The Evolution of Educational Technology. Understanding Personal Computer.

I watched a video called “This will Revolutionize Education” and it was about a perspective that technology has not yet succeeded in the revolution of education. The video included the statement of others from Thomas Edison’s “The motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and that in a few years, it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks” time to the present that technology will revolutionize education from movies to computers and YouTube to name a few. Personally, I would agree as Derek says in the video that “we can evolve education, if not revolutionize it”. Yes, because as a teacher I can only enhance my teaching strategies by showing a video to have a clearer picture of what it is like rather than replacing me with the YouTube video.

Based on aforementioned, I was really intrigued by the research behind animated pictures vs diagrams and written script. Do moving, narrated, or animated pictures better help students learn content than pictures with written script? I always assumed that the animated version would be better because it shows you how the content works or is done, but the video brought up a goal point that looking at diagrams and pictures with written text which forces the students to put the pieces together in your mind and that it could be easy to miss an important part of an animation because everything is happening at once. Here is an experience I would like to share that happened to me in my class. There was once this student who is a visual learner acknowledges and appreciates the presentation method. He understands better by watching videos, but on the other hand, another student is an auditive learner where he needs to listen and speak for him to understand. Eventually, here comes the balance teaching strategy for the teacher to pass the knowledge accordingly to the students to understand her class. Technology is important in education but essentially traditional teaching method is also needed and to stress on the teacher is also very significant in the learning process.

Check out this video for more of his thoughts on the subject: This Will Revolutionize Education (by Derek Muller)

It has become a cliché in using technology tools in the classroom that the students should understand, “it’s about the learning, not the tech”, and that’s a great thing. The mantra sticks, and it always depends given. Maybe students can use technology to help in their daily lives which would be to write a paper, check email, to conduct research, find information and to boost their general knowledge. Thus, I see technology more a tool because it is used a lot in today’s society and it would help reinforcing but personally I don’t think it would take the place of a teacher.

Creating Lesson Plan Using the DID Model

Lesson planning is at the heart of being an effective teacher. It is a creative process that allows us to synthesize our understanding of second language acquisition and language teaching pedagogy with our knowledge of our learners, the curriculum, and the teaching context. It is a time when the teachers envision the learning they want to occur and analyse how all the pieces of the learning experience should fit together to make that vision a classroom reality.

Now here is all about the use of technology is classroom teaching. I had come across many technology tools that can be used in teaching and learning to have more effective learning. ISTE has suggests that it is important to engage students in learning experiences that require them to communicate using variety of media and formats. Despite the traditional method of teaching using whiteboards, markers and exercises, the teachers would enhance their teaching method to Flipped Learning. Nowadays everything is found in the internet, and the students are also known as the i-Gen (Internet Generation) in this era. Moreover, the students have variety ways to access and exchange their information using applications, such as Schoology Forums, tweets in Twitter and much more. Besides, they will be also self-directed learners. Students nowadays are so into technology and there would not be a problem for them to find their own when it comes to completing their port folios or school project.

In order to use technology tools in the classroom, as a teacher I need to plan a perfect lesson and also choose the precise technology tools to be used in the class. I must be also aware of the advantages of using the technology tools chosen. Example of technology tools that I can use in my class is first, Kahoot. I find it interesting because, students of my age group love learning English Language by playing games. This is the accurate application that I would choose for them. Hence, I have to plan my lesson accordingly. There by, I will apply the DID Model in my lesson planning. I have already known my learners well, and my objective is I want my students to acquire English in a fun and innovative manner. I have to also provide them a stable internet connection and gadgets in order for them to play this game. The lesson planning process also allows teachers to evaluate their own knowledge with regards to the content to be taught (Reed & Michaud, 2010). If a teacher has to teach, for example, a complex grammatical structure and is not sure of the rules, the teacher would become aware of this during lesson planning and can take steps to acquire the necessary information. Similarly, if a teacher is not sure how to pronounce a new vocabulary word, this can be remedied during the lesson planning process and it can be found in the internet. The opportunity that lesson planning presents to evaluate one’s own knowledge is particularly advantageous for teachers of English for specific purposes.

After few days of understanding the notes from Chapter 2, I did a plan a lesson to use one the technology learned. I choose Pinterest. I took my students on virtual field trip. My students can find images of places they’d like to visit or have visited. They were find it interesting and the whole class was excited using this application. They are many advantages of using it in learning English. Students can improve their reading skills, once they find their topic; they are assigned to come in front the class to share their ideas to their friends. Here, they improve their speaking skills and presentation skills. Moreover, other advantage is they can map a trip around the world with visual and stunning images from remote locations around the globe. In a nut shell, I learnt a lot from this chapter, to design a perfect lesson plan using DID Model and selecting the accurate technology tools for teaching and learning for my students. 

Designing and Planning of Instruction

It was my first day in Masters class, Saturday 11th March, morning at 9 a.m. I felt really excited to be in the class and experience a new environment despite stressful working days. The first class was Technology in Education by Dr. Norizan. The title of the subject sounds interesting so do the lesson too. I would like to share about my coursemates. They were all elder to me with lots of working experience, I was the youngest and I felt a little lost during the explanation about their teaching experience. Wow! They were up to 10-12 years but mine was just a year. Besides, it was a great opportunity to learn new information in their Education field.

Alright talking about the subject Technology in Education, it was all about technology tools used in teaching and learning. I was exposed to numerous applications used in teaching. All I know was LCD Projector, Emails, Schoology, PPT slides, Prezi and Whatsapp group chat, but Dr.Norizan has introduced countless applications in class. First, she introduced Twitter to us. I own an account but I am not an active user. She taught us an interesting technique to use it in teaching and learning. She encourage all of us to open a Twitter account, follow her profile and she posted a question regarding the first topic (Designing and Planning of Instruction)

This was an example of a question she posted on Twitter. Her's was: List the Technology tools used in Teaching. And we as students replied her as above.

It was completely a new experience to me. I didn't have a thought of using Twitter in my teaching where it was an exemplary idea. Moreover, Dr.Norizan introduced more applications such as Powtoon, Edmodo, Kahoot, Nearpod and so on. It was a great pleasure to be in the class. Furthermore, as a teacher, I have learned that electronic and digital tools enable the teacher to achieve learning goals. For an example, nowadays students prefer to carry least books or I would say no books. As a teacher, I must find an alternative to design and plan my teaching to attract their attention throughout my lesson using technology, here with I should practice the DID(Dynamic Instructional Design) Model (DID Model) in my teaching. Perhaps applying this model in my teaching it would enhance my teaching environment as well as my students. Before identifying and selecting the technology, I must determine which technology tools will build desired learning environment and that is conducive to learning. Finally, I have a found many ways to teach the English Language more enthralling to my students using technology. I am pretty sure my students are going to enjoy it. In a nutshell, technology is a tool that supports our design and plans in teaching, and we as a teacher should make it possible to something done before better or make it possible to do something that wasn't previously possible. There are many technologies available, it is the matter of choosing it wisely and well. Thanks to Dr.Norizan for the most engrossing class for a start of my Master's studies. Thank you. 

About Me.

Hi, I'm Thulasi Rathakrisnan. Welcome to my blog - TechnoThulz.

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying this new year.  As part of my goals for 2017, my mission is to pursue my studies in Masters and yes finally I'm doing it (Master of Education-TESL). 

I'm a full-time English Tutor in a private language centre in Klang, Malaysia. It's been a year I'm teaching in this centre and now I'm a part-time Masters student. 

I started this blog to share my knowledge about the use of Technology in Education. Basically, it's a subject that I'm taking in my first semester and I find it quite interesting to share it to all of you. 

I believe that the power of technology lies not in learning how to use these tools in the classroom but rather in the engagement and incredible learning that takes place when technology is in the hands of students. Technology allows us to connect and take charge of our learning. This blog is a log of my professional learning as an educator and how I'm integrating my new found knowledge into my teaching.

I will be sharing my experience and write a journal of what I have learned after every topic discussed in class. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy learning new information in my blog. Thank you.