CS4ODFL (PAC) - Meet & Greet Forum

Bula Esther, I look forward to learning from your experiences and expertise from across the oceans.

Hello @bkabuatioer, welcome to #CS4ODFL. I recommend spending about 3-5 hours a week and you should be fine. Please take a look at the course syllabus page for more information. If you need any further help or information, please feel free to email me. I wish you all the best.

Hi @alveenkrishna,

Welcome to #CS4ODFL and the world of online learning, and I’m sure you will enjoy your new experience. All the best!

Bula @amanda.hill,

My pleasure to see you in the course. All the best!

1 Like

Hello @Esther,

Thank you for joining #CS4ODFL. I am excited to learn more about your experiences and context. Best!

Bula @Tovoka,

I applaud your decision to join the course. I am sure you will find some aspects of the course relevant to your job! Go for it! Best!

Bula @ristorawaqa,

Many thanks for joining the course. Where are you currently posted?
All the best!

Hi @Gurgur,

Many thanks for joining us from beautiful Nigeria.

Hello @keshnichand31,

800 students, wow, that’s a big school. I am keen to know more about your experience in the next few weeks. Good luck!

Bula @serapulumeau22,

Welcome to #CS4ODFL! I hope you will soon get the good news about your posting🙏. All the best!

1 Like

Bula vinaka. I am Eliki Vuakaca. I am a primary school teacher in Labasa, Fiji Islands. This will be my 22nd year of service. I am currently teaching Vosa Vaka Viti (Language) for years 2, 4 and 5 students as I do not have a class of my own. Since I teach language in my mother tongue, I do not find it much of a challenge. Some of the things that I love to do during my leisure time are reading, sports, listening to music, surfing the net and meeting new people. Vinaka.

2 Likes

Bula vinaka @ElikiVuakaca,

Welcome to the course. All the best!

Hello I am Renu Kaur and I am from Rakiraki in the Fiji Islands. I am a English teacher by profession and hope to improve my online learning and teaching skills by taking this course.

3 Likes

Malo e lelei and greetings from the Island Kingdom of Tonga. I am teaching Part Time at the Tonga Institute of Higher Education since 2015 and it is challenging knowing my skills and experiences in using technology to facilitate learning is very limited. Whenever I have free time I mostly browse through the internet for additional resources for teaching or meet and greet friends and relatives online. I also love swimming, baking and dancing…

2 Likes

Greetings Keshni.
I do believe that we from Small Island States share these common experiences especially during this pandemic. Our major challenges are accessibility and affordability in terms of tools for the learning process. Majority of student especially from outer islands and rural area have limited access to technological devices and internet connection. Ministry of Education and Training here in Tonga have conducted various trials in 2021 on practicing “Learning from Home - Ako mei 'Api” if the pandemic worsen . In doing so, the Ministry utilizes various platform to deliver and tries to facilitate learning by broadcasting and televising teaching sessions for participants from rural areas and outer island that does not have internet access. I think this pandemic have made us teachers to step out from our comfort zone and take the extra mile just to make sure that no one is left behind and I do believe that teachers are heroes worth acknowledging during this pandemic. Malo

3 Likes

Hello everyone. Hope you all are doing well. My name is Dipshika S Mudaliar and I am currently a final year student at The University of Fiji studying Graduate Diploma in Teaching. My majors are Biology and Chemistry and I love all that Science has to offer. My biggest challenge that I have come across during my online micro-teaching was the use of appropriate pedagogies to enhance the quality of teaching and learning using the online teaching platform such as TopHAT and Google Meet whose importance came into realization during the current pandemic. I love to read storybooks, a bit of cooking, playing online games, socializing with friends and staying up-to-date with the current affairs both local and international.

4 Likes

Thank you and I wish you the Best ofYear 2022, Sir.

Bula Dr Amanda. It is nice to see you here :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Bula everyone. I am Afrada and I usually teach Ethics & Governance courses (and a few Psychology & Research courses) at the Fiji National University and have been teaching in higher education for almost … I don’t want to say it out loud because it might give away how old I am :blush:

The biggest challenge at the moment with teaching and learning is that educators and learners are not equipped with a similar level of resources. It becomes challenging to empathize with students who may not have good internet connectivity in the interiors of Fiji while I am sitting comfortably in my home with stable internet. To create that balance of understanding took a while, but I would like to think that the past two years have taught me to become more patient and empathetic towards all my students.

To answer the last question - I have a question: What even is leisure time for academics /educators anymore? Haha. On a serious note, I do love a good suspense/horror thriller, a good book and cuddles with my fur baby.

I look forward to learning a lot not just from this course but also from my fellow colleagues.

Best wishes,
A.

1 Like

Hi Dipshika. It is great that we also have students here - I would love to hear more feedback from you and other students in their relevant programmes.

All the best!
A.

1 Like