Discussion forum

The Forum discussion is one of the most important processes of learning and sharing information because we could react to content, share challenges, teach each other, learn by stating and understanding, clarify assumptions, experiment, own new skills, and ideas. I had never heard of such words during my school days and it was such a big word for me when I heard it for the first time. It was my first-time experience to get hands-on practice to share my doubts on online where I could get lots of responses.

At first, I thought it would be difficult to use such things but the more I get used to it, it was fun learning. I learned a lot from getting access to it, though it was a part of an assessment. I could saw lots of benefits of using such a tool. Personal responses to forum topics were not limited in time or length. We have the freedom to continue dialogues about the interesting topics. Moreover, important topics and discussion encouraged me to take a position on issues.

It enhanced my critical thinking and I have learned that to respond to a forum topic, it requires organized thoughts and synthesis of concepts introduced in class. My views were being challenged and at the same time, I could also do the same for others. I had the flexibility to reflect on others thoughts and read their responses. Some learners in the class feel intimidated or unmotivated to speak and even in small groups, it does not allow equal opportunities to all learners to voice out their views. So through an online forum, each learner has a voice that will be heard by anyone who chooses to read his or her comments.

Since the forum discussions occur completely online, learners have the flexibility to add their input when they are prepared. Some choose to answer questions immediately, while others prefer to consider the responses of others first. Undergraduate trainees are often much more comfortable discussing topics online after reading the viewpoints of the more experienced learners. So, I would say that forum discussion is one of the effective tools to enhance our learning. As a future teacher, I will encourage my students to get hands-on practices to such tools so that everyone’s voice is heard and they could learn many important things from friends, teachers.

Importance of ICT in Primary Education

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is important in primary education because it enables kids to search for the information they need and to organize what they have found. As children progress through the school system, they become increasingly responsible for their own learning. Many believe that ICT needs to be better integrated into curriculums so all schools produce computer literate, independent learners.

ICT is a global phenomenon, and children who are computer literate at an early stage of their lives might deal better with the modern world. A sound knowledge of ICT makes it much easier for children to find and organize information. ICT is important in primary schools because it can help kids to achieve better results in other subjects and to find what they need and use information in particular ways. Some of the ICT activities that makes lesson fruitful are

 PowerPoint

PowerPoint is a fantastic presentation tool: easy to use at a basic level, immediately gratifying presentations look impressive very quickly) and offering many different designs and visual enhancements. This software is a must-have in the classroom. It is important that children become familiar with ICT at an early age, because they will need those skills for the remainder of their education and in adult life.

Video

Making films is an exciting and challenging activity for the classroom. Traditional stories can be performed (and recorded), scenes from plays or books can be acted out and recorded for whole-class discussion, interviews can be filmed for media projects can be brought to life with film and non-fiction reports can be backed up with film-based ‘evidence’. ICT allows higher quality lessons through collaboration with teachers in planning and preparing resources.

Working with spreadsheet excel in the result making

A worksheet is a collection of cells where we keep and manipulate the data. It is a feature in Microsoft Excel. Worksheet is also called as spreadsheet and each excel workbook contains multiple worksheets. It offers a range of advantages and it provides the tools to analyze and visualize data sets in accessible ways. Spreadsheet provides complex processing in ways that even people with little technical experience can access. It can hold as little or as much information as 



necessary.

In the first year (FIT101), sir presented us with a sample of worksheet he had prepared based on the weight of the students and after that we were made to do it following his steps. In the next class, we were asked to analyze the marks on the excel and in the first I struggled a lot on how to go about, but with an idea I had on excel, I could achieve my goal. I could apply the formulas to calculate the marks and find their rankings.

Creating our own worksheet wasn’t an easy task, but was very useful. It can be used anywhere and at any time. During my teaching practice time, I was made to prepare the result for my grade 1 students as the class teacher was on official leave. The knowledge that I had on spreadsheet excel was of a great help and with that knowledge, I could easily prepare the result for grade 1 students. Moreover, I could render my help to one of the teachers who was on contract term.

Preparing result in spreadsheet excel is of great advantage as we will not lose the data we have already punched in unlike the papers of the test which student might loose and teacher may not get the correct marks of the children. Thus, worksheet helps us in keeping the records of our children’s work and assessment safely. In future, I will teach my students to how to go about creating the spreadsheet excel so that it will be easy for them when they have to apply it.

Benefits of ICT IN EDUCATION

           Benefits of ICT in education

ICT is useful and helpful. It’s an application of modern technology to interact and share information among people in all fields. As one of the ICT functions is to help people develop education, it is good for educators to develop their knowledge and transfer it to people. Moreover, through ICT, the work on the job field can be done more effectively. So far, ICT gives easiness to run the teaching-learning process.

The use of ICT in education adds value in teaching and learning, by enhancing the effectiveness of learning, or by adding a dimension to learning that was not previously available. ICT may also be a significant motivational factor in students’ learning and can support students’ engagement with collaborative learning. I must say that the use of ICT has become an integral part of our life. ICT is a powerful tool that everyone has become so much dependent on it, but one must use it in a fruitful way.

Now a day, the world demands a teacher who has the knowledge of ICT and who can integrate ICT into teaching and learning. As a future teacher, we must know how to infuse ICT into different subjects to enhance the child`s learning. It is the role of teacher that every child enjoys learning through ICT. We can show them videos, pictures, and let them explore in their own ways to get the solution. As a result, the child will develop critical thinking.                           

 

During my stay here at college, I got ideas on ICT to enhance teaching and learning. Today I will share my idea on how ICT has helped me to prepare a power point presentation in a different module. I came to know the components of Powerpoint presentation and what things are needed to make a good powerpoint presentation. It also provides various ways for us to understand the module as well as to make others understand. In powerpoint we can see pictures, words sound to understand the idea. Below are pictures of the power point presentation that I have prepared in one of the modules.