The experience of being a facilitator was pretty enjoyable (thank goodness their questions weren't too tough). My 'students' had attended FCS' Vday cookie-making workshop, so they were looking forward to the muffin workshop and really stood by to chope their places when the workshop was open for signups! We are really popular huh. They were very impressed with our spanking new equipment and utensils. Good investments indeed!

I probably won't touch a muffin/cupcake for the next... goodness knows how long.

Labels: Baking, Muffins, SLF

by Ms Lim HM @ 10:27 PM - 0 comments





There is another news worth to note from the Straits Time yesterday, 26 Aug 2008 - Public burst with green ideas

Sustainable Singapore

The whole idea about being sustainable is about fully utilizing our resources in the best and efficient way. Our ministry has put in tremendous effort to set up this website, about a month ago. It serves to gather all the minds of Singapore to brainstorm and feedback on ideas from various perspective like an individual Singapore to the government body. I think this campaign will definitely bring about great impacts to our lives.

(This chart is directly taken from this website)

1) Live and play - Lifestyle
2) Work - how business is run etc..
3) Commute - transport etc..

We have to take into consideration the people factor - the values and behaviour of our citizens. I feel that at the moment it is extremely crucial to create awareness because I feel that the people in our country are still not taking enough initatives and are quite inconsiderate. An example that I am sure most train riders will face almost everyday - people squeezing hard into the train when half of the passengers are still stuck in the cabin!

The next factor is the limitation of our current technology and resources. Ms Johannah Soo often mention about being sustainable. This word may seem vague but like the latter factor, we have to consider our inadequate land + resources. Our growth is mainly governed by talents and this means we have to be self-sufficient.

Creating awareness through education could be one of ways. Incorporation of NE and sustainability into our classroom lessons and hopefully our next generation will make a big leap. They will fight skyrocket inflation and greater challenges (Check out today's straits time here as well on food and transport). Perhaps at that time, who knows... the young and brillant ones might even contribute to our economy when everyone develop new innovative ways and sustainable technology for enterprise.

Getting greener.... Are we? It is not just about going solar and encouraging cycling blah blah blah... but it is certainly one wise step as a nation.

Labels: Environment, News, Singapore, Sustainability

by Pei Yun @ 8:03 PM - 0 comments





Most instance when anybody 'googles' or search for lesson plans and resources, the website that would be guided requires sign ups and payment. Thus, to add on to Huimin's post on website review 2 - Teachnology, I would also like to introduce this website for teaching money $$ management http://www.safehealthyschools.org/family_studies/D1BasicEconomics.htm

Labels: Budget, Consumer studies, Review, Teachers' Resource

by Pei Yun @ 4:39 PM - 0 comments





The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) is a government body that "ensures a resilient supply of safe food, to safeguard the health of animals and plants and facilitate agri-trade for the well-being of the nation". In short, AVA helps to ensure the safety of the food we eat in singapore.

How the website is applicable to HE


The main AVA page serves as an update page for highlighting the most recent food-safety-related happenings in Singapore, as well as other parts of the world. Taking for example, an outbreak caused by contaminated deli meats in Canada earlier this month. The main page of AVA is updated at once with the warning message from the Canadian food authority and continues with the reassurance that Singapore is free from such imports at present. In a way, National Education can be promoted to the students with the aid of this website as this is a demonstration of national security and is in line with the following 2 NE messages:

• We must ourselves defend Singapore.
  We are proud to defend Singapore ourselves, no one else is responsible for our security and well-being.
  
  
• We have confidence in our future.
  United, determined and well-prepared, we have what it takes to build a bright future for ourselves, and to progress together as one nation.

AVA and Food Safety Education
There is a section in the AVA website that is dedicated to educating the public on the safety of food. The Food Safety Education page carries useful information on what food safety is all about, the factors that endangers the food we eat, as well as tips on how we can prevent the food contamination. Tips on how to ensure food safety in school are also available and this can be beneficial information for the students. The information is presented in a table format and reasons why these practices have to be carried out are listed alongside, so students viewing the website will have a clear idea of the impact of their daily hygiene habits on their well-beings.

AVA and Food Labelling requirements
Under the Food Labelling section of AVA, students can find out the mandatory features of food product labels, as well as the restrictions that are imposed on food labelling. The explanations are explicit and suitable for use together with the assigned HE text/workbooks as instructional materials. Students can then observe and understand the practicality and applicability of textbook information in real life and learn about the importance of it.

Personal comments
I like the clean interface of the AVA website, because it allows for easy reading, especially since it is loaded with information that are relevant to the topics covered in HE and F&N. This is also a good website that can be recommended to the students as it's a platform for them to see how food safety is correlated to national security and we can easily incorporate NE into the lessons!

Labels: AVA, NE messages, QCX521, Review

by Ms Lim HM @ 11:46 AM - 0 comments





Teachnology is an online teaching resource for teachers. One of the main focus of this website is that it endeavours to provide teachers with the option of incorporating technology in teaching and learning easily. As such, it provides professional development consultation services for schools with the intention of developing customised IT-integrated programmes, original software products for teachers to create instructional teaching materials as well as original publications by experienced educators for teachers.

At present, Teachnology is a web portal that offers a wide range of free resources and more (if one signs up for any of their membership programmes). Of the free resources available, lesson plans and worksheets are available for downloading and they can then be adapted or modified for use in the classroom.

On top of that, other useful functions include "Teaching Tips" and "Teacher Tools", the latter of which is extremely interesting and you can actually create endless possibilities with the tools. The Crossword Puzzle Maker, for instance, helps in the creation of crossword puzzles which can then be used as a classroom activity in the reinforcement of the information learned under the topics in home economics. There is the Classroom Materials page as well, from which useful forms for administrative and instructional purposes can be created easily to save time. As we know, teaching often includes the administrative side of things and worksheets have to be crafted as well. If things like a Parent-Teacher-Meeting form or rubrics for a TLLM lesson can be created with the help of a webtool, it will save us a lot of time and effort which can then be better used on other areas of education.


Lesson plans, worksheets and such are categorised under the following subjects and themes. This makes it easier for one in carrying out a search for the relevant information. Besides the already-crafted resources, there are also message boards in place for teachers from all around the world to exchange ideas and interact with each other, adding on to the functionality of Teachnology.

All in all, Teachnology is an extremely useful teaching resource for us educators as it can help us to generate more ideas for use in the classroom!

Labels: QCX521, Review, Teachers' Resource

by Ms Lim HM @ 1:17 PM - 0 comments





1. Sewing At About

Sewing At About falls under one of the many subsidiary sites at About.comthat cater to a wide range of interests and hobbies, such as gardening, travel, electronics and so on. With the slogan "Guidance, Not Guesswork", you definitely need little help in guessing the purpose it serves.

At Sewing@About, it's all about sewing!

The resident guide is Debbie Colgrove who has won awards in many sewing competitions and has more than 30 years of experience in sewing. She has had 2 publications on sewing and believes in the use of visual cues to help beginners in the learning of sewing. Naturally, you can expect an extremely guided and comprehensive learning journey over at Sewing@About if you are interested in picking it up as a hobby.

How it is applicable to HE lessons

As our students are namely noobs when it comes to sewing, they will need to learn and understand the basics before they can even start on any sewing project. Over at the LearnToSew page, it is divided into 4 main categories - Sewing Terms, Basic Sewing Techniques, Sewing Machine Techniques and Beginner Projects & Patterns. Each section is then further broken down into sub topics and comes with illustrated diagrams such that the student will find the information easier to digest. Sewing@About can serve as a useful revision site for students whereby they can refresh their memory on the sewing relevant information and at the same time, pick up extra knowledge on topics that are not covered in class.

For sewing lessons in class, the activities often include sewing projects in which the student may be required to brainstorm on little items that they can construct. The teacher can also gather ideas on what is appropriate to be taught in class for sewing projects. As such, Sewing@About offers some simple projects which come with step-by-step guided instructions. Of these sewing projects, a number of them e.g. hair scrunchies, tote bag, pillow covers, are things that the students may be interested in making. At the Project Index, the projects are classified under different skill levels, which makes it easier for the students to sieve out projects that are suitable for themselves.

Is that all to Sewing@About? Of course not!

Sewing basics form just one of the many subtopics at Sewing@About. On the main page, one can find hyperlinks to other areas such as Home Decorating, Sewing Fabric, Costumes, so on and so forth. Under Holidays And Occasions, especially, the students are likely to be very interested in the different valentine's day projects that are available. Information on the applicability of various fabrics and the comparisons between each are also given. Thus, if a student is required to work on a fabric-related project for lower sec coursework (for example), this website can be a good guide for them at the research stage. A simple ICT/TLLM lesson can be constructed and students can explore the various avenues in sewing.

Besides, Debbie Colgrove blogs regularly at Sewing@About where she will post her most recent seasonal sewing projects and ideas, so it is interesting to take a look at how one can constantly come up with new ideas on what can be done. Readers can exchange ideas with Debbie by leaving comments in her blog. A sewing forum is also in place, so students can make use of this platform to inquire more about the topics or clarify their doubts with the sewing experts out there, outside of the classroom. Sewing enthusiasts from all around the world will upload their completed projects from time to time and most of them are very functional items. Therefore, students can get a good insight on how textiles and sewing is relevant in our daily lives.

(picture credits: sewing at about)

Labels: QCX521, Review

by Ms Lim HM @ 7:27 AM - 0 comments





Online shopping is a growing trend among many, however there are still many people like me who prefer the traditional methods of shopping which is to visit shops and make payments on the spot:). I am the type that would prefer to feel the texture of the clothing, try out the size, look at the colors and of course being able to ask refunds and exchanges by just returning to the shop!

I am sure that many other 'traditionalists' would still prefer to visit shops. I have gone through some sites exploring the possibilities of online shopping and tried out this particular clothing shop called 'Boden' -UK. Before I started looking through this portal, I set some standards which I have gathered from previous experiences.
Image taken from http://www.boden.co.uk/

A brief introduction to boden, they started in 1991 in menswear and slowly ventured into womenwear and childrenwear. Their first website was for the UK in 1999 and subsequently websites for USA and Germany were launched. And today, there are two store outlets in UK.

Delivery / Shipping cost

Labels: Boden, Online-shopping, Review

by Pei Yun @ 11:50 PM - 0 comments





1. Food Network - www.foodnetwork.com


Food Network is a good website for the young and old to view and learn new recipes and cooking techniques from. It maybe written more from the western context with focus of recipes more on the western cuisines, but due to the multi-racial communities in major cities such as Los Angeles and New York, there have been various multi-national (international) cuisines added to the recipes recommended.


As indicated next to the food network logo, this website is DEFINITELY
the "#1 Cooking Site"!

You can find not just recipes for every meal of the day, but also other information that will help you plan and prepare for the perfect meal.
Information provided :

• Recipes, Cooking Guides such as cooking weights and measures, seafood guides, basic kitchen protocol and more.
  
• Food planning for parties and holidays such as weddings, Christmas, birthdays.
• Quick & Easy meal preparation - mostly within 30 minutes. Recipes used on popular TV shows are used with guided videos to follow.
• Healthy eating recipes and meal ideas that cater to the different diet groups like the vegetarians, the diabetic and also those with heart problems.

• MANY MANY videos that provide clear instructions of cooking, cutting, baking and more techniques used in preparing all kinds of food. All these amazing videos can be viewed through broadband streaming and note: most have been shown on the FoodNetwork TV channel in America!
  

• Lastly, shopping is available for recommended kitchen equipment by renowned chefs and professionals!

HOW CAN THIS WEBSITE BE USED IN HOME ECONOMICS LESSONS?

Basically this website provides a good platform for teachers to teach and show demonstrations commonly used cutting techniques in the kitchen such as dicing, slicing and before/during practical lessons using the videos provided and also explain the terms from the encyclopedia available on the website.
-> This is a good form of incorporating ICT - online videos into home economics lessons.

For the Upper Secondary Food & Nutrition lessons, students are also able to use this website for coursework research by navigating this website for historical background of how certain dishes came about, and also for recipes - both thematic and task-based.
-> This is a good form of incorporating project research development into the students.
-> The racial harmony aspect of one of the National Education values can also be incorporated into the lessons by searching on various cultural food recipes.




This Nutrient Data Laboratory website provides detailed information on the nutrient contents found in most kinds of basic food products. The search format is made really easy for students to use as single food keywords are only required and then they just need to select the food group which the food belongs to from a drop down selection. This is simple for secondary students of all levels to follow and use.

For better illustration purposes, I will use 'milk' as an example.
-> Keyword : Milk
-> Select food group : Dairy & Egg products


Next, choose the item that is the closest to what you are looking for. Let's say I'm looking for 2% fat liquid milk.
-> Milk, reduced fat, fluid, 2% milkfat, with added nonfat milk solids, without added vitamin A

Note: The options may get a little confusing after a while due to the numerous varieties available to choose from and it can also get very wordy. So choose carefully to get the closest option as possible.


The next page asks for the amount/ weight of the food product desired to be analyzed. Nutrient values can be calculated for any desired gram weight by clicking on the amount field for the weight to be reported.
-> We can choose from weights in grams, cups or quarts units.


There you go!
A VERY DETAILED analysis of every nutrient possibly present in the type of milk chosen.


HOW CAN THIS WEBSITE BE USED IN HOME ECONOMICS LESSONS?

This website comes in extremely handy for the Upper Secondary Food & Nutrition students for the coursework component. They are able to utilize this week for nutrient analysis on their chosen food products for the research part. They can also sieve significant nutrient information from here to explain and create comparisons between recipes.
-> Project research skills are learnt by the students.
-> Students are trained to think critically whilst interpreting numerical information and eventually concluding on them.

As for the Lower Secondary students, this website can serve as an exploration platform for them to find out about the variety of nutrients that can be present in a single food product. It also allows the students to apply the theory of nutrients into actual food.

Labels: Review

by Jacqueline @ 11:46 PM - 0 comments





BBC - http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/get_cooking/ and http://www.allreceipes.com/

Labels: QCX521, Review

by Pei Yun @ 11:14 PM - 0 comments





SHOPPING!!!

Which woman doesn't love this 'sport'? I definitely belong to this group and am glad to say that I adore the idea that shopping has been extended to the e-world that is so easily accessible with the click of a mouse.

Gap Inc. from the United States was created by Don Fisher in 1969, opened it's first store in San Francisco, and is one of 'the world's largest specialty retailers'. It is just like the Giordano here in Singapore, except that the quality and prices are a little more upper class. Before Gap opened their first few stores in Singapore in the last 2 years, Singaporeans would make it a point to visit Gap stores in the US and at least purchase a shirt or some clothing that said 'Gap' on the front. It was as though one would be considered as 'cool' walking down Orchard Road in a Gap outfit.

Now that we have Gap in our shopping malls, taking a peek at the latest arrivals on gap.com would assist in speeding up our shopping time at the store. Shopping websites should be designed to allow consumers to view products in a quick, convenient and attractive manner. I will be basing my review of gap.com on these 3 factors and rating sub-categories using shopping bag icons on a 5-'bag' scale. So on to the review!


1. Attractiveness

The first thing you see when you enter the website are photo ads of the latest arrivals and trend of Gap. The design is chic and classic now as the latest trend for Gap is 'The New Classics'. But I must say that the design is very simple yet professionally done. You would want to explore further.

Rating :


2. User-friendliness, Interface, Accessibility

Navigating this website has put a smile on my face.

• Layout : Organised very well by the different departments and sub-categorized again into the types of clothings. A simple click of the mouse will lead to you the specific area desired.
• Loading Speed : Fast and almost immediate, despite huge pictures.

Star Features :

1. "Quicklook" option where a window pops out for you to view a general glimpse of the product details.
2. Links available to assess other of Gap Inc.'s brands eg. Banana Republic, Old Navy.

Rating :



3. Variety

Caters to every woman, man, kid, and infant in the household. There is also a wide selection of products for maternity and intimate wear. Plenty to choose from and good quality stuff! Sales and clearances run on a frequent basis too!

• Types of products available : Clothes, shoes, hats, socks, intimates, swim wear, bath, skin & fragrance.

Star Features :

1. Under BabyGap, there is a wide range of collection specially to set up and decorate the nursery - bedding, furniture, strollers, bath and feeding accessories, toys!

Rating :


4. Product Information

Outstanding details provided about each product sold! Gap really looks to cater to every shape and size, taking into consideration of the varying size conversions as well.
Star Features :

1. Description about product
2. Variety of sizes - Regular, Tall, Petite (Size Guides available)
3. Colour of product changes when cursor rolls over another colour selection icon
4. Fabric and care details
5. Zooms into product when cursor rolls over the product picture to further details
6. Recommended matching looks with other Gap products provided

Rating :


5. Purchasing

• Payment : Wide range of credit cards ranging from Visa to Amex to JCB and more. Also the associated brand (eg. Gap) credit cards. Hence target audience are only those with credit cards; mostly young adults and above.
  
• One-time price adjustments : If items are marked down within 14 days of the date of purchase, customers are able to get refunds of the difference of the prices upon contact with Gap at their hotline number or through email.
  
• Tax policies : Noted and adjusted for different states in the US.

Rating :


6. Shipping & Delivery

The first bad point about this online shopping site is that Gap does not ship internationally. Sadly this means we cannot purchase anything online from Singapore. Orders can be shipped to the United States and other US territories, Alaska and Hawaii.

Star Features :

1. Different levels of delivery, all for your convenience! The fastest delivery takes only 1 day for the order to be posted! Doesn't this sound like the postal services offered locally?
   
2. Order tracking is available too for customers to be able to have an idea of the status of their orders.

Rating :


7. Customer Service & Redress

Like most American online shopping websites, Gap offers refunds and exchanges policies within 90 days from date of purchase. Store returns are also possible, if not gift cards will be given in return for store credits.

Star Features :

1. Cancellations or changes in orders can be made ASAP by simply calling Gap's hotline number.
2. Customer service is available 24/7 at a convenient call away : 1.800.GAPSTYLE. How awesome and accessible is that?!
   

Rating :


8. Trustworthiness

Gap.com has a section dedicated to 'Privacy, Security and Web Info' which provides customers with information of how Gap collects and uses the customers' information. Gap assures their customers that their privacy are highly valued and respected. Customers are welcomed to contact Gap on further inquiries.

Star Features :

1. Copyright Infringement Claims : Gap respects the intellectual property of others. So you are able to write in and report if you discover that your work (fashion designs I guess) have been copied and something will be done legally to rectify the issue.
   This issue I believe is not commonly offered for many online shopping websites. Something unusual but good. Something to compliment Gap on!
   

Rating :

OVERALL RATING : 4.25 / 5


CONCLUSION :

Apart from the fact that they do not ship internationally, I still strongly recommend people to shop at gap.com. It is a good website to view items before heading down to the local Gap stores, saving time going through every rack of clothes. If not, you can always shop online and ship the items to a fellow friend/relative living in the States and get them to carry the items back for you the next time he/she returns back to Singapore. I usually do this because the items are usually much cheaper compared to those sold in the Singapore outlets.

With regards to the layout and information provided on online shopping websites, I feel that many Singapore online shopping websites have alot to learn from American websites such as Gap. It is important to have details and sufficient information that will benefit the customers so they need not go through the hassle of contacting the sellers and be able to speed up the buying process.

Another thing that I like about Gap's online website is that they cater to not only the American sizes, but also to Asians (i.e petite) who are smaller in built than the Americans. Personally, I have not purchased from a Singapore online shopping website before. Why? I do not belong to the typical Asian size and so already have a problem shopping in local stores. I have surfed many local online shopping sites and have found clothes I adore but decided against ordering online. I'm just afraid the sizes will turn out wrong and eventually it'll all be a waste. So I propose for clothes sold online to be sold at US/UK sizes. This way both parties will gain and be happy. :)

Labels: Gap, Online-shopping, Review

by Jacqueline @ 1:00 AM - 3 comments

Jacqueline
Peiyun
Huimin

• Miss Chin
  
• Wendy Liyun Joanna Madeline
  
• Clarissa Kamisah Salwa
  
• Nufail Nuradila Fadzila
  
• Janet Michel Louisa Lydia
  
• Shuli Yili Germaine Felicia
  

• Health Promotion Board (SG)
  
• Ministry of Education
  
• The Straits Times : Mind Your Body
  
• All Recipes
  
• Epicurious (recipes)
  
• SustainAbility
  
• MOE National Education
  
• Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore
  

August 2008 September 2008 October 2008

Images: GettyImages