Topic 4.3
Gender and Technology
Activity 4.3-1 (allow 30 minutes)
Actually as it is being stated earlier in this topic that boys or male are mostly more interested towards using any kinds of gadgets or machines as compare to the girls.(according to the common beliefs) and the same problem arises at home though educated parents do not differentiate between their children on the basis of gender difference but in common practice boys are given more priority over girls as far as using the comforts and luxuries are concern and where parents cannot afford to have a separate machine for each and every child. Secondly boys are more into machines , they like and prefer to learn skills as compare to knowledge based learning and computers is a best way to make them learn what they prefer. On the other hand mostly girls are more into knowledge based learning and they prefer to learn new things by reading . so conclusively the same difference could be seen in their reaction towards use of computers and if they are not given required emphasis or motivation they seldom takes interest in the computers.
of course all of us had equal access to the computers and time slots was fixed to use the computers.
Of course all of us have equal access to computers . it is because we have enough number of PCs available.
As far as school is concern , because of the shortage of timings and other related factors like planning , teaching time slots etc, most of the teaching staff prefers to do their work at home and takes he hard copy from the school’s lab. I our school there are 20 PCs and one printer for the use of teachers as well as for the students. Where as our headteacher have his own system along with a printer so here the difference is not gender based but position based. And computer instructor have full access over printer, scanner, speakers, microphones etc, it is just because of her job type (as in our case it is a female) so gender based difference is not the case here.
Well what I feel is that this gender thing is a centuries old issue of the rights of the female, there position in the society, the respect and privileges she had etc. though education has brought some awareness but still in the under developed and developing countries it is the main issue. Parents could be motivated by examples of those females who are on the top most position in their respective fields and by making them aware that the role of male and female is imposed by the society but nature has not limited a female in compare to man. Lectures and seminars, face to face sessions with female professional (specially computers) could be arranged . what I personally feels is that in our school parents teacher association will not work instead we can get in touch with our parents through PTMs and informal meetings.
Activity 4.3-2 (allow 5 minutes)
Girls usually do not want to play with blocks, legos etc. they like playing with dolls , doll houses , accessories of doll and love to play house hold chores act game with the help of different sets available . it is probably because girls see their mother doing the same at homes. I have seen one or two boys who like to play with dolls but then again my observation told me that they have an influenced of their single mothers over them. So it is not something that comes within, it is behavior that a child takes from his surroundings also.
For Act 4.3-3 see the attached file.
Activity 4.3-4 (allow 20 minutes)
As it is very clearly stated that cooperative learning is a very good example. This emphasis the importance of working together not considering working with boys or girls but working with young and talented individuals. In school specially, students must be considered as only students not a girl or a boy. They should be given equal opportunity to grow and be competent . This could be done with cooperative learning where each and every student play his part and even help those who are not as strong this way only we can give a chance to our girls to grow and step forward and keep up with the technology. As far as this thing is concern that they should have single gender or mixed gender group, it is important to know that a teacher ‘s job is to encourage all the students to learn and grow and not to get gender biased and grow rivalry against each other. Plus because of the mixed gender group students will learn more and bring good results as females are good at collecting data, organizing it , building social rapports etc where as males are good at constructing the product.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Reflection on topic 2.1 Need Based Analysis
Reflection on topic
2.1 Need Based Analysis
Needs are the gap between the present and required situation. It is a sequential process of gathering data, analyzing it and then making judgment that how much is the difference between the present and desirable state. Data collection could be done by different selected tools that could be used according to one’s requirements. Such tools include surveys, group discussion, interviews, analysis and observation etc.
Before deciding that which is the preferred tool of collecting the data, it is important to know that why we want to collect it? (The reason) Once the reason and purpose is clear then it will be quite easy to decide the required tool to collect the information.
Surveys:
It is used when a large number of people are there, it also becomes quite easy when the number of people are not in the same place (scattered around the globe). But there are certain limitation in doing so as the expertise is required to make a skill full questionnaire that addresses the correct issue and derived the to the point reply from the audience. It is normally not feasible when open ended questions are needed to answered. Because for that again special skills are required in order to give a selection of answer from all the possible situation.
Another problem is that a survey is once and for all type of thing as there is mostly not a second chance to respond even if one identifies any discrepancy in information.
For surveys every single instruction will be provided in the beginning to make every thing crystal clear to the audience. Especially for those who are not in contact.
One more limitation is that, because in surveys the interviewer is not present , the survey could be taken very lightly, lack of seriousness could be the issue here.
A good point of survey is , that if designed skillfully, it could give you very creative answers also, because the audience will be free to write their thoughts without any interruption or thought hindrance from the interviewer (one who is taking survey ). The person giving the surveys will be neutral (nonbiased) and not get influenced by any person and will be able to speak up his mind freely, ultimately resulted in the emergence of realistic situation.
Group Discussions:
In group discussions ideas will be freely shared and argued over. In this a variety of ideas could emerged, here the responses are more thought over, are more to the point and discussion will be on the right track. As two people do not think alike , if they are given an opportunity to explore they will come up with different ideas, thus group discussion tend to get excellent results not only on the issue in hand but even can broaden the horizon of thinking about another similar issues and their solutions. But it is very important to make some rules in order to avoid disturbance while doing this.
If many issues come in the limelight then the facilitator can even prioritize the issues.
During this practice , documentation is very important. Jotting down the important points or even recording it, is beneficial. This could even be done by any person other than the facilitator.
Analysis :
It is also a structured way of gathering data. It normally is done when time and resources are short .One become exact and to the point and target the issue directly. It is having similarity with the group discussion. It is to get the best possible solutions through analysis and reflection by the participant. What I feel is that this is also something that we did in the first 2 weeks of our course.
Observations:
Observation is another useful tool of assessment. In which a thorough study will be conducted fist and then the facilitator will decide that whom and which are the things to get observed. This is also a very important tool but in this, one has to keep in mind all the factors and must be having good observation skills. Well, there are certain rules to do the observations which include, Whom to observe? What should be observed? What is the need for observing? etc.
For need assessment, more than one tool can be used to get the desired results.
By:
Nazia Saleem Khoja
Aga Khan School, Hyderabad
Activities
Need Based Assessment
Activity: 2.1-1 (Allows 30 minutes)
Review the introductory activities that you did in the first two weeks of the course to identify your needs.
In the first two weeks, the first e-activity that we performed made us identify what actually our needs are? It was actually like doing force field analysis , that provided us with a series of questions and through our own replies we got a clear picture of understanding our present and preferred situation (that’s our needs).
(those replies will be summarized here)
A survey was also conducted by our tutors, that made them aware of our strengths and limitations and then they made their plans accordingly.
Apart from this, there was another activity of making our Learning Contract that made us think that what we, as an individual need to know and plan our self accordingly. We did a thorough study of the topics in hand and then made a plan as to what we should be learning in the next 6 months. It was again analyzing our needs and then act accordingly.
I would like to mention here that as far as need assessment is concern , I as a computer teacher have a dual responsibility of teaching not only to the students the basics skills but also updating those teachers who still don’t feel comfortable using computers. Because what we think is that if we want to bring a paradigm shift, we can do it just through our teachers and if our teachers are motivated to do integration then only we will be successful in doing so.
For that purpose, our management wanted to conduct a computer session in order to bring all the teachers on the same ground (as some teachers are having sufficient computer skills and rest needed to brought on that ground). IN that whole practice I actually have used the techniques proposed in the need assessment lesson and it was quite beneficial.
I am including the whole process summary that includes :
Conducting a survey
Summarizing it
Planning the whole session
My reflection on the sessions
2.1 Need Based Analysis
Needs are the gap between the present and required situation. It is a sequential process of gathering data, analyzing it and then making judgment that how much is the difference between the present and desirable state. Data collection could be done by different selected tools that could be used according to one’s requirements. Such tools include surveys, group discussion, interviews, analysis and observation etc.
Before deciding that which is the preferred tool of collecting the data, it is important to know that why we want to collect it? (The reason) Once the reason and purpose is clear then it will be quite easy to decide the required tool to collect the information.
Surveys:
It is used when a large number of people are there, it also becomes quite easy when the number of people are not in the same place (scattered around the globe). But there are certain limitation in doing so as the expertise is required to make a skill full questionnaire that addresses the correct issue and derived the to the point reply from the audience. It is normally not feasible when open ended questions are needed to answered. Because for that again special skills are required in order to give a selection of answer from all the possible situation.
Another problem is that a survey is once and for all type of thing as there is mostly not a second chance to respond even if one identifies any discrepancy in information.
For surveys every single instruction will be provided in the beginning to make every thing crystal clear to the audience. Especially for those who are not in contact.
One more limitation is that, because in surveys the interviewer is not present , the survey could be taken very lightly, lack of seriousness could be the issue here.
A good point of survey is , that if designed skillfully, it could give you very creative answers also, because the audience will be free to write their thoughts without any interruption or thought hindrance from the interviewer (one who is taking survey ). The person giving the surveys will be neutral (nonbiased) and not get influenced by any person and will be able to speak up his mind freely, ultimately resulted in the emergence of realistic situation.
Group Discussions:
In group discussions ideas will be freely shared and argued over. In this a variety of ideas could emerged, here the responses are more thought over, are more to the point and discussion will be on the right track. As two people do not think alike , if they are given an opportunity to explore they will come up with different ideas, thus group discussion tend to get excellent results not only on the issue in hand but even can broaden the horizon of thinking about another similar issues and their solutions. But it is very important to make some rules in order to avoid disturbance while doing this.
If many issues come in the limelight then the facilitator can even prioritize the issues.
During this practice , documentation is very important. Jotting down the important points or even recording it, is beneficial. This could even be done by any person other than the facilitator.
Analysis :
It is also a structured way of gathering data. It normally is done when time and resources are short .One become exact and to the point and target the issue directly. It is having similarity with the group discussion. It is to get the best possible solutions through analysis and reflection by the participant. What I feel is that this is also something that we did in the first 2 weeks of our course.
Observations:
Observation is another useful tool of assessment. In which a thorough study will be conducted fist and then the facilitator will decide that whom and which are the things to get observed. This is also a very important tool but in this, one has to keep in mind all the factors and must be having good observation skills. Well, there are certain rules to do the observations which include, Whom to observe? What should be observed? What is the need for observing? etc.
For need assessment, more than one tool can be used to get the desired results.
By:
Nazia Saleem Khoja
Aga Khan School, Hyderabad
Activities
Need Based Assessment
Activity: 2.1-1 (Allows 30 minutes)
Review the introductory activities that you did in the first two weeks of the course to identify your needs.
In the first two weeks, the first e-activity that we performed made us identify what actually our needs are? It was actually like doing force field analysis , that provided us with a series of questions and through our own replies we got a clear picture of understanding our present and preferred situation (that’s our needs).
(those replies will be summarized here)
A survey was also conducted by our tutors, that made them aware of our strengths and limitations and then they made their plans accordingly.
Apart from this, there was another activity of making our Learning Contract that made us think that what we, as an individual need to know and plan our self accordingly. We did a thorough study of the topics in hand and then made a plan as to what we should be learning in the next 6 months. It was again analyzing our needs and then act accordingly.
I would like to mention here that as far as need assessment is concern , I as a computer teacher have a dual responsibility of teaching not only to the students the basics skills but also updating those teachers who still don’t feel comfortable using computers. Because what we think is that if we want to bring a paradigm shift, we can do it just through our teachers and if our teachers are motivated to do integration then only we will be successful in doing so.
For that purpose, our management wanted to conduct a computer session in order to bring all the teachers on the same ground (as some teachers are having sufficient computer skills and rest needed to brought on that ground). IN that whole practice I actually have used the techniques proposed in the need assessment lesson and it was quite beneficial.
I am including the whole process summary that includes :
Conducting a survey
Summarizing it
Planning the whole session
My reflection on the sessions
Topic 1.3 Becoming a Reflective Practitioner
Topic 1.3 Becoming a Reflective Practitioner
Activity 1.3-1 (allow 10 minutes)
Before you read further , I would like you to write down what you understand by the term reflection and the phrase reflective teaching. Then read the following sections and compare my explanations with your understanding.
Reflection is what you get in the mirror which is exactly the same as the image itself. Reflection in teaching means reviewing the complete cycle of teaching and learning and identifying problems and shortcomings in order to plan for the future. Through reviewing a teacher will be able to understand how successful her teaching was during a particular lesson, what were the problems she faced , which parts of her teaching was not successful etc. which parts of the planning should be revisited I order to get maximum benefits out of it. A teacher in a haste can overlooked some of the features of her teaching but by reviewing it or reflecting it later will make her realizes her mistakes.
Activity 1.32-2 (Allow 15 minutes)
Write down your reaction to the above concepts. Do you engage in reflection in your daily work? If yes, how do you do that?
It is very clearly stated in Schon’s theory that action which is based on the reflections is considered as smart and intelligent actions. It is very clear that reflection plays an important role as far as the complete cycle of teaching and learning is concern. With out carefully reviewing the teaching on cannot get the short comings in it. According to his theory, there are two important distinguishable facts, Professional actions and professional expertise..
Where professional actions are practical implementations of the gained theory, Professional expertise is the result which we get through reflecting the results of the theory being implemented.
Haberman’s concept not only deals about the teacher in the context of her teaching in the classroom but also in a much broader context of the social structures and working environment of the teacher. As these conditions along with some other also influences the over all teaching.
Well in the answer of the query that am I engaged in reflection in my daily work , the answer is Yes. But in the form of casual diary writing and not very regularly (not each and every lesson would be reflected about)instead if there is any prominent changer in the reactions or response of my students then only I try to sit and review my teaching or go through my planner to identify the problem and plan accordingly.
Activity 1.3 (Allow 10 minutes)
In the light of the definition of the reflection and the skills and attitudes identified above, do you consider yourself a reflective practitioner?
Why or Why not?
Considering the definition of Zeichner and Liston and the skills and attitudes identified above. I could say I am a reflective practitioner. I concentrate on my thoughts and carefully review my planning (that is introspection). I as a teacher is very open minded to implement new strategies to make my teaching smoother. I encourage and appreciated my fellow teachers on their remarks and revisit my planning and give their views accordingly. My lab (as I am a computer teacher) is not only for the students but teaching staff can also come and use it sometimes even during my teaching and if they give me any comments afterwards I always take it and add it in my planning. In my view reflective teaching ultimately encourages reflective learning in a way that a good teacher also encourages the student to think and act beyond the pre packaged knowledge provided.
Activity 1.3-4 (allow 2 hours)
You might wish to start your journal with a short autobiography ……………………
Page # 49
a) Recall your own schooling, what feelings and images remain?
My teachers were very cooperative, they always encourages us to respond and communicates My teachers were very cooperative, they always encourages us to respond and communicates our opinions. But it is still the fact that as no two people are alike so as the teacher. Every body has different attribute. . Some were extremely enthusiastic and concern using practical mode of teaching.
b) Which teacher do you remember , what and why do you remember about them?
Activity 1.3-1 (allow 10 minutes)
Before you read further , I would like you to write down what you understand by the term reflection and the phrase reflective teaching. Then read the following sections and compare my explanations with your understanding.
Reflection is what you get in the mirror which is exactly the same as the image itself. Reflection in teaching means reviewing the complete cycle of teaching and learning and identifying problems and shortcomings in order to plan for the future. Through reviewing a teacher will be able to understand how successful her teaching was during a particular lesson, what were the problems she faced , which parts of her teaching was not successful etc. which parts of the planning should be revisited I order to get maximum benefits out of it. A teacher in a haste can overlooked some of the features of her teaching but by reviewing it or reflecting it later will make her realizes her mistakes.
Activity 1.32-2 (Allow 15 minutes)
Write down your reaction to the above concepts. Do you engage in reflection in your daily work? If yes, how do you do that?
It is very clearly stated in Schon’s theory that action which is based on the reflections is considered as smart and intelligent actions. It is very clear that reflection plays an important role as far as the complete cycle of teaching and learning is concern. With out carefully reviewing the teaching on cannot get the short comings in it. According to his theory, there are two important distinguishable facts, Professional actions and professional expertise..
Where professional actions are practical implementations of the gained theory, Professional expertise is the result which we get through reflecting the results of the theory being implemented.
Haberman’s concept not only deals about the teacher in the context of her teaching in the classroom but also in a much broader context of the social structures and working environment of the teacher. As these conditions along with some other also influences the over all teaching.
Well in the answer of the query that am I engaged in reflection in my daily work , the answer is Yes. But in the form of casual diary writing and not very regularly (not each and every lesson would be reflected about)instead if there is any prominent changer in the reactions or response of my students then only I try to sit and review my teaching or go through my planner to identify the problem and plan accordingly.
Activity 1.3 (Allow 10 minutes)
In the light of the definition of the reflection and the skills and attitudes identified above, do you consider yourself a reflective practitioner?
Why or Why not?
Considering the definition of Zeichner and Liston and the skills and attitudes identified above. I could say I am a reflective practitioner. I concentrate on my thoughts and carefully review my planning (that is introspection). I as a teacher is very open minded to implement new strategies to make my teaching smoother. I encourage and appreciated my fellow teachers on their remarks and revisit my planning and give their views accordingly. My lab (as I am a computer teacher) is not only for the students but teaching staff can also come and use it sometimes even during my teaching and if they give me any comments afterwards I always take it and add it in my planning. In my view reflective teaching ultimately encourages reflective learning in a way that a good teacher also encourages the student to think and act beyond the pre packaged knowledge provided.
Activity 1.3-4 (allow 2 hours)
You might wish to start your journal with a short autobiography ……………………
Page # 49
a) Recall your own schooling, what feelings and images remain?
My teachers were very cooperative, they always encourages us to respond and communicates My teachers were very cooperative, they always encourages us to respond and communicates our opinions. But it is still the fact that as no two people are alike so as the teacher. Every body has different attribute. . Some were extremely enthusiastic and concern using practical mode of teaching.
b) Which teacher do you remember , what and why do you remember about them?
I remember many teachers of mine , some of them because of their way of teaching, the other others because of the content based teaching, some because of the teaching of moral values among with the content and of course some because of their monotonous way of teaching (without any emotions or practicality). One I remembered the most were those who encouraged me in particular and all the other students in general , they are no doubt a mile stone for me and a great source of inspiration . I even sometimes in a difficult situation try to figure out hoe they would have dealt with the situation at that time.
c) Why did you became a teacher?
In the beginning, there was nothing in particular in my mind. I selected this career because it suited me time wise and all because as a mother I also have to take care of my kid but gradually I realized it is sacred job, very sacred indeed where a teacher is playing with the minds of the students and giving them the roots to stand on in the future and of course stronger the roots sweeter the fruit and vice a versa. Now teaching for me is to transport my ideas and my beliefs to my students and to make my teaching a collaborative effort where I not only teach but learn too.
d) What and who influenced you ?
First my own teaches and secondly some of the teachers who were in my surrounding. I have actually learnt a lot from their experiences and their work. As far as this question is concern that what influences me then the answer is the response of my students , their eager ness for sharing their experiences and the sense of achievement on their face after learning some thing interesting, and the practical display of their work are the biggest motivational aspects for me.
e) What were the most meaning full aspects of your teacher education program that contributed to your development as a teacher?
Actually the whole training session was very educational and some how I have learnt a lot from them but I should say that the practical session specially in which the aluminis were present and shared their experiences with us was the most beneficial session as every thing became clear in my mind and I learnt a lot from their work and got tremendous inspiration to do the same.
f) Greatest strengths?
My greatest strength is the motivation to keep on learning new things and my constant reading habit.
g) i) Limitations / frustrations ?
As I have already mentioned that in our school computers is not a subject and students are taught different basic skills to use the computer in the result many of the students does not take it quite seriously. Lack of seriousness and or lack of concentration are the major hindrance in the way of teaching. This is quite frustrating for me as a teacher.
h) Few of the joys and satisfactions as a teacher?
When my students learn some thing in their computers class and try to apply the same during their assignments or trying to learn more by themselves as an extension of what ever is being taught to them in their classes, I feel satisfied and content.
j) Hopes for the childe you teach?
My students as I have mentioned are very much motivated to learn by doing and as I have shared my mini project plan with them , they are more tan willing to help in the task even no big read or award is offered. That means their motivation level is quite high it self and it will ultimately guide them in the future.
Activity 1.3-5 (allow 1 hour)
a) As a teacher I have to learn and go a long way of achieving the same which is achieved by my teachers. I am very much object oriented but still I have the option to be more flexible in order to achieve my goals (because my subject is an optional one) I ma free to make amendments in my planners and prolong my planning as much as is required. (according to the need of my students)
· Teaching:
My teaching is quite flexible and open in order to achieve 100 % result and 100 % understanding by my students. As teacher my responsibilities are huge but as a computer teacher I have dwell responsibility of fulfilling the requirements of my fellow teaching staff also. So some times I feel I became quite overburdened and exhausted as far as teaching is concern (as I am th only computer instructor) for ECD –III to class VIII. But then again my subject gives me a free hand of doing the practical and teaching the students skilled based techniques is a fun itself. My teaching is a sort of reflective as I sometimes learn from them.
· Students :
Students are motivated enough to learn more but some of them who are not given emphasized from their home (because of their parents’ attitude towards learning computers) create a hindrance sometimes but now gradually they are gaining interest through the entertaining part of computers (less technical i-e playing games, making presentations etc) and now the higher classes who were not interested in games once and chatting on the net are engrossed in making much constructive learning or making of blogs.
· Schooling:
My own schooling was in a very balanced environment where not only I have came across extremely motivated and friendly teachers who ultimately became my mentors.
· Professional Development :
As well as formal professional development is concern I am working on my ICT, so that reflects in all the activities and planning that I do in school. I have tries to bring a change in the minds of the people around me also to get motivated towards integration of ICT.
· Use of ICT for teaching, learning and professional development purpose:
Well as a computer teacher my responsibility includes working with computers. So all of my lessons are ultimately planned to achieve this goal and I also help all my fellow teachers to give such assignments to the students that make them learn and practice what ever theyr have learned in their computers classes. Say for example I taught my 6th class students to find synonyms of a meaning in Ms Word. Their English teacher came to lab at that very moment and in the next class they came along with a comprehension passage given in their language class and they did it using the synonyms option in Ms word. Not only this but I also discuss with the other subject teachers so that they can give the assignments considering the skills the students already know through Computer classes.
b) Patterns in Writing:
Well as I have understood this question that probably you need to know do I have a repetitive thing in my writing or repetitive query in my diary. Well I always have the
Grudge that because in our school computer is a non reward able subject, the concentration level of the students is some times not up to the mark.
c) what does your writing tell you about what you value?
My writing clearly states that I emphasis on the clear understanding of what ever I teach and I do value it , whether it takes a lot more time than planned. I can do this because I have been given a flexibility of having my own curriculum and free hand in my plannings.
d) Success and challenges:
Successes:
· My students are more satisfy with what ever is being taught to them.
· It gives me also a sense of completion because I feel it takes teaching and learning both to complete the cycle. And when the cycle is completed properly it actually makes a teacher contented. When I have to really sit and review my self I get the whole clear picture that whether my teaching was effective or not.
· I have become close to my students because through reflecting my self I can address those students who did not responded well.
· Now I am aware of my strengths and weaknesses along with proves and evidences and tries to over come it.
Challenges:
· A lot of time is required for this practice. One really has to sit in isolation then pnly you get the required results.
· For this reason one has to have peace of mind. Which is sometimes is unaffordable for a teacher specially. Because there are so many other things one your head.
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