Situating tools

Situating tool

Situating tools are the applications that help us to put the learners in an environment. These tools are mainly used when we want to give the students a hands-on-practice and a real life representation a topic but it is not possible. For example if I am a teacher in Thimphu and I want to teach a topic on a lhakhang in Samdrup Jongkhar, I cannot take my students all the way to Samdrup Jongkhar. Instead I can take them to the computer, login in to our Google accounts and show them the virtual images of the lhakgang. In this way students can gain a better insight of the topic which leads to better understanding and longer retention of memory.

So, if  ICT as a situating tool has been very interesting and beneficial for my learning I can imagine how great and fulfilling it shall be for the little curious learners. I think ICT in itself has so many features that drive the student’s to itself and when it provides such educational platforms it creates a fun and engaging learning environment for both the teachers and the students. I was really to see and learn how we can project an event of a location as if we were really in the particular place and time through the situating tools such as the Google maps. I went on exploring and playing with the places on the map, visiting the places I have never been to before. Before the session on situating tools, I never knew or tried exploring the Google map. I am sure my futures students are going to be like me so I am really excited to use these features in my lessons and have my students engage in experiential learning.

Through this lesson I have also explored on so many other useful features of ICT with the guidance of our tutor. There are so many useful websites and applications that could make our work so much easier and the learning more engaging. Out of the many we explored on graphing using the computer application which makes math easier and more convenient. We also played on the Phet simulations where we could learn and practice and exercise on varies subject areas such as biology, physics, chemistry and etc and other subjects. I think such activities and websites really enhance the learning of the children because it encourages a child-centered learning with maximum experiential activities.