E-Learning Scenario 1 Activity B

I will list down the problems Mrs Xing faced while conducting her first ICT-based lesson and add on the solutions/intervention measures that could make her lesson more successful. :)

Problem
1 - Mrs Xing was new to ICT and unsure how to integrate it into her lesson
Solution: If I was a BT and I am completely new to ICT, I will not choose to embark on a lesson which almost totally depends on ICT in order to make the lesson successful. Since I am new, I could try to infuse ICT just a little into the lesson and once I get more comfortable with using it, I can be more ambitious with the added confidence. Mrs Xing could sit in one of the more experienced teachers' ICT-based lesson and look at the way the class is managed, which is very different from a normal classroom. She could also note down some of the mistakes the teacher makes in the lessons and orientate herself to blindspots in the labs where students are hidden from the teacher's view.

2 - Mrs Xing failed to get to know her class well enough in terms of their ability in the use of computer technology
Solution: She should have given the class a survey on their ability to use the PCs. If she can figure out the stronger and weaker students, she could always insist that a stronger student be paired up with a weaker one so that they can help one another in the lab. She could also appeal to these stronger students that they would have to help her and instil in them a sense of responsibility and pride in their knowledge on PCs. With this, most students would be more than willing to help the teacher. With regards to students surfing the net, she could get the help of the IT technician in school to see if the internet connection could be disabled for this lesson since she is not using the Internet at all. If this is not possible, she could brief them on the dos and donts of the lab (rules) before she brings them there. Most of the labs in schools are equipped with a software which allows the teacher to monitor the students activites via her own monitor. She could easily track the students who are flouting her rules and thus, punish them accordingly. Once students realise they cannot play around, they will be focused on the task at hand.

3 - Mrs Xing failed to provide sufficient instructions or modelling to her students, especially in the writing up of the task
Solution: Before she gives them the freedom to work on her task, she did not give sufficient instructions as she was afraid she would run out of time. This shows me that she values the ICT aspect of the lesson more than the actual learning objectives for the students. The important thing should not be for them to use the PCs well but that they should recall how to organise and write out a composition. She should tap on this knowledge of theirs first before they start writing. Students need to be reminded, some more than others. Therefore, before she allows them to log onto the PCs, she could get them all to be seated near the front of her screen and she could take some time to brief them on the task at hand. She could also include instructions on how to log onto the PCs for the benefit of those who do not know how. She could also introduce the composition title and get students to brainstorm as a class what possible details this compo can include. This would be a good chance for her to remind the class of the way a narrative is organised and remind them that they need to show that in their compositions.

4 - Mrs Xing failed to consider that some students would finish faster than others and thus, did not anticipate that these students would be bored and create classroom management issues for her.
Solution: Some students are naturally faster than others when doing work. Mrs Xing should anticipate this and prepare some other work for them to do. For instance, she could get those who have finished to swap places and edit one another's work and give one another feedback on their writing. She could also provide some sample essays for them to read and compare to their own while waiting for the rest of the class to finish.

5 - Mrs Xing did not anticipate that there would be a bottleneck problem when she had to read and mark all 40 compositions at once.
Solution: It is quite silly for Mrs Xing to think that she would have the time to mark all 40 compositions at once and still have time to monitor the progress of the class. Instead of her marking all the compos herself, she could get the students to provide the first round of feedback. Maybe register no. 2 could be in charge of editing the compo of student with register no. 3 and so on. This way, there is accountability and students would be kept busy. If Mrs Xing is afraid of what the students would comment on, she could give them just a few things to look out for. For instance, grammar mistakes, or organisational mistakes. With specific things to look out for, students will be focused and on task. She could always take time after the class to go through the compositions. This would make the feedback from her much more effective.

6 - She faces quite a number of classroom managenemt issues esp with students who are done with the work and are bored.
Solution: In a lab, the teacher has such an important role in monitoring what the students are doing. She needs to continuously walk around to make sure her presence is felt by all students. Once the students feel that the teacher is not watching them, it's normal for them to start to misbehave. This is why it is a bad idea for her to be sitting down at her PC editing the essays as they are placed into her shared folder.


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