Our work placement for our last semester was at Mushiref Model School in Ajman, and we spent 8 weeks at the school. Our project was to create an electronic book for the English curriculum for grade five.  

Our experience at the school we very beneficial, because during these 8 weeks we get to be a part of the school’s community and to work with administrators and teachers for the first time. In addition, working at the school gave us a sense of what is the role of educational technologist in the school.

Working at the electronic book made us use everything that we leant at the collage from the software that we learned to how we can create something that engages  students and help them to be motivated and want to learn.

 Moreover, I feel that the school’s administrators were very helpful and understanding of what we have to do. They were constantly asking us if we need any help, allowing us to attend classes and providing us with what we need to complete our project.

However, our main concern was time; we felt that 8 weeks were not enough to complete our project, to collect data for our action research and implement our project. Fortunately, we managed to finish the electronic book and in the next days we will go to the school to implement the project and finish our data collection.

One major challenge that we faced was that our SMT was always busy so we did not have enough time to discuss with her the electronic book and show her the progress each step in a way. But at the end of the 8 weeks we showed her the electronic book and she liked it and now we will arrange with the teacher when we can come to the school and implement the project in some class. Also, the principal want to attend the classes to see the results of using the electronic book with students.   

We had many successes at the work placement. One of these successes is that we created a product that the school needed; the school never used an electronic book so implementing the electronic book will be something new. Another success is that we worked collaboratively with the administrators and we learned how to be a part of a community and work together and help each other.    

In addition, we learned many things during the work placement. One main thing was that we learned new software. We learned how to use the quiz feature in Captivate and use different features of Articulate. Another thing that we learned was we learned how to control students. While we were at the school we had to watch some classes and we learned how to control students, I think that watching these classes was very helpful for us because if will help us a lot if we become teachers.   

Finally, I think that our work placement at the Mushiref Model School was successful because we benefited a lot from working in one of the best schools in Ajman. We worked with a staff that is competent and helpful and we produce a product that will hopefully help the teacher and students. 

This week was our last week at Mushiref Model School and it was the hardest. We were very stressed because we had to finish the electronic book and try to implement it during that week. Luckily, we finished the electronic book but we did not have time to implement it. So we have to arrange with the teacher when we can come to the school and implement the project.

Completing the electronic book was hard and it took a lot of work because not only we had to create different activities, games and quizzes but we had to understand what the lessons are about and include the explanation in the electronic book. Also, to create an electronic book that is interactive we had to learn how to use different software and learn how to use new features in some software which was challenging because we only had 8 weeks.

I think that, one of the most important things that we learned from creating the electronic book is to use different software to create activities, quizzes and games. Also, we learned how to research better for different activities for the lessons. In addition, I believe that, the most benefit that we get from this work placement was how to work with teachers and administrators to create learning resources for them.    

This week was a very successful week for us because we managed to start to apply what we planned and start to work on the electronic book. We started the week be attending a presentation for one of the administrator, her presentation was very engaging and it gave us some ideas for our own presentation. At the end of the presentation there was a draw for a Hammer and I win (this was the high light of my week).

Hammer key

Hammer

Another successful thing that we are experiencing is applying what planned using computer. I learned that planning is a very good strategy that can be very helpful because it gives you an idea of how the product should look like. However, I leaned that planning is a thing and applying it is another thing, when you start to apply what you plan you get hit by reality because not everything you planed can be applied so you have to make major adjustments.

I think that, now the real work started for us because now we have to look for ways that enable us to create an electronic book that is motivating, engaging and help students to learn.   

Week 5 and 6 were the hardest for us because during these weeks the school were interviewing students to except them for grade 1 next year, so you can imagine how busy and stress they were. So we had to work in the library and for a couple of days there was a problem with the Internet connection so we could not continue our work on the electronic book. So we started to plan for our next unit and the activities and how they should they be used in the lesson, we learned that you should always have a plan B because you can’t trust technology and you should always be prepared for unpleased surprises.  

Another issue that we faced during these two weeks was that we could not attend classes with our SMT because she was very busy and the students had exams during these weeks. I think that we should try to coordinate a meeting with the SMT so we discuss with her about when we can attend classes with her. It is very important very for us to attend classes with the teacher because it is very crucial for our AR to collect data and observe students before using the electronic book and after using it.  

This week was very good week for us. First we finished our planning for the units and we had what we want to do written on paper such as activities, quizzes and games. I think that planning in this way will be very helpful for us because now we have the ideas and we only have to apply what we planned using computers. The biggest challenge facing us is how to turn the text book into something electronic that motivates students and keep them interested in the lesson.

In addition, we watched some classes; I know that you think that is not our role to watch students. But I think that working in our school is like you are part of a community where all teachers help each other, there were some occasion that the principal had to watch some classes. Moreover, I believe that, watching students is helping us a lot because it teaches us how to control students and how to deal with misbehaved students.

By next week will attend some classes with our SMT and we will show her our plan for the units and hopefully she will like it and give us some feedback so we can start to apply what we planned.

This week was really short week; we only had 3 days to go to the school so there is not much to talk about. During these 3 days we started to work on the electronic book, we brain storm our ideas so we can start to apply them next week. Also, this week we met with another English teacher and she was very helpful and she gave us many ideas about how the lessons and how should they be delivered.

I hope that next we start to apply our ideas and start to create the lesson using computer. Our only concern is time but hopefully we will overcome this issue. 

This was our second week at Mushiref Model School and it was very successful. In this week we met our SST and we discuss with her our project. We explained to her how this electronic book will be used in the classroom and she liked the idea. She gave us the Teacher English book so we can have an idea of how each lesson should be explained, we were glade that the teacher liked the idea and the fact that she is willing to apply this idea in her classroom.

Next week we will attend her classes to observe how she explains lessons. I hope that attending classes with our SST helps us to create an electronic book that is related to the teacher's way of explaining the lessons.

Also, this week we attended an English class, the teacher explained the lesson outside the classroom and the teacher did not use any books or paper, instead she used computers and games. I think that having classes like that is very important for the students because it helps them to change their daily routine and to refresh their mind.  

I think that, this week was a good week for us and now we can start to work on our electronic book.  

This is my first reflection on our first week at Mushiref Model School. Our first week was very good, on the first day we met the principal and the vice principal and they welcomed us to the school. I think that we are very fortunate to work with an administration that is very supportive and helpful and understand what we have to do.

During this week the school opened the Arabic center and we helped the teachers in the Arabic centre. In the Arabic center there are different sections such as computer section and audio section. In each section students will practice different skills such as reading, writing and spelling. Working in Arabic center showed us how different resources and technologies can serve educational purposes. For instance, in the Arabic centre there are DVD players for students to listen to a story and read it from a book. Moreover, we have seen students using these resources and how excited and motivated they become because of a game or watching a story on a DVD and how they can learn a lot from these resources.

In addition, during the first week the school was expecting the Minister of Education to visit them so you can imagine how busy they were.  

Additionally, we met our supervisor who is an English teacher and we told her what we are planning to do and on Sunday we will meet with her again to go over the details and to start working on the electronic book. Our supervisor is a graduated from SWC so she understands what we have to do. I believe that, we are lucky to work with someone who has a background of what needs to be done and understand the process of how it should be done.

I think that this week was very beneficial and we enjoyed it and I hope next week we can start to work on our project.

Who: I found about this website from sparklinks

What is it about: This is a websites that allows uses to create online Surveys & Questionnaires.

How could help to students: I think that the website is very useful for students. This website allows users to create survey and questionnaires. Students from different majors have to create surveys and questionnaires as a part of their learning and studying. So this website can make the process of creating surveys and questionnaires and giving it to those who will take these surveys and questionnaires very easy. This website allows you to send the surveys by email so by this ways students can save a lot of time.

Today was our last day in the WP. We started the day by helping the grade 1 teachers in preparing the students for the parade. Then we want to thank the principal for her collaboration with us. She gave us the English curriculum for grade 5 so we can a have a look at the book and start to generate ideas for Electronic book.

After that, we want to see the students rehearsing the activities that they will do on Sunday.Then, we continued to work in the need analysis tools because we have to submit them today at 4.

I think that this work placement was very successful and beneficial for us and we have learnt many things about integrating technology with education.

The principal and the vice principal were very collaborative with us and they provided every thing that we needed. I am looking for work to come back to the school next semester and hopefully we can a have a chance to help them and produce a product that can help the teachers.