ICT as a communicative and constructive tools

In today’s digital era, communication is easier than ever before. People can connect with each other, share online content with the click of a button and work together on projects regardless of distance. So the second tool that we have discussed is ICT as communicative tools. A communicative tool is the applications which enable easy communication between the teacher and students, among students beyond the physical barrier. It also helps teacher to improve communication and interaction with participants, fellow teachers and parents. Some of the communication tools are; Skype, discussion forum, emails, zoom, Face book etc. 

After going through discussion I came to know that communication is classified into two types;

• Synchronous (enables real-time communication, helps solving urgent issues)
•       Example: chat, telephone call, video conferencing.

• Asynchronous (not requiring the people communication to be logged on the internet at the same time)
•       Example: e-mail, VLE discussion forum, we chat, face book, blog, wiki etc.

     Discussion on we chat and VLE forum

    

                                 Video conferencing in ZOOM 

Under this we also looked at what is blog? A blog is an online journal or a platform where a writers share their views on an individual subjects. As an activity we were asked to create our blog using blogger.com but before that we watched the videos uploaded by our tutor in VLE forum.

blog created using blogger.com

Before i heard a word blog quite a lot but after going through this topic i knew how to create blog using our gmail account.How and what we have to post in our own blog. we used communication tools like We-chat, VLE and Zoom for the discussion. Communication is not limited to phone calls and text messages and can communicate with others through different means of technology. So i can use this types of communication tools with my students when i go for teaching for effective teaching and learning.

ICT as a constructive tools

In the next session, we discussed on the topic ICT as the constructive tools in VLE which was really enriching- all of my classmates participated where we raise and clear our doubts. As an activity we got a task to design one page simulated advertisement to attract visitor to our locality using PowerPoint presentation with only one slides incorporating all the features and animation. By doing this I was able to use my ideas and information to construct something new.

Constructive tool means the computer/tools used for manipulating information, visualizing one's understanding and building/creating new knowledge. These constructive tools has been used in many ways but we did not recognize it. Some examples of constructive tools are; electronic bulletin boards/Moodle, Social networking sites (blog/face book/twitter), DTP/In-designs/ MS Publisher, Simulation, etc.

Constructive tools emphasis on constructivism theory, where the knowledge is constructed or builds upon. Here knowledge is constructed by the individual and learning takes place if the individual can construct their own knowledge and apply or generalize it in a new situation. So this task of making simulation helped me in improving my skills to work with the power-point. It was great experience where I was able to insert my own voice, song, pictures and shapes in a single slide. I used my past knowledge to organize and present their ideas in attractive format. I think this experience will help me a lot when making presentation, videos and etc. in the future.

In the upcoming blogs there will be discussion on remaining tools.

 

Reflection on ICT as informative tools

When we say ICT, I was referring it to the use of computer and internet but after learning about this topic I was aware of how broad and important ICT is to improve teaching and learning in this digital world. Information and communication technology consists of various tools and systems that can be exploited by capable and creative teachers to improve teaching and learning situations. Lim Tay (2003) classification of ICT tools as:

1.      Informative tools

2.      Communicative tools

3.      Constructive tools

4.      Co-constructive tools

5.      Situating tools

We get information from many sources such as Books from the library, TV channel, Mobile phones, Internet (Social Media), Radio Broadcasts, and newspapers. I also knew that we can collect information in various formats like text, sounds, image or video. But after the discussion of the topic with our tutor, I came to know that ICT as informative tools is not only to collect information but it has lots important aspects in our life. 

It is very important and relevant tools that adheres teacher to provide learning classroom very effective and conducive.  A students reading a text or information, listening to the audio, simply looking at the image and making meaning out of it or watching a video lesson are all receiving information on the particular topic but through means based on their choices.

When we use ICT as informative tools we are providing raw materials to organize, reorganize and expand their knowledge and skills. This is one of the driving tools that a learner gets to learn independently whereby they get an opportunity to explore, think critically, activate their knowledge, develop research skills and learn to integrate relevant information. Hence, informative tools make the work of the teacher and students easier and faster.

In order to make us more aware of informative tools we were assigned with a task to prepare a presentation on Doklam issues by our tutor. For this task I browse as many sources as possible to understand the views of different people on Doklam standoff and came up with the presentation with adequate and reliable information including my own views. I got almost all the information from different websites, videos and all, thus providing ICT as informative tools.

                              Presentation on Doklam standoff

I was able to expand my knowledge on the topic and skills of using power-point by doing such activity, as i gathered more information for my topic and was able to organize and integrate relevant information. Being a future teacher I can use such activities where children gets to share their own points of view and where they can expand their knowledge so that they can think critically and expand their skills. 

ICT in teaching and learning

Work places in this modern time have changed and now we have to update with the changing world. Teaching and learning style have changed and it does not happen only with the use of chalk and chalkboard, face to face in the class but in can happen in online. Therefore being a future teacher, we have to learn to teach the students. 

ICT in teaching and learning is all about enhancing the teaching and learning process through integration of different information and communication technologies. It is very important in the 21^st century to inculcate such skills because the world outside the classroom demands ICT skills. To enhance teaching and learning process as well as to motivate students-obtain active participation from students, ICT got the most attraction these days. Using ICT, it helps to achieve the objectives of the lesson effectively and it assists in teaching and understanding the difficult concepts.

We have learnt about the computer as a tool to teach and learn. There are 5 tools: informative tools, communicative tools, constructive tools, co-constructive tools and situating tools. So, this writing contains my reflection on five tools that we have learnt in this module.