My Final Reflection

Well, I have come to the end of my reflection. I can guarantee myself that I have learned a lot from this reflection and it was fun exploring all the five tools of the ICT. 

I can say that all the five tools are woven together and none of it is segregated and these tools are interdepended. I have come across lots of tools that will help me as a student as well as a teacher in the future. All of us are aware to the core that ICT play a crucial role in today’s world. I feel that it is our pure luck that we were born into this world where our works are made easier due to the development of ICT around the world.

 ICT tools like google classroom, google doc, google map and other tools can be applied in the school and can be integrated in the lesson to make it more effective and fun for students to learn. Integrating ICT in the class will be worthy for students as well as teachers as students will be engaged thoroughly and teacher and students can co-construct meaning together.

Thank you sir Ugyen Wangchuk, my tutor for ICT for letting us reflect on this five tools and I can assure that I have learned a lot about the ICT tools and will be able to integrate these tools in the near future while teaching.  

Reflection on Google Classroom

Google Classroom 

I am very glad that I get to know how to use this interesting tool called google classroom and I deeply thank our ICT tutor Sir Ugyen Wangchuk. Google classroom is a suitable tool for teachers to use and specially in this situation were online teaching is favored and I can proudly say that this tool is perfect for students and teachers to learn collaboratively. 

 

One of my tutor said that she taught a large number of students online and at that time I wondered how that was possible but now, thinking carefully, I came to realize that there are many tools to learn and teach online. I am thinking that teaching online is much more convenient than rather coming physically to the class and teaching students. I really like this google classroom because it is very interesting. 

The virtual learning environment (VLE) that we use here in college and the google classroom is similar but I noticed that VLE is only available to the Paro college students and teachers whereas google classroom can be used by every teachers on this earth who have some knowledge to use this tool. 

I enjoyed exploring this tool and I think that it will help both teacher and student in the future. 

As a teacher, we want students to learn better and I assure that this tool will help them because we can upload  various type of materials that will help them learn effectively. 

 

There are many interesting features to use on google classroom. We can make announcement, assign them quiz, assignments, materials, questions, invite students as well as their parent if they have an google account and we also can create a rubrics for them to focus on their assignments thoroughly. 

This tool can be used in the school and I am thinking that this tool is a blessing for teachers as well as students. They can sit anywhere and can still learn with their teacher but on the condition that they access to the internet.

Reflection on Situating Tool

Hello everyone! Welcome back. 

Well, we learned about another ICT tool today and that is ICT as situating tool. When my tutor asked “what do you understand by the term situating”, I instantly panicked and my mind instantly went blank. There is nothing I can think of and fortunately, I didn’t get picked up for answering this question. The literal meaning of the term situating is the happening in and around our environment and I came to know that situating tools are application that helps to situate learners in an environment to experience the context and happenings. 

It also means the virtual reality in which the computer can give the user the feeling that are situated in virtual environment.

If you are also wondering how this tool helps in teaching and learning, let me tell you, there are many situating tools that will definitely help in teaching and learning for everyone. I have learned that this tool situates user in the environment and foster creativity and visualization skills. 

There are tools like 2-d graphing calculator which will allow us manipulate data and help us in learning all about graphing. We can use this tool to teach students the concepts about the graphing and I bet students will learn much more better than usual.

Getting to experience with my own hand was very exciting and I think that I am very lucky that I got this chance to use this tools now but my only regret is that I didn’t get the chance to use this tools when I was a student. If I were taught using situating tools, I think, I might have grasp the idea quickly and in the future, I will let students explore this tool which will help them tremendously.

Another interesting activity that we did in the class is about google map. It was very fun and while my tutor was demonstrating us on how to use the google map, I was so excited that I couldn’t sit idly with my monitor closed. I did found this tool in my phone but I couldn’t use it because I had no idea how to use this tool and who knew that this tool will be very useful and fun to play with after the exploration.  

 Through this tool, we can teach many subjects like social studies, science and geography. Students will be able to have a real experience of the earth looks like and will also help in the memory retention. We can also take a tour around the world not just in our country. Even though we cannot reach those places physically, at least with the help of this tool, we can take a tour around and it is as same as we are physically there enjoying ourselves.  

 

We can just seat around and as long as we have internet connection, I can say that the world is on the tip of our hand and how wonderful is that! It was really fun exploring this tool and I learned a lot. 

We also learned about Phet simulation and it was very engaging and it felt like we are experiencing it with real life situations as we can change the variables and manipulate the data.

 

 

We just explored on pH scale but there are lots and lots of other simulations in various subjects that we can use and download for our students so that they learn more effectively and for them to become a critical and creative students as well as for the teachers. It was fun learning all these things. 

Reflection on Video Tutorial

Video tutorial on Introducing Centimetre

The above video is the product of an app called Camtasia. Even though it’s not very good but I am still very proud of it because it’s the very first video tutorial that I made. It was fun exploring this video editing app called Camtasia. Even though I had a little bit concept of this app, it wasn’t enough to create a video that is satisfying to everyone.

 

Because of our situation where we have to study online, we didn’t get to learn practically on how to use but still with the videos uploaded by my tutor, it guided me and gave me new ideas on making this particular video. Moreover, there is a guide on how to use Camtasia on the app itself that helped me a lot. There is also a guide to record using power point and it helped me a lot. 

 

 The process of making video was fun but still, it was quite challenging because editing was definitely not easy. I have wondered how people make videos and only now i came realize it. I have become a mini- director, producer, editor and as well as the main actor in this video and it was fun being all.

 

There are many interesting features that we can use while making the video. All of it were to assist while making video and to make it more attractive. 

 

when my tutor said that we have to upload our video on Facebook, I panicked a lot. It is because, I was afraid that I would be criticized by my friends but that was not an issue because my tutor and  all of my friends gave me constructive feedback which slightly boost my confidence.

 

I had fun while making the video tutorial all thanks to my tutor and my friends.

 

 

Reflection on Co-constructive tool

Co-constructive tool

Just as the word co-construct means, a co-constructive tool is an approach, where it is an emphasis on collaboration, and partnership working. It also includes the process of interaction such as cooperation and coordination among us. We are all aware of how this tool is important in our day to day life and how it impacts our life. 

Through Co-constructive tool, the communication between the teacher and learners that focuses on learning will improve drastically and students will able to explore and share their views in term of learning. They will also be able to build a relationship between society to have effective communication and learning.  We can develop creative partnerships within the classroom as well as societies and use constructive tools to work cooperatively and construct a shared understanding of new knowledge. Students can achieve high-level cognitive processes like explanation, problem - finding, problem solving and more relevant skills that are in their life.

 After knowing what and the importance of co-constructive tool, I think it is very important in our life as a student and soon to be a teacher. Because we can use co-constructive tools, we can communicate and construct ideas from anywhere within short period of time. For example, as of our situation now, where we have to keep our physical distance and where schools and colleges being closed, we have no other options but to use these tools to continue our learning. 

The perfect example of this tool is Google Doc.  When my tutor first told us that we are going to make a integrated lesson plan using google doc, I honestly didn't have any idea about it. Until now, I have absolutely no idea what is google doc and the purpose it serves. Google doc is a word processor and can be used simultaneously by team members on the same document. It gives us the privilege to work together from different places at the same time. 

 

 

 This are the pictures that we worked on google doc while planning a integrated lesson plan lesson plan on any topic. 

Just by looking at the pictures, we can see that there is a discussion taking place and we all can work collaboratively with other members.  I guess this tool is much more better than really coming together physically to discuss. We can be at anywhere we like and still work together like its no big deal. 

Because of this co-constructive tool, I came to conclusion that this tool can be definitely used in school. We can give them project work or any activities and let them work using goggle doc and I am sure that they will work collaboratively among their friends and learn fruitfully.

Reflection on Constructive Tools

Constructive tool

What do you understand by the term constructive tool? 

From my understanding, its is a tool used for manipulating information; visualizing one's understanding and building new knowledge. In other words, I think it means that we can construct new meaning with the help of ICT. The computer itself can be used for manipulating information, visualizing ones understanding and building new knowledge. I think the perfect example of constructive tool can be Microsoft word. The Microsoft word computer program itself is a desktop publishing software that allows users to organize and present their ideas in attractive formats.

 

Till class twelve, all of our assignments and even the activities that we do in our class are all in notebook. We would finish tons and tons of notebook for a single subject, but after entering the college, our assignments are all submitted online and we have minimum use of notebooks. We made use of constructive tools like Microsoft word, presentation, excel and many more and that made our work much more easier and convenient. 

 We can design a presentation using power point by inserting pictures, animations, sound and videos which help both the learners and the teachers. And we just did that in one of our activities. We were asked to make a simulation, using only one slide. Honestly, it was quite hard to make a presentation using only one slide because we are used to making a presentation using as many slides as it takes. To be able to present whole ideas in just one slide was challenging but it was worth trying because I got a deep understanding of using features like animation, transition, slideshow and many other features. I came to realize that i have been using this features on the surface not at all realizing the exact purpose of each feature and now i am absolutely aware thanks to the activity that my tutor gave us.

Below is my simulation and the link to my simulation.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JRP6zGsj5pnxU2h8_lkH507LiswnJFCR/view?usp=sharing 

 

 

 

I came to realized that most of us use and integrate constructive tools to communicate among our friends, teacher, family and other people all around the world. Usage of constructive tool helps both the learner and the teachers to convey and comprehend concept. I must say constructive tools are very essential for teaching and learning a particular concept, where students will have an equal opportunity to share their information. For instance, making lesson plan using Microsoft word is much more convenient than actually writing it down. 

 Like I have already mentioned, actually computer itself is constructive tool that is used for manipulating, visualizing and building new knowledge.

For instance, let’s take the example of Google doc.

 

Google doc is one of the constructive tool. Currently, we are writing a lesson which is integrated with ICT and I can see that it is very engaging and useful tool to hold a discussion. It is a very interesting tool because we can create our own group and carry on discussion with our friends. It is a self-directed learning where students alone could work without or with teacher where it breaks the monotonous way of teaching and learning. It enables learner to become a creative thinker and create their own knowledge. In line to that learner can retain it for longer duration because constructive tool make the learners to do more of hands on experience.

 I found out that constructive tool is very interesting and engaging where students explore through different tools to construct their own knowledge and keeps students engage throughout the lesson unlike the teaching in normal class. 

We could integrate constructive tool in our lessons through manipulation of the information and planning the lessons in a power point presentation and by creating blog and goggle classroom to have interactive teaching and learning. In the current situation where all the schools and colleges are closed, if there are no constructive tools, we all will be left in the dark. It is because of the constructive tools that we are able to learn continuously without any stop. Therefore, I came to conclusion that constructive tool is one of the effective teaching and learning methods which help the learners to learn effectively with full engagement throughout the lesson.

Reflection on Communicative Tools

2. Communicative tools

Hello everyone! Today I am going to write about ICT as a communicative tool. I believe everyone understands what communication means. For me communication means sharing our ideas, thoughts and our perspectives even though I am literally not good at expressing myself well, be it in front of an audience or without one. When someone expresses well in front of an audience and converse well, I will be like 'Wow,! they really can express well', 'how do they do that' and many other similar thoughts. Not all of us are confident about ourselves and there are many people whose self esteem are very low just like me. 

So, how can I communicate my ideas, thoughts and my own perspectives with my family, friends and other people around the world?

This is when communicative tools comes in.

If you ask me what communicative tools are, from my understanding, it is a tool for helping in communication just like an axe being a tool for cutting down a tree. Why are people so engrossed in chatting in Wechat, messenger and Facebook? Even people with the age of 40s and above are so excited to learn about these communicative tools. It is because, I believe they can freely share their thoughts with one another without feeling shy or anything. And here, I am also trying my best to communicate by reflecting my experiences though I am failing considerably. If I were asked to reflect about communicative tools in the class, I sadly believe that my mind would have gone blank and I wouldn't be able to think anything besides panicking.  

 The first communicative tool that I find badly popular these day is Facebook. Almost everyone have Facebook account and is especially popular among Bhutanese students. I remember how excited I was when I first created my Facebook account and I believe you were too. It was when I was in class 9 and in that time, our village was not so popular of using smart phone and only a known people or a wealthy one are able to afford one. I remember my father giving me a phone which is probably Nokia and thankfully being able to connect to internet. Using this phone, I created my first Facebook account and these days even the children of age 5 have the luxury of using smart phone and how lucky they are, right?   

If I were to do a research on how many Bhutanese people use Facebook, I can proudly say that almost 90% of Bhutanese people use Facebook. Just like I have mentioned in my earlier reflection on ICT as informative tool, Facebook can be used as a tool to get information as well as a forum on communicating ideas views and thoughts. 

 Moreover, not only we can communicate with our friends and family using Facebook but also all the people around the world. The picture below is the comments given by my friends on the video tutorial that I made.  All the comments are constructive that have given me a new insight to improve in my future.

 

 

Communication is enabled between two or more people through this tool and we get to know the views and ideas of our friends which will help us in learning effectively.  

 

Another popular communicative tool used these days is definitely Wechat. This particular tool is very popular that even people of old age finds it interesting to use. If this tool doesn't even have the mercy of old people, then young people like us will definitely not be able to resist the urge of using this tool like some chubby boy not be able to resit sweet, delicious and yummy chocolate. And, this is how I can say that this particular tool is popular among our Bhutanese people. 

 Apart from people using this tool everyday,  for students, there are certain benefits. For instance, we can create a group consisting of all the class members and the teacher in wechat and through that we can share anything.  

 As the picture aside shows, there are several groups like '4PCA 2020', 'B.Ed P IV A (EDN417) 2020' and many more. This are all group chat and through this, any information related to that particular subject can be shared instantly and everyone will be able to see it no matter where you are as long as the phone is connected to the network. I guess it is because of this feature that people is using wechat all the time. 

I came to realize that communicative tools is necessary in our life because it connects people all over the world and through this we can communicate freely.  

 Other communicative tools such as gmail, youtube, video conferencing, VLE etc. are also used daily in our everyday life. These tools enable us to keep connection with our friends, parents and teachers. It is becoming crucial in this modern world and without these tools, we will be left one step behind.

As of our current situation, with COVID-19 going viral around the world, I came to realize the importance of the communicative tools. The situation where we sit together in the class with friends and teachers are no longer favorable and all we can do is totally depend upon the tools such as virtual learning environment (VLE), wechat and video conferencing to learn. And with this, the importance of communicative tools are engraved in my mind as all the works related to course work are done through communicative tools. So, I came to realize that communicative tools are vital in our life.

 Communication is so fast and everyone is within reach all the time to communicate using the communicative tools. I came to conclusion that all these tools have a large impact on our lives.