Lesson 15: Understanding Hypermedia

Hypermedia is nothing but multimedia, but this time packaged as educational computer software where information is presented and student activities are in a virtual learning environment. Most Educational IT application is hypermedia and these include:

      

●         Tutorial Software Packages

●         Knowledge Webpage’s

●         Simulation Instructional Games

●         Learning Project Management and Others

       

The presentation of information-learning activities in hypermedia is said to be sequenced in a non-linear manner, meaning that the learner may follow his path of activities thus providing an environment of learner autonomy and thinking skills. This fact makes it therefore important to understand hypermedia in the educational context in order to ensure their successful integration in the teaching-learning process.

The learner also has a wide range of navigation routes such as by working on concepts he is already familiar with. They may even follow a linear or logical path, even if the previous activity is half-completed. He may explore other sections opting to return or complete the previous activity.

In a world where everything seems being dependent with technology you can never expect something that is done without the use of it. Students before exerts lots of effort in order to complete a project or task. They go to libraries, ask resource persons took samples personally and so many possible ways. Well, that was before when technology is hard to find. The students of this generation is far beyond compare, they sit in front of their computers and in a blink of an eye, and HOOLLAA everything you need is right there in front you without even having a single sweat.

Technology itself is never bad, it is always up to someone how it is being utilized. It okay to use technology but make sure that you are not being governed by it. It can help and aid human living especially in studies, it is no longer important if you have all the books as long as you have your computer and an access to the internet.

It is challenging for the teacher but it must be a challenged accepted to make every students well-rounded about technology not as a tool in learning but as something that can help them in their future when they graduated because even cashiers nowadays uses computer. We must always cope with the pace of this very fast-changing world.

Lesson 14: The Software as an Educational Resource

Whenever people think about computers, they are most likely thinking about the computer machine such as the television-like monitor screen, the keyboard to type on, the printer which produces copies of text-and-graphics material, and the computer housing called “the box” which contains the electronic parts and circuits (the central processing unit) that receives/ stores data and direct computer operations. The computer machine or hardware is naturally an attention-getter.

      It’s more difficult to realize, however, that the computer hardware can hardly be useful without the program or system that tells what the computer machine should do. This is called software.

There are two kinds of software:

1. The system software. This is the operating system that is found or bundled inside all computer machines.

2. The application software. This contains the system that commands the particular task or solves a particular problem.

In turn the applications software may be:

(a) A custom software that is made for specific tasks often by large corporations, or

(b) A commercial software packaged for personal computers that helps with a variety of tasks such as writing papers, calculating numbers, drawing graphs, playing games, and so much more.

It is hard to put limit or boundary between casual gaming apps that are very in demand today and those application that are intended for learning. I can say that programmers nowadays are more than just being intelligent. They are able to integrate learning while you are gaming and having fun.

   

I use to play Farmville before, I didn’t really paid so much attention with the farming concept I just wanted to expand my farm. With that mind-set I was blindly learning the basic of farming. I have to toil the soil, water the pants, and apply fertilizer and so many things to do. It’s quite funny but I really learned from it and it also helped to become more sensitive on the hardships that the farmers were experiencing as they work hard to have bountiful harvest.

There are a lot of things we can do to make the teaching-learning process a fun, exciting and fruitful one. The use of game application is just one, we may see it casual something that can take away boredom but in reality it taught of something, at first it’s hard to figure out but as time goes by you will realize that it really helped you.

Lesson 13: Cooperative Learning with the Computer

           

Singapore has set the global pace for student learning with a 2:1(2 pupils with 1 computer) ratio in its master plan for IT in education. This show that even in other progressive countries, the1:1 pupil-computer ratio is still an ideal to be achieved. Reality therefore dictates that school faces the fact that each classroom, especially in public or government schools, may not be equipped with the appropriate numbers of computer.

            The creativity of the teacher will have to respond to the situation, and so cooperative learning will likely be the answer to the implementation of IT supported learning in our schools. But the situation may not be that bad since there are motivational and social benefits to cooperative learning and these can compensate for the lack of hardware that educators face.

Defining Cooperative Learning

Cooperative or collaborative learning is learning by small groups of students who work together in common learning task. It is often also called grouped learning but to be truly cooperative learning 5 elements are needed:

1.    A common goal

2.    Interdependence

3.    Interaction

4.    Individual accountability

5.    Social skills

Therefore not every group work is cooperative learning since students working on their work sheets physically sat around a table may be working together without these features of cooperative learning.

In a classroom settings, teachers can just discuss what will be the expected output of the students and how to create such output by giving instructions and it will be up to the students on how they will come up with such output by using their own creativity and by just relying on their own skills and ability in accomplishing something that needs to be done. One example of this is making a presentation under Google slides where you can share it with your group mates or classmates for clarifications and corrections provided that your group mates or classmates were also accessing the internet.

It is hard to deny the fact that using technology has its advantages and disadvantages and it is up to the people using these on how they will utilize the technology in a good way on how it can benefit the user or even the people around him/her. Using technology in instruction is very beneficial to us because we can always communicate with each other online. We are able to discuss things without seeing each other personally.

As a student it is very important to have a good communication with the group about the progress of task or activity even if students within a group is in different places. They can still cooperate and do some things online.