LUMEN Issue 19 - June 2020 | Page 11

COVID-19 PANDEMIC - TRANSFORMING THE WAY WE WORK , STUDY , PLAY AND LIVE | LUMEN
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HBL also presented opportunities for the parents to chip in to their sons ’ lessons and to share snippets of their lives with the classmates . English teacher Mr Mok Hsu Pan , “ As it was International Friendship Week ( IFW ) that week , I reached out to a few parents who were born overseas or had worked overseas to share their experiences in their native country . Winston ' s parents shared about the culture in Indonesia - the food , costumes , practices - while Isaac ' s father , Mr Yoshimura , shared about Japan .”
Winston Mulyadi ' s parents zooms into the class to share with his classmates from FN402 about Indonesia
LE302 celebrates IFD via padlet posts
Mr Yoshimura shares with Isaac ' s class about Japan during IFW
Science educator Mr Jamues Ng shares his reflections about his HBL experience :
“ The HBL provided me with an opportunity to pick up new skills such as becoming a certified Google Educator Level 1 , as well as taking up education-related online courses organised by Harvard University . It also forced me to step out of my own comfort zone to hone my pedagogical and questioning skills on virtual teaching platforms such as Google Meet and Zoom .
HBL has shown how technology affordances have empowered teachers to further provide differentiated learning for the class via virtual platforms . My repertoire of formative assessment tools has since expanded from using Padlet to eliciting student ' s learning through instant grading methods on Google Classroom . It has made learning more efficient and focused .
What is heartening of the teaching fraternity in Singapore is that there were many teachers who readily lent a helping hand and provided advice , tips and resources on how to conduct HBL in a more interesting and engaging way . One prime example would be the SG Learners Design Circle on Facebook which was set up by the Educational Technology Branch ( ETD ) in MOE .
Of course , HBL should not replace the way how lessons are taught . The physical presence of students in the classroom is vital not just for teaching and learning but also for the socio-emotional development that students gain through interacting with one another . As we enter the post-Circuit Breaker phase , HBL should continue to serve as a complementary support for teachers to leverage on , to provide additional scaffolding for the weaker students or even be used to stretch their cognitive abilities by engaging them in more demanding virtual tasks .”
A screen-shot of the SG Learners Design Circle on Facebook
Using Padlet for active discussion on the topic of Electrolysis . Students are encouraged to ask questions during their own revision .