Week 10 Reflections!

"All is well that ends well", the saying goes! Unfortunately I couldn't end Webskills Course as I had wished! It's pity that this week I couldn't find time to be online! I couldn't meet the deadlines and couldn't even say farewell to my friends!

Now that I finally found time, it's late to say that I found the webskills course informative exciting and engaging! It'll make a permanent niche in my mind! Through this course I've got a large repertoire of tech tools and techniques and I plan to fully utilize them to enhance my teaching!

During these ten weeks, I used Nicenet, JupiterGrades, Wiki, Google Docs, RubiStar, WebQuest, Interactive PowerPoint, Blogger, PollEverywhere, SkyDrive, Delicious, MakeBeliefComix, ANVILL, Webinar, iSpring, Google Maps, TimeandDate.com, YouTube, CamStudio, to name just few!

Through this course, I've also got to know some very dedicated and committed teachers from across the world who are a constant source of inspiration for me!

Most of all, I'm thankful to Donna Shaw who patiently and laboriously explained every step and encouraged us throughout the course!



Muhammad Rashid

Week 9 Reflections

It's hard to believe that 9 weeks have passed so quickly! This week I've been awfully busy, yet somehow I managed to read the assigned material and complete the tasks. I revised the final Project Plan report in the light of Haggag's suggestions. I feel satisfied when I look at the final version of the Project Plan Report.

This week's reading material about learning styles in general and Multiple Intelligence in particular has been really informative and useful! It triggered further reading and I found some excellent resources on MI. Here is a useful resource that charts activities according to the students' intelligences. I think it can help us in writing Objectives and planning lessons.

Multiple Intelligences Chart

How do you ensure all of your students' intelligences are being tapped? Here is a list of activities that speak to each intelligence.

Verbal-Linguistic	Logical-Mathematical	Visual-Spatial	Bodily-Kinesthetic
choral speaking declarizing storytelling retelling speaking debating presenting reading aloud dramatizing book making nonfiction reading researching listening process writing writing journals	problem solving measuring coding sequencing critical thinking predicting playing logic games collecting data experimenting solving puzzles classifying using manipulatives learning the scientific model using money using geometry	graphing photographing making visual metaphors making visual analogies mapping stories making 3D projects painting illustrating using charts using organizers visualizing sketching patterning visual puzzles	hands on experiments activities changing room arrangement creative movement going on field trips physical education activities crafts dramatizing using cooperative groups dancing

Musical	Interpersonal	Intrapersonal	Naturalistic
humming rapping playing background music patterns form playing instruments tapping out poetic rhythms rhyming singing	classroom parties peer editing cooperative learning sharing group work forming clubs peer teaching social awareness conflict mediation discussing cross age tutoring study group brainstorming	personal response individual study personal goal setting individual projects journal log keeping personal choice in projects independent reading	reading outside cloud watching identifying insects building habitats identifying plants using a microscope dissecting going on a nature walk build a garden studying the stars bird watching collecting rocks making bird feeders going to the zoo

Read more on TeacherVision:http://www.teachervision.fen.com/intelligence/teaching-methods/2204.html#ixzz1eyjsZIJs

Week 8 Reflections through ANVILL

Hi Everyone!

Week 8 has been fabulous for me! There was a lot to learn this week but I completed the tasks quite comfortably. First of all, I completed the first draft of my project plan report and provided feedback on Haggag’s. I also created online personality quizzes using a free authoring tool called Quandary.

Best of all, I learned how to use ANVILL. To get a real taste of ANVILL, please spare few minutes and take the following test that I created using ANVILL.

Week 7 Reflections: A Live Poll

I've been running  to catch up with this week's tasks and assignments. But I've learned a lot!

After reading the articles about 'Learner Autonomy' and 'One Computer Class', I decided to create a lesson plan fostering learner autonomy. The word 'autonomy' made me think of slef-rule and hence I planned to aim my lesson at 'Electing Class Representative'. Then I started searching for a useful online tool to conduct secret voting. I found Poll Everywhere and was glad to find that students could poll anonymously through SMS. It's a great tool as I could use one computer with a large screen to show the live chart for polling and the students could use their cell phones to vote. (Like teenagers around the world, my students love sending SMS!). With free version of Poll Everywhere, I could receive responses from 30 students. The only thing I was worried about was SMS spamming. What if Poll Everywhere starts sending spam to the students. I verified it by using it myself and found it safe.

If you want to participate in a sample Poll please take some time to go through the following poll. Try sending your response through SMS. Simply type the CODE for your selected OPTION and send the SMS to the phone number given in the poll. If for some reasons, you can't send your SMS, you can go to the Web Link to enter your response. Look at the poll below to see live chart changes to accommodate your response. It's really exciting, isn't it?

Week 6 Reflections

I couldn't really focus as much on this week's tasks as I usually do. However, I did go through the reading material and I did look at the interactive presentations prepared and shared by all of you. I'm amazed at the work we've all done. Who would've thought we'd be able to create our own interactive PowerPoint Presentations in such a short time? I was just wondering how we could share these presentations online without losing the interactivity. You must have noticed that the online version of our presentations is not as good as the ones we created and viewed on our own systems. So I searched for the solution and tried SkyDrive to upload and share my presentation online. The result was something like below.



As you can see, through SkyDrive I can neatly embed my presentation into this blog but unfortunately it only supports linear presentations. I lost almost all interactivity that was crucial to the quiz I created. Then I tried iSpring Free to convert my presentation into flash file.

Still there’re issues to resolve but I think in time I’ll rectify them. I’m planning to use tools and techniques that I learned this week in our college website. At the moment it’s just a static website but I want to use it to upload dynamic content and to engage my students into interactive exercises based on the learning material that is part of their syllabus.

"Judge not so that ye may not be judged!"

I don't know who said it but I like the saying. It's only when we start to judge others that our own actions really dawn on us! We have to account for our own actions.

Like most of our students, I dread the word 'assessment'. It always has horrible connotations and conjures up images that are quite unpleasant! In fact it always caused me fever when I was young!

I love alternatives and choices as they bring freedom to choose! They accommodate for a variety of learning styles! No two human beings are exactly same, so how can we use one yardstick for all of them. The benchmark for learning must be set with the consent of the learners involved.

I've learned this week that exam fright is caused by the unpredictable nature of our conventional evaluation system. We can reduce it by letting the learners become in charge of their own learning and assessment process. They learn more when they own it: when they traverse the path mapped out by themselves, and head towards a destination set by themselves. Through alternative assessment they become aware of the indicators of success! It boosts their confidence and things become less murky!

Self and peer assessment sound less threatening. Peers don't have authority over you and they have to explain why they rate your performance high or low. It is only fair to assess oneself. After all who else can claim to understand your situation better than you yourself! Besides, others may point out the shortcomings in you but if you don't deem them wrong you're not going to improve, or are you?

Muhammad Rashid

Reflections on Week 5 - A Flashback!

"The time when most I loved my task"

Those who know me also know that I've failed many times in life! I’ve abandoned many jobs, and left many tasks unfinished! I lose motivation sooner than many. I’ve been told many times that I follow my impulse and don’t have temperament for long term commitment, hence, people find me unfit for many tasks, or even life!

 As the fourth week of our Web-skills course is nearing its end, I’m beginning to feel that it may not be I who failed those tasks; it may be those tasks that failed me! I need something intellectually stimulating; something innovative; creative; or even soul stirring! External stimulants (those ‘carrots and sticks’, you know) don’t really work for me. I need an urge inside to get going!

 Well, surprisingly, this course has doubled my motivation since I joined it four weeks ago. It has so much to offer! Each week begins with exciting new tasks and challenges! I feel like Alice in the wonderland! Each new achievement increases my level of satisfaction!

 This week I explored newfound worlds for teaching reading and writing. But these new regions don’t excite me as much as do the sharing part. In the past if I came across any exciting resources, I never found many around me to share my pleasures. It seemed everyone around me had different priorities or they thought I was crazy. Here, we can discuss, apply and share resources. Here we have professionals with whom I can share my expectations and excitements! Here I have a digital family with organic affiliations! I feel like I belong here!

 Last week a poem, and this week comic strips! That's like me! I love the blog posts as they offer freedom, room for creativity and innovation! I love this course, because, in the words of Robert Frost,

                                                    "My object in living is to unite

                                                    My avocation and my vocation

                                                    As my two eyes make one in sight.

                                                    Only where love and need are one,

                                                    And the work is play for mortal stakes,

                                                    Is the deed ever really done

                                                    For Heaven and the future's sakes."

Week 4 Reflections through Comic Strips!

Who am I?

Here are my reflections on 'Delicious Pages' in the form of a poem!

Who am I?

Am I a scavenger, hunting for some food?

Am I a beachcomber, nourished by the sea?

Am I a gold digger, sifting through the soil?

Am I a weatherman, fearing frosty winds?

Am I a mariner, cruising foamy seas?

Am I a stargazer, searching supernovae?

Am I a meditator, diving into soul?

Look at my discoveries and discover who I am! 

Muhammad Rashid

ICT: a mania; a phobia!

For most teachers, use of ICT causes either fright or frenzy! There are those who view it like this: “we are digital immigrants, or even digital aliens; how are we supposed to teach digital natives? Just think of the digital divide: our students have evolved into a different species with different aims and aspirations! Most part of their lives is spent in blogging, chatting, texting, tweeting, multitasking whereas we’re simply illiterates in these!” The argument goes something like this: “how can we teach them, if we can’t even reach them?” Portrayed this way, it sure causes digital fright, a phobia!

On the other hand, there are those who are addicted to technology and overexcited about its benefits in teaching! They are far ahead of their students and think teaching would be impossible without Web-skills! They consider it a panacea, a magical wand that’d swing and the whole class of learners would become competent in English overnight! They are swept off their feet by alluring tides of technology. They like to pile up most powerful tools and get buried under it! They are maniacs!

How can we strike a balance between these two extremes? Well, by adopting a third perspective. We must not think of our learners as a member of a different species! They are human beings as much as we are! They have emotions same as ours! They apply the learning strategies similar to our own! They are changed, not transformed! For a few differences between the digital natives and us, we can find hundreds of similarities.

We should also rethink of the dreaded word “technology”! Is it something that we’ve never used in teaching? Or is it a continuation of blackboard, chalk, slate, paper, cassette player, OHP, TV and other such technologies? No doubt, ICT is much more powerful than many of the technologies I’ve mentioned. But why kill a rat with a missile? As teachers we don’t need to have a mastery over every single technology that pops up each day. We need to keep abreast of the latest technologies; find out the ones that are useful for our purposes; and use them wisely to achieve maximum positive results! The lesson I’ve learned is this: let’s behave normally and take this change sensibly and that’s only possible if we are clear in our objectives and our teaching strategies are determined by our target, and not by the tools out there!

Muhammad Rashid

It takes time to save time!

I was wondering if my initial excitement would die down after the first week. Well, it hasn’t! There is lot to learn! Our teacher Donna Shaw shared with us some great resources this week. NoodleTools provided not just food for thought, but also the tastiest noodles ever so it sure deserved to be bookmarked on Delicious! I think searching on the web is like trying to find a needle in the haystack; like a non Chinese trying to eat noodles with chopsticks! World Wide Web holds a maddening disarray of information woven into a complex web. I salute those who find a pattern in confusion; “a method behind madness” and this world makes sense to us. I term myself ‘connoisseur of chaos” and love finding my own way through it! But at times it might be too frustrating and too time consuming an experience! It’s when NoodleTools comes to help! It just doesn’t offer one size that fits all; it tailors information to everyone’s needs! Thumbs up for Donna who shared it with us and hats off to those who created the page!

Digital Natives Vs Digital Immigrants

Prensky divides todays' world into the 'Digital Natives' - the young people who were born and raised in the digital world; and 'Digital Immigrants' - people like us who were born in the pre digital countryside and immigrate to the digital world later!

In this sense, applying for this webskills course is like applying for immigration to the tech world!

If you're interested in learning more about the digital natives, go to Digital Natives!
Muhammad Rashid

Multiple Perspectives on Teaching Practices

This is my first ever Reflective blog! Well, I've been reflecting (I fervently hope!), and I've been blogging before, but this is the first time I'm going to document my reflections on a blog. I hope it'll help me look at my own teaching practices from a distance! Having an inside view really helps but we tend to overlook a lot while we are in action. So it's a great idea that we sit back and reflect on our own teaching practices to improve them! I'm sure your valuable comments would offer yet another perspective in this regard.