Week 11 Reflection: Search & Scan

This week was another fabulous week as yet another task was allocated to us. To me, the task was rather unfamiliar as we had to seek out two research materials relevant to the use of teaching aids in the primary classroom. To make things more complex, we had to analyze every bits and details of each research materials we find but that would only be possible if the materials we found are accepted by the lecturer. Thus, the search begins!

Through the countless attempt of browsing the internet, like a pirate of the sea in search of hidden treasures, I reminded myself that learning is just another part of life that makes become more mature and allows opportunities to practice patience and wisdom. And like all sailors of the sea, our mind grows with experience we encounter throughout our journey. Like a wild horse, I managed to tame and open my heart to read all the materials I could lay my hands upon in this ‘cyber sea’. Reading experience has taught me that the purpose many researchers had in mind when publishing their research were that to help future teachers like me to become well aware of the enormous and unpredictable learning benefits teaching materials could offer, especially for young learners. In addition, I learned that teaching aids are exceptional assistant which could turn around the overall mood of learning of a child, for instance, by playing a simple yet catchy song, children may eventually find themselves indulged in the learning process as such teaching aids allows them to ‘see’ that learning in the classroom is actually a fun and enjoyable thing to do. Such conversion of a child thought towards the idea of learning from boring to exciting is of most importance to me as from my observation of prior teaching experience along with reading examples found in books and researches, I have realized that children in the Malaysian context have about 5 minutes attention span before they ‘switch’ into their own activity of making noise at the back. Therefore, adding suitable teaching aids are essential for prolonging their attention span along with the right interest towards positive learning attitudes and also help reduce disciplinary problem in return.

While it is good to know that teaching aids are good tools for improving the learning effectiveness, knowing how to use them into your favor is another thing. According to current research done in schools lately, teachers have been found to still implement the ‘chalk and talk’ approach as a daily teaching mode. They admitted the idea of using teaching aids is great and beneficial but they argued that they lack the abilities to download or convert the application as they are not very techno-savvy themselves. As a result they are forced to attend seminars for acquiring the necessary knowledge to do so. But this consumes a lot of effort and time; something they cannot afford to lose. That is why I am grateful that the TESL course that I took integrates the teachings of utilizing technology towards the betterment of learning experience for future learners. Thus, the task of seeking research materials and analyzing them for further comprehension of current times’ issues regarding teaching aids and the teaching environment as a whole, are crucial for me to progress both in maturity and wisdom as future teachers to come.