Lesson 17: EDUCATIONALTECHNOLOGY 2 PRACTICUM

Educational Technology is using the technology in students’ learning process as well as training them how to deal with innovation. To start with educating the students to technology their topic will be the basics; basic applications that can be found in the computer. We have Microsoft word, powerpoint, excel and the orientation of the internet. Microsoft Word can be use when we have something to write or to send. It is a spread sheet where we can type whatever we want and send it through the email or print it so we can have a hard copy. Microsoft Powerpoint uses charts and graphics or even audios and videos. To enhance powerpoint presentations, you can make use of the background and other things in there. Just explore. Microsoft is usually used in companies. This is where they type the names of their employees or the salaries. It is a spread sheet that has lines. Lastly, the internet will be tackled. Internet is very expedient and worthwhile. Your little time spend with it will give you big discoveries. Using a computer is like talking to a person who cannot speak. It gives you instructions and give you data that might guide you in whatever you are looking for or whatever you want to do.

Lesson 16: THE INTERNET AND EDUCATION

The internet makes us travel. We can go to the beautiful places like we never used to. Today, there are websites where we can visit the Seven Wonders of the World. It is quite hard for a teacher to discussion something the students could hardly picture out, good thing the internet is there and it helps us get closer all over the world. We can be updated to the weather of other countries. Have you gone to any other places? If you have not tried Google map, you should it helps. When I was working in the call center industry, it was really hard for me to locate all the places the customers asked all because I have never been there. Because of the internet, I was able to trace where all those places are and even help them where to go and what else they could do for their leisure time. In education, internet has been a very big help. It adds knowledge to everyone and also it contributes more information than before.

Lesson 15: UNDERSTANDING HYPERMEDIA

Hypermedia is multimedia. In a class we can determine who understand fast and who do not. There are slow learners. How will a slow learner get to understand an instruction alone using the computer? Hypermedia provides an atmosphere of search, exploration and a lot of discoveries. It encourages the student to walk around the computer and its software. The traditional method of teaching also helps but it makes poor classroom atmosphere. Usually, the students keep quite because of fear and this does not mean they are listening to the discussion. Upon using or embracing hypermedia, the students will make their own paths; they will be capable of directing themselves into what they want and on what to improve in themselves. Hypermedia provides a freedom to the learners; a freedom to be what they want and what they are.

Lesson 14: THE SOFTWARE AS AN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE

The computer hardware can hardly be useful without the program or system that tells what the computer machine should do. This is also called the SOFTWARE. In software there are a lot of things in there.  It contains details of different systems and even different applications that may assist our students’ learning. Because of modernization, students and teachers become dependent with computers. When I say computers this does not mean the tangible computer; the monitor, system, unit, mouse and whatever. What I mean is the applications found in the computer by the time you start clicking the on button and operate it. We have known the so called “internet” and in it we can find websites that offers social media, entertainment and news. Due to the overwhelming resources we can open and the assistance these websites can offer, our teachers have decided to log on to educational resources that will relate to our needs. In this way, there is uniformity of information in potted version. When questions are asked, the teacher can immediately determine who read the certain website or not. 

Lesson 13: COOPERATIVE LEARNING WITH THE COMPUTER

We meet new friends in school and most of them are our classmates. Some teacher would ask the students to group themselves by four or five for a project. When I was in class and the teacher would like us to group ourselves, I would ask the teacher if it would be possible to group with your close friends. I would be very glad if the teacher would because I would be comfortable. Just like anyone else, you will never get along to somebody when you do not know them that much. You have to befriend with them first. The good thing of grouping yourself with your not so close friends is that you are giving yourself a chance to mingle with others and you are opening yourself to strangers who might be your future close friends. So, whenever an educator groups his students and gives a project, he knows what possible things that will come up are. When the computer is involved in a project, students prefer to do it by group because they can discuss the new learning as well as interact with their classmates. This chance is very important to them since they will be able to practice their interdependence and social skills. Computer is a big part of this stage because it is a way of keeping the students in cooperating and interrelating their ideas about computer applications and the best things to do to be able to present the best project they could have.

Lesson 12: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN SUPPORT OF STUDENT-CENTERED LEARNING

Student centered learning may look like giving the students a chance to be noisy and unmanageable but the truth is, this makes them who they are. Teachers help them in believing in their own knowledge and are independent on what they think. There are ways which can make students learn while having fun, making it memorable and healthy. It depends on the strategy of the teacher on how to keep these three things in class. The traditional classroom setting is not bad at all. The students learned of course but I know and I have confidence in myself that this kind of setting is quite boring. Traditional setting is listening to your teacher, looking at all the visuals he prepared and usually the teacher walks around the room to see to it that everyone is listening. Even if you are the teacher and you noticed that the students are behave, it does not mean that they are listening and they are all absorbing the lessons or examples stated. I am so happy that in the long last, the education has built its way on how to mix fun in learning process. Whenever I surf the internet and search about a topic asks by the teacher, I feel like alive. It is like I am in my own territory. I can do what I want and not just that, I can go through so many things rather than focusing on the topic. There are subtopics of that topic, so I will know even the smallest matter of the issue.

Lesson 11: THE COMPUTER AS THE TEACHER’S TOOL

I have been so dependent with technology everyday from the time I wake up until I go to bed and rest. I will be very happy, whenever the teacher says that we will have to search a certain topic over the internet and most probably study it. I’d always love to search a new thing over the internet and do not mind what website to open. My classmates would even wonder how lazy the teacher was. I believe the teacher was not lazy, he was teaching us something and has realized that it would be better for us to search it by ourselves and read it so we could digest it not all but at least almost everything of it. I love it when the teacher uses the LCD projector and laptop in discussing. You know, chalk dust free and less energy wasted by the teacher. When you use computer in reporting, there are a lot of multimedia applications you can make use of and this will surely help the student’s learning. It is convenient and comfortable learning process than any other. The possible problem that would take place when all the teachers would ask the students to use computer and search something about their subject is that, there will be mind boggling.

Lesson 10: THE COMPUTER AS A TUTOR

We all know that Philippines is a developing country. There are a lot of places in the country which are not fully formed as urban areas. Facilities and materials of these undeveloped areas are not that high-tech. Upon knowing that there are countries ahead of us with regards to technology, it does not make us sad. Software materials can be spread through technology or if not because nowadays people sell their knowledge, we can buy it. When I was in elementary, I went to an exclusive school. In our computer subject, whenever the class was very attentive and behave, our teacher gave us time to play with the computer. All the games there were very helpful and educational. My favourite game was Mario Teaches Typing. It helped me indeed. Up until now, I still use the right fingers for the right letter in the keyboard. As what we can see now, our kids and the students know about a lot of computer games, they have DOTA, Counter Strike, Ragnarok and Tetris. I believe kids play these games because of relaxation.  They just want to give themselves a break for many other things that they are stressed of. I did not have a laptop when I was in high school but I had my flash disk because I needed it whenever there are projects and I could not print at home. It is still very fresh to me how everything went this high-tech. I had difficulties, in memorizing before about the keys and letters in the keyboard which is part of a computer where ion you can type whatever you want. That time, computer was my tutor. I played Mario and Dolphins, after such I went really fast in typing and now, I no longer look at the keys. In addition to that, if I have something I am not really familiar of like a word or a story, I will just google it or search it over the net. It actually helps he teacher wherein you do not disturb them and as well as yourself because your training yourself how to be independent and believe in your own knowledge.

Lesson 9: COMPUTERS AS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Imagine yourself without technology. Do you feel happy? Do you have more money? Technology is getting into the society and even invading our way of thinking. So, let us say, you do not have a computer, cellular phone, microwave oven and electric stove. Do you think you’re everyday life will be easier? When you have a family member abroad and because you do not a cellular phone, you cannot stay in touch with them as often as you want to. Just like any other means of technology, computer is a very important one. You can do a lot of things through computers. You can make use of the applications in it like the Microsoft word, powerpoint presentation, publisher, excel and you can even add pictures and graphics. In addition to that, you can search on the internet and application that you need like Skype so you can communicate to the other people even if they are a thousand miles away. Computers give us information. They are like humans; they give us new information and usually current issues. Computers give us instruction in the way we can understand them easily, this is because they are made by humans. This information may be helpful or may give us a doubt but nevertheless, they make us feel that everything we worry about has a solution. Using of computers can help you know what is happening outside your country and outside the four walls of your room. It gives you knowledge that you may need for everyday life.

Lesson 8: HIGHER THINKING SKILLS THROUGH IT- BASED PROJECTS

Creativity is a person’s imagination and ingenuity. Whenever a teacher says, I would like you to have this project and please be creative. What comes up to the minds of the students? creative? flowers? colors? it must be different from my other classmates? Nowadays, when a teacher asks a certain project to the students, the students will never be panic. I remember a classmate of mine said, “Project?What? Ahh, everything is all over the net, why get scared little rats?” It is true indeed. What we usually do not have in the old days are already in our online resources. What we got to do is just type a key word of a particular topic we need and there you go, you can see what you need. There are people whom we quoted as “not that creative.” These people are being creative in their own little ways. We have different operational definition of creativity and we have our individual standards of such word. In creativity projects, what we deal with that is how the student would be able to express himself in the certain project. When you divide the class and end up into small groups you help them encounter different personalities and variety of ways of thinking. Let us say we have given creativity projects to each group, how will the teacher know, who did best and who is more creative member in the group? They must be rated individually and as a group.

Lesson 7: IT FOR HIGHER THINKING SKILLS AND CREATIVITY

The new framework on higher thinking skills and creativity mean that teachers need to assist the students only and not making an extra mile of job just to let them excel in school. What we have to do is to train them on the way that they would be able to incline them in studying and be able to apply the knowledge they have every day so they may not forget the learning. Effort of the teacher is always there but teachers should set their limitations. In our modernization, things are getting different and we have nothing to do but to accept and accept everything because we know that a time will come that this new learning today will be a history of tomorrow and predictably another new learning which is more difficult will come up. Complex Thinking Skills are best achieved using educational technology tools. The word complex means difficult. When we know that a thing is difficult or challenging and we are given enough time to solve it, do we do it alone or what do we do? Some may answer that they made a research on it. Do you go to the library? As we can see most students now, do not go on scanning books, they use the internet and surf. So, when we want to achieved complex thinking skills, we need to be submissive to the new learning and new technology. This is the new trend; we do not have a choice but to embrace it. Having a complex thinking skill is having a flexible and creative mind.

Lesson 6: IT ENTERS A NEW LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

When I was young, I thought studying was memorizing but I realized it never was. In my college days, I have this classmate who studies a lot and she was like talking to herself while stating words out of our book. I found her noisy and annoying. She was memorizing things and I did not. I never loved memorizing. When I study, I keep really silent and I read the notes. I just thought, well, we have different ways in studying and probably we were trained on how to study inversely. Memorization is a part of studying it does not really mean when you study, you are immediately quoted as memorizing. We have known of the new learning theories and read it. It does not mean we should stop memorization when we want students to learn, it means that we have to rub on the things that we want our students to learn. They need to be exposed to the activities related to the discussion so in that way, they will not easily forget the new learning.In Filipino tradition, people still have superstitious beliefs and still connect their lives with such. When we have discovered something which is contradicting to others, we tend to keep the discovery and forget it. We are afraid of what the other people would say about us. There will be questions that would boggle up our mind and the society might not agree with us; this is what usually happens to us because as a person we incline on putting ourselves on the safe zone and not going far beyond what we can do.