Salha’s blog

Here in this two day Iam Sick. I did not go to my workplace. I strated to work at home and collect all my data for need analysis report.

ALL THE BEST FOR ALL

ENJOY WITH YOUR PROJECTS ^^

In this special day, there is a national day celebrations. First of all, I would say to you and myself          

Happy national day

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In this day, I was communicating with my mentor(Mr.Rob)  via e-mail. I discussed with him about the action research project. He gave me some ideas and suggestion and I told him my opinion. I believe that, his suggestions are very important because he knows more than  what I recognized from the school’s needs in improving learning. also, he knows what are the suitable learning tools that will affect students and teachers learning. Therefore, I always ask him about his opinion. You have to know that discussion and collaboration is very important to get the right thing done.

Me, Maryanne and Rob decided to apply one of the LMS OR CMS in the school.

I did a research about how to write a literature review which will help me in the second semester. I found this pdf which I think it is very useful to guide you for writing a good literature review.

http://www1.union.edu/senerm/courses/Eco146/Eco%20146_S04/Handouts-info/How%20to%20write%20%20a%20literature%20review.pdf

 I hope that you find it useful.

I reorganized my data collection tools to help me in writing the need analysis report.

Finally, Me and Mr.Rob decided on the e-learning method that will be applied in the school. He sent for me different links as examples that created by colleges and schools to clarify how this LMS and CMS will benefit the students and teachers. I am so glad that I found this support from my Mentor.

Coming Back. You may not see me write reflection for Wednesday and Thursday. I was in the college, practicing IELTS all the day. I had my exam on Saturday.

Let talk about today.

This my last week in Sharjah English School. Today is Sunday and it was full busy day with thinking, planning and discussion. I reorganized all my collection data tools. This help me to plan my ideas about my action research. I agree with Kyricou that “planning enables you to think clearly and specifically about the type of learning you wish to occur in a particular lesson and to relate the educational objectives to what you know about the pupils and the place of the lesson in the general programme of study” (Kyriacou, 2001, 19).

Actually, I listed all my ideas that I planned to use for the school.

These are my ideas:

1-   Learning Management System

-          Edu2.0: http://www.edu20.org/

                                 ·            Upload games and activities that I created

                                 ·            Register all teachers and students

                                 ·            Upload many resources

                                 ·            Set up discussion forum for students and teachers

-          Wimba  Classroom 6.0: http://www.wimba.com/solutions/higher-education/wimba_classroom_for_higher_education/

2-   Educational games and activities using:

-          Hot Potatoes

-          Study Mate

-          Articulate Engage

-          Web 2.0 tools

-           EdCreate: http://www.edcreate.com/

-          Kubbu: http://www.kubbu.com/

Create diifereent kind of activities and games for different lessons in one curriculum.

3-   Communication tools

Wimba Collaboration Suite: http://www.wimba.com/solutions/higher-education/wimba_collaboration_suite_for_higher_education/

-          Blogs such as: Wordpress, Vox

                     ·            Register all the students

                     ·            Put instruction

                     ·            Students can use to reflect, upload their work and collaborate with their teachers

                     ·            Teachers can see students’ reflection and put instructions and comments.

4-   Assessment: Create many assessment for different lesson in one  curriculum using:

-          Articulate Quizmaker

-          JobWerx: http://www.jobwerx.com/wq.html

-          UniTest System v.4.11.0

-          WebQuiz XP v.2.0.24

-          Science Quiz v.2

-          Multiple Choice Quiz Maker v.2.3.0

-          PHPWebQuiz v.1.3.0

-          Different software at: http://www.1000files.com/free/quiz.html

-          Course Genie

5-   Web quests:

-          Create 3-4 webquest lessons using DreamWeaver of one curriculum in one website.

-          Include different activities and assessments.

-          Include images and videos.

-           Include resources

Also, I did a research on each idea to find suitable resources.

My monitor was happy to see my ideas. He was more interested on the learning management System tools(LMS). I explained for him each idea and the software and online application that I am going to use. I had a discussion with Miss Maryaane and Mr.Rob. it was an interesting meeting. We discussed the ideas together, I saw that each one say an opinion. I agree with Maryaane when she said that “Creating materials for lesson may not be used by the teachers”. It is really wasting my time and effort. I believe that online learning is more effective and beneficial for students. As the U.S. Department of education stated that “"on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction”. They support their statements with logical reasons which are:

·         the blended e-learning often results in additional learning time because students find this kind of education more engaging and useful.

·         e-learning provides new instructual elements that are more difficult to use in classroom education (video's, collaboration, ...)

·         online education can be more tailored to the needs of individual students

http://www.dokeos.com/en/node/596

Moreover, it can be accessible anytime and anywhere. Students can access at home, club, café or anywhere which helps them to be engaged continuously.

I am planning to use either Moddle or Drupal.

I did surveys, interviews and conversations with students and teachers in Sharjah English School.

From my surveys and interviews I think of developing something that helps students to collaborate and communicate with their teachers and students formally. As I noticed that the school has no communication tools used for educational purpose. Therefore, I believe that the students need to communicate with their teachers and colleagues while they are at home. In addition, from the surveys I noticed that almost the students have competent skills in using communication tools such as facebook, Wiki, Chat rooms. This will help me a lot to think in one of the LMS that has several features such as discussion forum, online lessons, file storage and others.

In addition, I noticed that in the primary section most of the teachers use resources that provided with curriculum and I saw some of them are not attractive and beneficial. I thought to develop lessons including different games, activities and quizzes that I can created in different programs such as: Hot Potatoes, Course genie, Study mate, Articulate quiz maker and others.

In addition, I saw that most teachers and students has no idea about web2.0 tools. Therefore, I planned to search and find some web2.0 tools that may help the students in their studying.

These are some ideas that I am thinking about.

What do you think about my ideas?

Can you share me some ideas that you think it will work in the school?

Today is my second day from the second week in Sharjah English School. In this day, I planned to give surveys for teachers and students. I tried to give teachers the surveys but I saw that they are busy and they don’t have offices that I can go and give them. However, my mentor sent teachers the questions that I made and I received back many of them, so I can collect enough data to help me in my action research.

I gave a year 7 the surveys and I noticed that they are using different online application and software such as Microsoft Office, Google Earth, Twitter,  Macromedia Flash MX, Pivot, Paint, Illustrator, Photoshop.

I was surprised that I saw that some of them uses Twitter, Flash, Illustrator and Photoshop.

Additionally,  I saw that most of them use Facebook, e-mail, Messenger.

Moreover, I observed one of the ICT classes. The students did presentations about E-safety which is how to be safe while you are on computer. They took about some communication tools such as Facebook, Chatrooms and Messenger and the dangerous of the bad use of them.

Some students present the topic as storytelling. For example, one of the story is about a girl that used to talk to stranger people and one person asked her about her personal details and finally, he come to her home and then this girl disappeared for ever.

I liked this story because it attract stuednts’ attention to the presentation.

I saw that the teacher gave the student who presenting a laser to navigate through slides because they are standing beside the screen. Moreover, I noticed that the teacher gave each student a quick feedback after he/she finished. The feedback is concern the spelling errors, pronouncing, images and colors.

I took a video for one of the student.

At the end of the class, the teacher ask the students to write journal in the Access page that the teacher made.

This is the beginning of the second week in Sharjah English School. I had an conversation with my mentor about the questions that I asked him to send for the teachers. I got back 4 of them . After that, I decided to give students the survey in their classes. I took 10 minutes from the ICT class and gave students grade 8 the survey. First of all, I gave them instruction to write their date of birth on the top and their grade and then answer all the 9 questions in the survey and I asked them to raise their hand if they have any question. Also,  I was mentoring them while they are answering. I saw that some students asked me about some questions. For example, almost the students asked me what is the web2.0 tool and LMS. I explained for them and I saw that some students uses web2.0 tools but they did not know that this is a web2.0 tool. They understood after I described and explained for them.

While I looked at their answers I saw that almost students uses Facebook, MSN, Ebuddy and Telephone as communication tools with other students. I think that this is not educational communication tools that they can use formally for learning purposes. Therefore, I am thinking about an LMS that can benefit the students and teachers. LMS that has all the works that they have to do, Discussion Forum, Upload their assessments, Follow the latest news in the school. This will make the students up-to-date and  enhance their learning. So for example, if one of the student is absent he/she  can access the LMS and see what are the lessons for today. He/she can follow the lessons and ask their colleagues and teacher by posting in the discussion forum. The teacher and all the students can communicate with him/her. 

Here is my Survey and Questions Paper:

1- Survey

2- Questions For Teachers

3- Questions for Administrators

Wednesday and Thursday I have to be in the college to practice for the IELTS. In these days, I communicated with my mentor by an e-mail. I asked him to send teachers  the questions paper that I made for them. I saw that it is difficult to manage many interviews with teachers because each teacher is busy with teaching. Therefore, I think that they will answer the questions and send it back to my mentor with the answers. Also, I did some exercise and I worked through my projects.

Additionally, I collected all the photos that I took in the school and create a video using Movie Maker. This will keep my gallery save and organized.

This is my third day in Sharjah English School. In this day I was preparing a survey for the students and teachers. I made 9 questions that based on integrating technology in classrooms. This survey aims to see how the students and teachers use technology in school and their life. Moreover, it helps me to know which type of technology that they use in both school and home. Also, I include some examples and an image to make it easy for them to understand.

After I collect the data I will be able to think and create an application that assist students and teachers in learning.

Also, I did two observation for primary students. One is numeracy class for grade 6 and the other one is an ICT class for grade 5.

In the numeracy class, I saw Smartboard that connect with a computer, Speakers and Datashow. I saw that the teacher used the Smartboard to present the charts for the students and brainstorm their ideas and let them think while he was asking them questions. He used Collins New Primary Math CD as a resource in this lesson. Moreover he ask students to come to the board and use the Smartboard pen to complete and draw the chart. I believe that this makes students motivated. Also, students can learn and practice to use Smartboard.

I noticed that the students were very quiet and they listened carefully to the instructions of the teachers. I saw the teacher walked around the students to monitor them and he looks very close to the students. He helped them a lot while they are drawing charts in their notebook. I asked the teacher about the resources that he used in his lessons or if he uses any applications or software. He told me that the curriculum has all the lesson plan with interactive resources that the teacher can use. Also, he told me that some resources are not good, so he creates his own resources.

The only problem that I recognized that the show in the SmartBoard was not clear due to the sun. The windows are not covered, so the Sunlight makes the show not clear on the board.

Another thing that I noticed in the classroom is the shelves that the students use. Each student has a shelf to put her/his staff on. This very important to make the students organized. Also, I think it is good for the students to put their staff on shelves instead of putting them under their tables.

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The other class that I observed is the ICT class.  The technology that they have are Smartboard, 25 computers, I teacher computer, Printer and speakers. I noticed that the students were using Word document to draw shapes and create their dream shape or think dream. They used different shapes to create for example a garden. They draw a swimming pool inside the grade and grass. I like this activity which makes the students think critically and use their imagination. Also, it develop their skills in using Word document to create things. I saw the students scaffold each other and discuss. I took a video that shows how one of the student drawing and dragging these shapes and try to get help from her peer.

Also, you will see that the monitors of the computers are inside the table. This is very effective to avoid disturbing and make it easy for the teacher to monitor the students.

Finally after they finished their think dream, they printed out.

 

Shapes

The teacher mentioned some resources that she uses such as (www.radiowaves.co.uk)

Her page called “Kennoway”. She allowed the students to upload their videos that they took in some celebration or competitions in the school. Then, they can access the blog in this website to write a reflection and put comments for each other. Also, I saw the Curriculum CD that she used which has all the videos that demonstrate the steps for creating shapes in Word document.

 

This is my second day in Sharjah English School. It was a full busy day. I was preparing to interview the head of primary. My mentor checked the questions and he said that they are good. Actually, when, I prepared the questions the day before I put the questions to be asked for the teachers. But, my mentor surprised me when he told me that he arranged an interview with the head of primary. Then, I had to change the questions to suit the head of primary. The interview was at 11:30. I went with my mentor to meet her. I did the interview and she was very kind and helpful. She gave me more than what I asked. I saw that she uses computer a lot. She uses MS office such as Excel to create timetables, PowerPoint to create presentations and Word document to type formal letters. She communicates with other staff by using e-mail. I recognized that, they use Smartboard while secondary section uses Interwrite board. Moreover, I asked her if they uses any communication tools that enables students to communicate with teachers while they are at home but she said that, their levels do not qualify them to use these tools, they still in primary so they don’t have any communication tools.

Moreover, I observed one of the science classes for grade 11. I saw the different technology in the class such as Interactive board, speakers, Data show and computer. Unfortunately, the teacher in this lesson did not use any technology. He was explaining about the measurement tools and what are the procedures to use them. The teacher distributed a worksheet among the students and asked them some questions. However, I noticed that the teacher brainstormed students’ idea and let them think and engage.

In the middle of the class, I saw the students got board because the teacher continued explain the tools in details and I did not see any student take notes. After that, he let the students to practice using the equipments and recommended them with the safety procedures. I took some pictures as you see:

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This is my first day in Sharjah English School with Mr.Rob who is my mentor. I observed some ICT classes. I recognized that the teacher uses MS Excel to take students’ attendance.

I was seeing how the students work collaboratively in their project. One of the classes,  students created their own characteristics using clay After that I saw one of the student asked the teacher for a Webcam and I analyzed that they use webcam to create animation by moving their own characteristics and using their drawing papers. As you see here in the video

In addition, I saw the teacher ask the student to write a journal which is a page that created by teacher in MS Access as you see the picture which is very attractive and well designed. Also, the teacher include icons for saving, refershing the database, looking at the lesson objectives and exiting. It is very useful and easy in use. from that journal the teacher can see what the student learn and understand and did during the lesson. 

AcssesJournal

The journal include the following:

-          lesson number

-          Date

-          Project name

-          Programs used

-          What did I do in the class today?

-          What went badly

-          Any improvement need?

-          What you learnt?

I recorded all the lessons that the students had from the beginning of the year.

Further more, I found some of the movies that the student created using Pivot program. I wish that I can upload the piv animations that created by students put Vox dosn't support this format and I couldn't convert it to flash or video.