It is inevitable to talk about 21st century classroom learning without including Social Media in the big picture. In the context of classroom learning, teachers have been contemplating on its implementation, not on the need to use it but more on which social media tool that best delivers the intended objectives of the lesson. It is important to note that there is a dire need to properly manage knowledge via social media without being overwhelmed by the pervasive nature of digital technologies as they escalate by leaps and bounds. With the influx of ubiquitous social media tools, it is hard to pinpoint one-size-fits-all tool that can encompass the overall needs and wants of classroom learning. Vicki Davis wrote a great guidebook for Social Media in the classroom that offers useful resources and tips on optimizing them for collaborative and personalized learning. Zaid AlSagof encapsulated myriad of social media benefits that are geared towards research and knowledge sharing. If you feel overwhelmed and have no inkling which is which and what’s the purpose of various social media, I present you social media 101.
Apart from trying out various social media, knowing how to manage them is essential too. Rick Mans wrote an interesting article on 3 components for knowledge management that I believe can also be applicable in implementing social media in classroom teaching.
A repository
A social network platform
A social collaboration platform
Social media is catalytic in knowledge repository where information can be curated, grouped and shared with others regardless one’s location. This is made possible via cloud computing where social media tools such as Pinterest, Scoop.it, Storify, etc. capitalize on social curation element for users to optimize in storing their digital resources. Apart from these social curation tools, knowledge repository can be in form of cloud-based storage such as DropBox, Google Drive and Teambox. The dawn of 21st century learning foresees knowledge curation and knowledge gathering skills to be vital amongst netizens as the significance of knowledge may vary and differ from one user to another. Rather than hoarding the information, educator needs to impart the skills of knowledge curation with the students so they can store the knowledge that are useful and meaningful to their learning development.
Another component in knowledge management is social network platform where the pervasive usage indicates its surmountable importance towards sociocultural, psychological and economic influence on a global scale. I believe majority of students nowadays have Facebook accounts or at least are aware of its existence, although some may use it to upload recent selfies, stalk their crush/peers or follow their idols online. Education-wise, teachers can utilize Facebook to encourage asynchronous discussion on various issues that are parallel to the syllabus. It is interesting to note that some students who show inhibition in verbal communication in school may be active online as they are empowered by the flexibility of voicing out without the intimidation of face-to-face scrutiny and peer pressure. This is more prevalent amongst Asian and Middle Eastern students where the verbal communication may not be as robust as their Western counterparts.
I believe the best element that can be optimized via social media is the collaborative element that is evident in social media platforms. Teachers can initiate project-based learning and collaborative projects either classroom-bound or beyond the classroom walls. Blogging, Wiki and Presentation platforms are some tools that can enhance collaborative and leadership skills amongst students. I did digital storytelling with my students via social media where students express their thoughts via FB group and post the progress via blog and upload their videos on Youtube. Empowering the students with their own digital identities help students to fortify their self-esteem as well as showcase their skills to others. This will eventually lead to intellectual capital where students see knowledge as a stellar asset in moving forth amongst their peers and progressing in their learning adventure.
This October, I’ll be one of the national trainers for 21st century classroom learning workshop where we will train selected teachers who will champion the ideas of global classroom and cascade the various innovative learning tools and strategies that can be implemented in Malaysian classroom. I’m looking forward to sharing ideas with these teachers.
To be or not to be…that’s the question. I made a tough decision after mulling over the options for a while. I took the plunge into the abyss of uncertainties, knowing for sure I would expect years of sleep deprivation, zombified mind and yo-yoing esteem.
Yep. I decided to do PhD. Part time.
Why do I want to do my PhD? Some may want it for the advancement of one’s career and some may want to pursue PhD to refine themselves and contribute to the body of knowledge. Frankly, it has always been my dream to pursue PhD albeit reservation on whether I can ever do it. However, my professors and close friends have been encouraging me to pursue my PhD, reviving my aspiration to do so. I used to think I wasn’t good enough to go all out for the dangling carrot of academia. Then I told myself, what do I have to lose? I braved myself to try and I hope to finish it strong. Due to scholarship bond, I opt to do my PhD on part time basis. To be honest, I used to be skeptical about not doing my postgrad studies, especially PhD full time. How on earth can I ever think about it after listening to the rants and rave from my friends, the PhD hopefuls who did it full time?
It’s more on keeping up with the momentum as I’m psyched into doing research at the moment. I worried that if I take a hiatus from my studies, I may not be able to start again and sustain my research fervour . This is of course a personal perspective and others may think otherwise. Feel free to disagree.
Another tough decision to make is deciding on the area that I’ll focus for my PhD. Should I stick to IT or revert to TESL?Although I had receive a direct offer to do PhD in Information Systems, I was still mulling over my decision. I actually made a SWOT analysis for this, to consider the pros and cons of my decision. I love teaching and I am passionate about technology management for learning. Hence, trying to strike an equilibrium requires a bit of studies on the areas offered in respective disciplines. My final decision was Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT) at UTM, famed for its reputation for producing technocrats specializing in cutting edge innovation & research in the country. Selection is tough and one of the perks is getting to study in Japan.
I count my blessing that finding a Supervisor for my PhD was a breeze. I was thrilled when Prof. Rose Alinda Alias, the Deputy VC for Academic & International, UTM offered to be my SV. Am I really dreaming here?! Others have to scout high and low for a good SV and here, I have a persona de grata wanting me to work under her tutelage. Ya Allah, I feel happy yet worried if I can deliver up to her expectations. She is a well-known expert in Knowledge Management, one of my research interests and having her as my supervisor is the ultimate dream. I’m also blessed to be working with Prof. Naoki Ohshima who is an esteemed scholar in the field of project management and instructional system design in learning. I hope to learn more from both of them and give the best output from my PhD journey.
The current title of my PhD research is “Knowledge Sharing Model of Online Interaction in Massive Open Online Course(MOOC) for Higher Education”. I actually started writing my PhD proposal after my MSc. viva voce. Pheww, it was frantic alright! I barely had any rest and start devouring the references at the library. Since the topic is relatively new in Malaysia, I had to thoroughly read and do research for proposal in order to present something deemed worthy for serious consideration. However, I knew that this is what I need to face by studying part time. I need to plan my work well in order to graduate on time (GOT). I’m still refining it from to time, not sure whether it’s good or not but I just keep reading & writing notes on daily basis. For now, I have been working on my literature review so I can identify the research gaps and issues that I can highlight and attempt for my thesis. However, it’s not as easy and smooth sailing all the way. I experienced Information Overload at some points and feel like throwing up after staring at the computer screen and books for too long. Yikes 🙁
Hmmm…would I ever able to cope when I have to juggle work and studies? I know life is not a bed of flowers but hopefully it isn’t a bed of thorns either *cringes* I can only hope, pray and work towards my goals. I know it may be difficult but it’s not impossible. May Allah ease this journey for me. Hopefully I can sustain my motivation to finish this strong to the end.
Two years ago, I wrote about Cambridge Placement Test and the mixed feelings I had towards the assessment. Later on, there’s another assessment that was introduced called APTIS. Some of my colleagues and friends sat for it recently. Personally, I feel assessment is a part and parcel of gauging one’s performance in one’s field and it is inevitable to deny its importance. After sitting for CPT, I took IELTS as part of the entry requirement to Harvard University. Alhamdulillah, I aced it though I wish I could manage my time better. Pertaining to CPT and APTIS, it would be better to have feasible analysis of the stakeholders’ views and see how these tests influence the educators’ proficiency and motivation levels. To check your result, you can go to Ministry of Education’s website or simply click http://apps.moe.gov.my/abpg/CPT
Alhamdulillah, syukur ya Allah. This has been a momentous personal journey for me. Two years back, I wasn’t sure I can do this, doing IT Management with my background as an English teacher and zero knowledge on programming or coding. Yeah, it sounds kinda crazy. Some people thought I was nuts to do that.
So I asked my mom. She gave me the best advice ever.
Have a sincere intention as when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
I have flaws but I am a very driven person. I gradually learn to self-motivate, improve myself and choose my thoughts. Through motivation books that I’ve read (Covey, Carnegie, Robbins, Pink, etc.), I’ve learned that all successful people share one common trait: perseverance. They don’t give up easily and view shortcomings as flip sides to new perspectives and opportunities. Value constructive criticisms and ignore the sour grapes. Never let difficulties and negative vibes from others pull you down. That’s what I try to remind myself from time to time.
Here’s the hard fact of life : not everyone will be happy with your success. Gradually I learn that it’s important to surround yourself with people who can nurture your being. My SV, my lecturers and my classmates are very helpful in helping a novice like me. Apart from UTM community, LIC has been a great support in my journey as well.
I really cherish the opportunity given by MOE & UTM to study full time. I learned how to write proper research paper. Dr Halina & Dr Razak really helped me a lot in guiding me to be a better researcher. May Allah bless everyone who guide and pray for my success in life. I wouldn’t made this far without your support.
Does the word ‘MOOC’ rings a bell to you? If not, it’s never to late to know about the latest model for online learning content that is taking the world by storm.The emergence of Massive Open Online Courseware (MOOC) has garnered widespread attention for revolutionizing open access learning and it is considered as the main driver of education innovation. The acronym was coined by Dave Cormier and Bryan Alexander in 2008 when Stephen Downes and George Siemens incepted Connectivism and Connective Knowledge course that propagates the learning theory of Connectivism. It is proposed as a learning theory for the digital age. So, it’s just another online learning fad that wouldn’t differ much from the previous LMS, no? Well, MOOC offers more than the existing LMS due to its scalability elements where more than several hundred to several thousand of students can join the course albeit not affiliate nor register to the respective educational institutions. Some of famous MOOC providers are Coursera, Udacity, EdX, OpenLearning etc. and Zaid AlSagof had initiated a Listly post where he curated MOOC Development Platforms that are currently available. It is catalytic as it impersonalized learning participation, free of charge. Yep, it’s FOC, indicating that more learners would have access to high quality educational institutions that offer MOOC to the general masses.
In the Malaysian context, MOOC is steadily gaining traction amongst higher educational institutions where more universities are jumping into the bandwagon in creating their homegrown MOOCs. There is nationwide MOOC’s training for trainers’ (TOT) workshops that have been conducted with Malaysian universities to incept MOOC as part as tertiary education offered in our country. Taylor’s University is the 1st higher educational institution in Malaysia that conducted MOOC (Entrepeneurship) via OpenLearning. It was helmed by Professor Mushtak Al-Attabi and successfully gained 2581 participants. Universiti Putra Malaysia has launched PutraMOOC by using OpenLearning platform and Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris has initiated Open4Learn. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia is also initiating MOOC, providing a flexible and lifelong education to the society. However, one question may cross our mind when it comes to MOOC implementation in Malaysia.
Is Malaysia ready for MOOC?
Apart from preparing for technological readiness, I personally feel there is a need to gauge the sociocultural readiness and suitability when it comes to MOOC in Malaysia. This is one of the main focuses in my research and hopefully I can share findings on the stakeholders’ views on the use of MOOC in tertiary education.
