Educational Softwares

Using educational software's in the class is an effective way to make the pupils learn the concept and use the skill they have learn in their own lives. The educational software's can gain the whole attention of the student making them enjoy the virtual reality that try to mimic the real nature beauty making the student relax and increase the level of their understanding and energy which motivate them to do their best on these software's.

There are four types of educational software's:

1.    Drill and practice software:

Drill and Practice is a directed technology integration software method that helps students practice very structured problems, the Students answer a question and get immediate feedback, and the Feedback can be as simple as “correct” or “incorrect”.

It creates motivation in students, allow students to move quickly past problems they understand and to a new set of problems based on their skill levels, the students be more attention.

It  may be good for helping students practice for tests since focus on memorization of process of solving problems and facts is important aspect of both.

2.    Tutorial software:

A computer tutorial is an interactive software program created as a learning tool. Tutorials help people learn new skills by using a step-by-step process that ensures the user is following along and comprehending the material.

Tutorial software is a highly effective form of training that allows you to complete lessons at your own pace and repeat sections as needed. Many programs include interactive exercises that allow you to practice skills in real time.

3.    Simulation software:

Simulation software is the science of creating statistically accurate models to represent the behavior of real life systems in order to subject them to predictive experimentation.

Computer simulation offers the opportunity to experiment with phenomena or events; it can be used in education to give the student more feeling for reality in some abstract fields of learning.

4.    Instruction game software:

Instructional games are Activities that designed to motivate, engage, involve learners with the course content by addition some techniques and rules to those activities.

Instructional games focus on two main purposes in the learning process:

1.    Understanding

2.    Motivation

Advantages of Instructional games:

·         Powerful educational tools.

·         Strong motivating influences.

·         Good for integrating learning across the subject.

·         Can contribute to the learning objectives related to competition, cooperation and teamwork.

·         Make learning fun.

·         Provide different levels of complexity that match player's ability.

·         Engage the learners in a situation where the learner is competing for a high score.

In my opinion, our world is changing although it is very slow with the second wave now with the evolution of 3D movies.  I believe games are the foundation of future tutoring, imagine a virtual reality school where you learn all your subject using a games when you pass the level you go to the nest harder level, imagine that you see yourself inside that world that surround you and you can use your hands and feet to walk on it and you have a bonus items that will help you when you accomplish a round in a good score and that you can move holograms and use various thing in a fun way. At that time, our student will enjoy their learning and will learn more than the student in our traditional school and deeper than a teacher can say or show.

What is a Mind Mapping? Why we use it?

When I was a student at the school, I didn’t like the subjects that needs to memorize, so I was drawing a something look like the map for the whole chapter in one paper, it shows the relationship between all elements of the chapter, to facilitate the process of studying, conservation, remembering and und understanding, I didn’t know that what was drawn has a scientific name which is Mind Mapping.

Using concept mapping a very powerful constructivist learning tool to:

• help the students to be engaged more in the lesson.
• thinking deeply about the task at hand.
• to be creative and to think.
• make connections for themselves using higher order thinking. 

Mind Mapping programs such as C-Map assist children in brainstorming, writing and constructing organized, complex, and systematic diagram suitable to help the young to explain their ideas in form of graphical representation of interrelationships between groups, word webs, association diagrams using text, symbols, and spoken words. By using a Concept Map kids can enhance clarity of relations, improve memorization and coherence.

 

I hear about Mind Mapping software for the first time from my sister, it was really interesting to learn how to use it. Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to apply it in my classes because we need to train students in how to design a map using the concept mapping program cutting a very precious time from the already full curriculum of the subject.

Do we need to use the Mind Mapping in all Computer subjects?

In my opinion for a subject that has a lot of theoretical part such as networking subject, the answer will be yes but for the others, the practical parts the answer will be no. 

Web Quest

Web Quest is a very interesting topic for me, because in Web Quest you can replace the worn and dull papers used by the teacher in providing the lesson, to a site that is designed in an attractive way with pictures and videos to give you everything new about the lesson and to ensure that the students will have a full understanding.

Web Quest is not just a site that offers information, but its inquiry based lesson, which encourages the students to the open learning, where the teacher proposed a project based problem for the students, and a solution should be presented by the group. In order to find a solution, the students should search for it using the resources provided by the teacher in the Web Quest such as web links.

In this way, the students can save their time because they will focus on the information that provided by the teacher, because he works to develop resources that fit with their level of thinking instead of searching for resources that are not suitable with their level. In addition, teachers are able to provide multiple websites, allowing students to use the resource that works best of their level of understanding.

Web Quest increase the students motivation, it enhance the way the student think to include higher level thinking (analysis, synthesis and evaluation) since after they finding a solution for their problem, they used the rubrics to evaluate their solution and modify it creating a better optimized solution. In addition, searching for information enhance the students self directed learning, technological competencies, problem solving, cooperating learning and scaffolding.

But we can't apply the Web Quest in some cases, because of the time limitation, although the intensive used of the Internet can be very bad for human eyes and health, also there are still families in Bahrain that can't afford to have Internet or even buy a Computer.

An Example of a Web Quest:

http://elearning.raypec.k12.mo.us/mod/resource/view.php?id=9965

Inquiry Based Learning

The first time when I have studied computer subject was at high school and I can remember that most of teachers used teacher centered learning, where the teacher explain to us the theoretical part, then she show us how to do the practical part then she asked us to do it by ourselves as she had done without allowing us to think.

On the other hand, in these few years the way computer subjects are being taught have changed dramatically, nowadays we use inquiry based learning which is seeking information by questioning, we taught the students by “learning through groups” by using brainstorming and problem solving strategies.

We divide our students to groups where each group should choose a project from a list designed specifically by the teacher, I gave them the choice to design brochure, leaflet or poster for their group project using  MsWord, I provide them with a layout and let the group decide what is the design and content to be discussed in the project, so the group project is open ended and more dynamic, and there is no right or wrong way when doing the project since the path taken to a desired project can be reached by various ways, which help the students to search for information and learn on their own with the teacher guidance giving them the opportunity to discover the objectives of the lesson, skills to finish their project, conduct research, analyze results and present their final results.

Inquiry is important in the generation of ideas and transmission of knowledge and it is an essential element in education, learn how to build self directed learning skills, although it can be applied to all disciplines.

Finally, using inquiry based learning is not always successful due to the limitation of time and we should develop the students self confidence, motivation and enhance students directed learning before used this strategy.

21st century learning

In the past, the teacher used only one way (memorization method) during explanation, but today the education has developed, so there are many ways for learning and gain information such as flipped classroom which means online learning.

So the role of the teacher has changed from a lecturer to an advisor and a learning coach, although the job of the home and the class time has changed also, the lectures becomes homework and the class time used for collaborative student homework, experiential exercises, debate and Lab work.

The flipped classroom can benefit in some way to the students because the students can watch the lecture as many times as they need especially to those who suffer from slowness in learning, and to those who missed classes.

In addition, it helps the student to participate in chats with the instructor and the classmates, so the interaction between the teacher to student and student to student will increase.

As well, the student becomes interested in the class because he has a background about the topic and the student will keep pace with the technology, it also helps to prepare children for the future and get them used to take responsibility for their own learning, so teachers can create a fertile environment for creativity, and solving problems becomes easily to students because they can learn more in working by groups.

The flipped classroom can help the teachers in the learning because the lectures can be seen by students all over the world, so students learn from the best sources and it help to facilitate identifying the experiences of others.

Besides that online learning can eliminate the use of the traditional textbook which is linear and flat source of information, and replace it with the digital textbook which is cost effective, convenient and not heavy.

The teacher can save the lesson time for more practice and doing experiments, so he can discover the talents.

But some students may suffer from the flipped classroom because not all students can complete their homework and not all students can understand the one way lesson because they can't raise their hands and ask questions.

Some students have a problem in learning so they need a special treatment and different strategies to gain information, besides that some students may misunderstand the information.

Although the teacher may suffer from this way because he should prepare many applications, assignments and homework's with a contrast questions, and the student not familiar with this way since childhood.

But we can overcome these problems through a good lesson preparation and used the flipped classroom from early ages.

We cannot live without computers

The Computer is very important in our life especially in our schools, as well from my experience as a teacher I use the computer in three modes:

Firstly as a Tutor:

Since I learned the secondary school students, so The curriculum is based on cooperative learning  , brainstorming and learning self strategies, so I give the students some instructions only and the students must use the book, help menu and the Internet to learn more.
 But to develop my skills to serve me as a teacher so I learned some software’s from CD’s and from Internet like Photoshop, Ms Access, Active white board skills, besides that I learned the ICDL course by self.

Secondly as a Tool:

Use the Calculator to calculate the student marks, also the paint to do some graphics, moreover I used the Net support to explain the lessons. In addition I Used the Ms word to prepare the lesson plan, researches, reports, tests and used the Ms PP to prepare Presentations. Besides that I Designed appreciation certificates and cards for occasions using the Photoshop and Ms Word. Finally I prepared movies using movie maker.

Thirdly as a tutee:

Prepare the programs that used during the explanation of the visual basic subject and also I calculate student marks using Ms Excel.

So from the above, I can say that I use the computer as a Tool, then as a Tutor and as a Tutee in the last. And this is strange because I graduated from Computer Science. In my opinion the reason for this is depend on the nature of our work in the schools as a teacher. And I hope through the BTC that I will develop my use of the computer in the three modes.