Saturday, September 29, 2007

Interactive Whiteboard

On Wednesday, Yvonne shared on the use of the Interactive Whiteboard with a few of us. I was quite excited when Kevin told us about the session - 'cos have heard so much about it (of course, more of the not-so-positive feedback) but nevertheless, I guess, I'm still at the "IWB novelty" stage as I've not used it before... so, it looks and sounds new to me... seems mysterious :D True enough, seeing a life demonstration certainly give the IWB justice on areas that it's good at.

So, any new discovery?
  • It's definitely a frontal teaching tool although the pupils can also be given the opportunity to 'interact' with the IWB. "Interact" here is really coming up to the board and do the necessary inputs.
  • (i) White/Black-board equivalent
  • For instance, we can write 4 different questions on the board and get 4 pupils to solve on the board at the same time. Well, with the interactive whiteboard, pupils cannot write at the same time (else the system will get confused!!!) while the advantage is really, pupils work can be captured as an image file for future reference. Just thinking... not necessary all the time. I can just snap the photo of the board. Isn't it similar?
  • (ii) Magic tricks
  • OK, must admit that normal ppt will not be able to do tricks like
  • (i) Hiding text behind patches of 'paint' to create that 'unveiling' effect as the text appears when one 'cleans' the area
  • (ii) Using the 'curtain'/'spotlight' to reveal part of the image to focus pupils' attention to a certain part of the screen
  • (iii) The spin wheel, which I thought is the electronic version of spin wheel we bought at Kengan's workshops!
Of course, no doubt, if it's the first few times of using it, it will generate immerse interest among the pupils. Well, how long will this sustain? I wonder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday, September 28, 2007

Geometry... some teaching ideas

@ Workshops organised for HODs/Maths by CPDD on 24 Sep (Secondary) & 27 Sep (Primary) 2007.

Both sessions shared something in common - Geometry, that seems to have whipped up a big wave in Maths learning here.

I feel this more strongly, especially when this year, I'm involved in the Geometry Project - the use of Intuitive Experimental Approach for Geometry learning, using GSP.

Here are some good ideas I gathered from the 2 sessions.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o
Patterns
When doing this activity, it reminds me of "putting ourselves in the shoes of our audience"! Yes, imagine our audience here refers to our pupils. Have we been holding tight to our perceived answers too tightly. This activity was a good one.

As adults, most of the time, we think we have the right answer. Another deep-seated belief is many a time, answers to Maths questions are very straightforward - one answer most of the time and we missed out the possibilities through the eyes of young children.

Juliana's illustration was a great one!



The topic on shapes and patterns is not new to me... developed some "sentiments" over it when I first created the learning activities for baseline last year. It's fun! But look at patterns! We often are too sure of what comes next... and therefore many of us landed up in the same only correct answer! Well, this perception is changed after undergoing the above activity. Really, can you believe, Maths answers depend on one's perspective, too!

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o
Maths Origami


This is another interesting activity - that geometry has gone un-noticed for years! (at least it never occur to my mind that such simple activities are so mathematical!). It really connects spatial visualisation to fun activities!

Some websites on origami

  • http://www.paperfolding.com/math/
  • http://www.merrimack.edu/~thull/OrigamiMath.htm
  • http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A570458

Sunday, September 23, 2007

While I experiment with Flickr

Have just signed up a Yahoo! account. Yes, till now, I've not ventured beyond the few email accounts that I have... this one "loh_ky@yahoo.com". Hope I can remember.

One good reason that prompted me to sign up this account is to explore Flickr... yes, 2 features, to be specific, apart from just uploading images online.

Things to note:


  • We are limited to 100MB of images size per month.
  • We can categorise the images by 'sets'


Experiment 1

Photos that depicts Mathematics in Everyday Life are placed within one set
http://www.flickr.com/gp/13999858@N05/D2unnZ

Experiment 2

Look for the traffic lights! I manage to add 'notes' to specific locations within the photograph!

Experiment 3

Going to specific photographs with 'notes'

(i) http://www.flickr.com/photos/13999858@N05/1428346826/in/set-72157602131053831/

(ii) http://www.flickr.com/photos/13999858@N05/1427469855/in/set-72157602131053831/

Notice that there isn't any 'codes' available for us to embed the image onto a blog.

Educational values

Flickr seems to have potential for education purpose :D

  • For instance, pupils can post up their findings (in the form of photos) and label to 'parts' accordingly.
  • Alternatively, the teacher can upload photos can point to specific areas to get pupils to comment.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Reflection: Overview on the "W" & "H" of Blogging and New Media

@ IPAM on 21 September 2007 by Ivan Chew
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"W" and "H"... stands for... Why are you Here?... that's on one of the opening slides... Oh yes, in fact, before the session, I was wondering, why "W" & "H"? Does it stand for the "What" and "How"? or something else... well, as the session moved on, there're more "W" and "H"... Hm... creative - creative in keeping the participants in suspense and sustaining the degree of curisoity :D

Yes, why attend the session when I'm already pretty well-verse in blogging? People around do ask. Then, how am I going to measure my 'gain'? Will it be time well-spent? Having to 'perform' the 'miss-the-meeting ritual' - spending the morning making sure my 'voice' is represented during the meeting and making sure anticipated info going to be asked for during the meeting were there...? argh....

So why? Hm...
  • The title of the talk attracts me - not so much of 'blogging' (unfortunately more than 50% of the time Ivan spoke about Blogging), but 'New Media'. What is it? Has it got something to do with IDM? Heard and having spoken a fair bit about IDM but still not too clear - still seeking for a specific answer - as many a time, responses came across came with lots of personal opinions/views - I want something that's more neutral!!! A definition that I'm looking for... before interpreting the way the organisation wants to shape it.
  • Of course, blogging is my (current) passion (ok, guess I get hooked into it)... so, no harm hearing more about it (since I'm a self-learnt blogger)... especially how it's used in a context outside education! My belief: There's always something new in something we know - no matter how well we do something :D This has been proven right, over and over again. So, be open! In fact, I learnt something new about blogs and wikipedia today!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About New Media... it's about social engagement, connecting people to people and it comes with this element of openness! There... he presented a formual that layman could understand:

  • Web 2.0 + Media >> New Media

Web 2.0 comes with the following (characteristics and how I interpret it... based on what I heard):

  • interface-riched environment - it goes beyond a webpage comprises of text and static image only. It now comes with animation, embedded clips, pop-ups, etc... It's multimedia in a way.
  • allows others to access our data - yes, it's put up there... where anybody who 'passes by' can just stop-by to see - so the door of the house is always opened. Of course, we can close the door too... where only 'invited guests' can enter.
  • API: Application Programming Interface - this is chim chim chim... don't recall Ivan explained, but also can't get much out of wikipedia. So, it's simply some kind o technical stuff to do with programming?
  • access from multimedia devices - there's one part mentioned about accessing online applications - I think it belongs here? Yes, it has becoming common and convenient that we don't really need to buy application software anymore, but simply use the application online (and many a time, it's free!).
  • The shared documents and spreadsheets are not new to me - when Paul shared earlier this year. Similarly, the wealth of online applications that BY shared with us after her conference has widened our choices.
  • However, all these sharing are really 蜻蜓点水 . It's the awareness of the existence of these software - and its basic features. It really takes the time and interest to look at them and play with them. For instance, BY shared about the collaborative features of BUBBL.US and C-Map... sounds impressive but "show me" rather than tell me... Drawing from/Extending Ivan's analogy, at least before I 'taste' the chicken, I know how the chicken 'looks' like!!! Also, tell me why it's good? It gives me reason to try it. Connect it to something that would interest me!
  • Snipshot seems interesting that allows us to edit picture online - http://snipshot.com/. Hey, just wondering, is there any similar software that allows us to edit video clips online? Then this will come in very very handy for baseline - perhaps we can introduce snipshot in our baseline workshop?
  • I thought the educational use of Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/) is well illustrated (though I'm not sure if Ivan had in mind when he showed us the feature) - everybody (at least most people) know that it's a platform where people could upload photos and possible add some comments to it. However, it's the first time that I come to know that we can add notes to selected parts of an image in Flickr. Hey, it makes a big difference! Nobody has pointed out that to me before! This discovery leads me to think... it's something we can tap on for learning. Perhaps it's time to venture into Flickr? We can probably tap on that for our workshops too! Just hopped by Flickr and notice it has the "map" feature... hey, that would be handy for Geography and Science Fieldtrips... ok, will explore further... possibly something to share with BY and ST :D
  • continuous updates and upgrades - Yes, the 'change' is constant in the internet... there's continuous changes every microseconds in the internet. Updates and upgrades - whenever the system is connected to the internet, we'll be prompted of update messages. Quite regularly, I'll discover upgrades in the blogger editing interface... yes, people have been talking about new features, what's better... change is contant and change signifies progress... at least that's my view of the internet.
  • from outsourcing to overcrowding - Yes, in the past, we'll outsource the work to others... but now, technology has brought 'services' to people... people contribute... so, it's tapping on the changed behaviour - the behaviour of the netizens... Hm... being k-po? or generous? helpful? well, it's up to us to interpret the behaviour of this 'species'... well, the internet has created a community with new characteristics that's not so observable in the physical human community... Hm... perhaps time to put in more thought to this...
  • from consumer to prosumer - I know what's a consumer... but the term prosumer seems chim...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Something useful (... have been asked several times by participants from different workshops):

  • Forum (something that stands out, when compared to Blog): (i) Discussion is the focus (ii) Rely on responses of contributors (iii) any registered user can participate

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3 key words from Evan William (creator of the blog) about ... : Frequency, Brevity, Personality

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5 Web 2.0 tools mentioned in the session: (1) Wikipedia (2) RSS (3) Flickr (4) Technorati (5) RSS

Something new to me...

  1. Permanent link: Learn more about this "permament link" - its purpose and how it works. Yes, in fact I've been forwarding such links to others when I want them to go to specific page. However, not knowing it's called "permanent link".
  2. Different versions of a wikipedia writeup can be traced!!! It's so amazing! That reminds me of the moodle platform that Sun Li shared in the last ICET. Just wonder... does "wikispaces" allow us to see different previous versions (just like wikipedia)?
  3. The analogy used to explain RSS, to illustrate before and after RSS comes into the picture - getting 3 participants to pretend to the webpage publishers. The reader will have to visit individual webpages to read any updates (in fact, the reader has to 'detect' what's changed). With RSS, the RSS will capture any updated 'screens' from all the identified sites and put them into a common place. Then the reader simply go to this one access point to see any updates captured. In fact, I know how RSS works, but I thought the analogy is useful in helping layman to understand how it works.
  4. One new thing I learn about RSS is whatever captured is the info published at that point of time. It will remain there even if the publisher removed it from the web at a later date. Wah! A new discovery! RSS is a new way for readers to receive information!
  5. Ivan shared that Bloglines (http://www.bloglines.com/) is one of more friendly blog aggregator. No doubt. In my exploration, I discover Google Reader (http://reader.google.com/) is even friendlier and easier to use... however, also discovered the danger when all are supported by one service provider, when thing goes wrong, all goes wrong!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other sites introduced:

  • jaiku www.jaiku.com : Heard about it (from BY), but not used before... still have not heard of anything unique... so not going to explore yet... Oops! Does that mean I won't bother to explore in near future? Hm...
  • twitter http://www.twitter.com/ : Heard about it (from BY), but not used before... still have not heard of anything unique... so not going to explore yet... Oops! Does that mean I won't bother to explore in near future? Hm...
  • YouTube http://www.youtube.com/ : Yes, have gone in recently and learnt to put up clips in there to be integrated into the blog
  • TeacherTube http://www.teachertube.com : BY introduced this to us when she returned after the conference... yes, there's this hippy clip that when the teacher raps about area and perimeter (if I remember correctly).
  • Tomorrow.sg http://tomorrow.sg : Something new! I only came to know about yesterday.sg (http://yesterday.sg/) via the e-Museum thing. That brings me back to some good old times (eg. the Kallang Theatre memories).
  • Internet Archive http://archive.org seems to have the potential for schools' use.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Creative Commons http://creativecommons.org/

First time come across this thing call "cc" (ie. creative commons)... Just wondering, is it something very new in our local context? Is it something that's recognised in the Singapore context? More info on this will be helpful...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Podcast... characteristics:

  • audio file
  • available via the internet
  • comes with RSS feed

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some tips from Ivan on "How to engage effectively"

  • Start as a passive reader
  • Post comments
  • Progress to become a producer
  • Identify yourself
  • How to co-opt bloggers for public relations - Art of conversation; don't treat bloggers as an afterthought; don't tell them what to do...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More useful links...

Monday, September 17, 2007

Reflection on Workshop: Experiential Innovation Protocol

by the Ideal Factory @ Jurong Medical Centre

~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~

The Programme
  • In the 1st day, we met our 'customer' and 'step into their shoes'. By making analysis and inferences, we identified the key area of concern and started generating ideas. By the end of the 1st day, we shortlisted 3 ideas to be further developed in the 2nd day.

  • In the 2nd day, we started to work on the ideas - to detail out the plan and to develop the prototype. Then came the 'climax' when the groups take turn to 'sell' the product/idea to Dr Liat, the CEO of Alexandra Hospital.

~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~
The Innovation Protocol

(re)Perceive > Ideate > Evaluate > Prototype > Assess > (re)Perceive... and the cycle continues...

~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~

In this workshop, we experience and learn the Innovation Protocol through the tool known as the Customator.

  • One key feature that this tool employs is ethnography.

  • This is a new word to me... but have heard about this process, whereby one 'lives' with the community so as to gain a good understanding of the community. Just a few days after the workshop, I came across an article that an author joined one of his colleagues to live with an untouched community in Indonesia for a few days and in fact, having stayed with the community for a few days, it has changed his perception of the inhabitants there. Having understood them better, he made an effort to share the 'facts' to dispel the hearsay. Yes, ethnography is powerful!
~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~

Getting to know our Customer... the very first step... Setting up and Understanding the Context

  • Brief 'Orientation' of the context (by Dr James Low) on the current situation (in a larger context)
  • Video clip: Life is Short

A few points were emphasized over the 2 days:

  • By 2030, 1 out of 4 in Singapore will be over 65 years old.

  • In fact, the Singapore population is aging rapidly. Based on data, in 2005, 8.2% of the population is above 65 years old while 71% was in the age band just before this.

  • Another related concern is, the fertility rate was 3.07 in the 70s and it has drastically reduced to 1.25% in 2005.

  • Current effort: To help the elderly to age graciously and live comfortably. Well, well, we are not too far away from this... so, it's also getting prepared and helping ourselves.

It was pointed out to us that

  • Because of old age, there are changes to physical, cognitive and psychosocial state of one's well-being.

  • Ailments common among the elderly include strokes (which is in the lead), diabetes, High Cholesterol and High Blood Pressure.

  • Of observable change would be mobility - which is reflective in the daily activities. The most basic activities are the daily routines such as eating, dressing, walking and toileting. In particular, eating will probably be the last activity an elderly could lose. Other more complex (instrumental) activities such as going marketing and shopping are among the first being affected as old age creeps in.

We have also been reminded:

  • The elderly are heterogeneous - they come with different ability and capabilities

  • They are Human!!!

  • They are multi-dimensional.

Hence, the approach adopted in this exercise is to assess the situation in a holistic and empathatic manner. We will therefore see the situation from different perspectives: the elderly (when we visit and talk to them), care-givers (those who have been looking after the elderly - what kind of support do they need) and ourselves (when we put all the hear-and-see together and think and plan for the future).

One useful point brought up was: If the elderly are able to tell us what they want, then it would not be something that requires much innovation because they have seen it and therefore they can tell exactly what they want. More importantly, there are times they need something, however, they could not quite articulate... and this can only surfaced after interaction and through inference - and there's where we put in more thoughts and effort to come up with something.


~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~

(re-)Perceive through Home Visit
New ways of perceiving the environment we work in.

For our team, our Inspiration was Mdm Tan, 75. During the visit, we have the opportunity to interact with her, as well as her daughter.


Putting together... Mdm Tan's story in a Persona Mandala - another new term learnt in this workshop. A mandala is an abstract symbol that symbolises a person at the centre of their world. It is a Sanskirt for circle, polygon, community or connection. Well, according to the facilitators, we did not really create the mandala, but the idea is similar, simply putting our inputs like a montage.



~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~

Ideate through the brainstorming session


  • Through the interaction with our customer and our discussions, social interaction was surfaced as one key area to be addressed to. In fact, lonely elderly has become more and more common issue. It's sad.

  • For many elderly today still hold the belief of living with their sons (note here - son!) Yes, it not only happens to our customer, but to many of us. For instance, my grandma would stick to her 4 sons - and fortunately she has 4 sons... and all agreed to take turn to take care of her until her later years when we had to put her under the care of a home. Yes, the Chinese (at least) believe in living with their sons and follow them.

  • In our customer's case, because that's her only son, she follows her son each time he moved. It was obvious that she missed her good old days in the kampongs, where she could chat with her friends. As they moved to a younger estate, there isn't many of the same age group will come together, say at the void deck to interact.

  • Well, a close examination of the infrastructure provision shows that yes, chairs and tables are nicely set up at the void deck, and there's even a television - but do not know if it's used or not.

Some ideas generated to improve the quality of the life of the elderly:


  • Campaigns to heighten the awareness and importance of family bonding. For instance, at the neighbourhood level, have family gathering activities at the park (enclosed by the flats); at the national level, hype up campaigns like "Eat with Your Family" to become a monthly or even weekly affair!

  • National Policies like Incentives for dining with family members! Oh yes, this takes after the incentive (by HDB) for children who choose to live near parents.

  • Providing training to the maids who accompany the elderly to the clinics for the latter's physiotherapy sessions. In a way, the maids are trained (or at least given tips) how to take care of the elderly at home. Or better still, they can help the elderly to do simple therapy back at home!

  • etc.... and more (see below for the 3 that are eventually prototyped)


~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~

Evaluate the ideas - to select and streamline

Our key considerations were...



and eventually we shortlisted...



~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~

Prototype the ideas through visuals and concretes



We propose a lifestyle. Riding on the 'change' of profile over the next few decades - the digital immigrants will make up the majority of the elderly population. Hence, a lifestyle that socially connects everyone - virtually as well as physically.

This caters to a heterogenous group of elderly - if we were to look at mobility. At home, it caters for everyone - mobile or not so... where they are connected virtually; whereas those who are physically mobile can opt to leave their home and meet up at the club or hub.
- o - o - o - o -o - at home - o - o - o - o -o -
Tapping on the technology (ie. video-conferencing) and call centre/helpline concept
  • Imagine all homes are equipped with computers (that come with a webcam).
  • To address to the failing eyesight, each system will come with huge buttons when connection can be activated at a press of the button.
  • The video conferencing is adopted so that they can view and talk at the same time - talking will be a better communication means as their fingers may not be as agile then.
  • All elderly at home have their records (eg. name, health status, family make-up) sitting on a central database.
  • There, at the call centre, the facilitator will regularly contact the elderly during day time (when children are at work) to find out how they are getting on.
  • On the other hand, the elderly can also contact the call centre for the facilitator to help connect to the people whom they want to chat with.
  • Why we call them the "facilitator" instead of the telephone operator? It's because they would be engaged in the chatting session as well, to monitor the interaction and emotion of the individuals. They may even give advice on health matters too... especially when the elderly talk about aches and pains... or there's some myths or misconceptions.



Apart from that, to ease the operation of entertainment set such as the television, we suggest a remote controller that is voice-activated - something similar to the voice-activated dial-up feature of the handphones nowadays.


As of companions, when everybody's out of the house, we suggest a robot that takes voice of the children and dressed like them. The intelligent robot will be able to respond to the elderly when detected certain words. Then it will prompt the elderly for further inputs, hence strike a conversation. Intelligent?

Afternote: A recent article (Digital Life 25 Sep 2007) reports that there already exists a similar type of robot in Japan - for the elderly. However, it is not popular because of the high cost.
More readings: Japanese robots assist handicaps and elderly , Robots turn off Japan's elderly

- o - o - o - o -o - coming together...face-to-face- o - o - o - o -o -
The team also suggested a community, a club where the elderly (who are still mobile) can come together to socialise. On top of that, create an opportunity whereby they could either cultivate a new hobby or use their forte for some constructive purpose. For instance, for someone who is pretty old in telling story, he/she can be engaged to do storytelling at assembly talks (for NE). Alternatively, those who are good at calligraphy can teach others, too! In the course of doing so, they can also generate some revenue to support their activity.





~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~

Assess with inputs from professionals of the field, another iteration cycle...



~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~

Last but not least...

  • On the whole, the workshop has provided new insights to the life of an elderly. Ask ourselves: How often do we bother to see from a different perspective when we face the elderly at home? Do we ask what they need? or we assume we know what they need? I think, ultimately, it's the time to spend with them that's valuable to them. That's family bonding that we often overlook.
  • I remember somebody said, "I could easily use the electronic transfer service to transfer the monthly allowance to my parents' bank account. However, I decided to write a cheque or cash out the amount instead. Why? That's where at least I will make sure I go home to meet up with my parents, to create that opportunity (despite of my busy schedule) to chat with them. They would like to see me when I'm home."
  • Yes... true. Though the elderly might not have articulated that, it's observable from their body language. Just like when we know my brother and sister-in-law coming home for dinner over the weekend, they will be busy for the whole morning to cook a feast! Look! It's not that I jealous, but they are telling us... how important it's to find time and spend time together.

As of how the workshop is related to work... hm... that's the challenging part - when the workshop facilitators did not help to link (sigh!!!). Hm... they expect us to get enlightened and connect automatically.

OK... will continue to think about it... for anything new... will add through the 'comments' feature (so that it will not disturb the setting of the page).

~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~o~~~~

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Reflection: LA Fest @ Temasek Polytechnic 2007

Keynote Address by Marc Prensky: Engage Me or Enrage Me: Educating Today's 'Digital Natives'.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

IDM is becoming a natural landscape here... as technology evolves and how we are engaged in a technology-rich environment.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Engage Me or Enrage Me: Educating Today's Digital Natives by Marc Prensky.

As we all know, Marc's passion topic is on the Digital Natives and Digital Migrants. Therefore, the content and the direction the talk drives at is pretty predictable. It's more like a reinforcement of what's been 'preached' over the past months!

It's not new to hear that "Technology is their (digital natives') birth right"... and they lead an emerging online life of the digital natives. Well, I guess these terms are originated from him?

Marc has drawn a line between the 2 types of 'people', listing down distinctive and observable characteristics of the Digital Natives and the Digital Immigrants that we can connect ourselves with.

The digital immigrant's accents include
  • Printing out email - Oh yes, many of us do! So what when the agenda is not saved on a word document, but 'embedded in an email? Just print. In the past, minutes or handouts were printed out and circulated. Today, these are attached with the email, however, the recipients were also busily turning them into hardcopies! Right, I'm one of those culprits!
  • Knowing phone numbers - well, I realised I could not remember phone numbers well nowadays... indeed, will have to save them into the handphone instead. OK, I prefer to go for email rather than calling... nevertheless, also recognise the fact that it's more personal when goes through the voice, too... When need be, the phone, the voice is still necessary.
  • Knowing DOS command - Well, I belong to the era that uses DOS command. However, by now have forgotten most of them. When talking about DOS command, I will connect to that to Mr Low :D Yes, I believe he still has all those printed in his memory :D
  • Not going to the Internet first for information - Encyclopedia, dictionary - well, they are a 'must' a home... nevertheless, when need to get info, nowadays, I'll go straight to the internet... afterwhich, print, print, print!!!
  • Thinking "Reallife" happens only offline - well, with the birth of "2nd life"... no more just limited to "earth life"???
  • Thinking we know what our students want and need without asking them - not really, but I think it's more like whether we remember to remember that students are our client, and what are the 'services' that our clients are looking for?
....to be continued...







Friday, September 07, 2007

Reflection: Teachers' Mass Lecture - Catch the Happiness Bug


on 7 Sep 2007 @ Singapore Expo, by Shelley Sykes

Happiness is... knowing that I can do and do make a difference

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • Think one of the deepest impression after the mass lecture is really the wizard (er... witch) in bright pink! hahaha... guess it's her signature colour? and a magic wand. The glitz from her face... and the voice... OK, there's one thing which is interesting, she liked to make calls like "wa-o-ho!", as an expression of "ah-ha! there it goes!". The pitch wakes one up and suppose to come with some convincing confidence and cheers... Just wondering, could it be because she was trying so hard to animate it... that I felt some thing was missing... hm... what she has spoken or described could have downwashed so much that somehow it does not really touch me heart - hm... it has lost some degree of reality? I think... partly because some of the examples she described sounded too real to be true! So, there's this disconnection.

  • From the experiences she has narrated, yes, I trust she has weathered through some much turbulences in her life journey, and really, admired her of her perservence and thoughts of being positive that have made her strong! Yes, she has this "never say die" attitude.

  • In fact, at the end of the session, one of the audience expressed how much she has learnt from the day's session and how appreciative she was, that Shelley has rekindled the 'hope' and the 'how' to identify/find happiness... Hm... while I'm still trying to find what's new I've gained from the 2 hours.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

9 Tips to Happiness

1. Have a 'Happy Plan'

  • At the start of the session, the whole audience, led by Shelley, pledged to be "happy". Why 'pledge' to be happy? Hm... is it that many have yet found happiness? or discover happiness around us?

  • Of course, the pledge gets one to look at the better side of thing, be happy and spread happiness through influence! How to influence? When one can generate happiness. How one can generate happiness? It's largely dependent on one's perspective when view things, and reaction to it! {Hey, isn't it that she consolidates the practices and package it?}

  • In fact, at the start, I think she tried to set the stage, the context of the session, and started to promise what we'll get out of the session... somehow, I think, it's the delivery style - that the "wa-o-ho" diluted the focus...

  • 当然,Shelley 使用“鬼佬"最拿手的一招:煽动人心,煽动情绪。 当然,整个场子的观众也参与啦! 其实,觉得有点牵强。当节目达到高潮时,观众的反应会是很自然的。可是,当大伙还是处于正在“解冻”阶段时,就会让人感到牵强。

  • 感觉:有点像到那些大型基督教会节目里“招募会员”的那种仪式. 天啊!别把这种概念给带进来!虽然不排斥宗教的形式,但,还是较为中立会比较妥当也!

2. Attitude - Smiling

  • Yes, smile does wonders! This was brought up... and all were reminded.

  • Smile brings happiness to others, which in turn, boomerang back to us... it's generative!

  • True, smile is an universal language. Whether in a foreign land that uses another language, whether is at a point where we could not find words to express ourselves - smile does a wonderful job - to connect, to communicate, to break the ice, to ease oneself, to express gratitude...

  • Smile is contagious! Yes, it influences the 'atmosphere' at that moment! It cheers up the mood of people... it relaxes one's mood! Oh yes, it also helps one to gets by embarrasssing moments, too!

  • Smiles not only influences the external entities, it also plays wonders on ourselves! It lifts our mood and colours what we see with our very own and 'old' pair of eyes, too! Oh yes, we have always told ourselves, do not put on a pair of coloured glasses when looking at others... however, in this smile theory, smiles add beautiful colours to what we see... it generates positive positive colours!

  • Yes, also remember to smile at ourselves, for a job well-done, for putting our best effort to get things done (no matter how it turns out)... and smiles can transform into pads on shoulders...

  • Everybody has an unique smile and everybody sees the same smile differently... So many people were enchanted by Mona Lisa's mystic smile... did she wear the greatest smile? Hm... each and everyone of us have the greatest smile, when it comes from our heart :D

  • Click to see previous postings on smiles... a , b , c , d , e , f , g , h

3. Physiology - Walk tall


4. Surround yourself with high-energy people


5. Ideas - Abundance Mentality

  • The idea of "I'm rich and abundant"... yes, the "Art of Giving" (I think, that many of us do not practise)

  • Look around us... we are rich - not to measure by monetary terms... it may not be something that's measureable - oh yes, happiness is something that can't measure. It's simply subjective!

  • Do we realise the forte we possess? Have we seen them in another light that it's not just something we possess, but something that we can tap on to bring about happiness to others? Er... increasing the happiness index on people who can benefit from it?

  • Shelley shared that she likes flowers (hm... lilies? Do I remember correctly) and flowers cheers her up... she offered to use her 'skills' to build a website for the florist - that helps to popularise and expand its business, and in return, she gets life-long supply of flowers that is one source to create a happy physical environment! Hm... it sounds like we go back to the old way of trading - barter trade!

6. Live in the 'Now'

  • One advice - never focus on the lack, never focus on what's not right.

  • She reminded us: "Sometimes, we live in a beautiful place, but only see what's at home"

  • What an analogy! It's like the chinese saying 外国的月亮总是比较的圆,总是比较的亮!(It's human nature that we normally focus what we don't have and forget what we have). Hence result in some kind of comparison and create those "envious"(?), "unfair"(?) thoughts?

  • Be appreciative too... that reminds me of something I read from the Sunday times "Lifestyle" Frequent Flyer article "Travel with a Cause" that interviewed the CEO of World Vision, Dean R Hirsch. When asked "What hotel facility can't you do without?" His answer is clean water. Wah! It's at the other end of the spectrum, compared to all the previous interviews. It's not that he does not look for quality in hotel stays (I believe), but it tells something! He impresses me! Yes, how often we forget to look around to appreciate the most basic luxury we have on earth!

7. Expect the Best


8. Focus on being successful

  • One thing Shelley emphasized was "always ASK for HELP when need to"... in a way, she also pointed out the importance 'personal touch' - call people... ask people for help... (of course, she also illustrated the kind of tact to go with it) - and you may get it!

  • One example she mentioned was getting the materials ferried to Singapore free and on-time for the mass lecture. Of course, she has downplayed the existing relationship/connection she had established with freight company. It sounded impressive. She easily brushed it over by saying, give a call to the right personnel for help. Well, if she has not established her name in the market, who cares to talk to her! So, once again, she tried to relate a real life experience, however, it's not down-to-earth and practical!

  • In fact, to my surprise, one of the teachers - I think she's naive enough to - ask how Shelley got the names of these rich and capable people!

  • One thing I'm not too sure if it's correctly communicated to the audience - ie. Shelley encourages the audience to talk to the people up there, to market themselves! Wah! You think it works in the education system here? Teachers to the Divisional Directors or the DGE directly... ok, the leaders up there might be receptive to this idea (as the ground up approach has been talk of the system in the recent months)... think from the Principal's perspectives, Supt's perspective and how they think? .... er... In a way, the hierarchical approach is still expected, I believe... no one want to be by-passed... in any way, be it good or bad.

9. Shine - Enjoy being yourself

  • Be the Best. Don't try to change others.

  • I think this is the most practical and down-to-earth tip that Shelley gave to the audience.

  • Yes, let us start with ourselves, to understand and generate the happiness thought. We can only influence. It's through this influence that shapes the behaviour around us.

  • To what extent? It all depends on how each individual entity respond to it. Some are easy, some are difficult and almost impossible. Nevermind, but it starts with ourselves, right?

  • Happiness is when what you htink, what you say and what you are in harmony - Mahatma Gandhi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


M.A.D - Make A Difference

  • Shelley has been rubbing on the fact that teachers made a difference - ok, we know, but she could not make concrete connections to it! It's really like we say, the use of Data logger is good for Science learning, and keep citing it without telling the people how it value-adds to the learning, what difference it makes in the experience. Yes, you tell me it's good, but tell me how and why, and give me real life illustrations to convince me! [Get me?]

  • "Are you "M.A.D" ?" , "Do you want to be "M.A.D" ?" , "Do you want to be "M.A.D.der" ?" These few questions were asked umpteen times... So??? What's the Intent? Just to tell the audience that "You are doing a great job!"... Hm... I think, she had overdone it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the whole, do I gain much? Hm... Perhaps should put it across as, I re-discover or re-call I've been doing, what I'm capable of doing, and what I can do