Finally

I first want to cogradulate all of you for being such a nice group to study with hope we meet again in the next term.The cause was excellent I have learned a lot from the cause especially chat room and blog where you can socialize and study at the same time,Claudette to me this was a miracle I really honour you and thank you at the same time for opening my eyes, the course was well planned it covered theory and practical very well. I now know that everthing is possible all you need is determination and hard work. I havelearned a lot which I think it must be practically engaged for me to keep on going. I will say it was not easy for all of us but with us being united we manage to get to the end of the cause. Claudette I wish you all the best in all your plans for the future and hope you come back to Wits, todays'students need someone like you. I just wish that we all manage to get to Masters degree.

Good luck guyz in your exams and all the plans for the furure, hope will get more wedding invites and I'm verydissapointed did'nt manage to attend Seble's wedding but hope it was great.

God bless you all it was nice meeting you.

10 minutes presentatiion

I will say the presentaion was good we were all prepared and all the theories were welll explained, the slides were clear and in point form for learners not to get bored.Some of the theories were difficult to understand on your own but with the help of presentation they were clear.Claudette I will say for some  one to be in your position on the cause he or she must research the cause very well. I saying this because I know how I used not to understand Behaviourism,Cognitivism,Constructivism and Connectivism but you planned in the way that if we get it from our classmate we will understand better.

Learning about learnling theories

I first learn about theories when I was doing my 1st year it was very difficult for the first time I did'nt understand them, now I'm getting used to and undestands how they are applied in teaching and learning. In 2nd year I have learned more about these theories in teaching and learning situation and their use in ICT. I really enjoyed and understand when Prof Moll used the teachers to show which theory they belong to, it was also easy to understand them and their application and which method of computer they prefere. Each and every theory is of good use unless you have your own arguments and facts to criticize that theory. I also enjoyed Prof Moll's presentation and the questions and answers they really opened my mind or should I say my ,'black box'.

Using videos in learning and teaching

Using videos in learning and teaching is very good and effective as learners understands and remembers better what they see than what they read,hear or copy from the board. The primary teacher who always tells story and uses charts to convey the message is the one the learners undestands better.
 All the videos are very useful to me as each have the special way of conveying the message. Skinner's explanation on Behaviorism is the easy to be remembered as he uses different kinds of animals and Piaget mostly uses kinds to explain his theory,I really enjoyed the videos and learned a lot from them.
 I also think  using technology in teaching and learning is best as learners can watch pictures of what they are learning and play games not to be bored.

Most beneficial sections

I found all the courses useful and beneficial, each and every course is unique because we learn different things from each of them. I enjoyed social  presence in the sense that you can learn a lot from people from far,which shows that we don't have to be in class to learn. We can learn and socialize at the same time,which I think most of the students will  love as they won't get bore. Sometimes students are afraid to take part in class because of the fear of the teacher or their classmates,and in social presence they are free to take part and comment in what ever they want to.If you having group discussion you can just be online at the same time to discuss the topic. The tools that were used for assessment we really impressive and time saving. I'm really excited about the assign tool which is used to check the assignment,I think is very valuable and incredible as I always have a problem with referencing and I don't want to be send for disciplinary due to unintentional plagiarism.I also wish all teachers can take assessement very seriously as it promote teaching and learning according to Angelo 1997.

Assignment through anti-plagiarism software package

I think students must be aware about plagiarism in lower levels,they must be taught that copying someone's work is crime. Most  kof the students are introduced or aware of plagiarism only in higher institution which makes it difficult for them to understand its wrong.Safe Assing is a good tool that must be introduced to help learners to check their assignment before submitting them. I also suggest that learners must engage pratically in some ways of writting academically without plagirising.Wits is doing by all means to help learners with academic writting by doing workshops or giving sessions on issues of plagirism.Plagirism is a very big offence whereby somebody can go to jail or be expelled from the institution if found committing that offenceLearners must be taught how to reference and to acknowledge is used someone'swords or ideas There are different forms of plagiarism that you canpractice not being aware that is plagiarism

Studying and working at the same time.

Is not easy guyz, especially with us woman because the whole responsibility is on our shoulders. Each and everybody in the house want your attention, at work you are also expected to perform miracles but i cant complain because i have food on my plate.Vincent i really like to hear from your side if the pressure is the same or more.
During the week i can't do anyhing for my family but weekend i make sure that i cook decent meal for them to make up for the week,do washing and clean the house.I don't have specific tips but thats how I'm trying to survive or cope with my studies. At work i make sure that I do my work 101% so that my boss don't complain about my studies intefering with my work.

Sometimes i feel as if i'm ignoring my family,especially my kids with their school work because i don't get the chance to attend the school meetings any more, which are usually in the evening. There are other days when i get home my kids are fast asleep,no chance to say goodnight, but i think they do understand the situation. The main goal must be accomplished guyz others will follow later,and i think everybody will be happy about the results at the end thats all I can say.

Synchronous Chat Session

Whaoo!!! thats all i can say,technology is so amazing I never thought of something like this before, learn as if you are in class with your classmates and at the same time be in your lounge or bedroom. It was very well organized as we all got our chance to share our feeling and at the same time discuss some of the topics or issues that we were not clear about. Some of us complained that it was very distructive but to me it was a very good and useful experience. I can say face to face classroom discussion can also be distructive it needs desciplineand control and rules must be followed. I wish we can invite some of the learners from different universities who are in the same course as us to share their views and experience about the course.It is a very good environment to learn and at the same time socialize.you can have your group discussions there by setting time when you will all be on chat session, and get a chance to break and socialize for few minutes.

Claudette your sessions are very amazing, please introduce online teaching to all academic staff and admin they are really missing out.It is something that needs to be shared especially in an environment like this.

Automated Assessment

Assessment is a good thing that must be done by all teachers in schools,with assessment you  can determine weak learners in class and how you  can help them. With assessment you can determine which methods the student understand better. Automated assessment is a good method to be introduced in all the school,it gives learners feed back immediatly it can be verbal or written.The assessment can also help the teacher to improve or make changes. The software tool that I recommend is hot potato,it is a very effective and user friendly tool with lots of different options.

I like to share this experience with you, it was when i first went for my drivers test in 2006,the examiner that I was allocated to was drunk. I was already intimidated by the situation,i was not concentrating on what I was suppose to do I was so nervous and my car rolled back and Iend up failling my test.I regard this as negative assessment because I blame the examiner for my failling.I was thinking how can they allow somebody who is drug to assess people because his mind and concentration was totally distracted,that is why i blame the testing department for my failure. I'm over it guyz,but my concern is about those people who are assessed negatively and their lives end up being affected.
The positive assessment  that I experience was the last week one when we were doing presentation about one of the online tools that we have choosen. It was a very interesting experience whereby you have to be assessed by the whole class not the lecturer only. So we all deserve the marks that we received,which was derermind by our perfomance.

I'm posting this task for the second time I don't know what happened to the first one.

Negative and Positive Assessment

How are you finding automated assessment,easy or difficult? I know you  are too busy to respond to my question.
I just want to share with you the bad experience I encounter in 2006 at the testing station.The examiner that I was allocated to was so drunk to the extend that I even loose my concentration and end up failling my driving test. I was so angry with the management of that licence department because they could have seen that he was drunk when he report to work in the morning and send him home, but otherwise I'm over it you know how corrupt this department are.I think I was unfairly assessed because i think it was not my fault, that man did'nt know what he was doing.

The recent assessment is the one that I was doing powerpoint presentation which I think I was fairly assessed because I got the marks that I deserve and the other reason I was assessed by more than 5 people which I think I was very positively assessed. The other reason I love about our lecturer, she always give comment on your work so that you know where you have gone wrong and how to improve on that.

Accessing the course in an online environment.

Is interesting because i have learned lots of new thing e.g.blogger,communicating with my classmates online and get their different comments.
Challenging in the sense that you have to apply what you have learned and I keep forgetting the step that i follow to get what i want e.g Ignite how to access my course materials and to post my assignments or drop in a box.
Online can be a good tool to be used for teaching and learning,teachers can be shown the advantage of using online for their daily teaching like introducing PowerPoint in different learning areas e.g.maths teaching graphs to the learners,teaching different shapes and colours to the foundation phase,for bussiness you can also design wedding cards.With Microsoft you can also write your assignment and projects.

Please help with easy steps or some tricks to make my life easy.

Waiting to hear from all of you.

Good night now is time to go to sleep.

Hello all

Dear fellow classmates,

My name is Janet Ditlopo, I stay in Dawnpark,Boksburg area,I'm married with two boys aged 19 and 8.I like reading and singing even if I'm not a good singer but that does not stop me from being in a church choire.I love visiting my relatives  over the weekend with my family,my favourate dish is mabele(pap)and spinach(morogo)or braai with salads.Janet work at Wits School of Eucation in the ACE(Advance Certificate in Education) Programmes,oh!let me share the good news with you i nearly forget,i have been offfered a new post in the PGCE(Post Graduate Certificate in Education) in which I will be starting on 1March 2011.I was forced to study by the challenges and the changes in education, for my kids'sake so that I can help them with their studies and also to be inadvance with the growing technology.The other thing that compelled me to study is the family that I'm coming from,there is no one from that family who have ever graduated before so I want to make them proud.I'm also interested in this course(Online Teaching and Learning)because I don't know much about computer and I hope one day I will be an expect in that field.

Good luck all.