a newest technology

e-portfolio or digital portfolio is what I believe an abused resource of traditional portfolio. Do we remember the kind of portfolio that we used to have with a thick of papers, tremendous ink is use, flipping one by one to look at one another in a big file and a big space to save all of them? I think the presence of e-portfolio will help us to make our life easier and systematic. Oh! I forgot.

What is e-portfolio? E-portfolio is a collection of electronic evidence assembled and managed by a user, usually on the Web (also called Webfolio). Such electronic evidence may include inputted text, electronic files, images, multimedia, blog entries, and hyperlinks. E-portfolios are both demonstrations of the user's abilities and platforms for self-expression, and, if they are online, they can be maintained dynamically over time. Some e-portfolio applications permit varying degrees of audience access, so the same portfolio might be used for multiple purposes.

Unlike traditional portfolio, students have been taught to create digital identities using presentation software or tools to create web pages. Such technologies, however, are not easily utilized by children or elderly people who lack web authoring skills or a hosted site. More recently the use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) in schools and universities has led to an increased activity in the creation of e-portfolios for a variety of reasons. Most of these e-portfolios, however, are retained within the VLE and are not easily accessed outside the VLE. This results in problems of exporting data and related interoperability issues. An alternative approach is to use a system externally hosted to any institution. This permits transition through the various stages of education and employments and even into retirement.

But both e-portfolio and traditional portfolio has something in common, both can facilitate students' reflection on their own learning, leading to more awareness of learning strategies and needs.

One day, I hope all the primary kids in Malaysia have the opportunities to access this amazing portfolio in a way to enhance their learning, skills, high order thinking skills and etc. :)

what people says about technology...

The kids that don't necessarily star can become the stars. [with technology]. My favorite is this boy . . . who had major problems at home. He figured out a way to make music by getting the computer to play certain letters by certain powers and it changed the musical tone of the note and he actually wrote a piece. He stayed in every recess. . . . When I asked him what he was working on, he wouldn't tell me. Then he asked if he could put his HyperCard stack on my computer because it was hooked up to speakers. I said "sure" and at recess. . . he put it on my computer and played his music and literally stopped the room. And for months he had kids begging him at recess, every recess, to teach them how to make music. And for that particular kid it was the world because he really was not successful academically and was having lots of problems. . . . This really changed him for that school year.

~Elementary school teacher

Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation...tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, grinding, and trilling bolster his ego. His anxiety subsides. His inhuman void spreads monstrously like a gray vegetation.

~Jean Arp

Technology... is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other.

~C.P. Snow, New York Times, 15 March 1971

Technology is the ultimate carrot for students. It's something they want to master. Learning to use it enhances their self-esteem and makes them excited about coming to school.

~Fifth grade teacher

All of the biggest technological inventions created by man - the airplane, the automobile, the computer - says little about his intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness.

~Mark Kennedy

I see more confidence in the kids here. . . . I think it's not just computers, it's a multitude of things, but they can do things on the computers that most of their parents can't do and that's very empowering and exciting for them. It's "I can sit down and make this machine pretty much do what I want to," and there's something about that that gives them an extra little boost of, "Wow, I'm a pretty special person."

~Elementary school teacher

SchoolNet

The presence of School Net? Does everybody know about it? Honestly, I just get to know it now. :) SchoolNet is implemented by GITN Sdn. Berhad, a wholly owned subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia Berhad & A national project in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications and the Ministry of Education. SchoolNet works parallel to Government’s vision to bridge the digital divide among students in urban, rural and remote areas to establish Malaysian as an information-based society. Its objective is to boost the effectiveness of the local education system. SchoolNet provides the infrastructure and technological assitance needed for 10,000 schools throughout the country. There’s a lot of advantages of using SchoolNet such as it helps you to see the world beyond your school books whether it’s Science, History, Mathematics, English, or any other subjects, you can access from the computer all the exciting and interesting information you never knew before and so on..

I was thinking of the school that I had visited before; it’s an urban school in Kuala Lumpur. It’s well equipped with computers (in the computer lab) and internet. Wow! – I cried. The computer lab is quite big and comfortable. Unfortunately, I rarely seen the usage of the computer lab. I mean the pupils there are afraid to go there without the teachers’ assistance or they are warned not to do that. (Perhaps, the teachers are afraid of vandalism). When I was there, my friend and I want to conduct activities but integration of technology requires us to use computer lab. We have permission to do that. The pupils (if you can see their face) are extremely happy! They boost out with enjoyment!

Pupils: “Cikgu, Cikgu, betol ke kita nak pergi makmal komputer?”

Teacher: “Ye, kenapa?”

Pupils: “Seronoknyeee… :)”

Teacher: *blank!

I believe that the use of SchoolNet or computers can help enhance teaching and learning. Perhaps, pupils nowadays still have a gap with computers and may be their family does not afford to have computers at home. School is the right place. My suggestion is, get a person in charge to take care of the computer lab (to avoid vandalism) and pupils have the opportunity to go there anytime that they want (not only when it times to certain subjects that requires them to use computer). Give them the authority power and indirectly, this will encourage them to be responsible for their own learning.

TV Pendidikan?

Rancangan TV Pendidikan disiarkan pada hari Isnin hingga Khamis pada jam 9.00 pagi hingga 5.00 petang. Rancangan ini diterbitkan oleh penerbit TV Pendidikan dengan usaha sama rancangan swasta dan rancangan pembelian. TV pendidikan juga beroperasi di dalam dua bahasa, Bahasa Inggeris dan Bahasa Melayu. Contohnya: TV Pendidikan di bawah program PPSMI adalah rancangan KBSR dan KBSM (Sains, Matematik dan Bahasa Inggeris) dan Rancangan Sains Tulen (Fizik dan Kimia) dalam bahasa Inggeris. Setakat ini, 88 Sekolah Bestari khususnya di Malaysia telah menerima perisian kursus dalam bentuk talian (network version) bagi Smart School Management System). Manakala, Perisian oleh Bahagian Teknologi Pendidikan (BTP) daripada bahan pendidikan yang mendapat anugerah Guru Inovatif KPM sempena Hari Guru. :)

a poem about technology

A computer was something on TV
From a sci fi show of note.
A window was something you hated to clean
And ram was the cousin of goat.

Meg was the name of my girlfriend
And gig was a job for the nights.
Now they all mean different things
And that really mega bytes.

An application was for employment.
A program was a TV show.
A curser used profanity.
A keyboard was a piano.

Memory was something that you lost with age.
A CD was a bank account.
And if you had a 3 1/2" floppy
You hoped nobody found out.

Compress was something you did to the garbage
Not something you did to a file.
And if you unzipped anything in public
You'd be in jail for a while.

Log on was adding wood to the fire.
Hard drive was a long trip on the road.
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived.
And a backup happened to your commode.

Cut you did with a pocket knife.
Paste you did with glue.
A web was a spider's home.
And a virus was the flu

I guess I'll stick to my pad and paper
And the memory in my head.
I hear nobody's been killed in a computer crash,
But when it happens they wish they were dead.

- taken from; http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/tek1/rememberwhen.htm

1000 wishes

I don’t like to write blog initially. “Its kinda intruding my personal life”- my inner heart said it. When you write, people can read what you are doing and what you are experiencing with. But I was totally wrong. Completely wrong. I wish somebody introduce me about this thingy thing when I was still a small small kid. Its fun! Rather than wasting your time by doing unbeneficial things, im sure that this is the best therapy for people like me. Luckily this course requires me to write blogs and it’s compulsory. That’s make me addicted to this online diary. Yeah. Its like a diary. My diary on what happen in the class and what I’ve learnt throughout this semester.

Blogging thought me to be creative in delivering my message and my experiences too. I should be a good planner. To not confusing people and to make my message successfully delivered, I should be a good planner in arranging the inputs. The same thing goes to primary kids. I think they should be introduced to blogging as it provides concrete experiences and a lot more to say. Don’t afraid of critisms teachers, sometime you need to hear what the inner heart of a child tries to say, if he is not dares to say it in front of you, he can do it, here. That’s a good thing either, for you teachers, to improve your teaching skills. Sometimes you have to learn from somebody else because all of us, are not perfect.

I wish people outside there have the opportunity to read what I had written on my BlogSpot. I wish that people will appreciate what I have written here. I wish out of thousand people will be able to gain knowledge from my writings. I wish they can share with their family members, friends, peers or colleagues. I wish they could know me because I’m doing this not for the sake of money but for my passion of writing. I hope that the growing number of people visiting my page will increase from the value of 0 to 00. I hope people will say this to me one day, “Thank You”. But upon all, I want to Thank You to my lecture, Prof Maznah and all the tutors who let this become real. Thank You. =)

S.M.I.L.E :)

wake up teachers! if you love your children, let them smile, give adequate knowledge, flourished them with technology, make them a better human in the future! we can make a difference.