I was scrolling the web this morning and ended up in a familiar flat form that I haven’t opened since lockdown started. It is a site that we used during our 1st and 2nd years in college to record our activities in a particular subject.
Looking back, posting stuff about what we did or keeping a documentary about the things we did in class is only just for compliance since this is one of the requirements and I never thought that I would be missing those times in where we freely go and do our activities while also having fun.
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, most of the countries worldwide implemented school closures affecting billions of learners. Since schools are currently not available, online schooling is amplified. It’s been a year since it started but it feels like it has been so long since normal school activities and gala with your classmates are not normal anymore.
I didn’t expect that I would feel glad seeing the documentations of the activities we did before. I feel glad but I feel sad at the same time. So the following are some of the things we did in our Education for Technology and Learning class.
The Survey in the Use of ICT in Teaching and Learning for Teachers
On the 8th day of August year 2019, we conducted a survey on Baluarte Elementary School about how the teachers cope up with the digital ways of teaching. Through this survey we became aware if the teachers uses technology in their way of teaching, if they are aware about the policies in using ICT, if they still uses non-digital resources, if they’re an expert in using technology tools, if they are well aware about the ethical and legal responsibilities in the use of ICT, if their students learned better through using technology, or if they are enjoying using it.
Based on our survey, the majority of the teachers in Baluarte Elementary School prefer using technology as a tool of teaching. It shows that using ICT allows students to explore, engage, solve problems, and make exciting discoveries for themselves. However, although not everyone agrees on the benefits that technology can provide, in today’s generation we need to cope up immediately so we wouldn’t be left behind as the technology grows more.
One of our group mates has an aunt who is the current principal of the Baluarte Elementary School (BES) so it became easier for us to get through the survey process. BES isn’t that far from our school so we went there during our 2hours free time in the afternoon.
Word Game
Our instructor gave us an activity about doing a 'Word Game'. We group ourselves into five and then create a unique idea out of it. My group decided to do a scrambled words game and we titled it 'Unscramble the Sentence'. Instead of the word, we scrambled the definition and let our classmates form it into a sentence which defines the given word.
Other groups also constructed unique ideas. There's 'Letter me, Up' in which there's three people standing for letters A, B, and C. Like a multiple choice, you need to find the right answer and line-up to the person who's holding the right letter. There's also 'Sana all', and I proudly say that my group won this game. It's also like a scramble word which has three categories, the easy, medium and the difficult.
There are many games we played like 'Pick the Word', 'Post the Word', 'Fill me Up' and all of it was very fun. We're enjoying the activity but also at the same time we're learning. The study of technology is not that really hard especially if it was presented in this kind of activity, in which students can really perform and participate in giving their individual insight and learning about the said activity.
Reflection
We also indicated our individual reflection about the things we learn, the things we want to know more, and the things we’ll do with what we have learned.
1. What have I learned?
I learned that 21st century learning really requires a higher order of thinking skills and that technology has a great role in developing and enhancing these skills. Also, technology is probably the answer so that educators can teach better even in just a short period of time and the students can learn faster.
2. What I want to know more?
I want to know more about the different usage of technology. How do they help improve our lives? And what would be these technologies in the future? We all know that technology was made to make our lives easier especially in school settings, it is really a big help for both teachers and students, but I want to know what content it will be.
3. What will I do with what I learned?
I will apply my learnings in my daily life and probably in my studies. Now that we’re in our second year of being a college student, we sometimes have trouble in handling our schedules well. We often forget the other subject because we’re too focused on finishing the other. In this problem, we can use technology to help us be reminded and help us manage our time through maybe setting an alarm or marking our google calendar.
I just didn’t imagine that this all made sense up until now that I applied it all in my daily life.
Flash Cards and Instructional Materials Making
We also documented our flashcards making. Since I took Elementary Education, things like this aren't really something new. Most elementary students were visual learners so we are trained to be creative and innovative in making our own instructional materials.
Our flashcard making was held in the classroom so that our instructor can check if it is really us who did those and to grade it instantly too. In making flashcards, you need to consider first your topic, then the creativity and the durability of your output. My topic is noun so I made my design simple and clear but attractive.
Making instructional materials is the same as making flashcards. You need to consider the guidelines: Unity, Simplicity, Legibility, Consistency, Clarity, and lastly the Quality. I choose to make flip charts as my instructional materials, and like how I did in my flash cards I made my instructional materials simply creative and durable.
Mock Teaching Demonstration
While performing the mock demonstration I can't help but to be nervous and excited at the same time. As far as I remember, this is our first ever mock teaching demonstration. It's the first step in practicing how to handle our students when the future comes. My classmates’ serves as my students and I let them read the nouns written in my flash cards then proceed to the discussion using my instructional materials until I finished my class.
I was nervous thinking that our instructor is just in the corner and watching, but it was also fun because my grown up classmates turned to be elementary students to act as my students. It was funny since I even talked to them in a child-like voice and so they are to me.
I forget first that I am a student and act as a teacher I was, and I also put in mind that my students were elementary pupils and not just my classmates. I discussed the lesson then asked them some questions before letting them answer the activity. I'm just glad that I didn't stutter in front and it went well despite my stage fright and nervousness.
Contrive Experience Making
Contrive experience making is just like a diorama making. In making the contrived experience, we came in many hardships. To be honest, we repeated it three times and spent money because we cannot get content over our work done. Our concept is already settled, we agreed to make a terrarium about wild animals and their habitats. We already brought the materials needed but along the way of our work it didn’t go well. So, we decided to change it and buy some materials again but like the first try, it didn’t go well also. Finally, on our third try we all liked the result. It is more or closely like a real forest and wildlife to us.
Contrive Experience presentation
Seeing how our output ends, I can say that all wasted money and efforts were all worth it. There should only be one presenter per group so we choose the best speaker in our group to present our output, while the other members will act as students. It was discussed first what is wildlife and what are the animals that live in the wild. After that, our representative asked for participants to get an animal, identify it, and place it in where it should belong. Everything went smoothly so there’s really no need for us to be anxious.
Puppet Making and Presentation
After the contrived experience, we directly think of a concept for our next output which is the puppet show. In this, we didn’t have to present it in the classroom and in front of our classmates because it must be filmed. Each group was given 15 minutes for the said puppet show. There are so many things that can be used as a puppet but we choose socks.
We transformed the socks and beautified it to make a puppet. We also repeat it for the 2nd time since the first try is a failure. I admit that it is a bit frustrating, especially when it rained that time while we’re filming. It may look fine in the video but behind that are the mixed sweats and tired arms. The picture above shows how dense we are behind the camera but still trying to make everything right. We even go home late that time just to finish everything. It’s a relief that it went well in the end.
All these hardship, struggle, and fun was just a part of the past now and will always be in my memory. We realized that we miss something when we stop doing the same thing. I’ve missed this kind of activity because we can’t do the same now, and we have different ways in every group activity since classes are online. We can’t just easily see each other for a group project or go to a place for some reason since we are also watching for our own safety. That is why I feel sad and happy by seeing these again.
