My Reflection

This course has changed my initial notions of ‘integrating ICT into lessons’ and ‘engaging the students’. I had thought that a well-prepared PowerPoint presentation with videos or a CD-Rom to guide students through their learning process would make great examples of ICT-integrated lessons that engage students, in the sense of capturing their attention. However, I have come to realize that there are numerous ICT tools that can be exploited to deliver effective lessons and engaging the students means more than to merely capture their attention. As teachers, we have to encourage them to be active learners who take responsibility for their own learning.

When choosing an ICT tool to plan a lesson, it is essential to ensure that the ICT tool is appropriate for teaching and learning. The ICT tool should not be chosen for the sake of incorporating ICT but it should genuinely enhance the teaching and learning process. The teacher should also bear in mind the capabilities of the students, the facilities available in the school and the limited time of the lesson when designing ICT-integrated lessons. Apart from ensuring that the students are able to understand the lesson well, are able to do the assignments and handle the tools properly, it is also the responsibility of the teacher to educate the students on social responsibility and cyberwellness along the learning journey. Infusing ICT into the notions of self-directed and collaborative learning and pedagogical approaches such as resource-based learning can result in effective lessons. However, proper classroom management and good lesson preparation is crucial for making it a success.

E-learning is a good example of an effective lesson that infuses ICT into self-directed, collaborated and resource-based learning that engages students by requiring their active participation. The benefits of e-learning include students taking the initiative in their own learning and students actively participating in the online platform to share their knowledge and improvise on their work. With e-learning, students are able to learn at their own pace as students can take their own time to understand the lesson and learning is not confined to the classroom. Moreover, students can learn much from each others’ work or can clarify their doubts and improvise their work from looking at the work of others. The disadvantage of e-learning is that it can become a chore if there are too many tasks to be done as some students might not be motivated to work on it and can be a huge problem if students do not have easy access to the Internet.