I attended the wedding ceremony of my ex student on Sat. A very touching ceremony. I couldnt believe that the handsome groom before me was the student with me in the Geogaphy room 10 years ago, having UE lessons.
I remember clearly how the students sat in groups and had activities with me in the afternoon. 10 years ago, technology wasn't that advanced as it is today. There is no blogging, no wikis etc. But we managed to have powerpoint for teaching and learning. I still could recall the sound and animation I added to the powerpoint to motivate them and keep them awake in the hot afternoon. After my presentation, the students would go to the desktops at the back of the room and did their exercises. Their computers were not linked to the internet and so we used a network system to retrieve their work and showed them before the class.
That was ten years ago. Now we have web2.0 and wireless network all around. We can see people browsing the web in the cafe, or even in the sports ground. We have people emailing and sending each other msgs on the MTR. But in the classrooms, do we have lots of changes?
I reckon teachers are more used to using powerpoint but talking about interaction and self-directed learning, how much technology has been applied?
I cant help once again quoting my experience in Singapore. Students in the floor were sitting on the floor making conversations to each other, holding the laptops with them and searching for information. On their eplatform, I could see the student- blogs with reflections and comments here and there.
Oh, when can this scenario be a common one in Hong Kong schools? Why after promoting more than 10 years of IT in education, situations in Hong Kong are still similar, if not the same? How come the computers that students have at home are more advanced than those in the schools? How can we talk about motivation and sustained learning? When we talk about mobile learning, the machines in the school are in no way mobile!
Should something be done in Hong Kong?
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Lots of people text each other in Chinese ...so maybe 'use of english' is one of the reasons. We have to ask: do our students read english blogs? Why do they have to write blogs in English? Motivation and needs are crucial.
ReplyDeleteAgree. But not many teachers use Chinese blogs in teaching either! Moreover, it's not just blogging. It could be the use of google sites,twitter etc. Students' motivation is one; I guess motivating the teachers is another concern!
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