Reflection: Workshop - Spreadsheet (4th Run)

15 & 22 February @ Juying Primary

Hearing from the HODs/IT
In the 1st session, got the chance to speak to 2 HOD/IT and heard from them their views:

• Both expressed that results are at stake and therefore is still the priority. Both mentioned about 'time' as a key concern.

• One of the HODs mentioned about looking into arranging training for pupils to equip them with the skills. However, was very concern over the fact that teachers had to tap on curriculum time to familiarise pupils with operational skills such as logging into the system, saving the files. She indicated that this familiarisation process will eat into lots of curriculum time and expressed that teachers were reluctant to do this.

• We acknowledged that it will definitely take up some time for pupils to become familar with the basic operational skills. However, it should be deem as a form of investment - to learn anything - be it skill or knowledge, there exists a learning curve where one will take some time to get familar with the skill or 'digest' the knowledge before we can apply the skill/knowledge with ease. Yes, it takes a while to 'habitualise' a skill... but many a time, adults undermine that pupils grasp much faster than us... It's an investment, if nobody wishes to invest, it will never take place. If the P1 teachers do not want to overcome the hurdle, this is passed on to the P2 teachers... so on and so forth...

• On the other hand, look at the positive side of things - are the pupils already demonstrating the skills? Are the teachers already teaching pupils the skills? Well, if the school has already introduced eLearning into the P1 classes, aren't the pupils already demonstrating PK1 skills, that's the fundamentals of all? Pupils already able to move the mouse, press the button on the keyboard... aren't they already navigating in the GUI (graphical user interface)? I guess, sometimes it's a matter a bridging the what's written in the standards and what's already happening.

• Indeed, one analogy will be the teachers: When teachers first started to learn using the computer, they have to learn to login and get familiar with the windows environment... What happens after that? It is a painless process to do all these now because it has become part and parcel of their daily routines... do they still have to spend that amount of time to look for the keys to press and the buttons to click at? Indeed, they are now using the tools (the applications) to aid their work... similarly, we want pupils be able to make use of the tools to learn, too... I think, it is a matter of recognising the need and the willingness to 'sacrifice'... of course, some teachers will ask: "Why me?"... On the other hand, if it's for the good and benefit to the pupils, then "Why not?" and "Why wait?"... Let's step back a little and think: What's our role as teachers? Should we compromise or delay pupils' learning experience because of our fear or incompetence?

• Another HOD/IT recognised the fact that Baseline is there for the pupils and agreed with its rationale: to better prepare pupils for the future... He is more concern how to implement that in the school. Currently, the teachers are still matching the resources to the SOW. Have highlighted to him the resources in the baseline website and how the curriculum integration map comes in helpful in the planning.
• In terms of approach, he indicated preference in having school-wide approach, in the sense that all teachers will conduct identified lessons - that is easier to account for implementation. He is less in favour to have the IT champions to spearhead, fearing that it ended up the rest of the teachers will only sit and watch, resulting unevenless again. Have suggested getting the IT champions to handhold or provide stronger support to those who need. That also includes inviting others to sit in the lesson to observe and pick up useful pointers before they implement the lessons.

Some observations to the 1st session

• The participants were enthusiastic to learn the skills, especially the macros and buttons. Most of the participants seem familar with spreadsheet, as they were able to follow the steps in the handouts, also from the way they create the picture graphs.
• However, it seems like many are not aware that they have to press enter after keying in value into the cell... otherwise the system is not able to capture the value.
• On the other hand, skills seem to have taken the centre-stage - as most instances seem that through the activity, they identify the skills they are going to learn. The value of the activity in enhancing the learning experience was not clearly brought out >> Something to refocus in the next session.
• In particular, one participant seemed to be rather impatient - in 2 encounters (i) the value entered was converted to % (eg. 7 became 0.07) - due to system setting (ii) the system could not check the input value because she did not press enter after keying in the number.

Some technical problems encountered...

• The numbers have been set to "2 decimal places" - Tools > Options > Edit.
• The shared spreadsheet refused to save. To overcome this, ask all participants to 'close' spreadsheet. Another means - to copy and rename the shared spreadsheet.
• When coming to "If" statement, do not use "TRUE" and "FASLE" for the logic test as these are default terms used in some operations, like "0" and "1".

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2nd session...

about Technical Skills...

• Giving the "Bonus segment": I guess today's session has certainly answered to many participants' curiosity - the use of macros and buttons... they were attentive and quiet during the demonstration... but also, obvious that quite a number could not follow... (see another point to address to this). In particular, with this 'bonus segment', I think it has saved one participant from writing unsatisfying feedback... ok, I sound sarcastic?
• Managing theDemand: The participant was insistent that technical skills have to be taught otherwise they would not be able to accomplish what's needed - being able to design the lessons - since they could not create the resources!!! How do we manage such as situation... I think, we were tested at that point of time - how to respond and cushion the demand (reasonable, yet unreasonable at the wrong time! wrong platform). How to manage the situation? First thing crossed my mind, do not be defensive, and cannot be seen being defensive otherwise, other participants will 'sing' along and it's going to make the rest of the workshop very difficult to move! I took (what I thought) the most appropriate move: to acknowledge the participants' concern and agree on what's true in the actual situation. They want their need to be heard - it's obvious... and we agree to bring the requests back for consideration....
• Reiterating our Ground: It is also important and necessary for us to reiterate our stand and the objective of the workshop. Also, getting them to see the bigger picture - why certain things are carried out in such a way... However, we have to be cautious not to over-promise! such as giving them uncertain hope that they would expect to see a workshop where technical skills take centre-stage... Be mindful of that!
• Aligning and Communicating Expectations: This brings us to another point... has the intended objectives of the workshop been clearly communicated? or it was communicated but has been filtered along the way as it travels through the air before ending the ears? Or along the way... was there signals that sent out to emphasize the importance of acquiring certain technical skills??? One point that I'm quite sure... there isn't enough emphasis to bring across the intend of the workshop... more could be done to play out the "skill" emphasis...
• Anchoring and driving what's to be 'heard': Moreover, terms like "skills" or related terms are too frequently mentioned in the workshop... would that have shaped the thinking that "Hey, you are talking so much about skills, showing us these very interesting features - so many times and bringing out the advantages of these features, yet you are not showing us how to do? What's the point?" I am quite sure it has! The outburst, I believe, was triggered when participants were asked to suggest how to use ICT in assessing pupils' understanding. No! No! No! It intensifies their concern! At that point of time, what flashed across: It's going to overkill and backfire! Yes, indeed, it happened... led to that outburst.
• What the slide intends to communicate: On the other hand, it has never crossed my mind (although having run the same workshop twice, to ask participants to think how ICT can be used to support the different forms of assessment... it'll create the 'overwhelmed' effect... yes, it's a good to have, but more importantly, be focus! This indeed brings out another very important point: Think through what we intend to say, that's not enough... but to think how the audience receive it - how they perceive and react... that's important!
• Managing this concern: I've never disagree that it is necessary to equip participants with enough skills so that they can 'fish' - On the other hand, given the amount of time and the agenda we want to drive at, how to strike a balance? The 'spreadsheet' competency of the participants varies... when we cater to one group, we lost the other... when too much given, will that scare the novice? From the participants (in the past few runs), it's the frequent users expect more on the technical skills, while the less regular user will treat that as an exposure (as they can't possibly cope with so many new skills!).
• To cater to the more spreadsheet-savvy, suggest that supplementary handouts made available to particpiants at the end of the 1st session so that they could explore on their own... if they are keen, they will try and ask in the subsequent session... if they have little interest, well, they won't bother to ask! This would have probably reduce the 30 min 'bonus segment' to about 5-10 min?
• To cater to the less spreadsheet-savvy, I feel that, we have somehow missed out the fact that how the use the simple features of spreadsheet in good ways in learning activities - those does not require macros or visual basic.
• Striking the balance: There are things that can be done without using the control toolbox, for example, creating a textbox, but one participant wanted to use the text feature in the contol toolbox to do it... well, what difference does that make apart from telling me "I want to use that because it looks better." Where is the value-add? I wonder... are we over promoting the use of macros and buttons because we are comfortable in using it? How many of them will use the skills when they go back to schools? What's exactly practical to them? On one hand, we would very much like to 'give', yes, the kind of satisfaction we get when we realised that the participants are delighted with the fact their immediate request are met. I think, we may have to think of "What's next?" for the participants, perhaps...

the baseline skills...

This is a session where we talk about baseline and we wanted to clarify their doubts and this is a very important group of people as they are the ones who help to 'explain' (at the front line and first cut) what's expected of the standards? Well... without going through with them the standards apart from telling them what the codes mean... are they able to do so? Thought this would be good time to 'pre-clarify' some jargons and big terms like, what do we mean by "multimedia"? I thought, more can be done here...

the Sharing Session by Participants...

On the whole - can't quite see the baseline skills (PS1 & PS2) being 'brought' out from the learning activities and these have not been brought upfront, what's expected to see from the learning activity or task they are to come up with. This could be improved when communicating the task to the participants - their "job" (a word to avoid, I think) is to come up with a learning activity or task using spreadsheet (so? anything thing about spreadsheet?). At this point, the skills PS1 & PS2 should be emphasize and possibly elaborate - with examples. That will help to guide the participants' thinking and planning better. For instance,

• P1 Shapes - indeed, the participants misunderstood what to do: instead, a fair bit of time was spent in modifying/extending the activity in the powerpoint slides. Although one suggested using spreadsheet to teach or get pupils to create patterns - well, that was not materialise... What the participants simply did, when told that the task suppose to be in spreadsheet - they copied all the objects to the spreadsheet instead so that pupils can 'manipulate' the objects in spreadsheet (because the workshop requires them to do so) rather than using the powerpoint, which they agree it's a better tool! So, have they seen the 'value' of using spreadsheet. In my opinion, it's a definite NO!
• P5 Area of Triangles -

WISE - it all started with...The Deformed Frog

WISE: The Web-based Inquiry Science-based Environment

Revisiting the site... While journeying through the pages:

Some observations:

1. The portal allows customisation of projects - in other words, it offers flexibility that allows teachers to adapt the project according to what's deem suitable by the teacher. As brought up during the sharing (learning points) during the section meeting, it was pointed out (by some) that the task tends to be 'converging' - ie. there's already a known answer to the 'hypothesis' and the approach seems to be leading the pupils to go through a carefully planned journey.

Looking from another perspective, I presume the task is put up to give the most conservative structure (as much info & resource as possible) - as I would agree that it's easier to remove than to fill in with more info.

2. As the name of the website implies... it's to do with Science... no wonder, even the 'only' Maths activity (Airbags: Too Fast, Too Furious??) is linked to Science - Physics... Well, isn't it that anything authentic has something to do with Science?

3. The medium used:
In the "Deformed Frog", pictures were put up at the relevant points to 'concretise' what's described in text - to see the 'hard-to-imagine' products. In "Airbags" project, simulation/video is included to aid investigation. Indeed, instructions were there to guide pupils what to look out for... yes, very guided (that reminds me when I conduct the spreadsheet - trying to give hints to lead the participants to look out for what I would like them to see). One advantage on the use of the video clips is that it allows the learner to slower drag the 'display point' so that he is able to do close analysis with the simulation.

Because of the nature of the task - where pupils were to draw observation from a graph, a built-in web-based graphing tool is also available, as part of the investigation package. Like the "Deformed Frog" activity, it also comes with the notes feature where learner can jot down some points, based on the 'questions' displayed. Something new observed: It also comes with an MCQ where puplis were to make a 'decision' at that point of this learning.

4. It is also very obvious that there's no checking mechanism built into the project - but the learner will document his learning along the way. This brings in another concern that normally teachers are concern over classroom learning... making sure that pupils acquire the correct stuff before the problem gets 'accumulated'... it's difficult to undo the misconception. So, when to give the timely intervention/checking? The teacher has to decide...

5. Other form of 'learning support' - key words were hyperlinked to glossary where pictures are included to provide visual and explain what a 'limb' is - this is helpful for the visual learners.

Reflection: Workshop - GSP (Primary) 2007

On 14 & 28 Feb, 7 March @ Clementi Primary

Pre-Workshop Survey
This was sent out to the participants and 13 out of 20 responded. Among the respondents, more than 90% indicated ground zero knowledge/skill level. That helps to set the pace and coverage of the first session. It was also noted that a handful used GSP, however for lesson demonstration, and a second guess is most used existing resources.

A similar survey was carried out at the end of the 1st session. It showed a move towards the middle band. Will do a last round at the end of the 2nd session that we hope more than 75% of the participants indicate they are able to carry out the basic operations with confidence.

Knowing the participants more...
Realised that many participants have a common 'mission' - to find out what GSP does and share with the department how it can be used in T&L before the dept decides to purchase the software. As a result, more than 50% do not have GSP back in school > Have put up the link where participants could register an evaluation copy.

Workshop materials
There was a revamp to the materials we used last year. Some changes made to the approach:

• How the basic tools are introduced to the participants. An attempt was made to bridge participants' familiarity with microsoft applications to GSP - point out similarity to spreadsheet (in having multiple pages within the same file) and the difference in selecting objects and editing the objects (eg. copy, paste, delete).
• Knowing the what, when and why. Have included some components to set the participants to think - what kinds of 'lines' available, when to use which and why. This helps when they moved on to creating the figures with the relevant tools at the later stage. Also, setting them to explore changing the look and colour of the figures.
• Learning activities. Have modified some parts to integrate the "What-if" component. However, noticed that participants were more engrossed and interested to identify the kind of skills needed to create the sketch used in the learning activity.

Learning activities... what are we trying to drive at...

Pointed out to participants...

• Emphasize on pupil-centred activity - draw on the various initiatives - Engaged learning, TLLM, etc. where pupils are engaged in constructing their knowledge, to explore and discover.
• The kind of 'structure' needed to scaffold or lead pupils in the learning - when to use tables? when to loosen such structure? and the powerful 'what-if'.
• Also need to begin with an end in mind... what's the expected learning outcome? That decides what strategy to adopt and what resource (sketch) is suitable, and then, when necessary, adopt/adapt/customise/create... sometimes will require pupils to do simple 'enhancement' such as measuring the length and angles. That will mean equipping pupils with some basic skills - how to navigate and how to measure.

Reflection: Workshop - Spreadsheet (2nd Run)

On 31 Jan and 7 February 2007 @ Teck Ghee Primary

It was the 2nd run and things went smoother, as the reactions from participants (drawing from the 1st run) were more predictable.

Reviewing the 'tactics'
The "magic number" tactic once again works... indeed, this time, we used that to get participants to give responses... and an extension to that was, participants to identify the next number to answer the next question... Have used this trick before... in class where pupils either called out the name or register number of their classmate. I guess, for a moment, the participants were enjoying the fun...

This time we were more cautious when distributing the stickers in the 2nd sesion - this time, the levels are more well distributed.

something new...
While participants presented their lesson ideas, the rest participated by typing in their comments/inputs in the spreadsheet... this helped to reduce the time taken to discuss after each presentation... moreover, participants have something 'concrete' to bring back for resource/lesson idea refinement...

Our Participants

• Range of spreadsheet skill varies from almost zero to intermediate. There were a couple who needed more support while a handful explored the used of "If" when designing the template in session 2.
• There were 3 participants from the pilot schools... one indicated that the school is currently looking at the integration and the materials in the baseline website.
• One teacher from a non-pilot school expressed that 'baseline' was no surprise to the school as pupils already equipped with the necessary skills.

'Guiding' participants...
Learnt in the 1st run that it was not so easy to get participants to draw out inputs from participants on their views and comment on the lesson activities, there was a conscious effort to 'throw in' some guiding questions to direct participants' attention. Thought that helps... when participants could hear and see more than what they would have observed.

Also got participants' to share some 'skills' and their suggested methods - (i) How to 'unfilter' quickly (ii) Using "If" instead of Macro.

Request from Participants after the 1st session

• One requested to be able to create a bar chart/picture graph with 'itemised' legend.

Some strengths pointed out by participants...

Lesson ideas are great

It was an `eye-opener’ on what spreadsheet can do

Very interactive, lots of hands-on

Lots of ideas and examples to reinforce understanding

Gives useful tips

Usable ideas, enhanced knowledge of spreadsheets

Able to download files

Able to use spreadsheet to enhance pupils learning

Many resources to collect and for use in my classroom

What the participants said...

• Participants should be taught more skills on how to create those innovative spreadsheets eg. how to use `macro’ etc
• More such session for teachers
• Learnt how to create resources instead of planning for lessons
• Content and materials needs to be vetted again. Science lesson on transparency of objects. Materials are mentioned but some objects are mentioned.

Other areas of training that participants indicated they need...

• Word document
• How to create the spreadsheet with the use of Macros
• Non-core subjects eg. National Education
• Maths – Graph
• Dreamweaver

One technical problem encountered...

• The shared spreadsheet was 'unshared' after some time and participants could not save their entries. The file became 'read-only' when re-opened.

Learning Journey @ ABC Waters Exhibition

It's the first 'Learning Journey' of the year.

The exhibition overs the past, the present and future of the 'Water development' in Singapore - I think it's more of the present and coming near future... what we envision to become.

Not only it talks about the achievement to-date, it shares its masterplan of development - with work already underway and what we will see in the very near future.

'Water Education', I thought - the effort to educate the nation on how previous water is to all of us. One of the proudest achievement I think Singapore has is its NEWater - still do not know how to 'read' this - "New Water" or "NE Water"... there it goes again... Heard over the radio news that even the Australian is keen to work with Singapore on this... So, recycled water can be an innovation, too! Yes, each of us got a bottle of the NEWater at the exhibition... hm... the crystal clear 'Singapore Water'. That reminds me when in Hokkaido, the locals were proud to have the purest water from the Snow Mountain to make the soup and wine... here in Singapore, we have something too... but not available in the market.

The exhibits did not really emphasize on what we should do to save water - guess that's something expected to be communicated via other channels (through school programmes??). Its focus is on the environment - That reminds me of those advertisements of condos that splash across the newspapers! The scenic environment that comes with some 'water source', without fail. Everything presented is so good to believe and see them happening... Wah! Wah! Wah!

Then it brings us to another point - while there's effort from the various organisations and ministries to materialise the dream, how about the 'moving entities' who live and use the place. Are Singaporeans ready to exhibit the desireable level of social responsibility? nation pride? It takes many parties - directly or not directly involved in the project - to actualise the dream.

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Some reports about the 'Active, Beautiful & Clean' Waters Exhibition @ the Asian Civilisation Museum:

- http://www.pub.gov.sg/info_center/press_release.aspx

- http://sg.news.yahoo.com/070130/5/singapore255552.html

- http://app.mewr.gov.sg/press.asp?id=CDS3520

Reflection: Workshop - Intuitive Exptal Approach (1st run)

On 23 Jan & 6 Feb 2007 @ Ngee Ann Secondary

Pre-requisities
The workshop started off with familiarising participants with GSP skills. Although the pre-requisite is participants should possess basic skills of GSP... it was obvious that teachers often ignore the pre-conditions specified. What we ended up with... 'experts' and 'aliens' to GSP skills. That comes the challenging part... to cater to such a group... on the other hand, because the tasks were crafted such that it indirectly led the participants' through some thinking processes, it was rather difficult to let-go some of them along the way... there're junctures where all were 'brought' together for discussions. There it goes... triggered some not-so-desirable behaviours among the participants (also see: Who needs to attend workshop?). On the other hand, it eventally boils down to one's professional ettiquette.

As suggested during the post-session discussion, it will be good to front the session, right from the beginning for the participants to see what this is what pupils are expected to go through, rather than to anchor it as a 'refresher' session - this helps them to see the purpose behind the session, and also to attempt the activities, hopefully with the pupils' perspectives in mind. This would probably make the session more meaningful... and at the same time, helping them to anticipate potential 'problems' to manage better.

Reflection: Workshop - Spreadsheet (1st Run)

On 17 & 24 January 2007 @ SJI Junior

This was the first of the 5 runs of "Learning with Spreadsheet" workshops to run this year, although there was a 'supposedly' 'dry-run' in Nov 2006.

The materials were more or less there, but was the updating and tightening that took a little more time.

From the Nov session, we learn that it was important to find out what's in the participants' mind when they came - was very sure they were 'arrowed'. However, how was this 'arrow' communicated to them? And how to manage these mindsets...

Dealing with "Why am I here?"

I believe, the success of the workshop is not just communicating our intent, what we want to deliver... but largely dependent on the participants - meeting their expectations and at the end of the day, they left the workshop satisfied.

Of course, the challenging part is what's their expectation; and more importantly, it must be aligned to our intent... and eventually it strikes a win-win situation. It means that we have to influence their expectations. Of course, we can't influence without knowing what's theirs... and that means, we have to hear from them.

Here comes the interesting part: What are their expectations?
Do they know why they are arrowed? Do they know the context?

• Are they aware that it has something to do with Baseline?
• Then next question: Do they know what's baseline? Are they aware there's this baseline thingy that rolls out to all primary schools this year?
• Do they know that their role: They are expected to go back to 'contributed positive' by sharing with fellow teachers in schools?
• More importantly, they are not here because we need an audience. They are there because they are going to be our ambassadors to answer some questions at the frontline.

Actually, it would be interesting if we were to put ourselves in the shoes the participants and analyse what could possibly in their heads. That helps us to anticipate and better manage the concerns... to win them over: As a participant,

• If I have not been told of the rationale/objective of the workshop, I will presume it's any workshop/briefing that MOE requires an audience - that's why I'm here so that it can take place? Very negative, right? But it's very real...
• If I know that this workshop is on spreadsheet: I will ask, why send me? I already know spreadsheet skills... is this workshop going to teach something new? Alternatively, I am a well-known "spreadsheet-idiot", then I'm here to learn skills? So, this is tied to skill acquisition.
• Of course, if I am already an advance user of Spreadsheet, why send me here? Isn't it a waste of time? I have tonnes of marking awaiting me! I can't find any good reason that I am here!

Getting the feel at ground

Indeed, chats with the participants before the workshop started already proved us quite right - many did not know why they were here... looking at their expectations - skills surfaced many times... and of course, there are some very 'diplomatic' answers - to learn how spreadsheet enhance T&L in classroom - too general a statement, right?

The chats also reviewed that, apart from participants of 2 schools involved in the pilot, almost all have not heard about baseline (although the email that went out with this workshop stated baseline as the main to the series of workshops). On the other hand, also discovered 2 schools actually have started getting teachers to look at the materials - one asked for all the resources to be downloadable at one go while another actually brought along with her a photocopied of the baseline guide - I was impressed!

Starting with the right footing

Yes, it was the right move to bring in Baseline right at the beginning... although it was not planned for when the workshop was first designed (even in Nov, we just briefly talked about it and there wasn't even a single slide on this, as it was suppose to exist as the 'hidden agenda').

Am glad that we brought it forth front. Thought have managed to link the workshop objective (spreadsheet) to the big picture (ie. baseline) quite well.

Thanks to Hong Pin for bringing up the idea of the which to front the workshop - baseline or spreadsheet... aka: syllabus vs topic... indeed, that has helped me to better connect the segments when presenting to the participants.

To a large extent, I think participants understood where we were coming from - at least did not detect any resistance sign... The participants listened attentively... at least, the baseline part... I guess we managed to 'sell' it well... they know they were receiving first hand inputs rather than filtered inputs through the key personnel back in schools.

Preparation Visit @ site... has never been as crucial...

It's the first time we used a shared spreadsheet to facilitate the workshop - another brillant idea as a result of discussion. Thanks to Poh Heng's suggestion to use other platforms to facilitate the Data Collection Tools workshop. It's a blessing in disguise...

It was our continguency plan initially. Blog was the first platform we had in mind. However, the comments component in the blog was blocked by a firewall. Of course, other tests such as the shared feature of spreadsheet, macros setting, etc... went on fine.

Requests from Participants after 1st session

• One participant requested the possibility of doing a one-time download of resources from the baseline website (est. 150 MB)
• Many indicated (as they attempt the learning activities) wanted to acquire more advanced spreadsheet skills - macros and inserting buttons.
• Participants were thrilled that a spreadsheet can be accessed and edited simultaneously. As a result, we demonstrated to participants how to do the setting.
• An additional handout on spreadsheet skills were given out in the 2nd session.
• Indeed, a couple of participants tried sharing the spreadsheet back in school after the first session and fedback some problems encountered. This was followed-up by a supplementary handout emailed to all participants after the 2nd session.

Changes made...

• As the Lesson Design Checklist is only mentioned in the 2nd session, it is 'moved' from 'Handout 2' to 'Handout 10'. Its related slides (after each activity) are removed. But the lesson activities are brought in when go through the stages of lesson design in the 2nd session.

During the hands-on and sharing...

• We managed to get all the groups, except one to share - due to time constraint: One mother tongue teacher who teachers Malay.
• A few participants modified the existing activities, though many expressed that they do not have enough skills to prepare the templates that they had in mind.
• One new idea: Use of spreadsheet for language - composition writing, where the shared spreadsheet could serve as a platform where pupils contribute ideas during group discussion. Teacher could gather them and discuss the vocabulary surfaced by pupils.
• Another idea: Use simple colouring feature in spreadsheet for an inter-disciplinary task - eg. Mother Tongue lesson topic that talks about designs/patterns related to the various culture (NE) and tie to an Art lesson (Asethetics)

Some strengths pointed out by participants...

• Very informative and useful
• Explained different ways of teaching using Excel
• A lot of interaction to clarify our doubts
• Hands-on, sharing of ideas and resources
• Some features of spreadsheets are highlighted
• Learnt many features in Excel which I can use during lessons
• A lot of lesson ideas were shared – there is a pool
• The use of spreadsheets to plan interesting lessons for the pupils

What the participants said...

• Follow up with Macro
• At least one hands-on to force all participants to modify one of the ready-made spreadsheet and see how participants can apply and not violate copyright law
• Extension of eg. transfer of learning
• Actual Excel skills so that participants can design appropriate spreadsheet activities eg. Macros. We are all fine in terms of lesson planning but we have to learn actual techniques
• Include a little basic skills such as programming the buttons to check

Other areas of training that participants need...

• Using of Formula in Excel for tabulation
• Functions in Excel
• How to adapt and create our own lesson plan/spreadsheets
• Advanced Excel so that I can use the IF, MAX etc features
• Learning about Macro (Visual Basic Editor)
• Programming in Excel so that I could maximize the usage of spreadsheet

and yes... an AFI is time management: The workshop stretched beyond 5.30 pm. Thanks for the participants' patience... Perhaps, we should relook at how to capture participants' inputs during the sharing session...

Some tactics used...

• In the 1st session, to ensure that participants do not overwrite each others' entries in the spreadsheet, each was assigned a 'magic number' when they received the handouts when signing in. Well, many were kept in suspense not knowing what's that for...
• In the 2nd session, participants received a colourful sticker, colour according to the level they taught. That helps them to identify fellow participants teaching the same level.

Our participants...

• mostly P5 and P6 teachers, with 1 teacher teachers Malay language.

Recollections: 2006

1. Reflection 1: Talk by David Hung
2. Reflection 2: NIE Paper - Engaged Learning: Making an Authentic Experience
3. Reflection 4: SAIL - Strategies for Active and Independent Learning
4. Reflection 3: SEED - Strategies for Effective Engagement and Development of Pupils in Primary Schools
5. Learning Journey to Alexandra Hospital
6. SEED... a second look
7. What they mean to me... Worklife Harmony & Workload, Communication and Efficiency
8. New Look, Old Look
9. "Espoused Theory" vs "Theory-in-Use"
10. Learning and Community of Practice
11. Workshop: Writing Papers (17 & 19 May 2006)
12. IAEA 2006 Conference (22-26 May)
13. Learning Journey to GIC
14. Workshop: Collaboration & Security in MS Applications
15. UK Study Trip
16. http://lohky.blogspot.com/2006/08/learning-journey-comex.html
17. Teachers' Day
18. Teachers' Day Mass Lecture
19. Talk: Achieving Cost Effective Service Excellence - Lessons from Singapore Airlines
20. 4th Professional Sharing Session, organised by CPDD
21. Innovationation 2006
22. Staff Retreat 2006 (8-9 Nov)
23. TecXperience 2006 (22 Nov)

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TecXperience 2006 (22 Nov)

Some learning points...my reflection...

(a) ePortfolio
I first came across the term ePortfolio when we embarked on a collaborative project with NIE back in 2004, using the Knowledge Community... whereby pupils' discussion were captured in the online discussion forum and teachers serve as moderators to the discussions. It was a new way to be involved in pupils' learning, to participate in their learning, though it could be tedious and massive as we were to monitor our pupils' as well as the partnering school's pupils' posting (as it's a collaborative project).

The entire process provides another dimension to learning, ie. borderless - physical environment and time... anytime, anywhere... pupils were excited as they got the chance to interact to counterparts in the other part of the country... moreover, because they work with 'strangers'... that they had never meet before, it added some form of mystery (note at that time mms and 3G phones had not come into the picture yet).

In the presentation, Shuqun primary shared the use of moodle as a platform that 'holds' the pupils' artefacts and journey of learning... it seems quite different from my initial idea of ePortfolio. How they did it... pupils' task and work were uploaded, the various versions of draft. Pupils' reflection and teachers' feedback were captured in a spreadsheet... nevertheless, the impression was 'project'-based... it's like tracking the journey to the completion of a project. It did not use a very sophisticated ICT system. Well, I think, if the pupils were to track their journey over the years (with a compilation of projects in various stages of their primary education jourvey), yes... the ePortfolio 'project' is a successful one... so, with the beautiful processes shared... now it leaves very much to for us to see the technology that the school has adopted is able to manage the documentation of the journey.

(b) Podcasting

Henderson Secondary shared the use of podcasting in Humanities... It was impressive, especially when we heard from the horses' mouth - the 2 pupils who shared their experience. To many of us, I think it sounded more like a project than something that was integrated so seamlessly into the lesson proper. On the other hand, I applaud the teacher's creative means to engage pupils in a subject that is 'chim' to many... and congratulate his success! It would be very interesting to see how Maths taps on the use of podcasting to bring about a different learning experience... that the school is going to do next year...

On the other hand, Blangah Rise Primary experimented with one class on the use of mp3 player in the learning of language - where pupils learn the proper pronunciation of words, the intonation, etc... The 'experiment' dispelled the 'myth' that only pupils of an older age are able to handle equipment well. I think, nothing is impossible until one has tried... if the teacher has not chosen a P2 class to work on this 'experiment', many of us will still living with the belief that "P2 is too young to play with these equipment". While the pupils enjoyed the activity, some very real challenges or 'problems' were also highlighted (eg. the need of technical support like TA to download the files from the mp3 players, having to spend 2 double period to familiarise the P2 pupils on the operation of the equipment)... which I thought it was very good, rather than presenting a too-good-to-be-true kind of impression.

Indeed, this got me recall a similar kind of 'gungho' spirit of Serene Lee from Si Ling Pri, when P3 classes used 3G phones in the Maths Trail... ok, 世上无难事， 只怕有心人。

Bravo!

(c) The Use of Open Source Software (OSS)

Chua Chu Kang Primary shared the use of edubuntu... first heard about this from Alvin, while we were preparing for the ICET this July. The teachers shared the use of some of the features that came with the learning environment - ultimately, it's just another "OS" in the sense that it provides an "one-stop" environment. As pointed out by the presenters, the biggest draw to use edubuntu is that it's free... and it's easy to access... can just boot up from the CD. That reminds me of the days of using MS DOS disk to boot up my 286 PC that did not come with any hard disk. The presenters also pointed out that this would have catered to instances when pupils do not have the office applications at home... ok, there's probably a growing number, but my personal guess is most home PCs are still equipped with the office applications.

The presentation has not really highlighted how the environment that is created with OSS has impacted on the learning experience of the pupils (apart from making it accessible to pupils). Some 'benefits' include pupils become more forthcoming in learning, being more motivated... on a second thought, these seem motherhood... it has yet brought out the value of using this OSS environment.

(d) Use of Games SEEDinIT - virtual learning environment supplementing experiential learning for P1 & P2 Pupils

While viewing the activity that was created to bring about the authentic learning environment, one thought... why schools are willing to spend some much time, effort and resources (including $) to create the resources while there isn't a lack of such professionals in the market who can do something similar...

it's just like asking... back at the beginning of mp1 or even earlier... will a school create a CD ROM kind of product while the market actually can produce it?

We know that being in the involvement comes with flexibility and customisation... on the other hand, I just wonder... where's the balance? It seems like there are lots of 'IT enterprises' that are growing in schools...

Staff Retreat 2006 (8-9 Nov)

Day 1:

The grouping... how it's done:
All participants arrange themselves according to the date and birth (excluding the year)... OK, interesting discovery: am having the same birthday as Darren! Also, Sai Choo is last in the queue... just wondering... is her birthday on 31 December? Charles is right at the front... 1 January?

(a) Fearsome Factor
Description
An ice-breaker whereby each group is given a list of items to find. That includes some insects that are alive, a can of coke, a bag of sea water and a ball.

Some thoughts...
- There is no competition... indeed, it's sharing... sharing of resources and collaboration... there's no win or lose... each team tried to fulfill the items in a checklist... just like everybody's sitting for the same exam.

Oops!!! That reminded me that excessive sharing and collaboration is no good! Remember the days when working with the trainee teachers in Bhutan, to help their friends, they share with other classes what is going to be tested after they sat for a test... in ended up we had to set multiple sets of questions to address to that problem, and also have to rationalise with them the objective of assessments! OK, perhaps different culture, different mindsets?

(b) 3D Icon Challenge
Description
Each group to come up with an icon and draw it on a chart paper. We get to vote for our favourite icons... pretty interesting representations.

In our group, Tze Hwei came up with one made up of 2 letters - well, depending how we want to interpret... "W" or "M" or "E" and "C" or "U"... depending on our perspectives.

Some thoughts on this...
- it's important to be able to see things from different perspectives... though it may be presented as "C" and "E"... "U" and "W"... one even saw the chinese character "山" and interpret as "稳如泰山". See! How imaginative and creative one can be! and that probably reminds us that often we are so used to see from one perspective (ours??!!!) and forget to stand back and take a look from another angle!

(c) Wells of the Deep

Description

It's really about expect the unexpected... it tested our beliefs and assumptions! Through this simple 'jig-saw' puzzle - it brings out a few human behaviours. The mental model and behaviours are quite clearly displayed in this activity.

Are we bother to look what's out there, next to us? It's just like I spotted the next group actually holding on to the printouts... hey, do we have? If not, can they share? That's what happen when we do not know what to do or how to get started off with... then look around! We may get some clue to help us get started! Of course, the other group, though holding on to a whole stack of printouts did not bother to check around if others have it or not? They are not aware that they play the role of providing the start-up support to others!

Though the puzzles are divided among 16 groups, there were only 15 sets of puzzle! So, it's testing our 'by-default' assumption! We take for granted that certain parameters must be 'constant'...

At one point, the team decided that it's better to fulfill others' wishes... and we became generous to send all our pieces away! Well, sometimes it's good to help others to succeed, isn't it? On the other hand, we were 'conned' into giving up a diagram that we were amost half finished!!! One pair came to us and said they have already had most of the pieces, except those that were with us! So, we decided to collaborate and give them what we had... guess what happened? When we 'survey' their puzzle about 10 minutes later, it was only about 2/3 completed. In my heart, just wonder... Hey, honesty counts! where's your integrity? Though it's a game, certain undesireable characteristics were surfaced! It's dissappointing, especially when it comes from an education officer!

Learnt another thing, too... that is, do not see things by the surface and immediately jump into conclusion or action (without much thinking)! For example, we started off sieving out those pictures with straight edges - which is the normal practice when working on a jigsaw puzzle... however we forget that each group could have parts of the different puzzles! One assumption... however, that was very quickly resolved when someone said, look at the back of the puzzle! We can sieve/organise by the colour at the back of the puzzle! So, do not look at the surface of things only! We need to examine the 'background' and 'rationale' before jumping into conclusion if we owe the matter or not!

(d) Where are You? In search of your cloth peg

Description

Everybody wrote our name on a cloth peg. These were collected and scattered all over the field. The team was blind-folded and led by the leader, who's the only person who can see... Then each were to get back their own 'name' peg.

Some thoughts...

The wrap-up session of this activity was good where key points were clearly highlighted by everybody...

As a leader: Give clear instructions and do not assume others share the same viewpoint (the members need guidance). It is necessary to care, motivate and give assurance to the members... that keeps the team moving.

As a follower: (I like this) Enjoy being led... yes, if we're not happy with the leader, there'll be filters that dilute the effort from both sides - and lead to low productivity. Of course, we have to know who the leader is... and when not clear, give feedback and clarify... of course, have to behave - contribute as a cooperative team leader... sometimes we do not see the overall picture and we jump into conclusion based on our limited knowledge.

(e) Over the Fire!

Description

In a circle formation: A huge blue bucket was placed in the centre, with about 15 smaller buckets placed around. Each of the smaller buckets contained 3 ping-pong balls. The objective is to transfer the ping-pong balls from the smaller buckets into the blue one. The challenge comes from the constraints... no one is allowed to step into the circle... once in, will become a 'human' barrier... the small buckets can only move towards the blue bucket... once any ping-pong ball is spilled out of the bucket, that bucketful of ping-pong balls have to re-start all over... once the 1st ball drops into the blue bucket, the rest must go in within 60 seconds!

The strategy was actually a simple one, having 2 ropes, one that comes with a moveable knot that can become tightened around the neck of the object... there it goes! yes, it requires way to 'secure' the target. Paul came up with an interesting way... ok, quite procedural, as Marako had pointed out, but it's a very good try! It may take time, but it works... yes, Marako also suggested getting masking tape to 'stick' the neck of the bucket so as to bring it over to the ones nearer, however, Timothy is quick to point out that it will require lots of resources - as each can only use once... and it effectively requires at least 15 sets of tapes and ropes! Moreover, we already ran out of the resource - masking tape! Nevertheless, it's a good try!

Some thoughts...

No harm trying attitude... that's why several strategies were tested and we eventually agreed on one way... We cheered on... though some of us are not working on the ropes... However, like what Ivan has pointed out... somethings we forgot being spectators or funs, we unknowningly become 'barriers'... good point, something to be mindful with.

A group went on to play soccer at the other side of the field... what's our interpretation? "Bo-chap" attitude? This is one way that we can perceive... another perspective (hm... perhaps some of us will think that this group is trying to defend their act)... as they explained... since they knew that things are in order and progressing, and they will not be able to contribute, so they look for other things to do! One of the guys actually realistically pointed out that in the real life situation, if they see that their job has been taken over by someone, they will start to look for other areas when they can be engaged in... hm... so that means including moving on to greener pastures? This brings to another point: Does the organisation value its people? Do the people feel it? If one does not feel not valued, I agree, one will start to look elsewhere to where people value and appreciate one's existence!

Day 2:

The day started off with a video clip... "Be my Guest". It's an interesting one! It generated lots of laughters! It pointed out the expectations of 'customers' apart from the actual business that one deals with, but the PR/HR that many a time, we take for granted! Especially internal customer! Things go strain when one does not take care of this... and that leads to unproductivity... Just wonder what goes in the minds of the audience as they watched the clip... did everyone of us started to reflect and realised that are lots more that we can do... Customer Service!

(f) Grooming

A few areas were touched on... Grooming, Etiquettes - Email & Phone...

Thought it was quite an exciting time when each pointed out what's expected of, especially in terms of social etiquette and grooming of the opposite sex. Oh yes, I was indeed caught in big surprises of some of the "don'ts"... you mean it happened in the ministry? Our colleagues do not know what's decent? Based on some descriptors, it shocked me when one asked the guys ensure there is enough cloth to cover their bodies? Similarly to the ladies!!! About leg hairs? About the hair? There are those who yet bother to dress themselves in a decent enough manner... One new thing I learnt: There's this IM for dress code! Great.. perhaps will find sometime to take a look...

(g) Building the Structure...

Building a structure so that the marble, after falling through at least a height of 1m will roll to for a distance of nearly but not yet 1m. It's a challenge, isn't it? Given a rope, 2 flip chart papers, some A4 papers, a tube of glue, and a roll of masking tape.

Some thoughts...

The one who's most 'hands-on' will take charge? Hm... that's basically what I observe... at least in my group... on the other hand, it's probably... 'by nature' of personality? and probably whose brain most active? and one who talks most? Ok, also a fact - ie. when the few people who know each other well, sometimes they'll forget who else around... and to take note of other voices...

(h) The castaway... The caterpillar game

Description

Everyone blew a balloon... and the balloon was sandwiched between the human bodies... forming a caterpillar that moved down to the badminton court to collect some stuff before coming back... and eventually all come together to use balloons to form the ETD logo...

Some thoughts...

Well, this activity once again emphasizes on teamwork... and having the consideration for all... in order to succeed. As we walked off as a catepillar, realised some 'interesting' characters that are quite distinctive of one of the sections - the very jovial group who we can find the child in them, that was basically exhibited through their behaviour... and forgetting about the rest... This crossed my mind - I have not crossed path with them in my work... If I would have... it's going to drive me to the wall!!! Trying 'childish' ways to 'win' the game! It happens here!!! I guess... maturity...

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