Prelude to IWB AssignMenT..

22nd August 2007 (7th Class)


A timely and gentle reminder from our Prof. on the progress of our blogs at the swift passing of time as we are now halfway through the semester which means that we ought to produce at least a minimum of 5 blogs of our reflections on the past five lessons. Our blogs should be academic blogs describing our learning development throughout the course and how we have benefited from it. Well, well, for me, this really strikes me at how fast time flies and sometimes I am just left in wonder.. where has all the time gone to? As I listen to Prof., I was just left in deep thoughts whether or not I have truly made full use of the time I have in learning and upgrading my own knowledge and applying what I have learnt in class. Have I been made a more critical person with more awareness and knowledge in this area of ICT in the Primary Education? Well, I believe that time has truly changed my perception in ICT as I begin to learn the many interesting facets of ICT that can be incorporated into the primary classroom.

We are also reminded to take the initiative to read up our friends' blogs and leave constructive comments for them. As for me, this practice of leaving comments is really good and encouraging as it actually prompts us to blog more of our thoughts as we sense the presence of a reader as our message is being conveyed in a communication.

Forums are another aspect of online communication which we are expected to be involved in throughout the course. Prof has kindly called us to 'Keep contributing' and even start a forum topic of discussion. We are told to always be participative and voice our piece of thought in the forum. "Don't just stand by and watch the world goes by..." as said by Prof. Wow, what a firm and real statement, reflecting on the true lackadaisical attitude of people being contented with what life has to offer and never seek to improve and get into action instead of just watch every precious second passes by..

Then, Prof further explained to us on the requirements of our Smart Notebook Assignment on the Interactive Whiteboard which is set to due in another four weeks time. As we are all assigned in our own groups of five, this assignment requires each one of us in the group to come up with an interactive activity for either English, Science or Mathematics using the Smartboard to be carried out in the Primary classroom. In other words, each group is to come up with five different products which comprise of the three subjects.

We had a clearer glimpse of the basic layout required for this assignment when Prof showed us samples of her former students' work on the IWB assignment including those from our seniors. During this session, one of our coursemate, Sze Mei, was asked to demonstrate one of the sample activity on 'Storytelling' based on the story 'The Little Red Riding Hood'. Wow, indeed, I must say that she had done a good job on this impromptu activity. And Mei, I enjoyed the session you carried out. In fact, this activity simply depicts the function of the IWB in replacing the conventional 'Big Book' story telling session. Undoubtedly, it is certainly a more interactive form of material to be exploited in the classroom as the reader could magnify or reduce the size of the images displayed on the IWB board while telling the story to capture the pupils' attention. In addition, media background such as music or video clips could be added into the story to enhance the pupils' understanding and imagination while listening to the story as they can truly 'hear' and 'see' the characters in the story movements as portrayed in the storyline. Other activities which we saw from the samples are 'Fill-in-the-blanks, Matching exercises, Labeling, and sentence construction. Well, of course, to fully incorporate this method into the lesson, a teacher has to be well-equipped and knowledgeable in using the Smartboard to ensure the smoothness of the lesson as planned out. Hence, essential efforts need to be taken to ensure that the incorporation of IWB in the teaching and learning activity would be an effective form of teaching resource or method instead of a stumbling block if the teacher is not well-equipped with the knowledge of using the IWB.

We were also reminded of the different aspects of a lesson as required in our assignment. Among the must-haves for each of our IWB activity are:

• Target group/ Year
  
• Subject


• Topic


• Previous Knowledge


• Curriculum Specifications


• Learning Objectives


• Procedures/ Guidelines for each activity


• Rationale for each activity

After having seen the sample of works, I had a clearer idea on what is expected and required of us to produce this assignment in our team of five. We agreed to draw lots in order for us to determine who will be doing a particular subject. From here, two of our group members, Gladys and Mastura will be doing activities on English, Zizi and Izzah will be doing on Mathematics while I will be working on activities on Science. Having decided on our different parts, we agreed to start working on our own activities before we meet again next week to further discuss and exchange ideas.

The class ended with each one of us signing up for the 'Airset', an online learning avenue, introduced by Prof as another online communication tool for us in the course in addition to the 'Moodle' which we are currently using. 'Airset' is actually a survival kit for busy people who are occupied with personal individual appointments yet having to connect for various puroposes but may not be able to meet up with one another. Hence, 'Airset' has made it possible for us to juggle between the various hectic schedules and to reduce stress as we are more able to control the plans and commitments in life. By joining the 'Airset' group, we would be able to gain access to lessons, sample works uploaded on the group to be shared to all members. We could also made use of the other features avalibale such as the personal calendar, email accounts, contacts, address books and notebooks for our own recording purposes as it ensures an easier retrieval of information all arranged according to different categories or files.

Upon signing up, we were advised to further explore on the different uses of the 'Airset' and to make full use of it via http://www.airset.com/. Ya, so there goes my day.. clicking on the various icons for more information on the features available. Cheers!

Ist InTro To The SMaRT BoarD!!

15th August 2007 (6th Class)

Today, Prof. is unable to join us for our class as she has something to attend to. However, we are very priviledged to have a special guest, Ms Fenny, whom Prof. has invited to impart to us her expertise in the area of using the Interactive White Board (IWB) or also known as the 'Smartboard'. Well, as for me, Ive come across the usage of the IWB several times but I've not truly been introduced to the usage and its many advantages especially in teaching young learners. Hence, I was very much motivated to pay full attention to the soft-spoken and knowledgeable Ms Fenny as she bring to our attention the many wonders that Smartboard can do that truly impressed me and Im sure for my other coursemates as well.

To start off the class, Ms Fenny introduced herself and briefly explained to us the basics that is needed of a Smartboard in order to function well. Basically, for an IWB to function, you need:

• a computer


• an Liquid Crystal Diode (LCD) projector


• connection cables
  
• a whiteboard


• the IWB software

Important Things to note while handling the Smartboard:

• make sure that the pens are placed back in the correct positions according to the colour allocated after using them. This is to avoid confusion by the user on the different colours of the pen. The board is equipped with sensors to detect the particular colour of the pens as the colour is not determined by the pen itself.


• avoid using the two different colours of pen at the same time or using the pen and the eraser at the same time as this will cause confusion to the Smartboard.
  

Among the many wonders of a 'Smartboard' which cannot be done using a normal whiteboard are:

• Ability to convert or recognize handwritten words into the printed form just by clicking on the option 'Recognize'.
  
• Flexibility of font sizes- The letters just by dragging it at the corner of the box where the word is formed.
  
• Mobility of the position of the words- The words printed can be easily moved in location just by dragging it.
  
• Multiplication of words in infinity- The particular word typed can be multiplied just by clicking and dragging on the corner of the box formed.


• Group & Ungroup- This enables the pupils to form another new word by ungrouping the original word given. Example: the word 'plane' or 'pen' can be formed from the word 'Aeroplane'.


• Mobility and cloning- The images can be cloned at an infinity to allow teachers to display the concept of calculations in teaching Mathematics. Example: Pupils can clone the images of coins in the Malaysian Ringgit to add up to the amount of money specified by the teacher.


• Checking of answers- Pupils can check their answers after doing an activity by dragging the coloured patch of box to the particular area of the slides where the answers are 'hidden'.


• Adjustable- The IWB is user-friendly as it allows the user to adjust the height according to the suitability of the learners.


• Gallery Function- There are well-provided templates and images such as expressions which can be imported for use in the slides.


• World Map- The picture of a World map allows the teaching of 'Geography'' in relation to the locations of different countries in specific by using the world map.


• Pictures from the Internet- The IWB allows user to capture any online pictures from 'Google' Images to be imported into the gallery for usage.

These are among some of the many functions of an Interactive White Board (IWB) to be used in a classroom. We were told that there are many other interesting features of the smartboard which we could explore such as inserting video or flash files from the computer. However, due to the time limitation, these are the main features pointed out and taught by Ms Fenny.

After an hour of an introductory session to the Smartboard, it's the time for us to put in what we have gathered and learnt into practice. We were required to discuss in our groups to come up with one simple activity using the Smartboard. My group decided to design an activity on the topic of 'Colours' by having the pupils to drag and drop the correct colour into picture which shows the different parts of a bedroom with a boy in the centre of it. As for me, it is my first time trying to design an activity using the IWB features. It took us some time to 'try and error' the usage as taught by Ms Fenny a while ago. Things look pretty different when we are really hands-on
trying out the software as compared to just listening to the steps taken to use the IWB. Hence, it is a good first-start experience for me and my group as a whole. Each group then presented their activity to the class after the discussion. Please refer to my post on 'IWB Slideshow' for a clearer view of the activites through the pictures taken during the presentations as well as the demonstration of input from Ms Fenny.


Below are my reflections on the IWB activity:

1) Do you understand the basic knowledge of using Notebook function in SMART board? If yes, which part that you understand most. If not, why did you not understand?
Well, my answer to this question would be a 'partial Yes' as I believe that what I know are only some of the basic knowledge of the Notebook function using an IWB. Through the mere limited knowledge that I have, we manage to design some activity after much trials and exploring through the software. As we are still at our initial stage of learning the IWB, the basic knowledge that I am most aware of and understand is to unlock the images to allow us to drag and drop the particular image to the locations we desire. If we do not want the image to move about, we need to 'lock' it in its position.

2) Do you understand the basic knowledge to use gallery feature and attachment picture in SMARTboard incorporate for teaching English vocabulary for Standard 4 students?
Yes, I understand the basic usage of incorporating the gallery feature and attachment picture uisng the Smartboard to teach pupils on English Vocabulary. However, I believe that there is so much more room of improvement for me in this area of importing pictures and other features such as videos or flashfiles which I have yet to learn.


3) Do you find that SMART board is a useful tool to support in Teaching-Learning? If yes, why is it useful? If not, what is the problem?
Yes, absolutely! I feel that the Smart board is a useful teaching tool to be incorporated in the classroom teaching-learning as it offers many interactive activities which allows the pupils to take part either individually or even in groups. The colourful pictures and captivating background layout attracts the pupils' attention besides allowing them to learn more efficiently with 'No dust, No dirt and Time-efficient' as images can be cloned within seconds in a click. Besides, the IWB allows pupils to view flashfile which pupils enjoy most in the learning process as they are provided with concrete visual experiences. Another feature which helps children in their learning is that they are able to check their answers almost instantly. This would really help them to reassure their ability in completing the activity as they are given confirmations to their answers.


Generally, I am truly glad to have this opportunity offered by this course to be exposed to the usage of IWB and its many unique features to be incorporated in the classroom. In my opinion, this is indeed a precious piece of knowledge that we, as future educators of this highly technological era, would find it very useful in our vocation. However, a nagging thought kept me thinking "How far could we actually put this piece of knowledge into use if the schools that we are posted to do not possess such luxury of using the IWB as their teaching facility in the school?" I am wondering, "To what extend can we truly apply the usage of IWB as a wonderful teaching tool in majority of the real schools out there?" These are just a few thought bubbles that are formed in my process of learning to use the IWB for effective teaching-learning in the classroom. Hmm.. Seeking and fetching for cool ideas.. :)

PoSteR DeSigNinG - HapPy MeRdeKa MaLaYSia !!

8th August 2007 (5th Class)

As usual, we are all in for a 'Surprise' for today's lesson. But before we were revealed on the activity planned for us, we were brought into the concept of 'Pembestarian Sekolah' which is also known as 'Sekolah Bestari' or 'Smart Schools' by Ms Chin. This concept is one of the ICT initiatives mooted by the government in the education field. Ms Chin also introduced to us another important link in this area for our own reference: http://www.moe.edu.my/tvp.

After the brief introduction to this concept, Prof. further elaborated and clearly explained to us the 5 initiatives which are:

i) Smart Schools (Pembestarian Sekolah)

• currently there are 87 schools
• 5809 computers with 261 servers
• have access to the Internet through the SchoolNet programme

ii) PPSMI/ ETeMS

• teaching-learning materials
• 104 teachers had been trained

iii) SchoolNet

• It is a broadband which allows teachers and students to have access to the Internet through http://myschoolnet.ppk.kpm.my/indexg.htm


• It works with the presence of a satellite disc

iv) Computer laboratory (Makmal komputer)

• The amount of computers provided for each school depends on the size of the school.
• Provides access to all the teachers and students to use technology.

v) TV/Radio Pendidikan

• This is used for the teaching of local dialects or mother tongue to the pupils especially those in Sabah and Sarawak.
• It is currently shown on Channel 9.
• It also has the additional WebTV feature which allows teachers to upload videos or movies to be used in teaching.

Prof. then introduced us to several important acronyms which we might not be aware of but essential to our knowledge as future educators in schools.

PKG- Pusat Kegiatan Guru

BTPN- Bahagian Teknologi Pendidikan Negeri

PSPN- Pusat Sumber Pendidkan Negeri

Now comes the time for the 'surprise' which is in stored for us - POSTER DESIGN.

Yea, one of Prof's former student who is currently studying in Multimedia University, Ms Nazirah, is in the midst of conducting a research on the DISC project (Designing for Interaction adn Students' Collaboration). Hence, she has introduced herself and told us that she has chosen us to be the lucky 'subject' for her research which is basically on designing A4 posters in conjuction with our nation's 50th Jubilee Anniversary with the title "Malaysia My Country". This research is meant for Primary Pupils from Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Bintang Utara.

When I first heard that we are supposed to design a poster with the given templates and pictures as well as the must haves to be included in the poster ( Title, picture, caption, name of the designers), I was just wondering, "Hmm... How is it possible for us to come up with a poster using a power point?" Ms Nazirah then showed us some of the samples of good posters which she had selected. Then, after being briefed on the instructions to be followed in our poster designing which is to only use the template and pictures provided for us, we gathered in our groups and worked diligently. We were given 45 minutes to discuss and come up with the most creative and attractive poster design which depicts our country's road to independence. The next one hour is for each group to present their poster designed with explanations on the rationales behind each signigicant design of the poster such as the font size, colour of background and the caption.

My group had divided the job equally among each member as we believe in team spirit in order to produce a good harvest with everyone contributing their piece of idea in the product. As there are 5 of us in a group, two of us (Gladys and I) worked on the 'Title' and 'caption' for our poster while our three friends (Izzah, Zizi, and Mastura) thought of interesting ways to include the image chosen into the poster. Within that half an hour, we put on our thinking caps and dig for ideas. After much contemplating and careful thoughts, we have decided to portray on the theme of 'UNITY' by using a picture of a multi-cultural Malaysian in pieces of puzzle. Our Title reflects our theme which is 'Malaysia, the Unity Puzzle'. Our caption further explained the meaning of our image which is God being the Most High Masterpiece, We, as his pieces of jigsaw puzzle that form a united nation, complete and unique in a multiracial community. Please refer to my 'poster designing' slideshow on my next post to view the picture of our poster.

Then, it's time for presentation. Our group was elected by Ms Nazirah to keep the ball rolling by by being the first group to present. Well, it's a good question and answer session by our facilitators as it kept us thinking. We tried our best to clarify the reasons behind our chosen design and then one question came unexpected by Ms Nazirah.. "Why do you choose the font for the caption to be different from that of the Title?" Well, well, being the first group we have no idea what type of question will be asked. Hence, we had to be quick and thank God an idea struck me and answered that we had chosen a cursive handwriting for the caption to represent the 'joined' hearts of all the multiracial community and the unity we are trying to portray. We are glad that our facilitators are satisfied with our explanations. It was overall a fulfilling and rewarding experience for us as a group as I learnt the possibility of creating a beautiful poster by using the art of Powerpoint. It's just wonderful.

Below are my reflections for this poster designing session:

1. Did you face any problem during the session? Why?

My group and I do not face much problem throughout the session as we had equally and carefully divided the task among ourselves according to our ability our inclination. As I am not as gifted in the area of creative images, my partner and I thought of interesting and catchy slogans as the Title and the Caption. Of course, we had discussed and agreed as a group that we will be doing on the theme of unity. With that, our three other group members thought of ways to produce an image that best reflects 'Unity'. After that, we combined our parts and tried out several background colours that would suit the overall poster the best so that the words printed will be clear and distinct to be read. As a whole, we had a good team work throughout the session as we took into consideration each of our members' opinions.

2. What do you think of the instruction?

I feel that the instruction given to us is clear and easy to follow by. However, by only allowing us to include the pictures provided, it would somehow restrict the creativity and freedom of poster designing. The template given to us which is to have the Title, Image, and Caption was also quite restricting as it confined us to only position our image and catption in a particular area. During the presentation, we could see that some of the groups did not actually abide by this rule or instruction given to us. I wonder why?

3. What improvements can you suggest?

Probably it would be better if freedom of choice is given to the pupils on the images to be included in the poster. By doing so, pupils can express their creativity and ideas by searching for the other appropriate pictures which suit their theme best. Isn't this a good way of cultivating their CCTS (Creative and Critical Thinking Skills) as they are also required to think of rationales behind their choice of pictures and captions. Other than that, I feel that the whole activity is conducted in a good effective way as it managed to engage all of us into participating.

4. How would you carry out this design session with Primary Level students?

For Primary Level students, we should always bear in mind the cognitive stages that they are in which is the 'Concrete-operational Stage' from ages 7-11 according to Piaget's Cognitive Theory. This explains the need of concrete examples and guidance from the teacher in completing a task given to them. Hence, to carry out this design session with the Primary students, we should ensure that the pupils are first equipped with the computer skills of using the Powerpoint. If the pupils do not have the skills, then the teacher would teach the necessary skills or steps for them to manipulate the templates given. Throughout the designing process, teacher need to provide scaffolding for each group to ensure that the pupils are working in the right track. Hence, we need to ensure that they are enough facilitators to monitor the work of each group in their poster designing.

Well, this is just my two cents thought and opinion on this activity carried out. Any comments are most welcomed. :) I believe we all yearn to learn from one another and seek for rooms of improvement.

LeARniNG pRInCiPleS Of ICT iN PrIMaRY ScHooL

1st AUGUST 07 (4th Class)

Time really flies.. we're already fast moving into the mid-way of the semester, the first day of a brand new month of august..

This is my 4th week of my journey towards equipping myself with the bountiful knowledge of discovering the vast benefits of the technological tools in the Education system. Indeed, each new lesson offers a brand new thought and valuable insight for me to further explore on its exploitbality in the Primary classroom.

To kick off the lesson, Prof. Maznah has shared with us her experience during her visit to SMK Datuk Ahmad Badawai in Penang, a school which has been selected to be the subject for the pilot test of "INTEL Teach to the World" project. This project aims to provide each student with a CMPC personal computer, thus making the ratio of 1:1 computing laboratory a reality in the ten schools chosen to go through this project. For these schools, all the classes are carried out using computers with each student having a PC of their own. Wow, what and advancement of technology in the Education arena. Well, this project is currently still under the observation of 3 evaluators and we're proud to say that our Prof. is one of them. So, what's the feedback from the teachers in the school who are required to make use of technological skills to be used in their lessons? According to Prof., from her discussion sessions with the teachers there, there were "PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS!" In fact, teachers feel that they need to take up a longer time to plan their lessons, having to include the use of technology in their lessons for the pupils. Teachers who are not keen on incorporating ICT in their lessons would find this project a chore and there would be complaints and unending complaints.

As for our Prof., teachers should take up the initiative to equip oneself with the skills and think of creative ways to add more fun and interactive sessions in our lessons. It all boils down to the teachers' perspective and attitude towards teaching and learning process and we, teachers should be the catalysts to bring about changes in the classroom learning environment. I believe that is the core reason why we are learning this course on ICT in the Primary Education, to expose us to the various ways and methods of integrating technology in the classroom especially to the Primary pupils who are curious and enjoy visual and audio input during the lessons.

After the introduction to the INTEL Project, Prof. mentioned about the teaching courseware provided by the government such as the ETeMS (English for the Teaching of Maths and Science) or PPSMI (Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Inggeris), MyCDs for the textbooks, and e-bahan on the Internet. Prof. threw us a thought to ponder on: "Are Teachers really Using These Materials?" Well, in my opinion, these materials can be considered still quite new in the classroom teaching and very few have actually taken the steps to exploit it in their lessons. As a result, these materials are left untouched and served as display purposes only to some teachers. However, I believe that with the much emphasized ICT programs and effort made by the government to help teachers to adopt technology in the lessons, more and more teachers would eventually take up this challenge and make full use of these materials. Let's all be optimistic and take up the Government's effort to rise up a generation of IT-savvy citizens starting from the young learners who are still fresh, and active to learn new things. Teachers need to plan, support and access children's learning with the ICT to develop their interest and understanding of ICT use as a tool in lifelong learning.

One of our coursemate voiced the question on e-portfolio and how we can use it in the class. From here, Prof. then lead us into a brainstorming session on what is e-portfolio and the benefits of having e-portfolio.
What is e-portfolio?

• consists of knowledge and skills (Teachers will need to teach the pupils the skills and to monitor their work)


• a collection of pupils' work


• shows progress or development of work


• reflects one's ability to organize eg. logical sequencing, mapping, grouping

Why choose e-portfolio? Among the reasons mentioned are:

• to get comments


• to promote oneself


• to share information/ express creativity such as blogs/ photos websites


• easy retrieval


• to keep a progress (for an Evaluator or a potential employer)

And the best part of it is the only tool that we need is: the INTERNET.
Just with the access to the Internet, teachers and pupils are able to keep a record of online learning or to practice e-learning.

The next session is taken over by Ms Chin who patiently went through the important points on the Learning Principles of ICT in the Primary School Curriculum as found in Chapter 1 of Brennan. The 3 main approaches/ ways in using ICT in the Teaching and Learning are:

• Leanring About ICT


• Learning With ICT


• Learning Through ICT

Specific Aims of ICT Use:

• Use ICT tools


• Develop ICT skills


• Foster confidence


• Develop understanding and practice safe use of ICT


• Overcome barriers of access to learning


• Support learning (through the courseware provided by Education Ministry)


• Inform students the benefits of using ICT (eg. learning at their own pace, allow repetition and revisions to be done)


• Develop social skills (eg. cooperative and problem-solving)

The Principles of Learning ICT in Primary Curriculum are:

• Child's sense of wonder & natural curiosity


• Child as an acitive agent in his or her learning


• The developmental nature of learning


• Child's knowledge and experience as a base for learning


• Learning through language


• Aesthetic dimenstion


• Social & emotional dimensions of learning


• Integration of learning


• Transfer of learning


• Environment-based learning


• Learning through guided Activity & Discovery


• Higher-order thinking & problem-solving


• Collaborative Learning


• Taking account individual differences

Indeed, some of these principles of teaching young learners are our previous knowledge which we have been taught on the characteristics of young learners such as having a curious mind and learning through real-life contexts or environment-based learning. However, this lesson has opened up my view and knowledge on the rationales of incorporating ICT lessons based on the pupils' learning behaviour.

We were then given our next assignment which is to find out on the various forms of ICT initiatives taken by the Ministry of Education (MOE) such as the ETeMS, MyCD projects, e-bahan and to share it with our friends on the power point.
Ms Chin also gave us several websites as additional links for us to search for information on this assignment:
www.tutor.com.my/tutor/etems
http://myschoolnet.ppk.kpm.my/indexg.htm
http://apps.emoe.gov.my/lpm
http://www.on-sl.edu.my/

The class ended with each of us browsing through the websites given to explore on the efforts taken by government to ensure that ICT is used and becomes a culture in schools.

What an eventful lesson. In fact, ICT is never my cup of tea as I am no expert in it but now I can at least utter: "It's fun learning ICT and I begin to learn to enjoy it". Isn't this a positive sign?

EFFECTiVe Power Point Presentation..

25th JULY, 2007 (3rd class)

After a lesson of trials and putting on our skills of preparing our own powerpoint slide presentations on the topic given, we were now given the much interesting input on the effective ways of enhancing our slides as to engage the target audience in a more interactive, persuasive & effective manner. I believe Prof Maznah must have felt that we have still a long way to go in equipping ourselves with the skills of making EFFECTIVE power point slides that serve its purpose in converying the message across by first CAPTURING the attention of the audience. This interesting session was conducted by Ms Ng, our very sweet but stern facilitator.

Prof Maznah first introduced Ms Ng to us as this is our first encounter with her as our facilitator. My first thought of today's lesson would be the typical type of talk presented with the objective to help us learn to produce a better powerpoint slide presentation. However, I was totally immersed and engaged by the many interesting tips on presentation slides which dawned upon me the moment Ms Ng begins to impart her valuable and essential knowledge on this area. I must say that she is a real expert. Well, she has captured my attention with her well- explained points on making our power presentation as simple as possible with the intention of getting the ideas across and not 'turning off' the audience who are listening. Ms Ng is truly an effective presenter with excellent classroom mangaement skill. Throughout the lesson, she manged to keep the class attentive, and participative while at the same time getting her lesson across.

To start the ball rolling, Ms Ng has shown us a comparison of a few slides which contain good features such as clear and distictive highlighted points, visibility of fonts as well as the negative features of the slides such as blurred or hidden images due to the wrong choice of colour background, or too wordy slides.
Among the important points to pay attention to in the preparation of powerpoint slides emphasized by Ms Ng are:

• SimpLicity- keep the phrase short and simple.
• VisibiLity- ensure the font size is large enough to be read by the audience
  - colour chosen for the background is does not 'hide' the words printed.
• Catchy Phrase- get the message accross!
• Focus- 'YOU'- Presenter is the main focus to convey the message across.
• GraPhics- Relevant pictures to the point mentioned
• Pictures in Grey Scales- the Focus is NOT Switched to the pictures.
• Have 'TITLE' for every slide - keep the audience focused and aware of the topic presented.
• No Plagiarism!- include the references for images taken from the Internet.

To be honest, I have always been reminded of some of these points mentioned above such as font size, visibility, and suitability of colour chosen for the background of the slides. However, there are of course some other points which I have never thought of or been warned of. I must say that I never thought that including pictures or images from the Internet in our slides to elaborate our points without stating the references is a Crime- PLAGIARISM. Hence, after today's class, I believe that we are now more aware of the 'dos and dont's' of power point slides and would be more careful in preparing power point slides in the future.

Before Ms Ng assigned us our next task, she has also shared with us several interesting samples of powerpoint slide presentation done by International organisations which contains the positive features of powerpoint such as keeping our slides short and simple to ensure its effectiveness.

While I was attentively listening to the points she raised, it makes me wonder the 'effectiveness' of powerpoint slides that we have often been exposed to which are normally lengthy in form. She has clarified the idea that powerpoint slides are meant to be brief enough with the keywords focused as the presence of the presenter is to further explain and elaborate on the points put forward on the slides. If our audience requested for a copy of notes on the topic we presented, this is when our preparation notes for the topic comes in handy as we could then give them a copy of our notes instead of the powerpoint slides which only serve the purpose of presentations with the presence of the presenter.

Indeed, I have truly understood and had a full grasp of the ideas and tips she has delivered to us. By the end of the lesson, Im sure we have all turned into a much better equiped learner in preparing powerpoint slides for presentation purposes. We were then required to work on our powerpoint slides which we had prepared and presented last week on the "HOTMAIL" before uploading it on the MOODLE. By applying the useful information gathered and learnt from this lesson, we modified and improved on our slides to make it more eye-catching and attractive. We try to abide to the rule given by Ms Ng which is to include only a single point on a slide so that audience would not be swayed to read on the other points when the presenter is explaining on a particular point. Please refer to my post on 'HOTMAIL' Power point Slides (AFTER) to view my group's powerpoint after the makeover from the points we learnt in today's lesson.

While we were thinking of ways and means to improve on our slides, Ms Chin introduced us to the link http://www.seedwiki.com/wiki/pkey3101/blogspot?wpid:571027
where we can browse though our seniors' blogs on this course. Interestingly, there are good blogs which I personally feel that it is a good opportunity for us to learn from as well as some blogs which could be improved on. I truly count myself blessed to be presented with samples of our seniors' blogs which we can lean on as examples. The class ended with each group browsing through the net looking for insights from our seniors' blogs as well as improving our slides on the powerpoint presentations last week.

A lesson as a "HOTMAIL" promoter !!

18th July 2007 (2nd Class)

Hie:) I'm back!

Today's my second lesson on technology in the Primary Education. Yea.. coming to class without any idea on today's 'agenda' but certainly with much expectation and anticipation for the lesson, I am all ready for the "SURPRISE" that's in store for us.

Under the watchful eye of Mr Sarel, our facilitator, we were instructed to form our own groups consisting of 5 or 6 members. A kindly reminder from Mr Saril: "Your are to stick to your group for all upcoming activities for the whole course. SO.. choose your group wisely."
After all the hush and buzz, we were all settled in our respective groups. The next thing to do was to appoint a group leader and to create a special unique Name reflecting each group.. And Walaa.. our group has unanimously agreed upon the name "REJUVENESCENCE".. yeah, that's the spirit. We shall together be rejuvenated, energized, and liven up as a team, as a group, in unity.

Then, came the awaiting moment when we were given the very First presentation assignment for this course...Guess what? We are all going to be 'part-time promoters' for a certain technological device such as the Digital Camera, Hotmail, Yahoo, e-mail, and other useful tools in today's digital world. Each team leader drew lots on the particular 'product' for us to work on in advertising and promoting the gadget or device, resembling what it takes to be an 'Apprentice'! haha.. We are judged on our persuasive skills in 'selling' our product through our techniques in developing good and effective Power point Slide Presentation of 5 minutes. Given the mere 45 minutes, we worked diligently in our group to come up with the Best Power point Presentation in promoting the "HOTMAIL" as the best e-mailing program. Browsing through the various search engine, we worked collaboratively, each trying to extract for information, images and advantages regarding the HOTMAIL. In the midst of this, we were really grateful to Prof Raja Maznah's visit to our Makmal and gave us a really useful and handy tip in using the "Print Screen" to be inserted in our Power point Presentation. Many thanks, Prof!

After much toiling and preparation for our slides, it's time for the "Presentation" from each group. For each group's presentation, we also had peer-evaluation whereby the particular group's presentation is being evaluated by another group as members of the audience. Some of the group really showed team work where each person in the group has a role to play during the presentation. I personally liked that idea as it reflects on the team spirit of a group. My group truly put up a good show as seemed to enj compliment from our facilita, Mr Sarel that wapture our audience's attention and bring them along as we journeMAIL. Yes, 'CONNECT WITH A CLICK' - that's the mottol we had come up with as we shout it out together as a team towards the end of our presentation.

Yea.. it was a truly insightful time as we not only gained more information regarding each of the different technological gadgets as presented by our friends, we were also enlightened on the various key points in making an effective slide presentation from our facilitator. He gave his comments and ideas on improving the visual aspect of Power Point slides such as taking into consideration the tone of the background and the impact of wordy slides on the readers. Well, he emphasized, "What is most important is to get the message across to your audience." Always keep the audience focused. And we should try our best to do away with having all the lengthy explanations printed on our slides. That's a useful reminder that I will always keep in mind.:)

As a whole, it was a good experience to practice our presentation skills being as persuasive as possible in our speech. Well, that's the whole point: selling our Product! Im glad my group did a good job. I would like to take this opportunity to name them Gladys, Izzah, Zizi, and Mastura. Thanks to u all, my dear group members. :)