Technology, Large classes, and Interactive powerpoint presentation- Week 6

This is was a very fruitful week. We get to read, learn, and discuss more about technology, large classes, and interactive powerpoint presentation. 

Technology and Interactive powerpoint:

It is really amazing how much the technology offers us and how much it provides us with new ideas for our classrooms, yet it may be overwhelming sometimes if not used carefully. 

I think that one of the necessary skills a 21st century teacher should have is to be a skilled technology user. There is a strong link between professional development methods and the use of technology. This is because –nowadays- a lot of professional development courses, blogs, videos, discussions, and even seminars are available and conducted online. Professional development can be achieved in the virtual world of the Internet if teachers are willing and seeking to develop their skills.

Moreover, one of the current trends in education is “learning in a Digital Age,” where the worldwide technological advancements in the 21st century are influencing both learning and teaching (Curtis & Pettigrew, 2010): the ICT revolution is now referred to a “revolution in learning” (Hernes, 2002). This paper reviews prior studies and researches on the effectiveness of blog use in educational contexts. 

Furthermore, students constantly interact with technologies such as ipods, mobile phones, the internet and social networking tools outside the classroom and have an expectation that these technologies will also support their learning in the classroom, and influence their engagement and learning outcomes.

It was also a very exciting experience to learn more about designing an interactive powerpoint presentation. I am familiar with it, but within this week I came to understand more about it. Other than powerpoint presentations, we designed some of our lessons using the SMART BOARD applications, which I think is much more interactive than the powerpoint presentations. 

Talking about large classes, they can presents many obstacles for learning, but as I mentioned in our discussion, there is always a bright side for everything. Large classes mean high energy. Students may be noisy, but they are also fun and exciting. Second, when you teach a large class, it will go by quickly, you will rarely catch yourself looking at the clock, and you will regularly find yourself with extra activities that you did not complete that you can save and use in your next class. Third, there will always be someone who is willing to answer questions even if they are just guessing. There is more and more advantage of teaching large classes. 

I really enjoyed this week :)