eJournal # 4 Thoughts & Reflections

When I was in college, I joined an organization that teaches catechism to children in informal settlements. I was nominated to be the Instruction Officer of the organization. I know one of my responsibilities was to keep tab of the books, activity materials and visual aids so that it's returned once someone uses it. 

Also, another responsibility, was to create new visual aids. I could have used my knowledge of Instructional Media and a little bit of Instructional Design back then. I could have developed materials and visual aids that will help my fellow org-mates in teaching.

When we were teaching the children, we didn't have a sheltered classroom. Most of the teaching was done on an open field, or under a tree. It was so disorganized because the focus of the children was not on what we were saying. 

A non-projected visual aid could have helped in having the children focus. Also, we could have brought realia as well since we had to be resourceful of what we had. In order to teach the parables, we drew cartoon strips on Manila paper and afterwards we did an activity like a play to re-enact the events in the story. Time was a limited resource for us as well. We only teach every Saturday in areas like San Mateo and Escopa. We lack the technology and budget back then to just print out materials or banners. 

Now, it's so easy to find materials and the software technology to create non-projected visual materials. I realized as well, as teachers, we should continually keep up with the changes in technology. Students now have iPads, mobile phones, tablets, etc. We cannot stop these technology, we have to be a few steps ahead on knowing how these can help us and help the children learn.  

I'm even seeing now a lot of mobile applications (from Apple and Android) that are meant to help in learning. These are instructional media as well. Later on, we might see, holographic and 3D projections of the atomic structure being taught and used inside the classroom. I would love to be there when this happens! 

I'm closing this journal entry with the quote below that made me think and come up with a lot of possibilities.... 

“Curriculum tells you what to teach, but doesn’t tell you HOW you have to make the shift to the 21st century learning environment.” – Stacy Behmer