Learning, according to Lev Vygotsky, is a process that requires social support from persons such as parents, friends, and teachers. However, the social support does not end there; it can also come from the larger society, community, etc. In this way, social supports enable an individual to acquire knowledge and skills with the assistance, direction, and backing of a more knowledgeable and informed individual. This is the meaning of scaffolding. According to Vygotsky’s theory, when persons who are learning something new have the necessary support, they have a greater chance of comprehending and mastering the knowledge or skills they acquire independently in the future.
Even though I feel overwhelmed by the programme requirements for MyDigitalEducator, I remind myself to tackle things one at a time. Having a mentor who closely monitors our progress is beneficial, despite the fact that some may feel overwhelmed by it. Several members of our group have opted to withdraw from the programme owing to unforeseen events and causes.
This program is demanding in a way that we have to ensure the materials that we develop is not just good enough, but perfect (or almost perfect) to be showcased to others. This is not easy. “Janji buat, janji siap” adage is not applicable in this sense. Being me, I know well better that rather than doing something just for the sake of doing (Janji buat), I would rather not wasting myself to do it on a first place. So, once I have decided to do something, I will commit to it until its completion.
Some colleagues say “Ala, janji siap sudahlah”. I no longer feel annoyed hearing that from them, but if my students ever say that, they will know (or later find out) what I will do.
I am blessed to have a mentor who is willing to sacrifice long hours and even weekends to have mentoring sessions with us. May Allay grant him the best rewards for his efforts.
There are more than five colleagues from my faculty who are also in this MyDigitalEducator program. But I only discuss ideas with a few of them. Having these few individuals who share their ups and downs with me, makes me feel more confident and motivated to finish the materials needed for the module. It is not easy but I know that I can always discuss things with those who are in the same journey as me.
There are also colleagues from different faculties who I exchange ideas with. We had a few WebEx sessions. I learn to create video using Canva from one of them. She also showed me how to use Quizlet. She mentioned Prof Dr Azidah Abu Ziden from USM. There is a module which Prof Azidah created which is in the MOHE module. I googled her and found few more videos that she has created or she was an invited facilitator.
Some might wonder why do I have time to create this post even though I have limited time to edit my videos. Chill ok? I need to capture this moment as it happens. What I want to emphasize is when doing the materials of this module, I learn a lot about myself and others. I also learn about the importance to unlearn, learn and relearn things or upskilling. It is time consuming. No doubt about that. But it is important for me to push myself to learn video making, craft teaching materials and activities using various platforms (even though I have to subscribe to some of the platforms) and assess my own current skills.
I show some of the videos to former students. As a role model, I know that I need to be competent and thus, be able to teach and guide students accordingly. One of the students said “Dr, don’t you feel bored and tired to learn new things?” I replied “To stay relevant, we have to learn new things every day. If it is not much, at least we learn one or two things every day. Try not to miss any chance of learning new things everyday. But, I learn things according to my ability and stay in the state of flow as proposed by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi. Even though I set my own standard and deadline, I welcome feedback from others. I only feel bored and pressured when people who do not have the skills to make video but force me to do something for them“. This student asked “Does anyone can force you to do things for them?” I just relied “Welcome to ________ (fill in the blank) environment workplace”.
The clock is ticking. Indeed. There will be another round of internal evaluation by my mentor on 29 July 2022 (Friday). He said that we will be given two days to edit or improve our teaching materials and resubmit again by 31 July 2022 (Sunday). Seeing him so concerned and having enormous patience in guiding us to complete the materials, I feel that I should not let him down by not giving my best shot. Since there is an ongoing renovation going on nearby, I need to do something to record two videos with no unnecessary background sound aka drilling etc. We don’t want the videos to have such background sound, isn’t it? Unless we want to “pass” the migraine that I have to those who will use the videos (tongue in cheek remarks!) How can I avoid “the noise”?
My solution: I came early. I arrived at UTM before 7am. Alhamdulillah, the traffic was smooth. I woke up a bit early to prepare bento (I plan to complete the two videos as soon as possible before the renovation guys come to work). I remember that my friend told me that we have to prepare a story board and script. I already prepared it yesterday despite having migraine (not as severe as the previous day). I also have prepared the slides in Genially yesterday. I showed it to one of the colleagues who is also in the same MyDigitalEducator program. She gave some comments and ideas on how to improve it as she is used to create videos etc. She is an expert as compared to me but I know it is a phase and with her assistance, I learn some tips and tricks.
She does not use Genially but Canva. Well, Canva has similar features but I am not used to its features. At this time, I have limited time to explore and learn new things as I need to finish these two videos today (to be exact before 5pm). Honestly, I am still exploring the video making features in Genially, so I need to focus my attention and spend time to learn the features.
Also, I need at least one or two days to edit the videos. I plan to submit the teaching materials before Friday. I have a tuition class on every Friday so I do not think that I have time to edit the teaching materials on Friday.
I use Genially to create one of the videos. It is a trial and error method of solving problem. But since I have limited time to find videos in YouTube and whatsnot, so I just focus on try out some features and see the output. Alhamdulillah Genially has the preview features so, I can always immediately preview it. At the moment, I already share the link of Genially in the MOHE moodle. So whatever changes that I make in Genially, I do not have to change anything in the Moodle. This is the only way to save time.
I came early. I arrived before 7am because I want to finish key-in marks and preparing the the CAR in OBE. But what I find is this notification which indicates too many active sessions. So, what is the point of me arriving so early at UTM and cannot get access to the system whereas it seems so many are using the GSMS while at home? I rest my case.
Having a passionate mentor is like having a gyutou knife. It is a dream to have one but it can cause serious injury too with its sharpness. A learner who is like me who needs extra time and lots of efforts to master learning new things can be a nightmare for any passionate mentor. My mentor had decided to have a quick evaluation before we submitted our materials (deadline is on 30th July 2022). Even though he is not feeling well yesterday, but he made a point to have one-to-one session with us. I was the third person to be evaluated. So after seeing the first two people getting their feedback, I know how serious my mentor is.
When it was my turn, I showed him the downloadable checklist first before I showed him my lesson plan and materials in MOHE moodle. He gave constructive feedbacks which I would use to implement. One of the feedbacks is I should omit the links to the materials in the checklist. His justification is students will use the links in the checklist without accessing moodle. My thought is still in the MCO mode in which I used to give such checklist to students who had difficulty to access elearning. This module is not for such students. I overlook this aspect.
The second feedback that he gave is I should use embed display setting for the materials. I tried it several times to no avail. This is one good example of a struggle that I have to overcome. I will try to watch again the related videos to learn about this. A quick solution would be to bug one of my friends to teach me (she gave a talk before about elearning stuff and she knows elearning better than me).
Another thing that he suggested is to have an opening or welcoming video with a short instruction. I am thinking to use Genially with the voice recorded mode. I need to learn to do that. I have tried once but I am not satisfied with the recorded video. My laptop is a bit slow when converting video to MP4 so using an online video recorded video is an option that I have to consider as the only option now.
I lamented to one of the seniors. He advised me “Just do the things within your ability. If you have to learn something new, learn at your own pace. If somebody pressure you to do something that beyond your ability, just ignore it. Just ignore it until it is no longer relevant. But if you must do it and do not have any other choice, just deal with it“. With a chuckle he said “Masa tu la nak pening kepala“.
I try to convince myself that this is just a phase. Indeed. But I am starting to feel helpless. This is not good. Knowing the severity of learned helplessness, I need to do something to avoid myself falling into that situation.
Note:What is learned helplessness? It is a term coined by Martin Seligman and Steven Maier to describe a condition that occurs when we face uncontrollable situation continuously (repeatedly) and despite our best efforts to find solution, we face failures or negative outcomes. This will lead us to stop trying to change the circumstances or the situations even when we have the ability to do so. In this case, our judgment about our ability is being clouded by the negative assessment of our efforts based on the negative outcomes of the uncontrollable situations.
I was involved in the tuition classes as an enrichment program that the school organized since 2018. Back in 2018, I had a little choice to say No as I was a part of the teaching staff. But I was entrusted to teach the low achievers who knew they were labeled as such based on their performance. I had a blast with them even though it was challenging to boost their self-esteem and improve their performance at the same time. I continued to teach tuition classes in 2019 but in 2020 and 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and whatsnot, the tuition classes had to stop for a while.
I was contacted by Ita last Monday (4 July 2022) if I was available to join their enrichment program again this year. I immediately said Yes even though I know that I will be a bit preoccupied with examination thingy and stuff this month. So, I looked up my old notes that I used when I taught English in 2018 and tried to find information about the current SPM format. Well, they have changed the SPM format for English paper (Writing). No more 350 words. Now, the word counts are between 200 to 250 words for continuous writing. Well, I learn something new with the new formatting. There is also a revised rubric to evaluate Part 3: Continuous writing. Having a former student who is also an invigilator cum examiner of the Paper 2 is a blessing. I contacted my former student and asked about the latest things to update myself.
She laughed at me when I said that I was nervous as I was entrusted to teach the high achievers this time around. She said: “I bet you will love it! Teaching such students is a challenge in itself, but rewarding. Just try it” I came a few minutes late as I stopped at Pekan Tiram to photocopy some materials. Cikgu dan kedai fotostat berpisah tiada. Indeed.
The shop owner and I had a small talk and he remarked “Lama dah tak nampak cikgu datang kedai fotostat“. I just smiled but he could see me smiling as I was wearing my face mask. Alhamdulillah I wore the face mask at that time, so I could hide my uneasiness after hearing him saying that.
I had a quick background check with Ita about the students. Knowing that some of them are from B40 families, I predict that they might not have foolscap paper. I brought some papers which I took from old examination booklets. So, I can give it to anyone who does not bring or have any foolscap paper.
What should I do with this examination booklet? There are few unused pages. The student had graduated (I checked with her personally).Since UTM is really into sustainability and whatever, I will reuse the unused pages as foolscap paper. Tada…. I got more than 20 unused pages which I took from several examination booklets which had been used. There are 10 students in the tuition class. So I only used 10 pieces of paper.
There are a couple of students who brought their own foolscap paper but upon seeing that I have the left-over papers from the examination booklet with UTM logo, they requested me to give them too. One of the students tried to sniff the paper. “This is not a perfumed paper.” I told the student while rolling my eyes. With a cheeky smile, he said “Saja nak bau. Mana tau ada bau UTM”. Huh?
UTM does not have that budget to have perfumed examination booklet (tongue in cheek remark!). Our students are not that lucky to have such paper. Nevertheless, the paper from the examination booklet is thicker than the foolscap paper that they have.
While collecting the papers from them, one of the students said to me “Teacher, pelajar di UTM guna kertas ni ke ketika peperiksaan?” Well, with that question, I had to tell them the truth by saying “Well, I took this from the examination booklet. These are the unused pages in the booklet. I shredded the used pages and threw it away. I kept these as foolscap paper” . While nodding her head, she replied back by saying, “Saya suka lah guna kertas ni. Saya rasa bersemangat nak tulis karangan dengan baik” Errmm… should I believe that or what?
One of the things that our mentor reminds is always refer to the given rubrics. There are three rubrics. One of the rubric is to evaluate our assessments that we assign in our module. So, as I scrutinized the rubric, I was shocked. One of the criteria is “Apply relevant rubric to measure learner’s knowledge and achievement”. My initial thought was “If I use MCQ and True/False questions, the answer scheme is straight forward so I do not need to prepare any rubric. So, what does this criteria mean?” As I looked at the descriptors of the performance levels, I notice the highest mark is given for “Use, modify, integrate and validate the rubric to measure”. What rubric that I have to create now?
So, I asked my mentor. He is very prompt in assisting me. In the end, after a quick discussion through WhatsApp, I understand that I have to create an open-ended question assignment with its rubric. So, out of three assessments, one has to be open-ended question. Then I remember that my mentor showed an example from his module in which he uses an activity worksheet. That gives me an idea about doing a similar thing: An activity worksheet in which the instruction given demands students to answer several questions.
I search existing worksheets that I have but in the end I need to craft it from scratch. So, I look at some examples of rubrics (my own collection) and from there I modify to suit with the new activity worksheet. There. Do I fit into the descriptor for the highest mark? Well, I do it the best I could so I will leave it to the rest. It is up to the evaluator to assess the materials. I just hope that whatever I do will make sense to others and if this module is offered, it might benefit anyone who uses it.
We are assigned with a mentor for MyDigitalEducator program. Our group is blessed to have a mentor who is passionate in teaching. Well, he holds an admin post at this unit which responsible with things related to teaching and learning. Thus, it does resonate with his actions.
One of the things that he did was had a briefing with all mentees. After that, he checked the title that we sent for the module that we have to develop. There were some of us who give generic titles. He reminded those individuals to change the title. He also reminded us to inform him if we have any technical problem or directly inform the webmaster from UUM. Alhamdulillah the PIC from UUM is very helpful especially in rectifying technical problems that we might have.
Other than briefing, our mentor also set a date for progress reporting via WebEx after Eid Adha. Sigh…. I was planning to take a long break but apparently I cannot do so as I have to complete 50% of the module by that time. Technically, I have less than 2 weeks to do so. One might be wondering, if I have lack of time to complete the module, why do I have time to create this post, right? This is a way for me to “capture” the moment that I am having at this time. So, I can reflect at it later on and see what are the things that can be improved.
In a way, this is the way I do my CQI for my teaching.
I am struggling to get myself familiar with this Gather Space platform. When I got the tentative program, my turn for presentation is on 29 June 2022 (Wednesday) from 2 to 5pm. During the briefing, it is suggested that we wait nearby our poster during the evaluation session. If we want to move out from the session, we can do so but we need to let the evaluators know. However, I do not know how to do it at first but after several attempts, I find that there is a space in which I can type a notification about my status. This is really interesting!
UPM has done a well done job in preparing this year IUCEL using Gather Space platform. I know from Dr Chong about Gather Space and he mentioned about using it for his students. They interact using metaverse mode in Gather Town. For someone like me who takes extra time to learn new things like Gather Town, knowing this platform gives me an idea about what I can do for the MyDigitalEducator module. But it might be a bit too overidealistic on my part as I am still struggling to create a content/collection in Wakelet (LOL to myself). It is a challenge that I set for myself but I will take it in a stride.
What can I conclude from the briefing?
During this briefing, there are so many things to digest though. I feel a bit cognitive overload but I will try out according to my own pace. Chill!
