My Experience in Education Technology

My name is Sam Ousama Serrieh and I am working as IT Faculty for the CIS department in Dubai Men’s college-HCT. I am specialized in EEE, Networking, and Operating systems.

I am interested in developing course material that is focused on the course outcomes, and that can be presented in the best way for student understanding considering the language and competencies. I have developed and published three books for HCT courses.

I recall the first workshop in using educational technology in 1996 in Montreal. The focus was on diversifying tools to attract audience attention. The proposed tools were the white board, the portable paper board, and the transparent slides with the overhead projector.  Adding a flavor of animation by using some new features in the Microsoft’ Power point application; was also part of the focus of the workshop.

At that time, Microsoft, among other software and book publishers, started to provide some videos recorded on CDs for basic concepts to display in the classroom.

All those tools had a common feature in that they are all centralized and localized meaning that we had to import the devices and equipment into the class room and demonstrate to audience who is attending in person.

Shared local drives on college servers were also very common as they have the advantage of giving access to documents and resources free of the class time frame, but still within the college or organization’s premises (Local network).

Within a couple of years after I joined HCT in 2000, the WebCT project was launched. I found it a revolutionary move towards sharing of information and information interchange.

With its successor BlackBoard Vista, we gradually witnessed the disappearance of paper based exams from our practices and the degradation in producing textbooks in hard format which actually becoming kind of compliance with the traditional classical methods of schools and universities.    

Some new applications, such as SoftChalk, help publishing textbooks in various formats that simplify and ease browsing through the huge quantity of papers in the book.   

Simulation applications are also becoming a major asset in training and acquiring practical skills. I hereby mention the Cisco’ Packet Tracer which we are using intensively as a training tool for its capabilities. Virtual labs are also another fantastic educational tool in my field.

With the help of educational technology, students are able of learning independently away from the class room and the class hours are becoming contact hours for consultations and discussions.

From Concrete to Virtual

It is not something new to spot that rapid advancement of technology changes everything around and penetrates deeper to change our needs, our way of thinking, understanding, analyzing and judgment. It is a revolution which we don’t have control on, and it drives our lives with or without our consent.

Job skills and requirements are deviating away from what we used to consider. The whole learning and teaching process is changing. The transmitter-receiver topology or the master-slave relation between the teacher/educator and the student/learner is diminishing and won’t be there anymore.

The skills can be acquired via various ways that may not even require a teacher’s help. The resources and the information are there, open and available for everyone. All you need is the ability to see, hear, talk, and a communication device that gets you connected.

Our children live among devices of artificial intelligence that can handle their commands and convert them into meals at the door step or music at the finger tip. Our kids can assimilate the ambient technological environment rapidly. My seven and a half years daughter asked me to purchase a note book. After six months, she realized that portability and mobility is important, so she requested an iPhone and now she is seeking an iPod.   Well, her mom made a big mistake when she asked her what she needs the I-PAD for. The 7.5 years exploded of laughter as she thought her mom is unaware of the difference between the iPod and the I PAD.

This is the generation which we need to guide successfully through the journey of learning and knowledge acquisition. I believe the challenge is how fast we can act to develop our educational institutes into virtual institutes without concrete barriers and school buses. This implies a lot of changes and remapping of our measures. Attendance must be remapped to commitment; evaluation must be based on accomplishment; the selection of topics must not be molded in a semester frame, and even the time frame –as a whole- must be waived.

Development of teacher's practical theory

The teaching theory governs (among others) the lesson delivery, the student/teacher relationship, the image that will be generated in the student’s memory, and the teacher’s reaction to various incidents that would arise with students. Simply, it draws the teaching profile which in turns, reflects on the student’s motivation towards a particular subject, a particular teacher, and consequently towards the whole learning decision. The student would keep the image in mind forever. Some retouches may take place the life journey, but the image itself never leaves the memory.

The cultural rules which I have absorbed during my childhood made me a follower to my teachers, doing exactly what they asking me to do. Writing homework on time, underlining the date with red, and numbering the pages on my copybook … I’ve been always recalling that teachers must get full respect, admiration, and must be obeyed. This practice made me the first in my classes and gave me full appreciation from schools. It also kept my GPAs high. Maybe some teachers were not at my expectations level, but still, I was always trying to get the maximum out of them.

After several years, when I started my career in the education field, I was holding the same image in mind. Students should be serious in my class, should respect me in full, follow my directives, and do whatever I ask them to do without questioning; and to make this happen, and because I wanted to be a memorable one, I was preparing the lesson plans in advance including the questions to throw during the lesson. At times, I was denoting the student name to which I’ll pose the question. I’ve been also very strict with class time and attendance.

This all was fine but the results were not as I wanted. The feedback from students showed that my personality is not favorable to them, my lesson was extending beyond their understanding, and they were asking so many questions about why we should learn this. I had the impression that they were defeating my strict rules and the framed environment which I have created for them, so I decided to change my way and the challenge was how, with that teacher image from the 6^th decade of the 20^th century dominating my personality. Not only the teaching method must be altered, the perspective of teaching and learning must be changed and therefore, I registered for a training was called teach the teacher from which I was in touch with various teaching experiences.

Step by step, along the 16 years in the field, with a lot of work and revision, I feel that I’ve sent that image to the trash folder in my deep but it is not yet deleted permanently.

My findings in general, are:

•  The teaching process is and must be in continuous development to match the new ages of learners who are living newer ages of technology.
• A particular subject can be taught in various methods based on the audience, their needs, and capabilities.
• Teaching in academic environment differs from teaching in vocational environment.
• Working student needs differ than non-working student needs.

Memorable learning experience

It is definitely enjoyable to talk about a recognizable learning experience which you have gone through and analyze its effect on your personality, beliefs, teaching/learning methods, and behaviors.

The company which I was working for; decided to send me to the US, Oh, Cleveland to visit the Lincoln Electric Co. for a training seminar on their products of Welding machines and equipment. They wanted me to become the technical advisor for their clients in the oil fields.

The first day of the seminar was unforgettable. The International marketing manager of Lincoln electrics was in the hotel at 6:00 AM calling all participants to wake up and be ready within 30 minutes of time.

Without having a shower, I quickly shaved and put on my suit and tie and grabbed my bag in which I had arranged all my papers and rushed down to the lobby. I could recognize him immediately as he was standing there with a wide smile and holding a paper on which he hand-wrote the name of the company.

Nice meeting you Mr. Larry, I said

Finally I got to know you Sam, please call me Larry, and, please go back your room and put on your jeans with some other shirt. We will be welding all the day, Larry said.

No problem Larry, please give me 15 minutes, I answered.

You’ve got 10 minutes, he replied.

The first positive impression I got about Larry is his eagerness to achieve his schedule with immediate action.

It was 7:30 AM when we reached the company and not exaggerating, I found myself in a town with roads and buildings around. We walked from the parking lot to the workshop through a corridor of around 100 m distance and then we climbed a stair of around 30 stairs up. Hundreds of machines were there. We’ve been guided into a room to put on the Chamois leather jackets, helmets, shoes and cloves.

Being ready, Larry guided us to the instructors’ room where they split us into groups of 5 each and I was appointed with Mr. Gerry.

Within 10 minutes, I’ve been placed beside a machine of 90 cm height and around 10 control buttons. The welding gun was already attached to the machine and a packet of welding rods was placed on a large metal table with four pieces of metal sheets of different dimensions.

Soon, Gerry got by and put in front of me a paper with a figure drawn on it and said, Sam, you may start to build up your own box!

I said, would you show me where and how to start.

He said, you are here to join the metal sheets without burning them and by using this machine. You gonn’a try it yourself and do some mistakes. Just be careful not to burn your eyes or fingers. Then he continued his way and left me alone!!!….

I did not have a choice but to figure out a way to do something about it. I waved my neck to drop the helmet down, it was completely dark, and so I decided to open it up and start by putting the welding rod in the gun and then starting the machine. So I did. Then I brought the gun slowly to the metal sheet. An electric arc flashed and scare fully I pulled my hand off away. I could see nothing around for a moment or so. Then I decided to drop the helmet to cover my eyes while my hand is a bit closer to the metal sheet so I can establish the arc and then I can see well. Hey it works; I could start the arc and see the metal sheet. Yes the rod got glued to the sheet hundred times but I kept repeating the attempt until I was able to do it much better.

Gerry came back and said, Sam, you doing well but you need to make the rod’s angle acute and not right vertical.. and he left again.

In 24 training days, and in the same manner, Gerry made me learn using all the machines in the workshop effectively and successfully.

At the end of the seminar, Lincoln Electrics granted me a membership in the American Welding Society.

Pre Course Reflection

I have been long working in the higher education and mainly in vocational institutes. The subjects I’m delivering are related to electrical and electronic engineering, mathematics, IT networking and computer hardware. This diversity required me to practice and explore hardware and software from various vendors such as Cisco, Microsoft, Red hat, IBM, Novel and others.

During my journey in the education field, I had to work with various methods for content delivery, ranging from the paper work, to the lab work, and during the last few years, I started integrating the on line delivery methods such as Black board. Many times, I had to develop work books (paper-based and/or online) to match and exactly comply with the objectives of a particular course. 

Students come to learn for various targets. They also have different backgrounds. It is challenging to have a class of various knowledge levels and work to bring them up all to the same level.

I experienced students in multiple parts of the world. I found out that the student prime mover, need, and motivation for learning are different in one country from others.

The best moment for an instructor in the education field is when you see your students coming up to know how to do the tasks which you’ve been long working with them to achieve. It is an unforgettable moment.

It would be helpful and advantageous to know about the newer trends in higher education and share the experience with others and further learn how to use and apply newer tools and methodologies to better suit with the new generations.

Doing this, will make me satisfied that the job is being done with the maximum possible effort to achieve a higher quality.

Not only that. I also do, believe, that this certificate would recognize its holder world-wide.