Reflection on ICT Integration through google search and Video Clip.

Overview of the Lesson:

My lesson on the topic Connection in series in grade V on 22nd October 2019, started as usual by greeting the children, followed by regular meditation for a minute. As a recapitulation, I quickly asked few questions to relate the topic. Then, I introduced my lesson topic ‘Connection in Series’. To make children understand better about the connection, first I taught what is connections in electricity is, then I read the text and explained. After that I let children to read definition and related write ups present in the text. After that I asked children to browse google search to look for instructions to make connection in series using their smart phones which I have asked them to bring in group. Student did exactly what I wanted to do them. I also found out that ICT could create positive learning environment, plays vital role in enhancing curiosity, help to discover things by themselves and arouse their imagination. This helps students develop strong likeness in the subject. Here I have some photos showing students participation in learning through smart phones.

  (Children looking for instruction in the phone)            

 (I helped children to look for correct information)

I felt, it is good to have ICT integrated lesson in our teaching. It is very effective. We get full concentration from our students. Students learn better through ICT integration. By reading the instruction from the google search and the text book children made simple connection using bulb, wire, holder and cells.

                                  (Children making connections)                                       

(After making connection testing their connection)

After finished making the connection children tasted whether their connection works or not. Then they filled the table to find out which are conductor or insulator by using the things that are mentioned in the table. I also explained about how to fill the table after tasting with connection.

          

                          (Table to be fill by children)                                                                                 

 (Explaining how to fill the table)

Next activity was watching short clips on how does switch works and how to make connections in electricity. I have already downloaded the clips from you-tube and played through laptop since there are only 11 children in my class. This short video clip helped my children to understand more on connections and gained exposure too. This contributed in good learning outcome.

                                                           

  (Children watching the video clip)

Future Commitment:

In our teaching we have both positive and negative points. I whole heartedly accept those comments from my children and I will try my best to place central importance on these areas during my next teaching. I will further work hard on those positive points so that the quality of my teaching will be further enhanced. More importantly, I will stress on those weakness and try to rectify the problem. I will also focus more on the integration of ICT in planning of lesson according to the skills to be practiced.  Hope, I will be able to make every part of my lesson rich in delivering the required skills, so that end beneficial will be our learners. Another thing will be as per our school policy we are expected to teach at least few lessons in a year with ICT integration in our daily teaching and learning.  To this end I would definitely endeavor to explore and look for all possibility to integrate ICT in my lessons with appropriate and relevant tools. 

Thank You
By Tenzin Wangchuk
DE III A, 06160372

Fifth ICT Integrated lesson Reflection

Class V,  Social Studies

Topic: Different Countries and their flags

On 7^th October in 5^th period I taught class V social Studies on the topic different countries and their flags. The reading on the topic from the text book was done in the previous session and right after recapitulation went for the activity part. In the activity aside from what was given in the text went for the google search by the children themselves in groups of 3 to 4 students in a group. Since our school do not have computer lab, I borrowed the laptops from my fellow teacher friends and used pocket wifi which is commonly known as Dongle form Bhutan Telecom which can be shared by ten users.

In group I assigned to choose five different countries of their choice and find out about their flags. Before allowing children to start searching in the google search I collected the name of countries the group has chosen as to avoid double selection. Then I instructed the children to search the flag of their chosen country. Since children already knows how to use google search engine I didn’t talk much about the google usage. Rather I asked all the group to find out the national flag of their chosen countries and draw against their name in their note book.

I asked each group members to use the laptop turn wise to find out as I could not provide a laptop to each child. After instruction I also did good monitoring and helped to needy ones in technical facilities. During the course of the activity children didn’t face much problem in using the tool as they were well acquainted with the google search in the smart phone at home. However few children were not able to handle the laptop properly and at times required my attention. But all my children tried their best to use the facilities and result was awesome as all the groups where able to complete the task on time with good quality.

Now a days due to ICT development especially usage of smart phones our children were able to use some basic ICT tools correctly like google search, YouTube and online dictionaries, however we as a teacher to educate the user on the impact of ICT too. Sometimes they may miss use the tool which may led to negative impact in their learning. We can make the tool usable with our proper guidance and instruction as google search has many advantages such as time saving, accurate information, paper less tool, collaboration learning, and engagement etc. in my next attempt I would like to try and use other tool such as You Tube in my ICT integration lesson.

Thank You

Tenzin Wangchuk

06160372

Reflection on Integrated Lesson with Google Search Engine

Science, Class V

Topic: Habits

For the past decade, ICT has become an integral part of life in both home, offices and institutions. Its impact on teaching and learning field and particularly in classroom has been immense and very impactful. Many scholars worldwide believes that ICT in classroom has certainly helped in promoting and improving attainment in all subjects when used well. It’s quite evident because even for teachers, ICT has benefitted in such a way that teachers can teach the same thing in different way, which helps to disseminate and teach the students properly. In order to test the advantages and disadvantages of the ICT facilities in classroom, especially the advantage of google search engine in the daily classroom and to make the most of ICT in classroom, I have divided the class into 3 groups to carry out an activity using means of ICT to find out the definition of abitat. In order to carry out the activity, I have asked each group to bring a smartphone with internet connectivity in their phone and utilize it to carry out the assigned task, which is to do a study on the topic “What is habitat?”

As expected, when the groups turned up with smartphone and start studying about their topic, it was clear and evident that, using ICT certainly helps in getting wider range of information and the information of their choice. One group has come up with so many types of definition about habitat and they were able to understand what habitat means without me providing them any notes or lectures. This clearly shows how impactful ICT is. In another instance, one of the group has download a slideshow presentation and they were able to understand not only the mere definition of habitat but also the types of the habitats. However before that, I didn’t even mention them about any types of habitats, but after browsing through google, they were able to make up that there are 6 types of habitats. They have also noted the factors that affect the habitat. Another group has downloaded the different pictures of different types of habitat and have thus asked me to show it on projector for everyone in the class. From that, even the primary students have now realized and understood the advantages and benefit of using means of ICT in classroom. The ability to share resources among the peers, and its time saving and easy access has certainly helped the students and inspire them to do self-study through browsing the google search engine.

However, on the contrary, my school being in a rural area there are certain issues and challenges that certainly needs to be addressed. The first and foremost issue being the connectivity problem. All these modern gadgets, devices and technologies are of less use if there is no proper network connectivity. And this is a problem my school is facing. The network is very poor despite the service provider claiming it to be 3G. the lack of consistency in the network means, learning through google search engine is unreliable and a failure because at times the network connection just gets lost and cannot even send a message, forget about browsing information. Therefore the inconsistency in the network has caused quite an issue. Secondly, people in the rural area being farmer and mostly being illiterate and uneducated, they could neither know how to use a smartphone, nor afford one. Because of this reason some of them didn’t turn up with a smartphone because no one at their home owns one smartphone. So the smartphone brought by other students has to be shared and due to lack of individual smartphone, it took time to browse and learn from the google because they have to wait for their turn to use the smartphone for quite long.

To conclude, I have noticed that the advantages of ICT in classrooms are far and bigger than the issues faced and these petty issues shall not overshadow the advantage that the whole class and I gained. The problem of the connectivity and lack of smartphone user doesn’t mean searching information from google is also bad. As long as the connectivity and smartphone is there, ICT in classroom has always and will always be a better way of teaching and learning. The use of such advanced technology and modern equipment also sparked excitement and curiosity among the students in learning and thus they are able to take interest and passion in learning and studying. Always giving out lectures and teaching using graphs, chart papers and green board has been unfruitful at times so when we make themselves engage in an activity using means of ICT like google, it gave them exposure they need as well as less involvement for us. So therefore ICT in Classroom, if proper necessities are available, would be a huge success in education sector.    

  

By Tenzin Wangchuk DE III A
      06160372

Advantages of Audio Visual in our classroom teaching.

Topic: Effect of Light on the Growth of Plant.

Class: IV, Science

On 4^th September I taught class IV Science on the topic Effect of light on the growth of Plant. Actually light is something that sustains all life on this planet, but we may wonder why do plants grow with light? When you look at the new plant, you may wonder what kind of light do plants need? Do all plants need the same amount of light? How can I tell if my plant is having problems with too little light? To teach this topic and to make the concept clear I found it bit difficult since it was complex for the 4^th grades children, so I took the advantage of teaching the topic through YouTube audio visual by connecting Projector. With this I was able to provide very clear concept of the topic to my children.

As I was preparing for the short clips through projector my children were very excited and I heard them talking in silent mood about their interest to watch the clips on the topic effect of light on the growth of plants. As I played the video my children were very silent and attentive, paying full attention. Beside I also pause the video in between and explained some of the complex things in the video. By doing so my children got clear about the topic. They also demands more of such kind in the future lesson too. At the moment our text contains limited information on the topics, however our curriculum developers had given the web link to find more information and I did looked through the web and got extra information.

After watching the video and by following the instructions from the text my children also set up an experiment to see practically on how light effect the growth of the plant. For this my children brought two potted plants in each group by leveling A and B. They kept all A potted plant in the sun and B potted plant in the dark where there is no sunlight. They would be closely observing both the plants and keep the record for at least three to four weeks. From that observation my children would find the final result on the topic.

Plant in the light

Plant in dark place

Advantages of Audio Visual:

Students learns a great deal just by watching audio visual and learning from the thoughts, experiences and demonstrations of others. In fact videos can illustrate ideas and engage students far more substantially than textbooks, lectures, pictures, or other activities. When possible, turn to this free resource for building more effective lessons during class time. Depending on our curriculum, we can direct students to YouTube audio visual as a resource to find the information interesting and relevant to them. If students are working on a more self-directed project or have an individual passion they want to explore, encourage them to take advantage of YouTube/audio Visual. Normally in our traditional methods we often teach our learner through lecture which becomes monotonous and our learners grasp less information 

By Tenzin wangchuk
      06160372

Pros and cons of using audio visual in the teaching and learning

Topic: How life began on Earth.

Class: V, Social studies

On 26^th August I taught the above mentioned topic and subject during the 2^nd session. I introduce the topic through questioning and began the lesson. For this lesson I have explained all the information that are present in the text and manual as usual through normal teaching. And I skipped the activity part and showed them the video through my laptop on how life began on earth.

Introduction of the topic

As soon as I showed the video there was shift in the behavior of the students. All were very excited and eager to watch. My aims and objective of showing the video was to make the concept very clear and also to provide additional information beside textbook. I also thought that since this is a very complex topic if I teach only through normal lecture method my children wouldn’t understand as how life began on the earth long time back. I also gave very clear instruction to observe the video and do the critical thinking and ask question later if they feel or if there was an

y confusion with regards to the information presented in the audio visual.

children engage in watching audio visual

Since my children were watching scientific audio visual for the first time in their life in the class during teaching hours, children were quite nervous but they paid good concentration. Normally these days our young learners get attracted towards any kinds of ICT and they tend to do better and faster through ICT related tools. So I tried with this audio visuals and found very effective later when I carry out follow up activities through questioning. Some of the learner also expressed their feeling and enjoyment of the video. In fact from children’s side they wanted to have similar audio visual whenever feasible and possible. However given the non-assessable of good internet connection in my school I would not be in a position to provide audio visual on regular basis except occasionally whenever I get from other sources.

short clips during audio visual watching

While using any ICT in our teaching and learning some draw backs comes along. In my case there was shortage of time. This was because my audio visual was bit long and could not complete on time. For follow up activities I have to use few minutes extra from interval time. One attributes for shortage of time was children were able to answer the questions in details after watching audio visual. So from there I could make out that teaching through audio visual was one best way to convince our learner to get the clear concept of the topic. Beside my children also demanded more of such kind in the future, however I assured my students that more teaching will be done through power point and projector more often as my school has a laptop and a good projector. At the same time I also felt that we need to do the planning in detail in advance to avoid any confusion while teaching especially time management and collection of resources.

Children watching audio visual

Pause and explained

By Tenzin Wangchuk
      06160372

Teaching science through Projector

Topic: Characteristics of Plants, class V.                                

Using ICT while teaching in a typical Bhutanese classroom has been a joy as well as a challenge. It was during one of my science class for class V when I was teaching the “Characteristics of plants” earlier this year, when I decided to use various means of ICT and tried integrating the use of ICT in my daily teaching. There has been various advantages as well as disadvantages. My main purpose of using ICT in classroom while teaching to curb the problem of limited learning resources and to fully utilize the advantages of using the ICT in classroom. The first and foremost thing that I’ve been benefited from using ICT is the ability to present my teaching aids and learning materials very clearly. This was mainly because of the use of projector to project my teaching aids on a big and wide screen through PowerPoint. By making my teaching aids on PowerPoint and presenting it on a big screen, I’ve noticed that students are more attentive and able to comprehend the teaching easily.

Another benefit of using ICT is the benefit to myself. By availing different medium of ICT, I was able to go beyond the curriculum and the books and get access to latest data and information which are up to date. Furthermore I could also browse for extra information which are deemed important but excluded in the teacher handbook. There are so many information and material that are available from the internet which made learning more easy and fun. When the content that I teach are fun and entertaining, the students have found it easy for them in retention of knowledge. Therefore with the use of such various means of ICT, the work for both myself and the student keeps getting easier. But the bottom line isn’t about how easy it is, rather how the students are able to retain the knowledge’s and thus, such kind of method have helped my students in being able to understand the lesson easily and quick. Not only that, at times when the students have doubts that even I find it tough, I can always avail the ICT facilities to clear their doubts and have a confident teaching to the young minds.

However, with every pro, there’s a con and even for ICT in classroom, I’ve faced several issues that needs to be addressed. The first and foremost issue is the unavailability of high speed internet in my school has always been issue for me and my colleagues. When it comes to integrating ICT in classrooms, access to internet has and will always be a crucial backbone. However, in my school due to lack of WiFi and high speed broadband, downloading huge files for teaching aids has been quite challenging. Browsing basic information and downloading small files have been made possible from mobile phone, however downloading video lessons and educational movies for students have been impossible. Students have been demanding me to screen them educational movies like in other urban schools but most of the times, my plan to screen educational movies and video lessons have failed due to the lack of internet. Not only that, but due to absence of WiFi access and, unlike other schools, my students were unable to browse and search information for themselves, which made individual and collaborative learning impossible.

Another challenge of using ICT in classroom is the fact that primary students don’t have any prior knowledge and skills in operating ICT equipment. My school being in a rural center, majority of the students are from uneducated background, they don’t own any laptops or computers at home. They don’t have fancy modern technologies. Because of this, my students are too hesitant to access computer and projectors in classroom. Even when I create group discussion via online means like WeChat, they find it challenging to utilize it to their advantage and at time relying on such means of communication increases the gap between me and the students, when my main purpose is to close the gap. Given the fact that modern technologies are very costly, not easily available in the market and it’s complicated nature, the integration of ICT in my classes have been challenging and hard. The school have just one projector that had to be shared between classes. The internet accessibility is very poor and the students lack of knowledge in operating such things have been challenging. For now projecting the teaching aids on the projector and screen video lesson once in a while has been successful but in the long run, to fulfill the vision of integrating ICT in my classroom will always be more of a challenge and less of benefits if the facilities are not put in place sooner.

Advantages and Disadvantages if ICT in the classroom teaching.

Technological development and advancement in the west has been very impactful. Due to globalization and changes, the advancement of technology has made its way in the field of learning and education. One of the most important change was seen in classrooms where ICT, Information and Communication Technology has been integrated to make the process of learning quite easy. Integration of ICT in classroom was seen as something revolutionary. Moving from primitive method of teaching to modern way of teaching through integration of ICT was seen as moving from a dark age to light age. However, despite the benefits of ICT in classrooms, there are certain issues and challenges in integrating the ICT in classrooms.

The first and foremost benefit of ICT in learning is that it allows dynamic and cooperative learning among the students. With the access to the Internet, learning is not limited to school hours or in school boundary. Instead it gives the learners opportunity to learn and study wherever and whenever possible.

A rural student can access information of an urban student and share it to a foreign student, be it during the school hours or holidays. With access to the Internet, the dependency of the students on teachers will also be minimal and the student will be able to know when to explore, how to explore and what to explore from the internet. When the students explore the information by themselves, it ensure their attention and concentration on that particular topic or subject, making them well educated in that particular topic and subject.

 However, integrating the ICT in classroom is not as easy as it is seen. Due to limited financial aid from the government and the ability to adapt to the modern facilities are the challenges. Making accessible to ICT requires huge financial support because of expensive materials. In Bhutan the cost of internet is very high as well as other electronic equipment are also priced high. The adaptability is also a question, since ICT in general isn’t common in the field of teaching anywhere in the country before.