Part 1: Become a Wakelet superstar!

Wakelet has offered me a training session to help me reach my full potential as a Wakelet user. If we successfully complete the programme, we will be awarded a badge (plus evaluation). It’s fascinating! However, I was surprised to see how packed my weekends already were when I glanced at my current calendar (this weekend, especially). My cousin is planning a wedding, I have a tutoring session and a two-day workshop (of which I can attend only one), and I feel the need to pause, take a breath, and think.

Perhaps I require a legitimate diversion, such as this Wakelet training, as I am in dire need of upgrading my technological skills. When I received a message from my colleague requesting me to substitute for her, I was eager to begin the training. Am I permitted to use my Wakelet training as an excuse? A conundrum indeed.

There are six modules (including one assessment). It is self-directed study. In each module (five modules), there are more than three materials that we have to self-study.

The Wakelet training could enhance my knowledge in using Wakelet, but the thing that I have to attend is just ________________ (fill in the blank).

“We’ve created a self-paced online course that will train you to become a Wakelet pro and help you share the magic of Wakelet with your learning community. The course takes around 30 minutes, and if you pass, you’ll get an official Wakelet Certified Certificate and badge that you can show off to the world! ” (this is taken from the email that I received)

The 30 minutes are for pros. I am not in that category yet.

Tuition class or counseling session?

I had a tuition class yesterday. I gave the students notes about writing an email. I also explained the written comments that I wrote in the previous essay which I returned to them. Some of the common mistakes that I notice are mistakes in using prepositions and tenses.

We discussed that for an hour or so and after that the students continued with completing the email. Alhamdulillah things went quite smooth. We had few minutes left when I asked the students about “what had happened to few of your classmates who ……… (fill in the blank)”.

One of them who apparently is the bystander told me about the situation from his classmates’ perspectives. The funny thing was they started to ask me about my own experience when I was a student. It is a bit challenging to recall back some experiences which happened more than 30 years ago but I tried my best.

Knowing their current state as teenagers who are in a search of their ” identity”, I gave them my perspectives as someone with some knowledge in psychology. I challenged them to think about options and alternatives, choices, things that are controllable and uncontrollable. Some of the concepts seem a bit alien to them. They never thought that they should be accountable for their actions and seem to be egocentric in which blaming others is the best way to justify their actions. This has to stop.

They need to learn about being accountable. They should stop blaming others as an option to justify their actions. It seems that one of them finds it difficult to accept. I know that he might be unsure, perhaps afraid of being responsible and accountable. The thing is, they are adolescents. In a few years time, they will be adults. They are no longer children, and thus, they have to learn about being responsible and accountable of their actions and themselves. Goodbye to childhood, and welcome to adulthood! Indeed.

Part 8 – MyDigital EDUCATOR@MOHE program: Final evaluation before the real one

The deadline for final evaluation before the “real” one is 29 July 2022. My mentor started to evaluate each of us by looking at the materials, activities and assessments in the Moodle one by one. It took him quite a while to check all of our works.

He gave us a prompt reply using WhatsApp. The comments that I received are: 1) Add information relating to the duration of the module, learning mode, targeted learners and requirement of prior knowledge and (2) Add self introduction.

When I created the welcoming remark video, I just mentioned my name. It was insufficient. Alhamdulillah I use Genially, so I just rerecord again the specific slide. I rewrote the script for the video after Subuh and rerecorded that part again while waiting for a sharing session with one of the members in my group.

In a panicky mode, we need extra assistance from each other and in this case, peer support does help to manage our anxiety. Indeed.

AKRI?

What is AKRI? It stands for Anugerah Khas Reka bentuk Kurikulum dan Penyampaian Inovatif. I attended the sharing sessions with the previous winners (last Tuesday and today, Thursday 28 July 2022). Some of the tips and take home messages that I pick up from the winners are:

a) Use AKRI as a platform to share and showcase your teaching practice

This was mentioned several times by some of the winners. Dr Melissa from UKM crafted instructions for her course (Literature) which are aligned with the CLOs and assessments. I think, it is a common practice by anyone who embrace OBE but the details of how we implement teaching strategies, assessment etc. might usually be overlooked. We have to precise in crafting and giving instructions to our students. The assignments that we assign must be self-motivated in which students feel motivated to complete the assignments, rather than feeling overwhelmed.

b) Keep the necessary things well-documented

We have to make sure the teaching and learning processes that occur is well documented. Using certain platforms where students share their assignments such as YouTube might be useful. Have to make sure to give clear instructions to students to make it public sharing.

c) Think about how it might benefit the students, not only to you as the instructor

AKRI can be a platform to get feedback from experts from various institutions. Any improvement that we do to enhance our teaching practice, it will benefit the students directly or indirectly. But, I think let’s not waste the experts time to evaluate half-done project. This is a reminder to myself as I realise that the data that I currently have is not enough. I need at least a few cycles of data collection. Indeed.

I feel a kind of overwhelmed but I could not stop thinking about a little project that I have started with a junior colleague. I hope our collaboration can be continued in the future. She seems excited when I told about the possibility to assess our teaching practice and get feedback through AKRI. Not this year though. I notice there are several winners who showed the few cycles of data collection, like what Prof Haslinda from UUM showed. I am really impressed what she has done. To go out from one comfort zone is not easy, but any improvement cannot be done if we do not change. A small change is better than none. The impact is not something that we can predict but In sha Allah nothing will go wasted.

Micro credential? What’s that?

I have attended several sessions of briefing about micro credential. It is interesting, but I am not just into it. Why? This is a good example of commodification of knowledge. When I learned about the concept of commodification of knowledge 20 years ago, I could not imagine how it can be actualized but my mentor could foresee it. Reading his works again recently makes me feel scared because the reality is in front of me now. It is daunting.

Having a first hand experience of crafting a simple module for MyDigitalEducator thingy makes me ask myself again “Do I have what it takes to do this?” I am really struggling. I promise myself that I would no longer spend my weekends on creating videos and whatsnot as I am starting to have English tuition classes again starting this July. It is a little project, no grant, no official letter but it is an honor bestowed upon me by the school to make a little difference (if you may call that). I am not an English major but a stint at school for a year was resulted in me having lots of teaching materials that I crafted on my own. I enjoy doing that!

The teachers know and recognize that I am the best person to teach the tuition classes using my materials. Ita said “Kak, bahan yang banyak kau buat dulu tu, kau buat apa sekarang? Kak Imah tanya nak buat lagi tak kelas tuisyen sebab sekarang ni dah macam sebelum PKP. Tak ketat. Hari Jumaat atau Sabtu boleh tak? Budak-budak batch ni ramai yang B40. Tak mampu nak ada cikgu tuisyen yang berbayar macam dulu tu. Budak-budak tu dah tau kau akan ajar mereka. Diorang dah excited” Ita does know my weakest link.

To be honest, I need this in restoring my decreasing faith in myself.

Part 7 – MyDigital EDUCATOR@MOHE program: How important mentoring sessions are to scaffold one’s learning?

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.

Part 6 – MyDigital EDUCATOR@MOHE program: I am not alone

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”.

Part 5 – MyDigital EDUCATOR@MOHE program: Video making is challenging but May Allah ease the process

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.

Apache Tomcat

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.