Lesson 18: Tablets and Textbooks in Schools

      

      The disadvantages of books have been debated:

  Ø  Load of books and workbooks for every subject are backbreaking due to their weight & sizes.

  Ø   Publishing & printing of books to millions of public school children are just too expensive.

  Ø  Errors in public school textbooks have been exposed.

                

     Tablets for Schools

  v  Computer can serve as a very powerful educational medium.

   

     Disadvantages:

  v  Cost of tablets is way expensive than textbooks

Lesson 17: Educational Technology 2 Practicum

            

              Educational Technology 2 provides students the experiential process of adapting to technology integration within a student-centered paradigm. The practicum phase consists of hands-on computer tutorials which the student teacher or professional teacher-trainee will need to make him/her capable.

                Essential requirements for ET 2 practicum phase will be:

  v  A computer laboratory/ special computer classroom with adequate sets of computers for hands-on tutorial learning.

  v  Participation of computer lab tutor/assistant – to assist the learner in the use of the computer & its various programs.

  v  Assigned number of hours in conformity with the course requirement. Tutorials are preferably done during weekends in order to provide continuous hours of computer hands-on training.

                The practicum phase consists in:

           1.       Basic Microsoft Word (6 hrs.)

        2.       Microsoft PowerPoint (6 hrs.)

        3.       Internet as tool of inquiry (4 hrs.)

     

      At the end of the tutorial, the learner will be able to:

  Ø  Search and retrieve information from the Web.

  Ø  Acquire skills in locating appropriate information on the internet.

  Ø  Acquire ability to use internet tools such as search engines.

  Ø  Gain knowledge of search techniques such as browsing through an information tree.

Learn the ability to execute the search. 

Lesson 16: The Internet and Education

         

          The internet or net is the widest & far-flung network system-of-all-systems. It is a loosely organized collection of about 25, 000 networks accessed by computers on the planet. Surprisingly, nobody owns it! Everything is coordinated through a standardized protocol, a set of rules for exchanging data called Transmission Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). Computers must be equipped with Server to access the internet. Servers have special software that uses internet protocol.

                The most attractive way to move around the internet is called browsing using a program called browser. The World Wide Web (the Web) an internet subset of text, images & sounds are linked together to allow users to access data or information needed. Experts predict that the internet is destined to become the center piece of all online communications of the planet.

                View of educational uses of the internet:

  Ø  Students around the world correspond via e-mails (pen pals) discussing educational topics or        issues.

  Ø  Educational software materials have also developed both in sophistication and appeal.

  Ø  Connecting with the world outside homes, classrooms & internet cafes.

Lesson 15: Understanding Hypermedia

                 Hypermedia is nothing but a multimedia packaged as educational computer software information is presented & student activities are integrated in a virtual learning environment. Examples are some of the educational IT applications such as:

  v  Tutorial software package

  v  Knowledge webpages

  v  Simulation instructional games

  v  Learning project management

                The presentation of information-learning activities in hypermedia is said to be sequenced in a non-linear manner. Understanding the use of hypermedia in educational context is important to insure their successful integration in the teaching-learning process.

                   Characteristics of hypermedia application

     1.)    Learner control

    2.)    Learner wide range of navigation routes

    3.)    Variety of media

                Instructional events useful for teachers when using hypermedia: 

  

            a)      Get the learner’s attention

          b)      Recall prior learning

          c)       Inform students of objective

          d)      Introduce software & its distinctive features

          e)      Guide learning, eliciting performance

          f)       Provide learning feedback

          g)      Assess performance

          h)      Enhance retention & learning transfer

Lesson 14: The Software as an Educational Resource

                Software is a program or system that tells what the computer machine should do. There are two kinds of software:

               1.)    The systems software, an operating system found or bundled inside the                            computer  machines.

               2.)    Application software which contains the system which commands the particular task or                       solves the particular problem. This type of software is further subdivided into two.

                                          I.      Custom software that is made for specific tasks often by large corporations.

                                       II.      Commercial software packaged for personal computers that helps with a variety of      tasks such as writing papers, calculating numbers, drawing graphs, playing games, etc.

                

               The most popular and commonly used program is the Microsoft Windows. It is an operating environment between the user and the computer operating system. It is sometimes referred as shell, a layer that creates the way a computer should work. Windows 95 was the first released software designed for Microsoft Windows; it is in itself a self contained operating system. From then on Windows continually upgrades their software, Windows 10 is the latest version of Windows.

                Windows was developed to provide:

  ü  User convenience

  ü  New look

  ü  Information center

  ü  Plug and play

                Instructional Software

                These can be visited on the internet or can be bought. Teachers through schools should decide on the best Computer-Based Instructional (CBI) materials for the school resource collection however, we must be cautious because CBIs needs to be improved further.

               Guidelines in evaluating computer-based educational materials:

  Ø  Be extremely cautious in using CBI's & free internet materials.

  Ø  Don’t be caught up by attractive graphics, sound animations, pictures, video clips & music                               forgetting their instructional worth.

  Ø  Evaluate with sound pedagogical principles.

  Ø  Observe clarity in the explanations and illustrations of concepts & principles

  Ø  Maintain accuracy, coherence & logic formation.

  Ø  Were they being current since data/statistics continually change?

  Ø  Were they relevant & effective in attaining learning objectives?

  Ø  Observe absence of biased materials.

  Ø  Design and content elements to evaluate are:

                             i.   Text legibility

                           ii.   Effective use of color schemes

                         iii.   Attractive layout design

                         iv.   Easy navigation from section-tot-section