Session 5 - 4 Dec (Finale)

How time flies....

We have reached the last day of the module MEd858 Classroom Learning Environment. As we traced back the learning journey... we realized that we have learned not only the content and classroom learning perception assessment instruments, but also experienced what a truly engaging classroom environment should be.

I find that I am a 'header and point' person who likes to write things in headers and point form. Perhaps, that is why I had faced hiccups as I started writing the blog and had problems expressing my thoughts well and earlier relied on content to 'cover' my weak area. Having a no-so-good command of the English Language had sort of handicapped my thought expressions and previously led to misunderstandings with people unknowingly.

I was deeply impressed with the blog entries that my fellow course mates have written. I really aspired to have that amount of flair for the language. Kudos to all of my course mates to have made the journey in MEd 858. For some who have minimal or no experience with Blogger, Blogskin, Wetpaint, Google Docs, I salute you for making the first step of learning. The rest of the blog would be describing the other details that I can remember of the course (people and content) and take-aways. READ ON.

Instructor - Dr Quek

Dr Quek has 'walked her talk' and has shown to us what a servant leader should be. What I meant by servant leader is one who is able to lead by example and serve others in ways that were truly unexpected. In 'small' things such as making sure that the 'learners - us' are well-fed, she ensured that there would be finger-food around and water bottles to quench our thirst. As I read the blogs written by my course mates, I would agree that most of us felt overwhelmed by her hospitality and kindness shown.

Group Members - The '2' Chongs - Chong Min and Wee Chong

Chong Min - An assuming and quiet co-worker who does his background work diligently. It's a humbling experience to work along someone who is experienced is willing to offer insights to why and what we are doing certain things. He has done things at amazing speed and I was amazed at how he could finish working the write-ups in a very short time frame. His focus is superb.

Wee Chong - A questioner who asks pertinent questions at the right time. Willingness to work the extra mile to get work done. Saw his email sent @ 5 am reminded me of my HOD who emailed at 4 am also. Perhaps most HODs wake up earlier than others to finish their extra pile of administrative work.

Take-away Lessons

Engaging Classroom Learning Environment

Having hands-on learning experience in a learner-centred environment has seriously awaken me to the concept of using ready Web 2.0 websites to engage the students. Students can work collaboratively and individual. Working in teams can engage not only their affective domains but also psychosocial domains as they work on a project on their computers. As the students commence on finding the information that they need, they also need to select and evaluate the information as being accurate or useful and thus trigger their cognitive domains as well.

Assessing student's perception of Learning Environments

In this module, we have been exposed to various assessment instruments such as WIHIC, QTI, CLES and the modified versions and when to modify and how to modify. The guidelines to the modification process according to the target audience, language ability and age range are useful for me to decide which ones I should use in my our classrooms. It would be good to share these precious learning points with my fellow school colleagues and help them to grow more professionally. My school has asked teachers to use a modified version of a student questionnaire entitled 'High Performing Classroom' to assess the students' perception of their learning environment. However, the follow-up actions can be further improved. I strongly believe that students should be given a 'voice' to provide constructive feedback to the teachers. After learning about the Moos's scheme of Relationship, Personal and System Maintenance and System Change, I think that certain scales can be added on for further improvement.

The further elaborations would be written in the final reflection report. I need a break now. ZzzZZ

Session 4 - 2 Dec

Today, we explore the following items:-

1. Web 2.0 websites

- e.g. Ning, Flicker, Blogger, YouTube

2. Question:

- How to create a more learner-centred environment?

3. Journal article

on 'The Classroom Social Environment and Changes in Adolescents' Motivation and Engagement During Middle School' by Ryan, a. & Patrickk, H.

4. How to identify gaps after the administration and assessment of learning environment?

- Modified WIHIC used in a study on the effectiveness of Classroom Performance System (CPS) in improving student participation.

- 5 scales (Student Cohesiveness, Teacher Support, Involvement, Equity, Material support), Material support scale was added on due to the scope of the research.

- Scales need not be constrained by instruments used.

- Various instrument scales can be used to draft the questionnaire.

- Alpha reliability above 0.7 means that it is accurate.

- Statistics results will help to see if there is any improvement needed.- Assessment of LE is meant to improve the LE.

4. Improvement Process

- LE with problems in either overall dimensions or certain dimensions

- To conduct interview or to have focus group discussion

- Next, is to design the intervention plan & track the process

- If the LE is favorable then case is closed, if not the external agencies will be involved.

5. Question asked: Pre and Post versus Preferred and Actual Form in research

- achievement tests and attitude tests versus perception assessments.

6. SPSS using course mates' preferred and actual perceptions of the instructor.

- How to calculate Mean, Standard Deviation, Reliability (Cronbach's Alpha) and Paired-sample t-test.

Reflections:

The Web 2.0 has a richer content and interface for the user to interact with the ideas and concept in web pages. As a frequent Net surfer, I have come across some of these websites but have not really compared the technology used across various platforms. Dr Quek directed us to use the docs.google.com was a good move as we were given the opportunity to do PPT presentation online, which was different from the conventional way. As my group mates and I started exploring the functions in the docs.google.com, we were amazed at how 'powerful' the online platform can be. Dr Quek brought up the idea that students can do their projects anywhere as long as there is Internet access is very true!

Wee Chong asked a pertinent question on pre and post test versus preferred and actual perception results. As some of us have been actively doing school-based action research, most of the results that we have acquired are either achievement tests (pre and post) or attitude inventory tests, therefore, Wee Chong's question was very thought-provoking. His question has provided greater reexamination of what we have been researching in our schools and how we could have modified the research to suit our needs and obtain results that could lead to further improvements.

As we continued on to the next portion on what to do after the assessment tools have been administered, the key concept if checking the reliability results was explicitly pointed out. Subsequently, we started doing the WIHIC preferred and actual form and then compiled our results in a common Excel spreadsheet. There were some technical problems in copying and pasting from Excel to SPSS and we spent quite alot of time trying to figure the whole thing. The testing for reliability for each scale is a tedious and time-consuming task. As a results I had tried so hard to troubleshoot the Excel data formula and SPSS that I did not pay much attention to the assignment coming up on Thursday. I ONLY know that each table only has three different rows for each scale for Mean, Standard Deviation and Reliability and paired-T-Test.

Reflection 2 on article: Science Learning Environments: Assessment, Effects and Determinants by Barry Fraser

This article describes mainly the:-

• history of studying learning environments,
• approaches to studying educational environments,
• instruments for assessing classroom environments,
• important developments with learning environment instruments,
• associations between student outcomes and environment,
• recent trends and desirable future directions.

Approaches - The use of students' and teachers' perceptions as contrasted with external observer's direct observation and systematic coding of classroom communication and events (Brophy & Good, 1986). Murray (1938) introduced the term alpha press to describe the environment as assessed by a detached observer and the term beta press to describe the environment as perceived by people in the environment. Other approaches include naturalistic inquiry, ethnography, case study or interpretative research. Students are perceived as having the ability to make judgements about classrooms because they have encountered many different learning environments and have enough time in class to form accurate impressions. When teachers are inconsistent in their day-to-day behaviour, they usually project a consistent image of the long standing attributes of classroom environment.

History - Herbert Walberg and Rudolf Moos developed two different instruments. Walberg developed the Learning Environment Inventory (LEI) as part of the research and evaluative activities of Harvard Project Physics. Moos started developing the first of his social climate scales, and resulted in the development of the Classroom Environment Scale (CES). Earlier works included the ideas from Kurt Lewin (1936) work on field theory where he found that behaviour is considered to be a function of both the person and the environment. Murray (1938) followed Lewin's approach by proposing a needs-press model which allows the representation of person and the environment. The main components are personal needs and environmental press.

Instruments for assessing classroom environment - LEI, CES, ICEQ, MCI, CUCEI, QTI, SLEI, CLES and WIHIC.

The instrument's scales are categorised according to Moos's (1974) scheme for classifying human environments. Three basic types are 'Relationship Dimensions', 'Personal Development Dimensions', 'System Maintenance and System Change Dimensions'

Relationship Dimensions identify the nature and intensity of personal relationships within the environment and assess the extent to which people are involved in the environment and the support and help in each other.

Personal Development Dimensions assess basic directions along which personal growth and self-enhancement tend to occur.

System Maintenance and System Change Dimensions assess whether the environment is orderly, clear in expectations, maintains control and is responsive to change.

Reflection: From the reading, it is clear that researchers have played an important role in either starting the research and modifying the research ideas and adding value to the scales or items to the surveys. From Moos's scheme, I can now see the relevance of each dimension and how each instrument fits into the dimensions of things. With this clarify, in the future, if there is any issue or problem which needs to be investigated, the validated instrument can be carefully selected based on this broad guideline using Moos's scheme.

Session 4 - 28 Nov

Today's learning points were from sharing and lecture on:-

1.why modify and how to modify existing learning environment validated instruments;

2. examining a conference paper on items modified;

3. case study analysis by different groups based on School Climate Environment Questionnaire (SLCEQ) on whether the schools are effectiveness

4. APERA conference paper on how Marsiling Sec Sch's D&T Dept. created different learning environments to engage their pupils.

1. The key learning points are validated instruments are cross-checked across different scenarios and iterations done to verify the validity of the instruments. Therefore, there is minimal need to reinvent the wheel and invent another totally different instrument. Hence, the focus was on modifications based on the target audience and context of the environment.

In example 1 of the constructivist instrument, the discussion narrowed done the wordings used the the items. Words such as 'complain' sounded negative and the word 'clarify' would enable the statement to be more positively worded. Another item statement of 'It is OK for me to speak up for my rights.' should be cancelled because of the context of the questionnaire, which is in an Asian context.

 

Reflection 1: I agree that various validated instruments have to be carefully considered before surveying on the respondents. The target audience's age, language ability and contextual situation are important factors to determine whether the instrument is suitable. Moreover, since validated instruments have been iterated, if there is a need to administer a survey, we could have considered the various instruments and choose one which is suitable. Modifying and customising the items would enable the results to be useful for further investigate and follow-up actions.

 

2. In the paper 'Validation of An instrument to Monitor My Students' Face-toFace Philosophy 'Communities of Iniquity' by Yip Meng Fai and Quek Choon Lang, the development and validation of a modified version of the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) was done. The data analysis generally supported each scale's factor structure, alpha reliability, discriminant validity and ability to differentiate between classrooms. Discussion surrounded the modifications of a couple of items and the dropping of two scales and the addition of a 'Response' scale adapted from the scale of "Web-based Learning Environment Instrument' (WBLEI) (Chang & Fraser, 2003).

 

Reflection 2: I can see the relevance of modifying the instrument from this particular research paper. Selected wording and Scales were changed and removed in the context (In an Asian environment). It is clearly seen that modification was needed from the original Classroom Learning Environment Survey (CLES). From this paper, I learned that close examinable of each validated instrument is essential to use it for the right purpose and to obtain accurate and useful results.

 

3. Effectiveness of three anonymous schools (two are value-added schools) have been discussed. The basis of discussion was mainly based on the School Climate Environment Learning Questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of nine dimensions namely Student support, Affiliation, Professional Development, Achievement orientation, Staff freedom, Participatory decision making, Innovation resource adequacy and Work pressure.

 

Conducive areas:-

• good discipline in students
• good collegiality among staff
• strong leadership
• considerable structure
• emphasis on balanced development of students
• high commitment level of teachers
• opportunities for staff freedom and participatory decision-making

Non-conducive areas:-

• heavy workload
• high work pressure
• poor academic quality of students
• lack of motivations of students
• not enough autonomy for teachers
• over emphasis on academic achievement
• too much government initiatives

In the three schools discussed, all have areas which are conducive and non-conducive.

Reflection 3: The case studies have detailed write-ups on the school culture and climate and transcripts from interviews with teachers and HODs. For such a survey, the importance of quantitative and qualitative results is clear. Perceptions of the teachers shaped the results of the survey. From my own experience, schools with strong discipline culture tend to do well academically. Therefore, the School Excellence Model (SEM) is a platform for schools to self-examine the processes in place and to focus on the strength and weakness and to work to improve the processes. The learning environment is important for the student to grow up holistically and for the teachers to be more professional in their outlook. Schools need to be more outward looking and be ready to embrace the new changes happening around. Being adaptable and resilient to changes which help the student to thrive in the rapidly changing environment. Hence, the role of a teacher and the school is to create a learning environment for every child to learn at his/her own pace and to become the best that they can be.

4. Learning Environments created by the D&T department were shown in the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Approach, Knowledge-based Community (KC) and the redesign of the new D&T workrooms(integrated with computers and workbenches). Scaffolding in the KC helped to provide the support in terms of questions that students can post to each other.

Reflection 4: After the rich sharing, I learned that changes can be made if one people starts and move a small group to be committed to the course of action. The areas of PBLs and KCs have been around for a while. However, the implementation across schools seems to be in a more 'ad-hoc' basis. In spending the time to draft and refine the processes, the benefits of creating newer form of learning environment are important. I have experienced the joy and excitement that the presenters brought with them as they present the higher level of engagement in the students who have gone through the PBL and KC journeys.

Link to PBL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_Based_Learning

Link to KC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_community

Online Discussion Article : http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet24/cheong.pdf

Session 3 - 27 Nov

There are some useful links for future use as follows:-

1. http://www.springerlink.com.libproxy.nie.edu.sg/content/102953/ - learning environments journal

2. http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/singapore07/ - free journals

3. http://www.sciencedirect.com/ – free journals

Today's lesson started off with the short lecture by Dr Quek on the subject:-

How to differentiate the different articles? Journal, Conference papers?

How do we start reading the paper? Dr Quek advised reading the introduction and the conclusion first and decide whether to continue reading. Dr Quek also recommend Scott Walker and reading conference paper which are more readable. Highlighting key words in each articule would help to in the focus on the key concepts shared. Later on, she shared on famous writer on learning environmens. There is a trend in learning environment (LE) researchers to move form generic to specific areas. There is also a move to customization to qualitative studies (move from quantitative to qualitative studies)

Reflection 1: The sharing by Dr Quek has provided a clearer perspective on how to choose more readable papers. Choosing papers that are of interest to the reader is important to save precious time. As educators, we need to be in tune with the latest developments in the field of educational research. Being in the know of T&L strategies that would enhance the level of engagement in the pupils is favourable to both the teachers and other stakeholders.

Learning Environment (LE)

In the LE there is :-

i. Physical (seating arrangement, noise level, space provision for movement and work, ventilation and resource provision) – e.g. infrastructure

ii. Students (working in groups/individually, students' behavior towards each other, group size and composition, student concentration) – e.g. racial mix

iii. Social (teacher's mode of instruction, teacher's acceptance/rejection, types of educational tasks required, type of activities) - e.g. use group survey to obtain feedback

Tools of assessment used

WHIHIC (latest instrument used)

i. Four-points lekert scale

ii. Preferred Form vs Actual Form

iii. Student Cohesiveness, Teacher Support, Involvement, Investigation, Task Orientation, Cooperation, Equity

iv. 20 items

v. Comparison of preferred and actual form scoresvi. Audience (flexible – any age group)

Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI)

i. Developed by Dutch researcher

ii. Five-point lekert scale

iii. Leadership, Helping/Friendly/Understanding, Uncertain, Dissatisfied, Admonishing, Strict

iv. More balanced view (students’ feedback and peers’ perception)

v. Audience: For primary and secondary students

How do we pick Instruments?

i. Target Audience (age group and academic ability)

ii. Design (no. of scales, no. of items)

iii. Moo's Scheme (focus on system processes in place) – Relationship dimensions, personal development dimensions, system maintenance and change dimensions

iv. Relationship - Extent of people's involvement ands support for each other

v. Personal development – direction along which personal growth and enhancement occur

vi. System maintenance and system change – extent of which the environment is orderly

Reflection 3: After learning about the three aspects of the learning environments, it becomes clearer to me about why tools of assessment of LE were drafted, produced and refined to suit the profile and understanding ability of the group under study.

Group Presentation on instruments developed by Moos, Walberg and Lewin and Wulbel
http://www.moos-moos.wetpaint.com/ - Moos
http://www.kurtlewin.wetpaint.com/ - Lewin
http://www.med858group4.wetpaint.com/ - Walberg

Reflection 1 on Article: Learning Environments Research: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow by Barry Fraser

Learning Environments Research: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow by Barry Fraser of Curtin University of Technology, Australia

There is availability of a wide variety of economical, valid and widely applicable questionnaires that have been developed for assessing the students' perceptions of classroom environment (Fraser, 1998b). These questionnaires have been cross-validated for use in several Asian countries.

Instruments for Assessing Classroom Environment

There are four commonly used instruments that have been in Asia. They are Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI), Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI), Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) and What is Happening In This Class? (WIHIC).

Historically, some questionnaires were development in the late 1960s. Learning Environment Inventory (LEI) began in conjunction with evaluation and research related to Harvard Project Physics (Walberg & Anderson, 1968) The Classroom Environment Scale (CES) (Moos & Trickett, 1987) grew out of a comprehensive program of research involving psychiatric hospitals, prisons, hospitals. (Moos, 1974)

QTI - Research focuses on the nature and quality of interpersonal relationships between teachers and students (Wubbels & Brekelmans, 1998; Wubbels & Levy, 1993). It was drawn from a theoretical model of proximity (cooperation-opposition) and influence (dominance-submission). QTI was developed to assess student's perceptions of eight behavioural aspects, The QTI has been used in a few large-scale studies in Asia. Moreover, QTI has been cross-validated and has been used in Singapore context as provided by Quek, Fraser and Wong's 2001 study. The validity and usefulness of QTI has been supported as the study in Singapore has shown.

SLEI - Assessment of the environment of Science Laboratory Classes at the senior high school or higher education levels. (Fraser, Giddings & McRobbie, 1995)

CLES - Developed to assess the degree to which a particular classroom environment is consistent with a constructivist epistemology, and to assist teachers to reflect on their epistemological assumptions and reshape their teaching practice. (Taylor, Fraser & Fisher, 1997)

WIHIC - Combines modified versions of salient scales from a wide range of existing questionnaires with additional scales that accomodate contemporary educational concerns (e.g. equity and constructivism). Even though it is new, it has been widely used in Asia context. It has been translated into several Asian languages and cross-validated. The English version of WIHIC in Singapore by Fraser and Chionh (2000) reported a strong validity and reliability for both an actual and a preferred form of the WIHIC.

From the paper, research has shown the associations between student outcomes and the learning environment. There are differences between student and teacher perceptions of actual and preferred environments. Determinants of classroom environment in Asia has been frequently tested on student gender. Comparisons of student's perceptions reveal that females typically have positive views of their classroom learning environments as compared to the males students.

Reflection: The paper has described in detailed the various instruments for assessing the learning environment. The key question that I asked as I read through the article is why are there so many questionnaires designed? It was after reading through the articles and listening to the short lectures by Dr Quek that I realised that instruments are validated over time and different groups of participants and used in different context and age group and for various purposes. Looking at how much time and effort has been spent to design the instruments and testing for their validity and reliability has provided greater insights to how high the researchers have regarded their work. Therefore, unless it is absolutely necessary, the instruments are already useful to obtain the results for the purposes need, and there is no need to reinvent the wheel and invent a very new instrument.

Session 3 - 25 Nov

Today, the main learning points (take away) from the session includes the following:-

1. Discussion of podcast on the topic of 'Learning Environment' by Dr Quek and presentation

2. Sharing by various groups on the 'Design of the Learning Environments' by Bransford

3. The sharing platform of WIKI (www.wetpaint.com) for doing group research on famous researchers in the field of learning environment

1. Discussion of podcast (Learning Environment)

The key concepts of perception, school climate, school culture, classroom learning environment and school learning environment were discussed. Human behaviour reflects attitude, sense of acceptance and the ability to build positive relationships. In schools, the link between perceptions and learning outcome cannot be denied. In the Map of 'Inter-relationships between Lewinan's formula and Murray's needs-press model, the links between the person, personal needs human behaviour, learning environment and participants are shown.The learning environment is congruent with the person and vice versa. One cannot lack the other. Moreover, the person has personal needs which affect the human behaviour. The learning environment determines the human behaviour and the person determines the human behaviour as well. As for the needs-press portion, there are two types of participants. One is the detached observer which assesses and exerts the Alpha press on the learning environment. The other is the Beta press (a group of people in the school) who assess and exert on the learning environment.

2. Sharing by various groups on the 'Design of the Learning Environments' by Bransford

Design of learning environment can be seen from four perspectives namely, the degree in which the environments are leaner-centred, knowledge-centred, assessement centred and community-centred.

What does it mean for a learning environment to be learner centred? There has to be close attention paid to the knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs that learners bring to the environment. · There has to be teaching practices that have been called “culturally appropriate, compatible and relevant.
· The term diagnostic teaching comes into play, which is to discover what students think in relation to the problems on hand, discussing their misconceptions and providing the students the situations to think about their ideas.

What are the examples in the local context?

In local context, the use of cooperative learning strategies are common in learner-centred classrooms, whereby students are given the time and the space to construct their own knowledge. There have been streaming exercises held every 6 years and 4 years of main stream schools for schools to assess the students’ ability in the cognitive aspects.

What are the constraints?

The need for time to complete the syllabus and the summative assessment modes affects the way the teachers deliver the lesson.

What does it mean for a learning environment to be knowledge-centred?

— Provides context/subject matter for learning skills

— Leads to understanding and subsequent transfer and development

— Focuses on kinds of information and activities to bring about sense-making

— Approach: ‘Progressive Formalization’ – Informal ideas can be transformed and formalized

What are the examples in the local context?

— Surface and address of prior knowledge before new learning takes place
— Learning resources (e.g. Textbooks and lesson notes) provided
— Subject-related posters in classrooms
— Display of students’ work

What are the constraints?

— Striking a balance between learner-centred and knowledge-centred environments
— Knowledge-centred environment tends to disconnect the different disciplines. (specialised areas)
— Impedes the holistic development of the learner. (too focus on content acquisition and lacking on soft skills)

What does it mean for a learning environment to be assessment-centred?

· Should provide opportunities for feedback and revision and what is assessed must be congruent with one’s learning goals

· Formative assessment (students’ thinking made visible and feedback provided

. Focus on learning with understanding and not mere memory work for procedures or facts)

· Feedback to occur continuously.

What are the examples in the local context?

· The use of white-boarding in schools to allow pupils to vocalize their thinking process, teachers provide feedback accordingly.

· The use of rubrics for pupils to self-assess their own progress

What are the constraints?

· Time constraints in providing quality feedback to every pupil.

What does it mean for a learning environment to be community-centred?

· The norms of the society for people to learn from each other.

· Social norms that value the search for understanding and allow students.

· Connecting the school with outside activities

· Connecting the school with the families

What are the examples in the local context?

· Association with Parent Support Groups (PSG) and Alumni Associations and outreaches from the Beyond Social Services (BSS) and National Enviroment Agency (NEA) on joint-projects and Community Centres

What are the constraints?

Not that I can think of.

3. The sharing platform of WIKI (www.wetpaint.com) for doing group research on famous researchers in the field of learning environment

Each group is assigned a researcher to research on. Dr Quek showed the website wetpaint which is a platform for group discussions to occur and each member can contribute his/her ideas in the website.

Our group is tasked to research on Walberg and our weblink is http://walberggroup4.wetpaint.com/

Found this video in YouTube on how classroom learning has changed.

Session 2 - 19 Nov

Read through the articles today. There were two articles on the tools of assessing the various classroom environment climate. Quite heavy reading stuff as there were lots of statistics and explanations on the tools used for different purposes. I decided to look through the pdf articles and happened to chance on the link to an idea of the 'classroom of the future' @ http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/Designing_21st_Century_Classroom.htm

The learning environment ideally is to be:-

1. inspirational

2. adaptable

3. sustainable

4. fresh

5. safe

6. flexible

7. ICT enabled

8. fun

9. delightful

10. growing

11. natural

The question is how to ensure that the learning environment is physically , socially and psychological safe for the students in the class.

Session 1 and 2 (17 and 18 Nov)

17 Nov



It was a long journey from to NIE. On reaching Blk 2, happened to see Ai Rong across the block and realised that she had no idea where ECL 3 is. She looked lost and was relieved to see a familiar face. We went about to search for the venue and finally found the location.



On entering the venue, we realised that MEd 858 is not the usual type of module that we have taken earlier but is ICT-related in some sense. The course co0rdinator, Dr Quek introduced the course and led on on the hands-on portion on accessing the 'Lesson Box' and the creation of a blog. As I had some prior experience in creating a blog due to a practice of writing weekly reflection journal on my teaching portfolio, I went on to explore other functions in the blog.



Later on, as my course mates created their blogs, I linked their blog addresses so as to enable the reading of their blog in the near future.



The reading materials distributed looked intimidating.

It would be wise to devote much time to read before writing the reflection for the articles and to do reflections on the readings.



18 Nov



I attended a whole day of staff seminar today. I will post my reflections of the readings tomorrow, 19 Nov. I need time to amend the work review forms , LNA and PPCR forms.