karimaathowest

[karimaathowest]

Edtech: Introduction

This study unit focused on integrating technology with education. Through these lectures, I could learn about new digital tools and programs to use with my future students.

I found these lectures especially useful and intriguing. (֊⎚-⎚)

As I always strive to improve my teaching approaches, Edtech served me as a useful way to learn new techniques. I feel it is important to teach computational thinking to young students as it helps them in their future careers and learning.

[karimaathowest]

Edtech: Coding (two)

Now that we've understood the concept of computational thinking, it was time to put our knowledge into practice!

For this lecture, we worked with Scratch, a digital tool that encourages and helps students to learn how to code. There are many programs and features on this website that can be integrated into lessons.

We used:

MaKey MaKey

Circuit Board

©MakeyMakey

These tools can easily be connected to Scratch to offer new ways to learn coding.

We tested out these features in groups and I really enjoyed this experience! It definitely inspired me and I will be implementing these tools into my lessons.

I must always try out new tools and adapt myself for my future students and to be the best possible teacher I can be for them.

I was able to learn so many new things through these Edtech lectures, they were the most useful for me.

[karimaathowest]

Introduction

Welcome to my blog! („• ֊ •„)੭

I'm Karima, a second-year student pursuing a B.A. (Hons) in Primary Education at the University of Malta. I love English literature and am especially interested in incorporating literacy and mindfulness (emotional literacy) into my teaching approach. 

I have always wanted to study abroad, so coming to Belgium was straightforward. Although coming here wasn't as easy, I'm extremely proud of myself for overcoming all the obstacles.

I came to Belgium with my dear friend Stella. Sharing this experience with her makes it all that much more rewarding and thrilling. I know for certain that we will both cherish the memories we make here. 

This blog is a platform to share my experiences and reflections as I follow my educational journey. Here, you'll find a mix of personal anecdotes, academic observations, and practical tips that hopefully will be useful for fellow student teachers!

[karimaathowest]

Edtech: Coding (one)

These were my favourite lectures! Everything we've learnt was so interesting, and I got so many new lesson ideas for my students in the future! As I see it, these lectures were relevant to my course as they focused on primary education teaching approaches, and I was able to apply these practices during lectures.

Before jumping straight into coding, we learnt about coding concepts through tactile 3D activities. The main goal was to understand the importance of computational thinking and how such an abstract subject can be taught to children.

For this lecture we used:

Primo

Beebot

Card & cones game

Primo was definitely my favourite because the bot had the cutest design! ᡣ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶𐭩 ♡

©cubetto starter kit

I also enjoyed the card and cones game because it was a good way to teach young students about the mechanics of coding! I was already familiar with the Beebot because a lot of schools in Malta use it, especially for Maths lessons.

The main function of all these tools was to teach programming logic through play. This is a creative and productive technique to teach students such abstract concepts because they learn best through tactile and tangible pedagogical methods. Once they master this, students can use programs and digital tools more efficiently and be less discouraged by them.

I genuinely enjoyed this lecture so much and I cannot wait to apply what I learnt into practice with my future students! ٩>ᴗ<)و

[karimaathowest]

Comparing Educational Systems

Understanding how educational systems differ is an intriguing topic for me. It fascinates me how schooling systems are adapted to suit the culture and expectations of different countries.

We discussed this topic in detail during these lectures, comparing the Flemish education system to other countries.

The international students came from Japan, Spain and Malta. We could get a look into all these countries' educational systems by researching and discussing with each other.

We were divided into two groups to research and compare educational systems. Stella and I (Malta) were grouped with Irene and Natalia (Spain). We found that the Maltese and Spanish systems were very similar, whilst the Flemish system differed from ours, especially in special education/inclusion.

Our group enjoyed meeting outside of school to work on our presentation on this topic. Having a coffee and discussing intellectual and educational topics is always fun for me! (๑ᵕ◡ᵕ)(ˆ◡ˆc)

[karimaathowest]

Edtech: Making a souvenir

After our Mind and Maker's Space tutorial, I felt ready and prepared to finally make my own souvenir!

We were asked to create a souvenir to remind us of our time in Brugge studying at howest.

Since I took a lot of photos while I was here, I thought the best souvenir would be a photo frame! The most suitable tool for this was Inkspace as I was able to design all the pieces for the photo frame easily.

Designing the photo frame was a bit tricky at first because I had to make sure all the dimensions were correct, and that isn't my strong suit （＃－.－）Nonetheless, I managed (well, I had hoped I did)!

I wasn't sure my design would work until I put it into the laser cutter machine. My face was practically glued to the glass window on the laser cutter, making sure it did everything I wanted it to correctly!

IT WORKED! I managed to make my own photo frame! I was so happy it worked out well!

I really enjoyed the entire process of this assignment, from start to finish. It was rewarding seeing my design in front of me. I want to make more things now!

[karimaathowest]

English for Exchange Student

My experience with this study unit differs from the rest as I was excused from lectures .. (๑•́o•̀๑)

After attending the first lecture, Stella and I immediately realised we were too advanced for this class (we're both native English speakers).

No matter, we spoke to our lecturer to find a solution because we both felt we wouldn't gain anything new from these lectures. So, we came to a compromise and agreed to do a separate assignment to get the credits we need for this study unit.

I was thankful we were able to be excused from these lectures because I would have been very bored and felt like I was wasting my time not learning something new.

Our Assignment

Instead of attending lectures, we were asked to research an article and present our findings in a presentation. We decided to focus our research on the Maltese educational system. We thought that was the best topic to focus on as it related to our course, We Teach The World.

Our presentation

The presentation went well, and we had an insightful conversation about our educational systems with our lecturer! (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

[karimaathowest]

Edtech: Mind and Makers Space

Preparations

Before using the equipment at the Mind and Makers Space, we had to prepare our designs!

For this, we used programs like Inkspace and Canva. Before this, I didn't have experience using Inkspace, I've only used Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. At first, it was a bit hard to understand the way the program worked, but once I realised how to use different settings, I felt comfortable playing around with different tools and making more complex designs! ( ´∀｀)人(´∀｀ )

Visiting the Mind and Makers Space

The Mind and Makers Space at howest is full of different tools and gadgets to use from laser cutters to cute button makers! ( っ˶°૦°˶)づ ✧

Mind and Makers Space tour

One of our Edtech lectures was a Mind and Maker's Space tutorial where we got the chance to try out all the equipment. This was a good way for us to learn how to use everything before making souvenirs for our assignment!

Using the laser cutter

There was a rotation system, and each group of students tested the laser cutters, sticker maker, video editor and button maker. Most of the equipment is user-friendly.. once you understand how to actually use them! ( ꩜ ᯅ ꩜;) My favourites were definitely the laser cutter and button maker. My group couldn't try the sticker maker, though, because we ran out of time, but it's okay we still enjoyed it!

[karimaathowest]

Integration in the Different Fields: Education

Trips to Antwerp and Brussels, lectures with guest speakers and debates. Integration in the Different Fields allowed me to learn in-depth about migration.

Through these excursions and lectures, I was able to further comprehend how migration affects groups and individuals within Belgium as well as my own country. We discussed this topic in great detail, reflecting on how migration takes different forms and that we must be aware and conscious of its effects.

Antwerp: Red Star Line Museum

On our trip to Antwerp, we visited the Red Star Line museum. En route to the museum, we walked past different migrant neighbourhoods! Seeing how migration creates such a beautiful mix of cultures in Antwerp was really insightful.

This was our first excursion as a class so my friends and I were all super excited! ୧(๑•̀ヮ•́)૭ LET'S GO!

The museum displayed the stories of past migrants so beautifully. I really enjoyed walking through all the exhibits and seeing all the displays and museum labels.

Red Star Line Museum: displays

After our visit, we were asked to write about our own migration stories and relate them to what we saw at the Red Star Line museum.

For this, I focused on my dad's migration story as he emigrated from Libya to Malta. Reflecting on his story, as well as the stories I saw at the museum, made me realise how much migration affects our everyday lives.

My Migration Story assignment

Brussels: African Museum

While in Brussels, we visited the African Museum. This museum displayed items and artwork related to the Belgian colony in Congo. The museum celebrated African culture, specifically Congolese.

African Museum: displays

I really enjoyed carefully examining every piece displayed at the museum and understanding the significance behind them.

Although I found this study unit interesting, I was disappointed that I couldn't apply pedagogy during lectures as we were grouped with the Social Work students ... (っ ̯- )˚˚˚ Our other peers had more opportunities to apply their field of speciality and contribute to discussions.

Even so, I still gained so much insight and feel more able to understand and discuss migration on a general level.

[karimaathowest]

International Projects in Education (eTwinning)

Cultural exchange, team teaching, and field trips were all part of the eTwinning project we participated in for this study unit. A collaboration between howest (Belgium) and FAU (Germany) universities brought students and lecturers together to learn from each other through seminars, workshops and trips.

German Students Visit Brugge

In September, the German students visited us in Brugge and joined us for lectures and seminars at howest. We also joined them for one of their excursions to Brussels for teacher workshops and to visit the Museum of European History.

Museum of European History: displays

International Students Visit Nurenberg

We continued our collaboration in December by visiting our German counterparts in Nurenberg, Germany.

This 5-day trip included seminars, workshops, city walks, and a lot of eating ദ്ദി๑>؂•̀๑)!

Some of our itinerary included

Erlangen trip

Museum visit

Nurenberg Christmas market

eTwinning seminars and workshops

Dinners with our friends

Reflection

It's safe to say that this eTwinning project was a success! ❀⸜(˶´ ˘ `˶)⸝❀

I appreciated the cultural exchanges and all the new teaching approaches I've learnt through this experience. I also made so many new friends which

I felt so fulfilled and more connected to my teaching profession after this project. Seeing other teachers be so driven by their work inspired me. I can't wait to apply everything I've learned to my teaching experiences in the future!

[karimaathowest]

Edtech: digital tools presentation

One of our first assignments involved researching digital tools and presenting our findings to Belgian students.

My favourite part of this assignment was discovering new tools I could use in my own practice in the future. I have a lot more lesson and activity ideas for my students now! ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

I also enjoyed presenting my findings. The Belgian students were all so accommodating and kind, they were also very eager to learn about the digital tools I presented.

Sharing ideas and discussing ways to improve our work with fellow student teachers is always a rewarding experience, I really enjoyed it!

[karimaathowest]

English Language Teaching

Being that English is one of my favourite subjects to teach, I was so enthusiastic about this study unit! As this is the case, I enjoyed these lectures a lot and found them extremely useful!

One particular moment I enjoyed was our visit to Poperinge with this class!

For this quick trip, we visited the Talbot House in Poperinge and took part in a Shakespeare Drama workshop.

During the workshop, we participated in different activities ranging from improv acting, treasure hunts, and Shakespeare acting!

We also had English tea and scones as a little treat, it was so yummy!

[karimaathowest]

Traineeships in Schools

Through this compelling study unit, I had the opportunity to teach Belgian students! At first, I felt rather apprehensive because I was teaching secondary students despite my study focus being primary students. Alas, I was prepared to tackle this as a challenge and learn from it nonetheless.

The criteria included class observations and preparing a lesson/workshop about Malta. Planning the lesson with Stella was fun but nothing compared to actually teaching the students.

It was a priority that the lessons were interactive so that the students enjoyed it, which I was so happy they did! They especially enjoyed the hands-on workshop where the students had to decorate their own biskuttini tar-raħal (traditional Maltese biscuits), they appreciated the sweet treat at the end! ദ്ദി(｡•̀ ᗜ^)

The class teachers and all the students were so lovely, and I appreciated this worthwhile experience. I gained so much insight and learnt that I have the potential to teach secondary students, too!