2nd day of prac

As requested, I have to teach the students about money. The principal has collected many kinds of boxes and she requested me to have a role play about buying and selling by using those boxes. The first idea that came into my mind was I have taught the students about the value of money before I move on to that stage. So, I used the real money to teach them the value of money. Then, I used ICT to allow students to go to the  tesco web site to research for the actual prices of objects. Then, I allow them to tag the price on the boxes that was providing by the principal.
 

1st day of prac

Today I have started  my practicum in Rainbow school. It was a nice day where I got a chance to meet all the children. In the morning, I were joining their circle time and helping out around. After the circle time, the principal would like me to take the 6 years old children to discuss about time concept. I used the opportunity to see their knowledge about time and find out misconception about time.

Neahel has a pretty good knowledge about time, she was able to explain about the relation between the spinning of earth and day and night.
Kiearra was able to link the time with the daily activities.
Marcus was able to link the clock with the time as well.
Qi Wen has some problem in reading the clock properly.

However, talking to them has made up my mind to prepare a lesson about time for them.

When the school was over, the mentor had a small discussion with me. She wanted me to teach the topic about money as she will be bringing the students for a real shopping in the later part. Furthermore, she requested me to teach about ways to appreciate parents as parents day falls on this month. Here I would link to share a link about the games related to time. http://www.maths-games.org/time-games.html

ICT in helping people to keep important moment.

Deborah has posted a funny video in her blog with the title 'Genius baby taking selfie'. Nowadays, the smart phone and camera allow us to record many important moments in our life. Furthermore, the multiple application allow us to put the photos into timeline, edit words...It is a great help in education to help students to record experiment, record the process in a project. It is a great help when it comes to reflection and evaluation. It help students to recall and allow them to correct themselves. This linkis to a blog which discusses about 'Impact of ICT in our daily life' where I found that is really true and happening to my daily life.

ICT in digital art

My lecturer has discussed about the practicum yesterday. She mentioned that there were cases where students were arranged to handle only art period during practicum. It made me curious about the ICT in art. What can we achieve if we are integrating ICT in art? 

Elaine mentioned it in her blog. She discussed about the certain softwares such as adobe photoshop have done such an amazing job in mixing digital technology with creativity and coming up with beautiful artistic pieces. The web site shares about how ICT in helping students in art. http://www.nsead.org/ict/about/about17.aspx

How can ICT help pupils' learning in art and design?

• by enhancing their ability to explore, develop and present ideas
• by providing a new medium to Investigate and make art and design, craft and design
• by providing a tool to evaluate and develop work
• by providing access to a range of resources to increase pupils knowledge and understanding of art and design and design 

ICT and health

Pheobe is posting a title about ICT and health in her blog. She mentioned about the benefit of ICT in knowing our health condition. I have gone through this kind of cases before where nowadays a lot of application in smart phone is about the check our heart rate or record the distance of walk of a person a day. From the following website, it talks about how the smart phone function in monitoring your health. http://allthingsd.com/20130703/house-call-five-smartphone-accessories-that-help-monitor-your-health/

The AliveCor Heart Monitor is a case that features built-in electrodes for reading and recording single-channel electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements.

Smart Blood Pressure Monitor for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The accessory features a blood pressure cuff that attaches to your iOS device via 30-pin connector.

For those with diabetes, the iBGStar Blood Glucose Monitoring System allows users to check blood glucose levels and manage data right from their mobile device. 

The Scanadu Scout isn’t about diagnosing problems on the spot. Rather, it’s about collecting data over time, so that people can keep track of changes in their health and identify when things are abnormal for them and not based on medical averages.

The BACtrack Mobile Breathalyzer can tell you. Blow into this mobile breathalyzer, and it will send your estimated blood alcohol content (BAC) level to your iPhone via Bluetooth, so you know whether it’s safe or not to get behind the wheel. The app can even estimate when your blood alcohol level will return to zero percent.

What age is suitable to buy an Ipad

I have came across a funny title in Kathleen's blog. She wrote a funny discussion in her blog where I found it was interesting but it is something happening in the society nowadays. Here I would like to put in some of my point of view about the pros and cons in using Ipad in the early age.

When I was doing my research, I came across a blog page from a lady who loves Ipad application for kids. http://www.ipad4kids.com/ She has done a lot of sharing about different kinds of games in Ipad.
At the end of my exploration, I came into a conclusion, which is there is no pros and cons using an Ipad or what is the appropriate age of using it, perhaps it depends on how you’re using it. Tablets used like a TV should fall under the same guidelines.

In other words, tablets might not be all bad if they generate “talk time,” rather than replace it. As with anything else, moderation and common sense are key. If a child just sits all day playing on the iPad on her own, then I’m not sure she’s getting the benefits. My argument about the value of these devices is that they can add to parental time, not take away from it.

Special needs students

Reading about the post from a friend Vivian. She posted about ICT in special needs education. It makes me reflect about my journey working with special needs children. Inclusion is concerned with the learning, participation, and equal opportunities for all children, youth, and adultswith a specific focus on the groups vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion from society life. It could apply to any or all of the following: 

-children who need support in learning the language of instruction (second language);

-children with special educational needs, including those considered to have emotional, behavioural, sensory, physical, or mental disabilities;

-gifted and talented pupils

Software programs often come with facilities whereby teachers can set different levels for each pupil.  This is very useful for those with learning difficulties.  Not only does it mean they are using the same program as their peers but it means they can set themselves targets to work towards.  These programs are bright and attractive and make use of multimedia which appeals to those who need stimulus from more than one sense.  They can be used regularly for reinforcement as often as a child needs in order to grasp the concept. A list of software provided by Granada for using with pupils who have special educational needs is provided at
http://c2kschoolbox.granada-learning.com/special_index.html