My Educ 190 class has given me lots and lots of things to do with the different ICT technologies available right now. Lots of these technologies can really improve the delivery of instruction and make the creation of instructional materials easier. I know that some of my classmates found it hard at first to use these technologies, but I noticed that a lot of them had fun and would consider using these when they are already teachers in the future. During this course, I was able to know lots of different software and web applications I didn't know before.
It's also a good thing that we we're able to know what are Free and Open Source Software. We've been given a lot of alternatives to proprietary software that most of us can't really afford. High prices of these proprietary software are one of the main reasons why people use pirated copies. People who bought these expensive proprietary software don't really use all of its features. So why buy something you won't really use that much? Go for free and open source software! It's just a matter of preference and getting used to if you'll ask me. By using these FOSS, you can contribute more to the free and open source community and not become a criminal through piracy! :)
In this course, we learned the different skills that we need to know to be able to use the different ICT technologies available out there. We were able to use the different search techniques that enabled information acquisition easier. We also used different materials generators, graphics tools, music editors, and typing tools that made the creation of instructional materials easier and more fun. Through the use of Scheduling and Management tools, lesson planning software, and Assessment tools, teachers will be able to easily manage their classes and maintain records of the progress of the students in class. These tools will make the lives of the teachers easier because they will no longer need to manually write the lesson plans, and records of the students. The skills development exercises in our class really helped in making us feel more comfortable in using these different software applications.
I think that the Philippines has a lot of things to learn when it comes to the use of ICT in Education. We know that we don't really have that much funds to spend in ICT technologies, but that doesn't mean we should not try to use these things. We need a better ICT framework and more open minds of teachers and administrators to make the full integration of ICT in Education possible.
