Assignment Topics 8 : Customisation & Personalisation.

Mycpf government portal is a good example of personalization. As a government service provider of CPF related information, the user like me has little control over how I want to format or how I want information to be processed. After logging in using my Singpass, I am greeted with the page which offers me choices of information I want to retrieve. If I want to check my statement, I would click on the thread, ‘Statement’. This will bring me to the details of my balances in Ordinary Account, Special Account and Retirement Account. However I find that the navigation is rather restricted as I cannot select which account I would like to appear when launched after keying in my Singpass. This is different from the website of banks eg. DBS which is customized to the preferences of customers. In fact I can even choose what colour interface I would prefer when the web page is launched.

Another point of restriction is that the customer survey on satisfaction always pops up when logging out even if you dislike it. On the whole this website has undergone tremendous improvement with many applications eg. Calculators on future savings and retirement amounts for financial planning. It is moving towards customization in small ways. Hopefully it can strike a good balance between customization and personalization to enhance flexibility in servicing customers.

Assignment Topics 6 & 7: An online experience

Getting more excited with a life ON-LINE...

I was greeted with a fascinating and intriguing interface when I logged in the NIKE website. To a curious consumer, it is enticing enough to make him or her wanting to explore further even though there is no initial intention to purchase. True enough I soon found myself immersed in exploring the physical design and construction of the shoe that suit my own personality. The options are easily chosen. The colors are varied and attractive to suit different personalities. With this on-line initial experience the consumer can preview the design that he or she wants, at a known price, before making a trip to the store to explore further and making a final decision to purchase.

Finally, like it or not, we are much influenced by changing behavior of marketers’ strategies and it will affect the way we purchase merchandise. Live your life ON-LINE with Web 2.0 ! Get Excited... and Enjoy It !

Week 11 -- General Assignment 2: A PLE

Get excited !

Visit : http://www.pageflakes.com/ng_kok_vei_christopher/21912569

Today's lab session has been an eye-opener for me and has widened my understanding of Web 2.0 tools in facilitating learning. 'Personal Learning Environment' ( PLE ) is one of them.

PLE offers the learner opportunities to engage in learning activities at a pace which is comfortable and customised to individual needs. The learning platform is distributed enabling the learner to construct knowledge gradually. As it is much bottom-up initiated, it offers flexibility to the learner.

On the contrary, 'Learning Management System' (LMS) has a centralised learning platform. It is initiated by the corporation with a top-down approach, learners and facilitators are not given a choice but to use it resulting in rigidity in implementation.

Let me end by sharing an apt summary on the concept of PLE by Ron Lubensky :-

' ... a Personal Learning Environment is a facility for an individual to access, aggregate, configure and manipulate digital artifacts of their on-going learning experiences '.

Therefore a PLE is a mix of the formal and informal tools and processes that a learner uses to gather information, reflect on it and process it which, in a nutshell , what we mean by learning.

( See C-Map below for a visual integration of learning tools in PLE )

Constructivist Views Of Learning

As a visual learner, I need pictures, drawings, maps to help me understand. Therefore I need to construct a pictorial structure of learning items.This helps me to the link various aspects of a topic giving me a holistic picture. Listening to a lecture will not do as it helps only about 5%. Constructing it as a map ( mind-map or C-map ) gives me about 90% understanding.

Sketching a concept map manually has its advantage as I can quickly jot down the ideas as I progress. It is readily available. However in the long run, I prefer to use a software like C-map to construct learning. It is editable, neat, impressive...it adds another dimension to learning... being creative with colours and shapes to stimulate interest in reading it!

I will be using it more often to organise my lessons and encourage my students to use it as a learning tool to help them comprehend, recall and apply what they have learnt.

Using a CONSTRUCTIVIST approach, the retention rate of learning is high... as shown in the following C-map.

Assignment Topic 3: Generate questions

Topic 3: Cognitive and Information Processing Theories of Learning


Applying Bloom's Taxonomy I have created questions in a C-map. Please try out the questions...

Behavioral & Social Cognitive Theories of Learning

The summary… a self reflection…

Social Learning Theory

Albert Bandura theory has become probably the most influential theory of learning and development. Deep seated in many of the basic concepts of traditional learning theory, Bandura added a social element in his theory arguing that people can learn new information and behaviors by watching other people. This is known as observational learning (or modeling).

The Process Of Modeling

Effective learning does not necessarily take place through observing behaviors. There are factors affecting both the model and the learner determining whether social learning is successful. The following processes are involved in learning from models : -

Attention:

You need to pay attention in order to learn. Focused attention is significant in observational learning. If the model is interesting or there is a novelty in the demonstration, students’ attention is captured enhancing learning.

Retention:

The ability to retain what is learnt is also an important part of the learning process. Though retention can be affected by a number of factors, the ability to recall and transfer learning is significant to observational learning.

Reproduction:

Understanding what has been learnt and having subsequent practice of the learned behavior leads to improvement and skill advancement.

Motivation:

The learner must be motivated to imitate the behavior that has been modeled. In motivation, reinforcement and punishment play an important role. Observing others experiencing some type of reinforcement or punishment can improve learning. For example, seeing classmates completing assignments within the deadline can help one to do one’s best in handing up assignments on time.

Applying the principles in practice …

In designing the curriculum, different modeling approaches are used to facilitate learning. Technology-based lessons are designed to capture the students’ interest. Assignments and assessment modes are crafted to help students retained and transfer learning. Motivation in the form of compliments, rewards, showcasing good works of classmates, sharing of presentations help to boost their morale. Along with motivators, those who fail to meet deadlines have deduction in ‘attitude’ marks. In a nutshell, the model I created in helping students to learn involves the acronym – ‘R.A.T’ ( Retain…Apply…Transfer ) which in many ways similar to the theory expounded.

A concept map

My concept map of Educational Psychology before joining the class...

Assignment Topic 1 - Self Reflection

Introduction to Educational Psychology..My first impression

Educational Psychology is a fascinating scientific study. Understanding how an individual learn can help educators use appropriate pedagogic approaches to facilitate learning. The impact on teaching and learning can be far-reaching.

Initial exploration...

Intelligence is often considered how well you score on tests or what your grades are in school.
In the 1900's, French psychologist Alfred Binet tried to come up with some kind of measure that would predict the success or failure of children in the primary grades of schools. The result was the forerunner of the standard IQ test we use today. This gave us a dimension of the mental ability by which we could compare everyone.

Howard Gardner theory on Multiple Intelligence

However, in 1983, Howard Gardner came up with his theory - that we all have different natural or innate intellectual strengths or "intelligences." We learn best when these strengths are brought into play during the learning process. Gardner identified seven intelligences … and came up with an additional later making eight of them...

• 
  
  
  linguistic

• logical-mathematical

• spatial

• musical

• bodily-kinesthetic

• interpersonal

• intrapersonal

• naturalistic

Pilot Profiling

Though I have heard about Multiple Intelligence theory previously, I have never really understood its relevance and impact on teaching and learning. So in 2007, we tried to do a simple profiling to determine the learning style of a group of Sec 3 normal techhnical students to help us understand them better as a pilot project. The findings were as follows :-

The Real Me.. Class Survey observations on a group project…

• Group presentation was done by a member with interpersonal, linguistic intelligence
• Graphics was done by member with spatial intelligence
• Music was used in presentation by members with musical intelligence

Understanding them helps us to structure our approaches in facilitating learning and to redesign assessment guidelines and tasks so that students with different learning styles will excel in different
tasks giving them an opportunity to balance their performance.


The next step beyond...

We will continue to extend to lower and upper secondary in 2008 to do a more thorough profiling to better understand the students’ learning style. The school is also taking steps to introduce differentiated curriculum to help students cope with their studies…

Topic 1: Self-reflection

The beginning ...

The introductory lesson on Educational Psychology led me to a journey of IT applications, for example, blogging and wiki which I have never used before. As my IT proficiency is elementary, it has been quite overwhelming for me going through the numerous stages in creating wiki and bogging account. However I managed to create my first blog at the end of the lesson, much to my satisfaction... and thanks to my lecturer, Grace, guiding me patiently...

The Multimedia session was interesting but took me sometime to get myself familiarise with navigating through the drawing tools . I like the 'Flash' software and encouraged by the patience of the lecturer, Jean. The Interface Design session reminded me of elements and principles of design. However, it is the first time I am applying to typography.

The journey continues...

As I went through the assignments for the week, I realised I needed to post this reflection on my blog. But to my surprise, I forgot my user id and password. Worst still I realised that my blog created could not be found on the 'Dashboard'. So I went through the Internet hoping to find a solution. Unfortunately after more than an hour I still could not locate my blog. It led me through different restorations other than my original blog.

As I worked with 'Flash', I became more interested and did more reading on the software and try exercises using 'Flash MX'. Working on the typeface designs is tedious but put our creativity to good use. I wish to learn more from my lecturer, Peggy, and have more time to do the assignments.

What shall I do ?

I realised I have logged in with a different account.. the very reason why the original blog could not be found on the 'Dashboard'. After a few tries with alternative log-in accounts, the mystery was finally solved... hooray! Posting this reflection is finally possible...

I will continue to practice and work on my assignments. This is the window and gateway to the world of multimedia.

A new beginning...

Though I know the journey ahead is going to be tough, I am determined to improve my IT proficiency.... With the lecturers guiding me and learning together with my friends, it will be a rewarding journey.... I am looking forward to creating e-learning materials and making lessons more interactive...

Creating my first blog

It is fun... Never knew it is so easy