Netiquette: Make It a Part of Syllabus

By Sarah Alexander

Virtual learning classes also known as learning platforms which utilize virtual classrooms and meetings which often use a mix of communication technologies. For example conferencing software which enables students and teachers to communicate with each other via webcam, microphone, real time chatting in group sitting. In discussion forums there are chances that students comments each other beyond the limits which can harm the learning environment of the classrooms. Such discussions can decrease students learning outcome and their confidence level.

Now a days as we can see that the demand of the distant learning education is increasing and students worse and filthy comments and personal opinions on others point of view can become a barrier in the growth of this platform. So to save this platform from destruction and to create the social learning environment for discussion in critical way in students’ instructor should develop the netiquette rules or guidelines before the course begin. Then make them a part of students’ syllabus. In my opinion using this way will help instructor to maintain the social learning environment and less conflicts will arise in students. I am not against the conflicts, my point is that students should know their limits to give their critical point of view but in such a way which should not harm the personal opinion of other participant. Then more healthy discussion can be done which will increase the learning outcomes. This is how for the virtual learning classrooms purposes, netiquette deals with notion of respect, harmony and tolerance often manifest in the tone or functions of the interactions. Then students will take more participation in online classroom activities which promote the environment of groupness, cohesiveness and community.

I am inviting my all class fellows to give their own opinions by imagining that if they are instructor of the virtual classroom, which netiquette rules or guidelines would they like to use and how will they make it a part of syllabus? Minimum one suggestion is required.

The government’s watching you, but who’s watching the students?

By Wajih Ahsan

The tools found in a classroom are pretty standard ticks on the check list. There’s multimedia, wifi and the ever present computer. Despite the obvious attempts the classroom is very much a physical place and very little goes outside. It would be quite accurate to say that the classroom starts and ends by the bell. What more can the teacher do that which is not done? What is the modern tool of the trade? Tracking.

Just like the internet, the phones and the facebooks. (but not tracking as in whereabouts outside of class).

A teacher should fully track each and every student and the method used should be traceable and obvious but most importantly quantitative. I’m talking feedback like nothing before. Modern tech should be used to plot a student’s progress. By way of plots, graphs, pie charts and bars there should be a spread of an individual students academics, behaviour, athletics, etc all graded out and spread across the academic period via a legitimate process. It should all come down to daily activities and lessons, textbook readings and essays all the way to a spell check on a sentence.

Excessive. Maybe. Necessary. Yes.

There aren’t enough parent-teacher meetings as we know it. In the world of today no parent should be taxed with the duty of physically coming to school. Even so, it’s a bi-annual pilgrimage of sorts. Point made it should be instantaneous. The process of waiting for results is tedious and the chances of parents coming to know about bad results are even less. Something quantifiable can be cross-checked. A student can know where he stands and can make improvements.

Other than that a teacher should also make himself available outside his class and away from his special academies (where he suckers kids out of money). He should be fully engaged after hours with his students offering assignments, tasks, creative exercises, tutorials, lessons, conversations, etc and more etc.

College 2.0: A Self-Appointed Teacher Runs a One-Man ‘Academy’ on YouTube

Dear Team 1 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 “College 2.0: A Self-Appointed Teacher Runs a One-Man ‘Academy’ on YouTube”. Read this post here and then come back to this very page to record your comments.

– Muhammad Adil Arshad

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.

Using Wikipedia

By Noman Sohail

Wikipedia is a great source of information and now a day’s people gets lots of information from this source. Wikipedia provide huge collection of any article that has been search by user. Wikipedia can help a person to find and discover many ideas about a topic that he needs to write about. In our education system we still focus on text books. No doubt the text books are very effective for us but there are some weaknesses in it like, the text book has lengthy publication and thus will certainly include outdated information as part of the final product. Books never use to update by anyone but on the information on the Wikipedia updates regularly. Today the students don’t like to read text book because if they need information on any topic they go through lots of material. Sometimes they found information about their topic but sometime not while Wikipedia provide exact information about our need. Now, the educators are moving towards supplement text book with other information from the internet.

I personally think that Wikipedia is a web site that has become one of the most useful and biggest websites on the Internet because there are many causes. The causes are that Wikipedia helps researchers to get information very easily, contributes to spreading the information and knowledge, and allows everyone to write and discuss his opinions and subjects. The other benefit is that everyone can participate in Wikipedia either by writing or discussing any information or article. But many teachers believe that Wikipedia is not a trusted source because anyone can write articles and edit information anytime.

However, these people are forgetting something important. Students can take out information from Wikipedia, and then they should verify if the information is true or not. My opinion about Wikipedia is that it is a modern encyclopedia that contains a lot of information. In reality, this site is a source that helps students, teachers, researchers, workers, to find a lot of information and many articles about their subjects that they need. Also, it contributes to spreading new information and knowledge around the world in different languages. And also it allows us to share our ideas, and many people can discuss them. Finally, I think that Wikipedia is one of the best sites on Internet where many people can get benefit from.

Games: An Effective Tool for Learning

By Komal Emmanuel

Games are being used for educational purposes.Does’NT it sound fascinating? Not only for kids but for me as well. Some of the researchers reflected that games proved to be effective tool for learning. Advancement in technology is so rapid these days I think ten or twenty years from now people will not be able to breathe without technology. It is just an assumption rather than you can consider it myth or a joke.

However the fact cannot be denied at all that technology has both negative and positive aspects simultaneously so does the games.Studenrs achievement can greatly be enhanced by the use of games in the classroom. In today’s technology rich world we often see kids playing games on their ipads, cellphones, and computerps2s and so on. Kids love to play games so why not tap into that interest us a function in increasing student motivation to learn academic concepts?

Robert Marzan, a learning education researcher has observed that in more than 60 studied conducts by classroom teaches on an average using academic games in the classroom is associated with a 20 percentile point gain in student achievement.Inspite of the fact when evaluations were conducted the students expressed that the classrooms were a fun they did not even know that they are learning only for the teachers who incorporated games in learning. Last but not the least one of the middle school witnessed as the result of using game increased classroom participation, enchance understanding of concepts react in improved assessments.

In order to support my view point I have an example how games can be used in classrooms to make it an interactive class. The name of the activity will be WILL THE WINNER LOSE proved to be an extremely effective review games. Students are divided into teams. It totally depends on classroom size and dynamics. This is not a game of speed and than they are not racing to see who gives the answer first. As these teams are competing with each they will able to think critically. Each team is given a question and given time to come up with the answer. If they proved a correct answer each of the other team have an option to pick a correct or to pass. In the other teams pick a negative card and they lose point. The next team then is asked a question and then the game continues.

Furthermore one of the articles depicted that war video games proved to be beneficial in the history class where students able to understand their topics. Although these games has merits for education but I do not favor to use such violent games. As these games contains violence which will results in psychological disorders in students such as depression and aggression. One of a very famous game Grand theft auto was banned in many European countries due to its extreme violence. Despite of PG the government took an initiative to ban it as parents cannot always supervise their children to refrain them from playing these games.

But if we look at this perspective in the terms of Pakistan where students come from different backgrounds. Not all the students hold the same financial status. In addition some of them do not even have the clue how to use video games? I n this case situation prevails to be thought provoking. Their cognitive learning will not be to the level where they could think critically on spot regarding games. This problem can be solved if the stakeholders pay attention towards it and invest more money for providing students with initial games from grade 1.In this way they will learn how to play as well as increase their mental capabilities especially for those who do not has access to such luxurious. So, this method cannot b e implemented in P akistan.I am leaving you with a question is it right to use games as tool for learning in classrooms or not?

References: Education World Lesson Planning: Will the Winners Lose http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/03/lp321-04.shtml

Education World Lesson Planning: Will the Winners Lose http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/03/lp321-04.shtml

 

 

Cell Phone – A helping or destructive tool?

By Asghar Nadeem

If you are a student then which favorite entertaining tool you see in the classroom? Cell phones. Lots of them. Virtually all students have one, and it’s typical to see them tapping away or listening to music through their ear buds — not just in the hallways during the five minutes between classes, but also in the classroom, at every opportunity the teacher gives them.

Most schools allow students to have cell phones for safety.  Apart from emergency situations, most schools don’t officially allow students to use cell phones during class time. However, when the teacher is busy helping out another student or writing on the board, out come the phones as students send instant messages to friends, listen to music, or watch videos on the Internet. Eventually, the teacher notices and warns them that their phones will be taken. The phones disappear with reluctant obedience — until the next opportunity arises to  pull them out again.

At a time when middle-class homes are filled with computers and mobile devices, schools are grappling with the question of how much technology to bring into the classrooms. But whatever a school’s approach to technology, cell phones seem to be nearly present everywhere. And  in schools that permitted students to have cell phones, 71 percent of students sent or received text messages on their cell phones in class. In the majority of schools — those that allow students to have phones in school but not use them in the classroom – the percentage was almost as high: 65%. Even in schools that ban cell phones entirely, the percentage was still a shocking 58%.(Approximately)

Many teachers have given in and allowed their students to listen to music through their earbuds while they’re doing individual class work (reading or writing or conducting research). “I concentrate better on my schoolwork when I’m listening to music,” is the rationalization from many students. Many teachers seem to accept this reasoning, little knowing about the data on multitasking and its harmful effects on concentration and the ability to think clearly.

Speaking up in Class, Silently using Social Media

By Rimsha Ahmad

“Social Media is about being open, being a connector, being supportive and being yourself”. (Michael Q. Todd, @mqtodd, 12Most).

Being a part of 21st century means; to run yourself, to cop up with the modern world and modern world is the world of technology. In Education sector social media has done the miracle of presenting the world’s  knowledge in the hands of the students. Being a literature student I know the value and how much helpful Is the technology for the students in quick addressing of the queries regarding the work as whenever I need to know any meaning, background of the literature work I just google it and participate in the class instead of staying quiet. By using blogs now parents while sitting at home can get the feedback and check the progression of the kids. Students mostly stay quiet in the class as for them it’s the best way to escape from teacher’s eye, many students don’t participate as they are not that much confident about what they think or feel about the topic. So if the teachers appreciate and allow students to use Internet source the students will try to get answer might not the right one but something related to that by using it. This thing make their habit of speaking, participating and it’s a survey that when students start giving answers, they work hard to give correct answers next time. Some teachers think that using Social media; Internet in the class will distract he students from the main topic but I think it’s incorrect as teacher can’t even make that student to focus on the study who is really don’t interested in the lecture even if there is no social media as the brain itself is the social media with lots of random channels going on all the time. But if that student is allowed to use the Internet in the class if he won’t get all but he’ll get something as a learning may be it could be just opening or closing of the device or the site the least learning. Now this student because of social media at least getting 1% of learning. By using social media the learning won’t stick to just one book for the course students can learn more and teachers can teach them with as much new ways/things and researches as they want. Class and teacher teaches for the future successful life of the students as being in technology world now in every field at some point you have to use the social media even for the tests of anything they set the test by using Internet resources; so if teachers will teach them the use of social media it will help them for the outer world life. So all in all, students of even smaller ages learn more by social media and teachers should allow them to use it and every class should’ve social media as the learning medium of class. Blogs, websites, twitter, google etc can be used as best learning and teaching purposes.

E-books: Bright and Dark Side

By Naeha Sajid

In today’s world, there is no need for you to carry the baggage of voluminous books to and from the library. Through the e-book technology, you are able to carry your document in a low memory storage disk and use it anywhere you have devices that are able to read the e-books.

Having E-books is just like having a huge library with ourselves. Students can walk around holding a library of books larger than all those in the bookstores and libraries of their country. It’s a device that is bigger on the inside than on the outside. While it might not matter to the occasional or recreational reader, the E-book presents a host of challenges for the role of the book as transmitter, carrier, and shaper of our written word cultural heritage.

It would be a big relief to the students that they don’t have to carry their heavy backpacks. The low cost of E-book conversion is the driving spirit that makes people to start relying more on E-book than the printed press. The transfer of the e-book is very easy since they can be uploaded and downloaded at any location as long as the user has internet access.

‘One report also states that people who enjoy e-reading are also more likely to enjoy print reading as well’. As Mr. Baraniuk said:  “We’re trying to create the books that will save the most students the most money”.

In spite of so many merits of E-books, there are also some demerits. I am partially in favor and partially against it. It do not promises 100% reliability of its authentication as it requires registration. So, How can you trust the source??

There is a restriction on electronic equipment, internet reliability, fragment reading, compatibility of software, and unreliable life span in term of long term digital storage. When the electricity is out and the battery runs flat, you cannot read your book(s).

If in schools this system started then a flood of discrimination can come in the way, as students in every school are not from the same financial class. Also you cannot take notes on the e-books as u can do on the printed ones. Do you think if there was no image on the book would it affect your choice of reading?? As most of the E-books don’t have it.

Unraveling the Myth of ‘Free Education’

Unraveling the Myth of ‘Free Education’

By Ammar Husnain Khan

When we say and try to teach students that “Learn the new way”, is technology the only new way to learn? There is no doubt that technology with the use of internet is revolutionizing in education, but the point is whether that use of technology is of some worth or not?

Technology do works and assists students but only if used the right way and the right technology. It is the responsibility of the teacher to get their students use the right thing. But most of today’s education technology startups are doomed to fail because they’re chasing a trendy space without true, lasting passion for education, because they lack a business model that works in education and are afraid to charge their customers or because it’s easier to build novel technology than to deeply engage with students and teachers to understand their fundamental needs. There’s no free lunch in the world, why free education? Unless you do not have any share or interest in something, why would you feel the pain?

Free is without any question a wonderful marketing tool to get your product in the hands of as many students and teachers as possible. It’s an exciting time to build technology for education. There’s a revolution underway at every level of the ecosystem, one that will see a wave of new startups bringing tremendous value to students, teachers, and institutions. I hope that some of these startups actually respect & believe in educating generations.