The Way of Improving Teaching

By Kiran Younas

YouTube have collection of many video related to education on every topic by experts.TED which is non-profit website of online courses is utilizing all that videos for the teaching purpose. People from all around the world are getting benefit from this website. They offer courses from all the disciplines including basic to advance level .They used YouTube videos for flipped classrooms and professors use them to enhance their lessons.TED also allows to professors edit videos according to their wish. They can add titles or subtitles, images and whatever they want to do with the videos for making better. I think it is the best way of improving the process of teaching. When professors recorded videos, they can watch them anytime and can make changes.

Video: An Effective Tool for Learning

By Mehvish Noor

Since the PC (personal computer) was first introduced in the 1970s, processing power of technology and processing power has progressed by leaps and bounds. Multimedia has become effective tool of learning. Multimedia can stimulate more than one sense at a time, and in doing so, may be more attention getting and attention holding. With multimedia, the communication of the information can be done in a more effective manner and it can be an effective instructional medium for delivering information. With this advancement, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT), particularly the multimedia technology, has rapidly permeated and increasingly altered the landscape in the educational arena. The use of media to enhance teaching and learning complements traditional approaches to learning. Effective instruction builds bridges between students’ knowledge and the learning objectives of the course. Using media engages students, aids student retention of knowledge, motivates interest in the subject matter, and illustrates the relevance of many concepts. Students can also create their own media. For example, student video projects can be a powerful learning experience, as EDUC 240 class did.

Video is an excellent medium for education, especially for undergraduate and research students. Teachers, who use instructional video report that their students retain more information, understand concepts more rapidly and are more enthusiastic about what they are learning. With video as one component in a thoughtful lesson plan, students often make new connections between curriculum topics, and discover links between these topics and the world outside the classroom.

Related with video, YouTube holds a rich trove of videos that could be used in the classroom, but it’s challenging to transform videos into a truly interactive part of a lesson. YouTube has emerged as one of the largest sources of freely accessible content. It is intent to provide a preliminary discussion of the growing role of videos in education, sources of this video content, and the format of learning video content on YouTube. Simultaneously, public should be aware of uses and misuses when viewing online video content.

The changing role of education is currently being reinforced with the integration of multimedia technologies. This has led to a new paradigm in education and the evolution of new concepts in content development and a number of innovative methods in which information can be communicated to the learners. This new learning environment will undoubtedly influence the way teachers teach and students learn.

 

Online Program Connects Students Across Cultural and National Borders

Dear Team 4 members,

‘No Submission’ syndrome has struck your team again this week (unfortunately). Your assigned team member for this week too, did not send in the post as yet. I don’t know how to express in words but the picture embedded below translates my current emotions quite well.

Anyways, for this week, you will read and comment on the post titled “Online Program Connects Students Across Cultural and National Borders”. Read this post here and then come back to this very page to record your comments.

– Muhammad Adil Arshad

South African teens get virtual mentoring from all over the world

Dear Team 2 members,

Please know that your assigned team member for this week did not send in the post as yet. Therefore, for this week, you will read and comment on the post titled “South African teens get virtual mentoring from all over the world”. Read this post here and then come back to this very page to record your comments.

– Muhammad Adil Arshad

Collaborative Learning for the Digital Age

By Ahad Malik

In the article entitled ‘Collaborative Learning for the Digital Age’, Davidson is focusing on very important thing which mostly lacks in our institutions especially in K-12 teaching  which is collaborative learning for the digital age like in our institutions teachers mostly promotes direct instructional model no one focus towards these type of interactive learning approach for the digital age so Davidson says that  that a group of individuals can accomplish more than what any one individual (even an expert) can do because of the diversity of perspectives they collectively hold.

While the benefits of collaborative learning (such as developing oral communication skills, thinking skills, working as a team and addressing learning style differences between each other) have been apparent for some time, the advantages that the digital age has on the learning experience are only just starting to be recognized. Here are some of the ways in which collaborative learning is changing for the better… like regain control, Interaction, and enhanced group works.

I felt that Professor Davidson’s ‘iPod Experiment’ of 2006 was courageous and incredibly forward thinking. Her main purpose of ‘interconnection’, that students who had grown up connected digitally gravitated to ways that the iPod could be used for collective learning, makes so much sense now but I imagine at the time it was quite controversial and radical.

The author goes on to describe, ‘participatory learning’ a term used to describe how we can learn together from one another’s skills. These ideas resonate well with me, and how we work in our setting. Although we are not making use of the digital world for collaborative thinking, (so maybe I am missing the point of the article!) our four-year-old children are working in a collaborative, democratic way. Our curriculum is structured to be child-led, with child interest and child research driving the design in collaboration with the adults.  So, what do you guys think?

 

 

 

Distance Education

By Aroosa George

Online programs are the best way to know the world in a better way i.e., what do people do and think in other parts of the world? Students exchange programs also does the same thing but a big problem in that is; they are really expensive and also a very few students are privileged to get a chance to go and study abroad. But through internet a lot of students can connect to the world and it is less time consuming and obviously less expensive too. Students can access their course at any time, from anywhere they can log on, in most cases. This means that parents, working students, and professionals on the move have the option of attending classes no matter their work schedule. Students only need a computer and Internet access to take online program. By allowing everyone to have a voice, shared ideas grow diverse as well. Students can also think longer about what they want to say and add their comments when ready. In a traditional classroom, the conversation could have moved past the point where the student may be willing to comment. By doing web based discussions a student sitting in one country is able to know the perspective of a student sitting in some other country. For example, a student of America knows about a Pakistani student as submissive, having an all time threat of terrorism who cannot go out his home, or an Indian and a Pakistani student thinks about each other in a very typical way, but when they talk to each other online, they will be knowing about each other in a better way and then they can analyze what is what. Through online exchange programs, the goals of multicultural education can also be achieved such as creating a safe, accepting and successful learning environment for all, increasing awareness of global issues, strengthening cultural consciousness, strengthening intercultural awareness, teaching students that there are multiple historical perspectives, encouraging critical thinking, preventing prejudice and discrimination.