does having a degree make you a better teacher?

Today I read in the Strait Times newspaper that Singapore is planning to have only graduates as teachers in the Primary schools by 2015. This is the online article I found which covers that story partially: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/378325/1/.html
It made me wonder why this would be necessary? Though I tend to agree that teachers should always try to [...]

Facebook in the classroom?

Came across this blog post: http://scottishwebfolk.wordpress.com/2007/07/29/teaching-learning-with-facebook-group/ which refers to a facebook group on “Teaching and learning with Facebook”.
Another site http://blog.larkin.net.au/2008/01/17/social-network-sites-in-the-classroom/ is discussing the use of social network sites in the classroom, citing MySpace and Facebook.
It would be interesting to see how Facebook could be used in education, but I feel that at this moment, it [...]

From lunch boxes to laptops – 1:1 project

On Wed 7 Nov 07 I attended a talk by Mr. Angus King, the ex-governor of Maine, at the SCGS. Thanks to Amanda who was so kind to invite me.
Mr. King made a bold move, to introduce a laptop for each 7th grader in Maine, a project that was initiated in the late nineties and [...]

First encounter with PowerPoint

The learners in our Computer Class on Sunday had their first encounter with PowerPoint last week. Rather than telling them what to do, which button to press and giving them an assignment, we gave them the task to open PowerPoint and just try out any of the buttons on the screen. 
It was interesting to see [...]

action research rojak

A summary of a book I have just finished reading on Action Research. The summary is a rojak of different passages in the book that are interesting to me and the research I intend to do.
Action research – a methodology for change and development
By: Bridget Somekh [Open University Press – McGraw-Hill Education, 2006]
I picked up [...]

Bingo icebreaker game a big hit!

Sunday afternoon we started a new IT Essentials computer course at the temple where I’m volunteering. Usually we have around 35 people signing up for the course, of which generally about 25 of them will actually complete the course. This year we had a shocking 50 people registered and most of them also showed up [...]

Hot Potatoes vs. Flash quiz templates

A few weeks ago I tried out Hot Potatoes which is an educational software to create quizzes with feedback. It’s very easy to use, it took me less than half an hour to create a few different kind of quizzes. It allows you to fill up the feedback as well to be given when a [...]

Freedom Writers – inspired…

Freedom Writers is a movie about a young, idealistic teacher (Hillary Swank) who is getting a class of children from various races. The elder teachers and the school principal have already given up on those kids, who are struggling daily to survive the racial gang fights that are going on in their neighbourhoods and need [...]

blogging as an online learning tool

Following up on the blogging as an online learning tool, today I’m reading Palloff & Pratt (2005) – Collaborating Online, Learning Together in Community and in Part 2 of their book, they dedicated a chapter on blogs.  
Their view on using of blogs in education is as follows:“What makes a blog different from a threaded [...]

musings on blogging in education

This has been incubating in my mind for quite some time now as a potential topic for my MAIDT dissertation. Just a bunch of loose thoughts and interesting findings that I have encountered and been keeping in a Word doc so far.
Blogging
Blogging as a social communication tool vs. blogging as a personal reflection tool as [...]