Presentation reflection

The presentation I did this time was different from my last time: I did not use any slides to help me.Though I knew everything about the subject I was going to present, I still found it difficult to convey my ideas and logic. The audience was not familiar with my field and there was no visual aid for them to make things easier for them. Therefore, I tried to give as many background knowledge as I could, so that the audience would not lose their focus as they follow.

During the presentation, I was a bit nervous and sometimes I could not find the correct word to express my points. Luckily, there were not major mistakes. I was glad that after the presentation, my audience managed to know a bit more about the Chinese education system and why there is a digital divide among the schools.

Reader response

In Picardo's article(2012), he states the importance for students to develop greater global awareness and better understanding of other cultures. He agrees with Marcel Proust, that by working with other people we learn about their cultures and become able to explore new ideas and prospects leading us to choices that have never come to our mind. He states that students need to be guided during their "process of discovery" to gain better understandings of the world. Thus, schools can help the students through various ways like foreign exchange programs. He also states that modern means of communication such as social networks and video conferencing make it easier for students experience foreign cultures. He believes that global awareness and international collaboration during the formative years results in more rounded individuals, encouraging our pupils to see things from different perspectives and helping them to make informed decisions, acquiring transferable skills that will be useful to them and will remain with them for life. He also mentions that according to the Association of Graduate Recruiters companies cannot find enough applicants with the requisite skills to operate in an international market place, indicating that greater efforts by schools in fostering global awareness and international collaboration are needed to best prepare our students - and ourselves - for life in the 21st century.

I agree with the author's view that it is important for students to have global awareness and understandings of other cultures. In a globalized world today, there is a growing need of talents that can work with people from other cultures. Therefore, students need  to learn different cultures so that they can have a bigger platform for their careers ahead. In my country, China, there is a growing need of talents that have experience of studying abroad. These people are often more competitive and are able to see problems in different ways. Since the country is relying on foreign countries to keep its speed of development, these traits are becoming more and more valuable, therefore it is important for students to possess them.

I agree with the author's view that "students should be guided through the process of discovery so that a deeper understanding of their own place in the word is developed".  As for students, their thoughts are not mature enough and their knowledge may not be enough to develop deep understandings of foreign cultures when they are abroad. Therefore, it will be helpful to students to have some guide. From my own experience, schools can not only help students to gain deeper understanding of new cultures but also help students to understand new cultures in a faster way.As a foreign student myself in Singapore, I find the bridging course provided by my secondary school really useful in teaching me the local culture and merging into it. To me school shortens the distance of the new environment and me, thus making me easier to accept  new cultures. Therefore, schools can and should help students to know more about other cultures.

In conclusion, I agree with the author that it is important to develop greater global awareness and schools' role of guiding the students in their "process of discovery" is important for students to gain a deeper understanding of other cultures. In a globalized situation, students' global awareness and the ability to take in new cultures are greatly valued. As the place where education happens, schools can and should take more actions to nurture those traits in their students.

References

Jose Picardo. (2012) Why students need a global awareness and understanding of other culture. Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2012/sep/25/students-global-awareness-other-cultures

An event that has shaped my life and the person I have become.

    If the selection test for a chance to study in Singapore never happened, I would still be in China and my life will be completely different.

    I was 15 when I was given a chance to take part in the selection test arranged by Anglican High School in Singapore. At that point I had no idea of living by myself away from my family or studying abroad, I just thought the test was fun and I could gain experience from that.  Though I was not so prepared as some of my peers, I managed to pass the test and interview and got my way to Singapore after a 2 months break.

   I arrived in Singapore at night. I did not realize that I am far away from everything I am familiar with  until the next morning. No one was ever going to take care of me from then on and I need to merge into the new environment all by myself. Luckily I got another 18 of us who faced the same situation as me. Together we started to live our lives and continues our studies in this completely new place. 

  Soon it will be my eighth year in Singapore. During my time here, I learned how to take care myself and my friends, how to communicate with different people and how to live through difficult times. My past seven years in Singapore shaped my view towards many things in life and made me think differently from those who not yet have a chance to live independently.  

Summary of BBC article(group work)

According to Wakefield (2010), the increasing gap between those with access and those with no access to technology is causing ‘digital divide’ to become a global issue. Research done by ITU indicates that a country’s extent of “digital divide” is correlated to its economy In developed countries, like Finland, internet access has become a basic need for people.Developing countries like Hungary are lacking in e-inclusion policy and there are concerns that the internet is too complex for some to understand. Therefore, policies like the “wifi-village” are implemented to rural areas to solve the problem by providing computers and wifi, as well as teaching people how to use them. Internet is also being used to preserve culture of minority groups making it easier for people in remote areas to obtain health care. Internet is important in improving living standard of people. 

My English Language Learning Journey

     I was born in a second-line city of China. English,at that time,was totally alien. So when I first touched the language, I was struggling to accept anything that was related. I could not memorize the spelling of words and sometimes even their pronunciations.I failed my first few English tests with no surprise. Though I did not give up,I still could not memorize anything. Each day with English was a struggle until a friend of my father passed me a set of English tapes with a set of books that talked about lives in America. I was so attracted to the voice and the music that I started to listen to the tapes almost every second even during my sleep. Before long, I got this feeling that English was no longer my enemy but my friend. Through the tape I found my way of learning English,which was listening to the same content again and again. By doing that, I could memorize the whole textbook even before the school started.This helped me in leading my batch in learning English and eventually cleared my way to Singapore.
      After I came to Singapore, the demand of English usage went to a much higher level. I needed to write much complex essays to pass my exams and at the same time, learning Singlish to merge into the new environment. My teachers in junior college suggested that I write simple English,so that the ideas can be clearer with fewer grammatical errors. However, when my thoughts started to flow, I often found it hard to follow his suggestion. Therefore, I did not do well in my A-level general paper and was trying to avoid English writings since then. Hopefully this course will be the turning point for my English language learning journey.
(edited on 03/09/2014)