Thursday, February 03, 2005
Week 5
The discussion for this week’s lesson is on MSN Discussion Forum. I’ve learnt that technology can be put to great usage in education if we understand the constraints prior to implementation. In my opinion, if the discussion forum were to be utilized as an educational tool, a direction should be set by the teacher. It can be a discussion on a detective story or maths puzzle thrown to the students. Teachers can come in as moderators to give some hints as and when necessary. Otherwise, the discussion forum will be relegated to a chat room without any focus and direction. In this way, teachers who want to grade students based on their discussions can develop appropriate and clear-cut rubrics. On the other hand, the topic chosen for discussion must be something that is not factual and hence can facilitate discussion to take place.
The discussion forum can be started by teachers conveniently. All that is to be done is essentially to register for a group and invite the students to come into the forum to discuss relevant issues. Of course, beforehand, teachers have to inform the students to register an account with MSN as well as setting ground rules for discussion, for instance, no flaming, before embarking on this project. This is to prevent a sense of loss by the students and results in a state of confusion when the discussion forum starts.
Moreover, besides using the forum as a discussion platform, I feel that it can also be used in other ways. One instance would be utilizing it as a common online storage to display photos from class outings or Sport day etc. As such, the forum would not be under utilized and deemed it as merely another format of boring school work.
Most importantly, the usage of the discussion forum can bring about the bridging of ideas and thought. Comments from fellow classmates in the class can be new and constructive perspectives to the others. It is a platform for one to exhibit or express his burning ideas as well as a chance to reflect on your own or others’ discussions. Hence, if used effectively, it is definitely a good avenue to air one’s thought in an analytical way, which is considered a luxury in the limited time period during lesson.
The discussion forum can be started by teachers conveniently. All that is to be done is essentially to register for a group and invite the students to come into the forum to discuss relevant issues. Of course, beforehand, teachers have to inform the students to register an account with MSN as well as setting ground rules for discussion, for instance, no flaming, before embarking on this project. This is to prevent a sense of loss by the students and results in a state of confusion when the discussion forum starts.
Moreover, besides using the forum as a discussion platform, I feel that it can also be used in other ways. One instance would be utilizing it as a common online storage to display photos from class outings or Sport day etc. As such, the forum would not be under utilized and deemed it as merely another format of boring school work.
Most importantly, the usage of the discussion forum can bring about the bridging of ideas and thought. Comments from fellow classmates in the class can be new and constructive perspectives to the others. It is a platform for one to exhibit or express his burning ideas as well as a chance to reflect on your own or others’ discussions. Hence, if used effectively, it is definitely a good avenue to air one’s thought in an analytical way, which is considered a luxury in the limited time period during lesson.
# posted by keithsong @ 4:24 PM 
