use ict in teaching mathematics and science

2009-08-08T01:30:00.000-07:00

Background
SEAMEO has become aware of some common emerging concerns within Asia in relation to the provision of education. .In this regard, SEAMEO and the Australian Government developed a proposal on pre-service teacher training and teacher professional development in the use of ICT in the teaching of mathematics and science. The proposal was approved by the 37th SEAMEO Council Conference in March 2002 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

1. Study Visit and Workshop in Australia
a. Study Visit
(1) Objective
The general objective of the study visit in Australia was to examine Australian best practices and to enable Task Force members to observe, in practice, some of the principles of training in the use of ICT. Specifically, the visit aimed to give the task force opportunities to acquire new ideas, information and insights on how the educational institutions at all levels of education in Australia:
i. develop their curriculum;ii. improve teachers’ performance;iii. create conducive learning atmosphere;iv. encourage school-community participation;v. integrate the use of ICT in the teaching-learning process;vi. evaluate student achievement and teachers’ performance; andvii. make use of ICT in pre-service education and in-service training of teachers.
(2) Activities
The visit in Australia was conducted in Brisbane and Sydney. The institutions visited and focus of the discussion during the study visits are presented in Appendix I.
(3) General Observations
Some of the general observations are:
i. Australia, especially in Brisbane and Sydney also has a problem on teacher shortage. In spite of that, the Government of Australia does not provide special incentive or reward to teachers. Like Southeast Asian Countries, only a few teachers accept teaching jobs in the remote areas.ii. School principals have no limit on terms of office. As far as they are doing right, their tenure of office can be for a long period of time.
• Curriculum
The influence of technology emphasizes the importance of some aspects of curriculum content and process, while diminishing the role of others such as repetitive and rote learning. It implies a fundamental shift in educational priority, from accumulating knowledge to the management of information, and suggestions and increasing need for citizen who are informed, critical and capable as decision-makers in a technological world.
• Teaching Practice
The effective use of technology encourages a move away from teacher-centered approaches and towards a more flexible and student-centered environment. A technology-rich learning environment is characterized by collaborative and investigative approaches to learning, increasing integration of content across the curriculum and a significant emphasis upon concept development and understanding. .
• Student Learning
Students who use calculators and computers within an appropriate environment can improve their basic skills by increasing their number sense and strengthening their understanding of arithmetic operations. It is not necessary for students to learn about numbers and number operations before they can effectively use calculators; rather, such understandings and skills follow naturally from appropriate access to technology.
• Professional Development of Teachers
Appropriate teaching resources and professional development are important in the widespread use of ICT in science and teaching. Online professional development of teachers enables teachers to develop themselves and be updated on the trends and techniques of integrating ICT in teaching.
Strategies need to be developed for the provision of training and professional development, and for making available teaching and learning resources which are tailored to teachers’ needs.

computer maintainance in our live

2009-08-08T01:11:00.000-07:00

Computer Maintenance Tips
Five Tips to Keep your Computer Running Smoothly

1. Never, never, turn your computer off with the power switch until Windows has shut down.
The one exception to this rule is when your computer locks up and your hard drive is not running (hard drive light is not blinking). In this situation, you can turn the power off without harmful effects to the hard drive. As cutting the power can also result in lost data or Windows files, you should only do this when you have to.
2. I highly recommend that you purchase an UPS (uninteruptable power supply) for your computer. This will keep your computer from crashing during power outages, and will protect your computer from low and high voltage occurrences.An UPS is far superior to a surge protector and will save your computer from almost any type of power disaster.
3. Backup, backup, backup, any data you cannot afford to lose to at least two separate physical drives. So backup data to external hard drives, Zip disks, CD-RWs etc. The time to backup is when you create something you can't afford to lose. Don't wait until tomorrow.
4. Run Scandisk and Defragment at least once a month. This will keep your hard drive healthy and prevent crashes. Alternatively, purchase Norton Utilities and use it to keep your hard drive healthy.
5. Never unplug peripherals from the computer when it is powered up. Unplugging with the power on can short out the connector socket or the motherboard.

Scan disk
SCANDISK or ScanDisk is a utility in MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows systems which checks and repairs file systems and bad clusters on the hard drive. It was introduced in MS-DOS version 6.2. Previous versions of MS-DOS supplied only the simpler, purely text-based program CHKDSK. In Windows 95 onwards, SCANDISK also had a graphical user interface, although the DOS program retained the text interface. The disk scanning utility under Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP is also called CHKDSK (even though it is different from the MS-DOS CHKDSK) and has the ability to check NTFS disk drives

HOW TO SCAN DISK

Running a Scan Disk for Windows XP
Note: You will not have the use of your computer while it is running a disk scan. Depending on the speed of your computer, this process can take around 30 minutes. You can set your computer up to run its scan while on a break.
To start a scan disk,
Open up the My Computer window.
Click on the C: drive icon to select it.
Click on File, Properties, then select the Tools tab.
The first option is Error-checking.
Click on the Check Now... button.
Click in the boxes to Automatically fix file system errors and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.
Click on the Start button.
The following warning message appears.
Click on Yes.

Disk cleanup
Disk Cleanup is available on both Home and Professional versions of XP. The utility can be accessed in any of the methods listed below.
Click Start Programs Accessories System Tools Disk Cleanup
Click Start Run and in the Open box type cleanmgr and click OK
In Windows Explorer or My Computer, right-click the disk in which you want to free up space, click Properties, click the General tab, and then click Disk Cleanup.
Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr.exe) is a computer maintenance utility included in Microsoft Windows designed to free up disk space on computer users' hard drive. The cleanup process firstly involves searching and analyzing the hard drive for files that are no longer of any use. It then proceeds to remove the unnecessary files, freeing up disk space on the hard drive.

Disk fragmentation
Hard disk fragmentation is as inevitable as death and taxes. Fragmentation begins the moment the first file is stored on your computer's hard disk and it continues until the disk eventually bogs down so much that it may refuse to boot one day. Disk fragmentation occurs because of the way that the Windows Operating System stores files on your hard disk. Whenever a file is written or rewritten Windows attempts to store that file in one long string without any spaces. When your hard disk is brand new, and you have a lot of space, this is a relatively easy task. As you continue adding, modifying and deleting files, however, spaces or gaps between files begin to appear on your hard disk. This is the start of fragmentation.

Virus scan

Protecting your computer from viruses
A virus is a program that attaches itself to a file on a computer, then spreads from one computer to another. Viruses can damage data or cause your computer to malfunction. Some viruses go undetected for a period of time, because they are activated on a certain date.
Protect your computer from a virus by:

Using your Norton ® AntiVirus program to check files and programs that are on diskettes, attached to e-mail messages, or downloaded from the Internet.

Checking all programs for viruses before installing them.

Disabling macros on suspicious Microsoft Word and Excel files. These programs will warn you if a document that you are opening contains a macro that might have a virus.

To scan for viruses:
Click Start, then select Programs, Norton AntiVirus, then Norton AntiVirus. Norton AntiVirus opens.
Click Scan for Viruses.
Select the type of scan you want to make in the Scan area, then click Run Scan Now.

To remove a virus:
Find and remove the virus immediately using Norton AntiVirus.
Turn off your computer and leave it off for at least 30 seconds.
Turn on the computer and rescan for the virus.

Remove spyware and adware

Adware & Spyware is computer software that gathers and reports information about you to a third party without your knowledge or consent. This may include websites you visit or usernames and passwords. Adware is computer software that displays advertisements on your computer without Both adware and spyware can greatly diminish computer performance. Your computer may run more slowly, programs may not work properly, and with adware, you may have advertisements literally popping up everywhere. To prevent spyware and adware from infecting your computer it is important to run anti-spyware software or to use an anti-virus software that includes anti-spyware capabilities.
Scanning for Adware &Spyware
1.Start --> All Programs --> Lavasoft --> Ad-Aware 2007 --> Ad-Aware 2007
2.In the main screen select Scan and then Full Scan. Click the Scan button to start your scan.
3.Once the scan is completed, your scan results may look something similar to the screen below. Note: no Adware was found on this computer.

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use ict in teaching mathematics and science

computer maintainance in our live