LO1 and LO5: In the process of completing a SWOT analysis it was important for us to use our client’s feedback to suggest improvements for future groups. It was extremely important to pinpoint weaknesses as potential areas of improvement. In fact, our client suggested we include some of the improvements he saw in us compared to previous years. In the analysis, under weaknesses and threats, we were able to find just this. I believe that our biggest strength was the ability to work in a collaborative manner so that everyone in the group is aware of what is going on. This minimized confusion within the group (especially regarding the material or procuring laptops) and maximized the efficacy of our lessons.
LO3: Overall, I think our planning ahead was extremely effective and a key to our success. We were able to use the plan as an outline to improvise (especially during the lesson where we tried to teach clients Garageband). Furthermore, slides and material were prepared in advance to ensure the quality and length of the lessons. Furthermore, with reference to past lessons, we were able to plan the perfect length of each lesson and provide extension topics if needed.
It is currently week 15 and since I last posted a reflection we have accomplished a lot as a group.
Week 9: This week we had a session on Presentations Making Softwares such as Google Slides and PowerPoint. I played the normal secondary helping role. This week I was paired with a client I was paired up with a few weeks ago so I was familiar with their learning abilities. This helped me tailor the lesson to their particular needs. This helped me slowly overcome the weakness I mentioned in the previous post.
Week 10: We spent this week doing a SWOT analysis regarding how we were performing as a service group. During this time, we had a discussion with the volunteers from Hougang Care Center to help identify the Strengths, Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats. Being the leader, I was the one who communicated with the volunteered and then I relayed all the ideas to the school’s service department and members of our service. What I found is below:
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STRENGTHS The strengths of our service partnership are: We are able to get along with the members Excellent teaching skills 80% are regular attendees Clients are interested in the sessions conducted –> new skills They have learned (testimonials) They look forward to the sessions Timing of the lesson is perfect |
WEAKNESSES Identify them and add strategies to minimise them: The computers don’t work sometimes Too few computers |
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OPPORTUNITIES Further goals for our service partnership are: Provide with a mouse Design a website –> If not too difficult Teach them how to use tablets Worksheets and simple questions for the clients Review Sessions |
THREATS Identify them and add strategies to overcome them: There are fewer members due to medical appointments and work Communication barriers Some clients are very demanding – so we need patience They will act or talk differently –> Don’t pay attention and talk about things that are off topic Low IQ due to mental health condition so it takes patience to teach them |
Using the given feedback, we then planned the next 9 sessions. Some things the clients wanted to learn were: web designing ( thus we planned a scratch session) and using tablets. We incorporated both of these into our plan. Two more things the clients wanted were worksheets (review sheets) they could take after sessions and the inclusion of review sessions. To meet their needs we printed out handouts for them for all of the upcoming sessions and we also planned said review sessions. Our plan was as follows:
| 11 | 7 | 6th December | Google Forms | Aryan, Prithvi |
| 12 | 8 | 13 Dec | Games and Fun | Armaan Darsh |
| 13 | 9 | 10 Jan | Scratch Basics |
Aayush Isaac |
| 14 | 10 | 17 Jan | Word Review |
Vanshaj Idan |
| 15 | 11 | 24 Jan | Spreadsheets | Aryan, Keiron, Agasthya |
| 16 | 12 | 31 Jan | Overall Office Review |
Idan Isaac |
| 17 | 13 | 28 Feb | Kahoot! Quiz |
Aayush Isaac |
| 18 | 14 | 14 March | Kahoot Creation | Idan and Victor |
| 19 | 15 | 21 March | iPad | Armaan Prithvi |
Weeks 11 & 12: During week 11 and 12 I played the assisting role. This time I was paired with new members but I was successfully able to adapt to their needs. During week 11 we taught the clients about Google Forms so that they can create surveys; during week 12 we played online games with the clients as it was the week before Christmas break.
Week 13: This week was our first step towards teaching clients web designing. I took charge teaching the clients Scratch, in an effort to teach them computing logic, as I was a computer science student and this was a strength of mine. This session, however, wasn’t successful as the material seemed to be too advanced for clients. So we had to improvise and teach them basic information. After this session, we decided to abandon the plan to teach clients web design or at least put it off until their basics were more developed.
Week 13 – 16: This period had 3 review sessions where we gave clients tests and challenging regarding particular topics. I played a secondary assisting roles during all these sessions.
Week 17: This week was part 1 of a two-part Kahoot learning programme. A second step into teaching clients more advanced software. This time I was more cautious and spent most of the session trying to get the clients familiar with the concept of kahoot.
Week 18 and 19: During these weeks, I yet again played the secondary supporting role. Week 18 was a continuation of Kahoot. I believe that diluting the material and spreading it over two sessions was successful as all of our clients were able to make Kahoots. We also had time to play all of them which they were overjoyed by! We also spent 10 minutes planning the session for week 20 (below) as our next planning session wasn’t until week 21.
| 20 | 16 | 28 March | Quizlet |
Agasthya Kieron |
During week 19 we took our first steps into iPad learning with a basics class. We plan on teaching the clients about a lot of iPad apps in the future (as requested by them)
Me during the Scratch Presentation
