Stay hopeful and think positively

The words I am writing now as if they flow from my heart!

 I feel that the key of success is to stay hopeful and think positively. Many people had nagged and complained of what happened in the last years due to the Covid 19 pandemic. But from my point of view nothing happens without a reason, because I think that this pandemic had made a refresh for our minds and lives setting our priorities from the beginning and thanking god of all what did we have. Don't you assume that COVID 19 emphasized this blessing :"HEALTH"?

Moreover, try to be mindful and don't personalize every thing. I remember carefully, when I wanted to register for the medicine exam I had received a lot of negative vibes in order not to do it because it is difficult. Why to be pessimistic? Don't you think that being optimistic make from you a more wonderful person? Although, I wasn't accepted but if the time flows back to that moment I will never feel hesitant to do this step again and again and maybe in the future if the condition was favorable I will repeat it many times until being accepted because it is the place where I see myself.

To end with don't underestimate yourself , be confident and live your life convinced by that feeling positive can advance you more and more.

My new required abilities

 I am writing this post with enthusiasm and love, the last year was my graduation year from the Lebanese university to take a bachelor degree in Biology what differs from today is that still I am a student but also I had begin my career experience which is a thing that I never had imagined to manage my time between working and learning the last year.

In addition to that, my technological skills concerning the educational platforms had been more improved compared to the previous years.

 Although it is the first year in teaching but it adds a lot for my personality since being a self dependent member gives you courage. I feel today that I am a more responsible, productive and effective member in this society willing to change our school systems to focus on collaboration instead of competition, so we can end up with a generation that think  creatively, innovatively, critically and independently.

The more you become mature the more you value the importance of teaching since a teacher can build or destroy a community. 

 I am going to take from your time 6 minutes but please do it and watch this video.

Trust me, your whole thinking will be changed!!!!

Challenges faced by teaching/learning online

Technology had opened a lot of opportunities in imparting online education which will come with it's own challenges in which Covid 19 spread had forced many students and teachers to move to online education. It is just like a new lifestyle that should be adopted by both teachers and students which is considered as a challenge:

Here you will find a list of common challenges that might be faced during online learning/teaching:

• Adaptability issues:
•  This sudden transition from traditional physical classes to online virtual classes and the use of digital tools, in addition that some students can't concentrate on a screen. Students should be mindful accepting this new environment of education instead of rejecting it.

 

 

• Technical issues:  

Technical problems are very common in an online environment for instance some students lack own computers, sudden shut down of a computer, and moments when WiFi is spotty and weak which can be handled by staying in touch with the professor informing him/her about the situation. The student should be enough patient to understand that he is not alone and every problem has a solution.

 

• Distraction:

Studying at home with the family and younger siblings can lead to a distraction and this can be solved  by creating a distraction free zone,  productive workspace finding a quiet time and place in their houses where they can study effectively.

                            

• Time Management:
  

 Students should be able to create a daily schedule to manage their time in an effective and productive manner where they figure out what and when will they be doing class issues avoiding by that to miss classes

•  Create To-Do List
• Avoid Multitasking      

 

• Self Motivation:

 In online education students loose the enthusiasm in learning which can be avoided by staying and practicing self  positive talk  since you are the only person who determines your success and by involving yourself in all the session discussions.

What do you think students should be taught when working online to avoid problems?

Education shouldn't be put as standstill even in difficult times as the case of COVID 19 pandemic for that many schools had moved to an online education ensuring that the academic year isn't affected. So, it is our responsibility as educators to make sure that our students know the following tips while working online to avoid problems. 

First students should require basic technical skills and get a training on how to use the technological platforms used in education such as Google classrooms, Microsoft teams and Zoom. For instance, they should be able to know how to join a zoom session, how to raise their hands during the meeting as if they are in the class they can't talk without taking a permission,  how to make a slide share, and how to give feedback using emotions.

Second, the administration should create a school policy about the internet usage and security which should involve clear ideas allowing students to understand emphasizing the importance of not sharing the privacy of their school accounts as their ID and passwords.

Moreover, students should be taught about the instructions of an assignment especially those that have due dates.

Online Assesment tools:

 Online assessment tools are vital for conducting a productive learning process which allows teachers to recognize the students gaps reflecting their understanding in order to adjust the lessons to target student needs knowing that technology provided a set of assessment tools:

1.  Socrative: Quizzes and Questions with real time grading 
   
   
• 
   create rich quiz type content, questions and reflection questions
  
• create polls and activities and shuffles questions
  
• Engage students through formative assessment questions or team competition
• Assess learning in moment
• enables teacher to collect exit tickets and feedback
• have long term data of students

 

Watch this video for more information 

 

     2. Google forms:

One of the apps that we had passed by it through this 

course which allows teachers to assess student by creating 

several types of questions such as multiple choice question, short answers and tables, allowing students to answer by dropping a question characterized by giving feedback and the correct answer. Moreover, it shows statistics and graphs giving a general information of student understanding and gives results that can be saved as an excel spreadsheet

 

3. Mentimeter:

• 
  Allows students to continue learning in an interactive engaging learning            
  
•  Create live polls, word cloud, quiz and multiple choice questions
• Track learning and understanding
• Real time data
  

 

 

 

 4. Google Classroom:

Google classroom is an online tool used for formative and summative assessment by setting assignments to be solved and submitted by students to be returned when graded

5.  Kahoot:  

 A game based assessment tool that can be used to create games, polls and quizzes that can be played by students by answering on their own devices while the game is shared on their own screens

 

 

 

Technology Integration in Education

 Technology as we all agree it takes at least 90% of student's time because they find it quite amusing. So, it will be a better idea to use technology to make students more engaged? Using this idea will be great but also tricky because of the way using it this why many assumes that technology is a big dilemma in education and it can leads to distraction

From my point of view, the instructor should be aware of how to integrate technology effectively into the curriculum which is simply not only knowing how to use technological tools as social media platforms,tablets, smart phones...  but also  the educators should have this sense of how to blend it with the curricula to optimize the learning process promoting a student learning environment that assists and encourages technological skills

Moreover, Covid 19 pandemic had emphasized the importance of using technological tools in online learning preparing generations for a future full of technology

It contributes in: 

• Increasing student's engagement and motivation

 

•  Active learning

• fostering collaboration
  

• enhancing students to be self explorers and producers of knowledge
• Providing students with authentic learning environments

This video shed lights on how technology use affects the classroom positively:

EDUC561 Course

 It was a helpful course that teaches us how to  integrate technology in education by several apps making the learning process more conductive.

 I can share with you my experience, when I was accepted for a job meeting, the coordinator asked me what do you know about google forms but I just answered her I had registered in Teaching Diploma allowing me to know more about such technological tools. Maybe if it was passed with us before I make the meeting, I will be accepted. It is so obvious that no one of us knows the importance of what he/she is getting until we are tested by it and that meeting had emphasized the importance of this course. From my point of view, this course should be given also for students in schools to enable them to stay updated in this future that is full of technology. 

In addition to that, the assignments were so helpful because it makes us to practice what did we had understand and practicing with you in the live sessions this also helped me a lot for instance once I shared my padlet with my students which was an ice breaking activity to know about their feedback about our session.

Finally, in every given course where students get the set and determined goals, the instructor should be praised, thank you Dr. Amal for making this course so much easier.