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Section 1: Implementation issues and strategies in a face-to-face environment
Types of physical settings
- One-computer classrooms
- Half-computer labs
- Full-computer labs
Issues
Students’ ICT literacy and motivation
Students who are not very good in using computers could be overwhelmed by the ICT-related activity and would probably lose their interests.
Strategies
- Before starting the activity, the teacher should demonstrate the necessary new skills to the students, and ensure that all their doubts are clarified before starting the activity.
- Amidst the activity, the teacher should also guide the students along or better still, provide step-by-step guided instructions on what to do.
- The teacher should also set a common pace in the classroom so that everyone could catch up, and get students who are ICT literate to assist those who are not.
Types of physical settings
- One-computer classrooms
- Half-computer labs
- Full-computer labs
Issues
Classroom management
Students lose focus and are easily distracted by new features in an ICT-mediated environment.
Strategies
- Brief students on the rules before each ICT-related session.
- Assign students to predetermined seats and appoint row leaders to help the teacher check that students in their rows are seated at the right place.
- Get students to move their seats away from the computer for eye contact and to get them to listen more attentively.
- Go to each student to check that they understand what they are doing and ensure that they are engaged on task.
Types of physical settings
- One-computer classrooms
- Half-computer labs
- Full-computer labs
Issues
Teacher monitoring
- Misbehavior from students
- Desktop monitors block the block students from the teacher’s view.
Stategies
- Lock all computer stations when giving instructions or presentations.
- Make use of Junglebyte Teach or Virtual Classroom to monitor the progress on every computer.
- Block the unused features in the computer and restrict internet access.
- Place mischievous students near the teacher, and post simulating questions to different students at different corners of the room to keep all of them attentive.
- Walk around the room to check that all students are attentive before starting lesson proper.
Types of physical Settings
- One-computer classrooms
- Half-computer labs
- Full-computer labs
Issues
Time management
- Students cannot keep to the time assigned for activities which causes disruption to other activities.
- Unexpected technical issues hinder smooth transition in a lesson.
- Routine tasks (distributing and collecting of materials) slow down the pace of the lesson.
Strategies
- Provide constant reminders of the time at various points to keep students task-oriented.
- Plan realistically; avoid planning too many activities for a limited amount of time.
- Arrange for a technical assistant to be around during lessons to make sure that the IT gadgets are working, free teachers from attending to technical problems which could disrupt the momentum of the lesson.
- Check the software, hardware and internet resources for any faults before conducting the lesson to avoid spending time dealing with unnecessary problems.
- Assign student helpers to assist in routine tasks so that the teacher can focus on preparing other things to cut down on time wastage.
Section 2: Implementation issues and strategies in an online environment. Focus SPECIFICALLY on issues of Netiquette and Handling Inappropriate Content.
Issues
Netiquette
Students may disregard the rules of internet courtesy (knowingly and unknowingly) by:
- Using crude language to communicate and insult others, (inappropriate content).
- Violating other people’s privacy (Spreading of friends’ information online, reading files and emails that do not belong to one.
- “Crashing” into discussion groups or forums when doing discussions online.Sending/Posting the same notes and emails many times to irritate others.
Strategies
- Schools should conduct workshops to educate students on netiquette to raise students’ awareness on internet courtesy.
- Parents should closely monitor what their children are doing on the computer. Parents and school should also cooperate to bring out the children’s best behavior when they are online.
- Teachers should brief students on the possible consequences of disregarding internet courtesy before assigning online assignments.
- Teachers should educate students on using “emoticons” to better express themselves online. Lack of such expressions may send out wrong messages to other people online.
- Students should think twice before posting hurtful contents online, as it may lead to undesirable outcomes.
- Students should think twice before posting hurtful contents online, as it may lead to undesirable outcomes.
- Lessons on how to deal with insults should be given to students so that they will not use insulting expressions or crude languages back at those who started the insult. This will prevent a flame wall from happening.
Issues
Handling inappropriate content
While doing online assignments or visiting websites provided by teachers for their assignments, or even while checking emails, students may come across certain content that they feel uncomfortable with, or receive mysterious messages from strangers.
Students may come across such materials:
- Violence
- Encourages participation in dangerous or illegal activities
- Meant for people of higher age groups (such as pornography)
- Encourages bringing harm to self and (or) others
Strategies
- Schools should install software that can identify and filter out undesirable websites. (In school)
- Schools must educate students on how to handle inappropriate content and to identify whether the content is suitable for them.
- Schools should also encourage pupils to pay attention to how they feel whenever they access content online.
- Introduce pupils to three key actions – stop, record, report.
- Teachers should advice students that if they encounter any inappropriate content, they should stop what they are reading, take down the URL of the website and report the matter to their parents or teachers.
- Parents should closely monitor what their children are doing on the computer.
- Teachers, before giving students websites for references, should check the websites beforehand to ensure they are clear of, and are not linked to any sites with inappropriate content.
References
- Choy, D. et al. (2008). Effective teaching and learning in ICT-integrated classrooms. In C.L. Quek, A. F. L. Wong & M. Y. Tay (Eds.), Engaging and managing learners: Practitioners’ perspectives (pp.117-134). Pearson Education South Asia Pte. Ltd.
- Cyberwellness Starter Kit for Primary and Secondary Schools: [Online] Available: http://www3.moe.edu.sg/edumall/tl/cyberwellness.htm. Last Retrieved: 30 January 2009.
- Cher, P. L. et al. (2005) Classroom management issues in Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-mediated learning environments: Back to basics. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 14(4), 391-414.
- Boston Public Library. Netiquette for Kids, Kids' Page [Online] Available: http://www.bpl.org/kids/Netiquette.htm. Last Retrieved: 30 January 2009
- Safe Surfing With Doug [Online] Available: http://www.disney.co.uk/DisneyOnline/Safesurfing/. Last retrieved: 30 January 2009
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