Wednesday, January 27, 2010
-
:
It has been an exciting experience teaching EIR this Oct 09 semester, involving the debut implementation of new ideas. I learnt the importance of building strong rapport to keep students motivated, cooperative and participative in class. Students were also receptive to the new topics on Twitter and Citizen Journalism introduced this semester.
Our team took the challenge of introducing Twitter into the curriculum – a new unexplored path. Teaching by setting an example for my students, I started by using Twitter and experiencing for myself the benefits of this new online craze amongst Web users. Within a few weeks of using it, I had learnt so much from other educators who shared their knowledge about using technology to enhance learning.
There’s so much to learn and share with my students. Learning is really limitless – you will not experience an end to learning as long as you want to go on discovering new things.
The metaphor I would use to describe my experience teaching and learning EIR is like polishing a rough diamond – at first Internet research seems so mundane, dim and cloudy like an unpolished diamond waiting to be discovered. But once you discover the diamond and start to polish it with the right techniques, then the diamond shines so brightly and becomes so valuable – Just like Internet research – once you polish your searching skills and discover those fascinating Internet research and communication tools, you can find valuable information which you can use to shine in your work and in your personal, social and professional lives.
I am still enjoying the wonders of unraveling the great research treasures hidden in the World Wide Web! Stay tuned for more pleasant surprises in future EIR subject menus!
Labels: EIR - Reflections of the Subject Leader (Oct 09 Semester)
3:57 PM
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
-
:
EIR Semester Oct 09 students tweeted about what they learnt about their research topics. They provided the links to websites that cover their respective topics. These tweets provides a quick update on what students will include in their wiki pages which they will be present starting next week. Look forward to hearing students' interesting findings and stories about their research topics over the next 2 weeks. Great work all!
Labels: Twitting about research topics
3:33 PM
Thursday, January 21, 2010
-
:
Dear EIR DES T02 students,
We have come to the end of our short but exciting EIR journey together from 28 Dec 09 – 22 Jan 10. Its always hard to say goodbye so soon especially when we are just about to get to know one another better.
Thank you for your warm friendship – the bonding we share will be cherished for a long time to come.Thank you also for all your most enthusiastic participation in the EIR class activities. I really appreciate your kind patience in faithfully completing the class activities, despite your other commitments in your personal and academic life.
We had fun using the numerous Web 2.0 social networking softwares to interact and engage us in our learning. Remember how we tweeted before starting lessons to motivate one another to remain positive in doing our work well? I enjoy putting up those motivational quotes on EIRTweets to inspire you and myself too. We had fun on the online shopping spree and going on our dream holidays. I am glad that we have made some new friends. We learnt useful values of virtually collaborating on Wiki space about our research topics.
I am impressed by the quality of your Wiki submissions and from your interesting presentations I am glad to note that you all had learnt something new on your research topics. Wow, the metaphors you used to describe your EIR journey were also creative and inspirational.
Well done all for doing your best to product good work! I have had a fantastic and joyful experience interacting and teaching all of you and learning from one another.
Our friendship does not have to end with the closure of EIR DES T02 class today. We will meet up virtually on our EIR frens Facebook space, on Twitter (twitter.com/Eirtweets) and MSN (
buddy-line@hotmail.com). See you there my friends!
As a final close to our EIR DES Oct09 chapter, I invite all of you to spend 1-minute of your time to autograph a meaningful & inspirational comment/remark about EIR in the comments column of this EIR blog. Remember to use what you had learnt in EIR when you are doing research for your other projects in your respective Diplomas.
Till we meet again in other encounters, I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.
Stay Positive & Stay Happy Always!
Cheers!
Faridah
EIR Subject Leader and TutorDES Oct09 (T02)
Labels: We are friends and friends do not say Goodbyes
4:56 PM
Monday, January 18, 2010
-
:
EIR DES T02 students discussed at length about the benefits of Tweeter, its downsides, future directions and implications for education and research. Several viewpoints were discusssed. Some concluded that people use Tweeter mainly as a social network tool to reach out to their friends, some use it to advertise about their work and others use it to de-stress. Tweeter is popular mainly due to its flexibility and ease of use to reach out to the masses.
However, the students noted that too much Tweeting can prevent people from connecting to one another face-to-face - humans can end up isolated & entangled in their own digital web. Students concluded that Tweeter's future lies in its potential for professional purposes like commercial advertisement of works and networking amongst professionals.
Contrary to my belief that young people are all connected to Tweeter just like MSN and Facebook, I found out from this class that most of them do not like to tweet. I think that for someone to use Tweeter productively they have to use it to suit their purpose either socially, personally or professionally. I reflected on my own challenge of keeping up in updating my tweets. Since using it a few months ago, I have begun to love Tweeter for its simplicity and flexibility to enable me to reach out to my students and other professional network of friends who are constantly updating me with good leads to resources to help me enhance my professional life.
Labels: Twitting Away with Different Views
9:39 AM
