. The education divide would grow - the smart become smarter and more privileged, the not-so-books-minded kids would stay stuck in their rut.

Also I was concerned about the UMPCs. They're not viable simply because they're terribly overpriced and not a medium that is likely to receive continued support from Microsoft or Samsung. $2000+ for one UMPC is not a cost-effective solution to IT education, neither would it be practical for all students to have a PC and a UMPC - just too expensive across the board.

It's nice to look at and nice to dream but I don't really think it's practical or possible...maybe in the very far future.

KWLQ!

• K: What I already KNOW

That although I'm not quite a stick-in-the-mud and am fairly updated with the world's technology, I'm still not fast enough to be able to keep up with my students and what they'd be doing on the Net. I used to be a pioneer in Net language, jumped on every bandwagon - now I scratch my head at what the kids are doing. For example, I used to use Friendster (now I'm on Facebook) and I thought that Friendster was over; then I found out that Friendster's become the Singaporean Myspace and that my kids are running rampant all over it. I feel old :/

• W: What I WANT TO LEARN

I want to understand the best ways to integrate ICT/SCL (what's with more acronyms!) into my lessons; because technology can definitely improve classes. What I don't want to do is become too reliant on technology. You know, I kinda miss the good old chalkboard and the OHP. Now we've got whiteboards and visualizers - they're all very well and good for progress of course, but I'm just a tad wistful for what's literally OLD SCHOOL.

Yup, definitely getting old.

• L: What I LEARNED this week

That the Classroom of the Future is a bit intimidating! Yet there are some things that look so incredibly fun, like the smart board.

• Q: What QUESTIONS I still have

What about schools that don't have the budget for such programs? The school I was teaching in already had quite few resources, less than I used to have in my secondary school. Would the lack of budget be disadvantageous for these kids? It's like the economic divide in that case - the rich become richer and the poor become poorer. How can we help?