Johan @ Eddy Luaran
Professor (Instructional Technology) at the Faculty of Education,
Universiti Teknologi MARA.
My passion for Teaching:
I believe the fundamental goal of teaching is to foster learning. Learning takes place in many different circumstances and contexts. Although everyone is capable of learning, a student's desire to learn is a vital pre-condition to effectively mastering new concepts and skills.
THE NEED FOR INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY KNOWLEDGE
Grounded on the knowledge of vast research in instructional technology, the blend of technology into the educational setting is globally well-founded. With the vast array of gadgets available nowadays, the current century has been recognized as the digital age where information are easily retrieved at the tips of our fingers. The children who grow up in this century has been reported as different type of learners when compared with the children of the 80s, as their daily life are flooded with the use of various gadgets such as electronic games, internet cartoon videos, social networking and graphic animations. Such learners are labeled as Learners 2.0, characterized as having non-linear way of learning and short attention span. Hence, the education system which has been following the traditional instructions are no longer relevant as such instructions are not able to yield the best out of the students’ ability.
In responding to such need, teachers and educators should be equipped with the knowledge of optimizing their pedagogical activities by integrating technologies into their teaching. The productivity of their instruction can be vastly increased when they are equipped with the knowledge of using software and applications. For example, they can certainly learn more through collaborative teaching which can happen through the sharing of information over the internet. Interesting animations created through applications to enhance the understanding of abstract concepts are also able to grab the attention of the student and make them visualize and remember the concepts better.
Other than focusing on pedagogical output, participants attending any of my programs will benefit by saving significant time in creating various types of reports that requires the use of various features and functions of their software applications. They can also learn to analyze data more in-depth and identify patterns or trends emerging, master the various types of charts that can be used in presentations, manipulate and present data to better serve audiences and understand techniques in making impressive presentations. The above mentioned would vary based on the program attended.