Pedagogical approaches and instructional strategies

Hi, I'm back after a long hectic week which I hardly could breathe. Anyway, glad to be back in my blog. First and foremost a thumbs up for Lim and Chun who really did a good colloborative job in presentating their topic. The use of visual for the instructional strategies was interesting and till today I could remember them. I feel the use of visual is very helpful especially for our students. My own expereince at the moment I'm using graphic supplement to teach novel to my students and I find it is really beneficial as they can relate better the story .

Besides that, I enjoyed the debate though it was kind of controversial as the judges did not really take a stand but rather had their own views. However, the brainstroming session in the group before we debated was good because we were looking from so many different point of views. At times it made us to think hmm... we can also look things this way which we did not realise at the beginning. One more activity that was enriching was the problem solving but it could have been better if we were given more problems as when we are solving the problems, in real we are applying what we understood from this topic.

To be honest, at the beginning when I read the chapter, it was not clear at all as I didnt understand what the chapter was all about. But when LIm and Chun presented it was clear and was telling myself such a simple thing to understand but the text book made it so difficult to comprehend.

Overall, good work Lim and Chun and your sleepless nite preparing the presentation is finally over. Mine , yet to come !

Understanding Distance Education Learners

Hana and Iza did a good job in presenting this topic. I did try the VARK thrice but the results were different each time. Anyway, what we could sum up from their presentation each and every individual have different learning styles and to cater a module which satisfies everyone is an uphill task. Thus, Distance learning provides a new challenge for the teacher: his or her teaching method has to meet the needs and expectations of many different learners. The teacher also has to develop an understanding for the capabilities and needs of the students without personal contact and direct working experience with the participants of the course. Well, maybe at the beginning it will be difficult to cater for all but gradually with on going evaluation on the program, system and learners will be helpful in creating a good module at the end.

Besides that we had also a round table discussion about our class wiki. I felt the discussion was good , at least everyone was able to share their views and the problem with our wiki. Personally, I feel the wiki is good it makes us to share our thoughts and also synthesize the information we have. We just need to organise the content and I guess after that we can keep the ball rolling, Dr. Tee.

Planning

We started the second session with a good set induction from Dr. Tee. A role play which was interesting and managed to make us understand all the processes involved in producing a module. I did read the chapter he assigned but was having hard time to understand the model. However his role play really helped me to understand what is involved in producing a module. Gosh , it is not easy and proper planning is really important so we don't go wrong and start all over again. Dr Tee gave us useful inputs on ADDIE model and the significance of evaluation in every step of the way. However , I was kind of loss when he explaining on the 4 layers of SECI model.

Anyway, Suganthi and me were thinking of doing a module on literature which we could use with our students. In fact, I feel it will be very useful because if we are not in school attending courses or anything else the students could study using the module we had prepared. We will be creating a distance education environment in school which will be beneficial for everyone. Well, we are still brainstorming and searching for materials before we finalize things.