After weeks of preparation, the day finally arrived. I facilitated my first class today!
Before the class began, my dad, sister, auntie Gillian and I helped them to set up the WiFi connection. My target today was to teach these old folks how to use whats-app to do these 5 things:
To be able to send text messages in both English & Mandarin.
To be able to write (using their fingers) out Chinese characters which will later be sent as text messages
To be able to send out voice messages
To be able to use the dictation feature to auto-create text messages in both English & Mandarin
To be able to send images & videos
It helped that my sister, dad and grandma were there to support me and cheer me on. Little Shinrei even volunteered to be my assistant! That greatly boosted my morale.
<!-- Not my first time holding a mic to address an audience, but still nervous! -->
After auntie Gillian introduced me to the class, I immediately felt the butterflies in my stomach! As I took over the mic, I knew that there was no going back. I summoned all my courage and addressed the audience. To my surprise, despite my stammering, they did not make any bad comments and still laughed at my jokes. That gave me a little more confidence.
There were about 20 people who signed up for my workshop. Many of them were using different phone models, some very old ones. The oldest one was a Sony phone that I never seen before. So, I pulled my "assistant" (Dad) over to tackle these older and more complicated phones, while I watched. Some people had forgotten their passwords, others had outdated apps. So, we had to help them update their apps before we could even start the workshop.
Most people I explained to, understood my instructions. Some even praised me for my patience. However, I felt that they were the patient and understanding ones. This was because, the class quickly became as noisy as a market! Many people had to wait their turn before I could help them. Some did not even queue and simply cut in while I was helping another person. Of course, there were a few fastidious people that took a much longer time to help, but overall I was happy that I managed to help most of the people there today.
<!-- A nice group photo to end the 2 day workshop! Thumbs up! Yeah!-->
At the end of the workshop, I was exhausted. But it was worth it. I found this experience of helping the community rather meaningful. As I left the center, I could not help but wonder why all these old folks were not able to get help from their own children or grandchildren?
I could not help but wonder why all these old folks were not able to get help from their own children or grandchildren?
In a nutshell, I think doing this type of community service is beneficial to everyone. It was a good experience and I look forward to my next class on Thursday.
Update (07 June 18): I completed my second day of facilitation today. Dad and I did things a little different today, by adding a segment on "Airplane mode". At the end of the last class, we shared feedback and noticed a common question posed by the old folks... i.e. When to use Airplane mode and Why? So, we added an extra activity to the program.
Chia Howie
6 Diligence, RVPS
05 June 2018
PS+ To read part 1 of my ICT workshop reflection, please see https://chiahowie.wixsite.com/eportfolio/blog/being-an-ict-teacher-part-1
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