Final Thoughts

This course was rich by having different and diverse topics which most was useful for me as a teacher. Starting with the computer as tool, tutor and tutee which I have learned that learning without the computers is inefficient, it make sure to me that the computers should be interfere with all subjects.

Coming to the student centered learning and topics related to it “Inquiry based learning & Web quest”, I have aware of the importance of having the student centered learning in our schools since nowadays the teaching are almost traditional and focusing on the teacher role without giving the chance for the students to discover and learn by their own.

Also the games and simulations topic was so valuable because this is what the students need now, they need the lesson to be more real, active, and interesting so they can cooperate with the teacher and get the information faster.

Whole over the course, I had fun time to know simple and effective ways to be used in teaching, the topics were delivered in a very easy and clear way.      



Games and Simulations

Classrooms now a days are active and fun because of the different ways and strategies that the teacher is using for the students. The most important issue these days is to make the students engaged in the lesson, and this will never be done if the class was boring. For this reason they have produce new strategy to be used in the class which is games and simulations.

In our schools we have a simulation rooms which acts like a company and the students are the employees, they have to work there in different departments such as: accounting, marketing, IT…etc

I have found using the games in class makes the lesson more easier, understandable and interesting to my students, so whenever I have a difficult lesson I worked hard to search for a proper game that helps me to deliver the information to the students. Some of the games where flash games that I found them ready from the internet and others where done by me using different programs such as: Microsoft Power point and Visual Basic.    

Mind Mapping

Mind Mapping is a useful technique that improves the way you take notes, and supports and enhances your creative problem solving. By using Mind Maps, you can quickly identify and understand the structure of a subject, and the way that pieces of information fit together, as well as recording the raw facts contained in normal notes.

Both students and teachers are using the mind maps, for the students it help them in revising for the exams and focusing on the main important ideas, for the teachers it help them in summarizing the materials they have and making the information more organized.

Sometimes if the topic is long and complex the teacher asked the students to draw a mind map that simplify the topic for them and I have used this method, the problem was that some of the students were lazy and want everything to be ready for them, another problem was that I wasn’t well-known about the useful software’s that makes the mind map something easy and interesting, they were using the Microsoft Word and PowerPoint which was taking a long time. This course gave me the needful software’s that I will use them in the future with my students.

Inquiry-based Learning

An old state said: "Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand.", the last statement actually is the Inquiry-based learning. Inquiry-based learning is the involvement in learning, it implies possessing skills and attitudes that permit you to seek resolutions to questions and issues while you construct new knowledge.

Today’s subjects does not need memorizing, that’s why they came up with the inquiry-based learning strategy that allows the students to discover the information needed by themselves so it will be stick in their minds and difficult to be forgotten.

I believe that this is an effective way to be used especially in the IT subjects because we need the students to investigate and learn how to answer the questions without referring to the teacher, since in IT subjects most of the topics are practical so the students have to try it by themselves not just receiving the information from the teacher.

I have used this method with my students when I have asked them some questions regarding our lesson and let them search the Internet to find the answer and they were interested in searching and choosing the right answer from the different choices they have, this let my students to be self-reliance.  

 

Web Quest

Web Quest is a learning activity in which students interact with different types of resources. A well-designed Web Quest combines research-supported theories with effective use of the Internet to promote dependable instructional practices.

A real Web Quest is a scaffolded learning structure that uses links to essential resources on the World Wide Web and an authentic task to motivate students' investigation of an open-ended question, development of individual expertise, and participation in a group process that transforms newly acquired information into a more sophisticated understanding.

The Web Quest consists of five critical steps and they are: Introduction, Task, Process, Evaluation, and Conclusion.

Actually I found the Web Quest is a very effective way of being the student’s “Student centered learning” this allow the students to investigate and find the solution for the problem they have by their own. They will be able to work within a team so through the Web Quest they will gain the team work skills, also they will find it easier by following the steps in a nice written way rather than just telling the students what to do, by this way here they will lose the interest of working on a project.

In my previous experience we had several projects to be done with the students, and it was difficult to explain to them the idea of the project and it was harder to know each group where did they reach, using the Web Quest makes the things easier to deal with for both students and teachers.

Student Centered Learning

A new different approaches have been developed to manage the classroom and a way of students learning, there are divided into 3 categories: teacher centered learning, collaborative learning, and student centered learning.

Years ago was the main concern in education is to use the teacher centered learning which is the main goal of it is to create a learning environment in which management issues are easier to be handled and the information faster to be delivered to students without any problems.

But the main issue of the Ministry of Education within the few years ago is leading the teachers to use the student centered learning approach which helps the students become more self-directed and responsible of their own learning.

Student centered learning is about helping the students to discover their own learning styles, where here the teacher role will changed from a teacher to a facilitator, the teacher will need to help the students achieving their goals and making sure that all of them have get the right information.

In my opinion, I think using this approach is much more valuable for the students simply because it will help them to be creative, more responsible, active in the class, and at the end when they graduated from the school they will be cooperative members in the community.

In the other hand, there are some disadvantages of student centered learning approach such as: that some of the students did not operate well in this approach so the teacher has to spend more effort to teach him/her, also this approach sometimes requires the students to be within a team where some of the students are not able to work in a team and like to work as individuals, and time consuming as well is one of the main problems because student centered learning needs more time.

In our ICT subjects I think it’s more easier to use the student centered learning approach because the students are almost familiar with the tasks they do, so it will be a good way in helping them to develop their skills. From my experience, I have used this model in some lessons which I have noticed that the students are well-known about it, so I let them to work on projects within groups to learn by themselves how to use a specific program.

The Computer in the School: Tutor, Tool, Tutee

We all know nowadays how the computers are important in the process of teaching and learning, and how it adds benefits to the education where the computer are used for the several teaching methods and techniques.

To understand the application of computing in relation to education you have to understand the three modes of these application, and they are at first: the computer as tutor, at second: the computer as tool, and at third: the computer as tutee.

1)      The computer functions as Tutor: the computer have to be programmed by experts, the computer represent some materials where the student has to respond, and the computer evaluate the student responding at the end.

2)      The computer functions as a Tool: the computer need to have a simple used programs such as: word processing or calculating where that student use these programs.

3)      The computer functions as Tutee: to use the computer as tutee is to tutor the computer, where the teacher or the student must talk to the computer with the language it can understand.

There is no matter that the computer technologies with the different modes support the teaching and learning process and rise the education to upper steps. I think learning without the computer will be inefficient that’s why through my experience I have used the computer to activate my lesson such as: I have created different videos that help the students clearly knowing the steps to do several tasks, interactive games by flash or other programs that make the understanding level of the students is high, also communicating with the students by e-mails or groups to discuss different issues.

In the other hand I can say that there are some negatives of using the computer in all cases such as: affecting the social relations because the students will spend more time working on the computer, books will be un-useful since they will use the computer to get the information they need, and it might affects the health.

Introduction

My name is Latifa Yousif Abdulla, working as an ICT teacher in Al-Hoora Secondary School "GSVEC program" with one year experience.
My hobbies are searching through the Internet about latest technology, also I like swimming as well as shopping.