Third Person Omniscient

Rumah Seri Kenangan Sibu

2011-09-29T12:55:00.001+08:00

When they're in need,

We always have reasons to cheat.

But when we're a kid,

They never stop filling us with good deeds.

Living a lie,

YES we never realize nor shy.

But to our surprise,

They always have reasons to comply.

Reasons only them could understand,

but not to the mere men.

O Allah here i stand,

Please help us to become a better men.

Game On!

2011-08-22T13:16:00.006+08:00

“Assalamualaikum, Mok sihat? Oghe sapa doh Mukah ni, sorry sebab lambat talefon. Mok duk bwat gapo tu? Makey doh? Sini ok jah. Makey bereh, cumo bare kat luar tu la mahal sikit.” Mohammad phoned his beloved mother saying that he is doing fine in Mukah. He also mentioned that he had become a warden and now staying at the warden house. He said that the warden house was quite big for one person and it has a bathtub. Hearing that his beloved son is doing fine, his mother was very pleased with it. “Mohammad, jago diri molek, jange tinggal smaye tu. Doa banyok-banyok ko Allah mintok bleh tukar cepat” replied his mother to him. Smiling, Mohammad said YES to his mother’s advices.

Tomorrow is going to be his first day to teach. He was very worried because he does not have any idea on what to teach. Even though his colleagues have given him the module and the syllabus, he still could not visualize on what he is going to teach. He said to himself, “I’m going to suck in my first class. What should I teach them? I need to have a lesson plan, I need to write one!” So there he was, in the office on Saturday, thinking, visualizing, and preparing for his inaugural class. Mohammad’s students are from the commerce department and most of his colleagues stated that students from commerce department are quite good in English. The students from the department also can be categorized as obedient. They would give full cooperation to their lecturers. Hearing this makes Mohammad quite relief. As a teacher, to have good students is a blessing.

Sitting in BKJPA 2.7 (BKJPA means Bilik Kuliah Jabatan Pengajian Am) he waited for his students. Still could not cope with the nervousness, he tried to stay calm, breath in, out, in and out. In the class, there was only one student who came early and his name is William Fung. Both of them waited for the rest of the class to enter the class. “Good Morning class! How are you guys today? As usual, Mohammad would start his class by greeting his students. It has become some sort of his trademark in teaching. He had been using the sentence since his practicum days. He believes that by being emphatic with the students’ conditions, it would make the students to be more attentive in the class. Awkward, the students did not comply with the expected reaction. The students were quite. It seems that they were shy to respond. To break the ice, as usual Mohammad would use his secret weapon. “Apakah nama ibubapa Transformers?” asked Mohammad to his students. He was lucky, after the riddle session, his students felt comfortable and started to give respond in the class. Thank you Allah, today’s class was a success, he said to himself.

Smiling, he entered his office, one down, many to go. Hamdillah, his short semester teaching went on well. Even though there was only one student who managed to get an “A”, all of his students managed to pass his subject. Mohammad was very pleased with it. He hopes that the students managed to get something out of his class. He always had the perception that all the students have their own potential in English, they just need to pull their potential out. He always has good perception towards his students and by the way, his students were really nice to him. They played futsal with him, accompanied him dinner and etc. “Be a good person, do your best in your life and good luck in your L.I (Latihan Industri)” said Mohammad to his students in their final class.

Sarawak is the land of the hornbill. Yes, it is a beautiful state indeed. Mukah can be considered as a “rural” area because it is situated far from the nearest big town which is Sibu. Mohammad does sometimes go to Sibu with his Sarawak friends. But what irritates him most is in finding the prayer’s room. Once, he went to Sibu with his friends and he failed to perform his prayers. What a loser he is in the “eyes” of Allah. He felt ashamed with himself. “How can I be a good person if I cannot take a good care of my prayers?” whispered to himself. He could not stop thinking of his bad action of not performing the prayers. How can he be a good leader, husband or a person if he could not take a good care of his prayers? But Allah does love His servant dearly. All the things that happened had its own purposes; all of Allah’s actions have divine purposes. There she was, a person who recently keeps in touch with Mohammad. A person, who always gives advices to him, makes him aware that he is just a mere servant of Allah. “JAGA IMAN”, the words that pulled him back to the ground.

Mukah, Here He Comes

2011-08-20T17:24:00.010+08:00

It was a beautiful morning at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. His eyes were busy looking and searching for the flight registry counter. “Mano so nih? Aduh, aku bukenyo reti. Takpo la, try tanyo oghe lah” said Mohammad to himself. It is his first time to be there and to board on an airplane. Thanks to Allah, he managed to find the registry counter and managed to board on his inaugural flight. Excited he was when the plane starts to move. Five minutes later, he found himself to be looking at the small boxes or houses below. He was smiling; he had never imagined that it would feel like this, the experience to fly. Maybe this is one of Allah’s divine purposes of having me to work in Sarawak. An experience that Mohammad will always remember, his first flight!

“Mano matno nih?” whispered Mohammad. He arrived at the Sibu Airport at 11.30 a.m. one of his good friends was supposed to be there to pick him up. But Mohammad could not find where his friend was. Suddenly, he felt that somebody was peering on him. “Matno! Mohammad yelled. “Haha, natey ni nusuk katku dih”. He was very glad to see his friend, Abang Mohamad Noor Bin Abang Maressal. Abang is a funny guy; he has good sense of humor. Matno’s parents were there also, “Thank you Allah for easing my journey to Mukah” said Mohammad. Matno was very happy to see his friend Mohammad. After having brunch at the KFC with Matno’s parents, Mohammad continues his journey, but this time Matno accompanied him. They took a bus to Mukah. The journey to Mukah took nearly five hours and the road was terrible. “No wonder nobody wanted to work here”, said Mohammad to Matno. His friend just put on a fake smiley face. Both of them talked until they finally reach Mukah town.

They arrived at 6.30 p.m. and it was already dark. They decided to stay the night at a cheap motel “Hotel Sarina”. Mohammad was very excited, he could not wait for tomorrow. Both of them went to bed after dinner. Yes, it was an exhausted journey indeed for them. Yawning, Mohammad woke up early, to prepare for his big day. “No, mu duk ilek-ilek dulu deh, nanti aku abih daftar, aku balik sini a. Nanti kalu ado gapo-gapo, oyak la deh” said Mohammad to his friend and Matno smiles. Mohammad took the first bus to Politeknik Mukah. It only cost RM2.00 for the ticket. He was very excited; the first sight of Politeknik Mukah makes him smile. “Yes, this is the place where I’m going to be working for the next few years” said Mohammad. It took several hours for his registration business to finish. He was glad because most of his colleagues were helpful. Mohammad and Matno then stayed at Dabai Inn; a motel in Politeknik Mukah and its free, there’s no need for them to pay the bill.

There’s nothing much that they can do in Politeknik Mukah on that day, so they decided to go out to Mukah town. The town is not that big, bigger than Tumpat town. Mohammad founds out that it is quite hard to find Halal food over there. Matno mentioned that he should be very careful in buying food and Matno also mentioned that Muslims are not the majority people of Sarawak. So he did give some advices because he do not want Mohammad to feel awkward with the new environment. “No, mahal gilo bare-bare sini, aku ingatkan kalu duk pedalaman, bare mesti muroh, ni mace mahal gilo jah” said Mohammad. Matno then again explained the situation in Sarawak to Mohammad. As a result, Mohammad felt that it is going to be hard for him to save his salary. But he said to himself, where there’s a will, there’s a will. They arrived home nearly Maghrib and both of them were very exhausted and both of them sleep soundly through the night.

“Nanti mu sapa Debak, oyak la deh, timo kasih banyok wei sebab tolong atar aku” said Mohammad to Matno. There he was looking at his friend Abang Mohamad Noor going back to Debak. He felt that it’s going to be a boring week for him because he is going to stay alone at Dabai Inn. Working over there was quite awkward. It is because Mohammad felt’s that the students do not feel that he is a lecturer. By the way, he has not entered any class yet because the semester was nearly over. So he went to work, punches in, and went back home, punches out (not that “punch”). His routine continued for a few weeks. One day, Ms Yong told him whether he wanted to teach the short semester students, and straight away he said yes. “Yes, finally I’m going to teach!” he was happy as hell. He could not wait for the short semester to starts. “O Allah, please help me to become a responsible teacher” he prayed. Next week, he’s going to start teaching. GAME ON!

The Journey to the Land of The Hornbill

2011-08-14T08:28:00.004+08:00

Smiling, Mohammad’s heart beat rattled after reading the word, Mukah. Even though he managed to keep his composure, never in his mind that he will be teaching there. Yes, he is going to teach in Mukah, Sarawak. Then he looks at his mother and say, “it’s in Mukah Mom, in Sarawak”. His mother was quite awkward at that time, whether to accept it with joy or sadness. He saw in his mother’s eyes that she was quite reluctant of saying a word. He then said, “It’s ok mom, don’t be sad. I’m not going to stay over there permanently”. Smiling, he hugs his mother.

The news of him going to Sarawak had spread to the ears of his family, relatives and friends. Some of them are very happy him, some are not. As for him, he takes it as a challenge. New place brings new experience, friends and memories. Being able to go to Sarawak was quite interesting because he had never been there. Besides, it is his opportunity to learn about the people and culture over there. Even though he is quite excited to face the new experience, he faces his first problem. Money, where can I get money for my expenses? For the flight ticket and all. Even though he has been working at a hotel before this, his previous salary had been used to buy a refrigerator for his beloved mom. But he stills managed to stay calm, for he is always an optimist person.

Tears run slowly down Mohammad’s cheeks. He never thought that he have to sacrifice his one and only lover, his bike, his WUD. Their relationship was not meant to last. Lying on the bed, eyes closed, he remembered how they had good times together. How they would go places when he finds dullness, the experience of going back to Kelantan on Hari Raya. How he loves to stares at his lover. Never in his mind that he has to sacrifice WUD. Realist, he is good at it, he mentioned to himself “things come and go, so be prepared to let it go”. In other word, he likes to say it Redha. “Cheerios WUD, I know Najmu’ would take a good care of you”. He gave the bike’s keys to his friend and watch both of them went off. Yes, it was one of the hardest moments for him, but he REDHA.

Mohammad’s flight tickets had been settled by one of his best friends, Matno. Matno was very excited after hearing the news that Mohammad is going to teach in Sarawak. Mohammad can sense Matno’s smiling voice when he first mentioned the news. Still in Kelantan, he prepares for his journey. He bought some new clothes, shoes and a pair of sandal. “Don’t worry mom, one of my friend will accompany me to go to Mukah” said Mohammad to his beloved mother. Feeling ease with the statement, his mother was ready to let his son go. Both of them took a bus to Bandar Baru Bangi, to his brother’s place. Yes, in two days time, he will be off to Sarawak.

It was a cold night at Putrajaya ERL station. He hugs his mother firmly. He knows that his mother felt quite hard to let him go. He said “Don’t worry mom, everything’s will be ok. Just don’t worry much”. Smiling, he bid goodbye to his beloved mother. Due to his early morning flight, he had to spend the night at the airport. It was the first time for everything for him. In the sense of willing to learn, he accepts it as a challenge. Sleeping, sitting, he waited for the sun to come up. “Tomorrow I’ll be in Sarawak. O Allah, do give the strength to face the things ahead of me” he whispered to himself. SARAWAK, HERE HE COMES.

www.Lesson Plan (Altered)

2010-09-27T07:57:00.004+08:00

FORM: 5
LEVEL : Advanced
TIME: 70 minutes
TOPIC: From Nothing to Something
LANGUAGE CONTENT: Grammar (Sequence Connectors)

AIMS:
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to
• Know the history of origami by reading it in the net.
• Gain information in making an origami from videos on a web and work in group in making a demo speech on how to make an origami using sequence connectors.
• Present their origami by uploading it in their Facebook account.

PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE
• Students have already have the basic knowledge on how to use the computer and the internet.

EDUCATIONAL EMPHASIS
Creative and Critical Thinking Skills and ICT Skills.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENT
• Computer equipped with video camera.
• Internet connection

PREPARATION
• Locate sites offering the information about origami’s history
• Check sites before lesson.

WEBSITES
• Google.com
• www.youtube.com
• Facebook.com

PROCEDURES
SET INDUCTION (5 minutes)
• Teacher shows a picture and asks the students about it.
• Teacher then asks the students to find information regarding the history of origami.
http://www.art.unt.edu/ntieva/download/teaching/Curr_resources/mutli_culture/Japan/Other/Historical%20Background%20of%20Origami.pdf

DEVELOPMENT (60 minutes)
• Teacher asks the students to be in groups which consists of three persons in a group.
• Each groups are given one computer which equipped with a video camera.

First Activity (15 minutes)
• Teacher tells that origami is a good way to recycle old papers and old newspaper.
• Teacher asks students to google the importance of recycling.Teacher gives the link for it. Click HERE

• Teacher then distributes worksheet for the students to answer.

Second Activity (45 minutes)
• Teacher informs students that old newspaper can be recycle and turn into an origami. The origami can be a decoration in the students’ house.
• Teacher gives a link for the students on how to make an origami.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=origami&aq=f
• In groups, teacher asks each group to pick one origami and list down on how to make one and then they are required to make a demo speech.
• Each groups require to post their own video on how to make their origami. They are required to use sentence connectors in their demo speech. In the video also, they need tell the importance of recycling.
• They then required to post their video on their facebook and tag their friends from other class.

CONCLUSION (5 minutes)
• Teacher summarize the lesson by stating that origami can help helps students to rid off the old newspapers by turning them into origami. Teacher instills moral values.

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITY
• Teacher asks the students to use their facebook account in sharing their origami’s video and try to get feedbacks from their friend

Podcast Assignment- Breakfast With Morrie

2010-09-22T10:32:00.000+08:00

Click here to get the file.

Prepared By:
Zulkifli Hanafi
Muhd Syahir Abdul Rani
Muhammad Syafiq Mazlan
Mohammad Muda

Task 7: Hypertext and Hypermedia

2010-08-30T22:22:00.003+08:00

MARTIAL ART

Nowadays, the world is becoming more and more dangerous for the people who are living on it. Every day we heard story about killing, robbery, snatch theft, and etc. Malaysia had had the increase in these cases in this several years. These cases had made Malaysian aware of the importance of learning martial art. In Malaysia itself, we have hundreds of martial that are being taught every day. One of the famous martial art in Malaysia is Silat.

Silat can be considered as Malay’s heritage and it is being preserve with it being taught all over Malaysia. Learning Silat can be a medium whereby the practitioner can protect themselves from the bad people. Learning this type of martial art can increase one’s motivational level and can increase one’s self-confident when facing troubles. Silat also teaches the practitioners to use keris, one of the Malay’s weapon. Basically, by learning Silat one can prepare themselves for the bad incidents that are happening right now.

TASK 2 – ARTICLE REVIEW

2010-08-28T23:05:00.001+08:00

TASK 2 – ARTICLE REVIEW

Title: Using Technology to Assist in Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading Comprehension

CLICK here for the link

Journal: The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XIII, No. 2, February 2007

Author: Andreea I. Constantinescu from University of Washington, (Seattle, Washington, USA)

Summary

Acquiring a great sum of vocabularies of a target language is considered as a must for a student to master the target language. This paper basically tells about how the usage of technology can assist the mastery of vocabularies knowledge which can give a good impact towards the reading comprehension. This paper can be divided into three categories. The first category discuss about the general ideas regarding the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. Next, it informs about various multimedia that can generate vocabulary mastery and reading comprehension. And lastly it proposed a number of teaching principles which benefits vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension with the usage of technology. In the first categories, the writer tells the importance of acquiring thousands of vocabularies in order to have good reading comprehension. The writer stated that by enriching one’s vocabulary knowledge, one will acquire better reading comprehension. In the next categories, the paper informs how multimedia such as text, audio, graphics and etc. can promote the enhancement of vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. All of these are computer based and interactive. The writer stated that there are several aids that can help students and it is based on cased studies that had been made by several researchers. First is multimedia glosses and vocabulary reading development, second is multimedia for vocabulary building, third are benefits of multimedia enhanced dictionaries, next is vocabulary development software without multimedia components and lastly are benefits of multimedia for reading. In the last category, the writer promotes several principals in order to promote vocabulary enrichment and reading comprehension using CALL. The first principle is instructors should pay more attention to the existence of various teaching tools, second is instructors should introduce multimedia-glossed texts into their vocabulary and reading classes, third is instructors should be acquainted with the criteria for software and courseware evaluation and fourth is instructor should keep up with current methodology and make best use of visuals and multimedia. To sum up, there is a connection between vocabulary knowledge with reading comprehension and multimedia does play a role in triggering both aspects.

Reflection

The world in moving faster every day and so does our education. Education nowadays has changed a lot with the usage of computer assisted learning or known as CALL. The usage of technology in today’s class is inevitable, thus making it as a good assistant for teachers especially language teachers. Based on the article that had been summarized earlier, the usage of technology to assist in vocabulary and reading comprehension can be considered as a must. From my reflection, I found out that technology brings a lot advantages to give positive effects towards enriching ones vocabulary knowledge and increasing one’s reading comprehension. I also found out that the article can be related to Malaysian situation whereby we are moving towards using technology in classroom gradually.

It is important to use technology in boosting one’s vocabulary knowledge, hence giving it a positive impact towards one’s reading comprehension. It is important because using technology; it promotes experiential learning whereby students own their own search for the meaning of a word or terms using the internet. In other word, internet provides the students with various source of information. Technology also promotes motivation towards the students because it can be interactive with them. Interactive here means students will be able to conduct an assignment in a fun way with their internet friends, thus making it as an interesting and interactive activity. In order for students to master thousands of word and hence improving their reading comprehension, technology is a must to be used in the classroom environment.

This issues that had been exposed in the article can be related to Malaysia because we are moving towards using technology in education. The government should take actions in making it a success. This is because technology does enhance students’ vocabulary knowledge and their reading comprehension. The government only needs to deal with several barriers which are the acceptance of the technology by teachers and financial barriers. The teachers need to increase their knowledge with the usage of technology in order to make the lesson as effective as possible. As for the financial barrier, the government maybe can come out with a bill in giving special fund to support the usage f technology. Malaysia can produce students who are able to master vocabulary knowledge by the usage of technology. Once they had mastered it, their reading comprehension will increase rapidly.

To sum up my reflection, I emphasize that technology does give positive impact towards students’ vocabulary knowledge hence increasing the quality of their reading comprehension. Technology does give good impact towards education and Malaysian educational system should take part in making this a success thus giving Malaysian students the upper hand in learning the target language and technology simultaneously.

(799 words)

Hot Potatoes Reflection

2010-08-18T10:53:00.003+08:00

Hot Potatoes. The first time heard it; I thought we are going to watch a lot of movie. But basically I was wrong. It is a free program to ease teacher’ work in making interactive exercises using the computer. Basically, Hot Potatoes comprise of JQuiz, JMix, JMatch, Jcloze and The Masher. At first, I thought the program is uninteresting because it did not look professional enough. But like old folks like to say, do not judge a book by its cover. Hot Potatoes can be considered as an excellent tool for a teacher in making exercises for the students. In other word, Hot Potatoes make a teacher’s work easier, teacher can create a lot of interesting exercises and the exercises are very interactive in many ways.

As a future teacher, I felt that this program can help me a lot. Even though I am a computer geek, it seems that I managed to used and create exercises at ease, nothing much to be stress when producing a good exercises for the students. All of the unit in Hot Potatoes can make the work of a teacher lighter in a sense of coming up with good exercises. Interesting exercises can be made using Hot Potatoes. Exercises that once we thought it is impossible can be done using this program. As long as the teacher is creative enough, their Hot Potatoes exercises can easily grasp the attention of their students. In today’s situation, teachers need to be able to gain the attention of their students to make the learning process a success. So, by implementing Hot Potatoes in their class, for sure they will give their full attention to the class. From my experience, I found out that a lot of my friends managed to make their Hot Potatoes exercises interesting. I found out that they managed to come out with good idea and show those ideas in the Hot Potatoes program. I was quite excited and amazed looking at my friends interesting exercises. Hot Potatoes program makes our exercises interactive with the students. What do I mean by this is, one can put clue if the students had mistakenly answered the question and one also can put praises in order to motivate the students if the students answered the question correctly, hence making the exercises interactive.

To sum up my points, Hot Potatoes do ease the work of a teacher, it can create a lot of interesting exercises and those exercises can be interactive. Basically, as a future teacher it is a must for me to use Hot Potatoes program in making my lesson interesting to grasp the students attention.

If you have good eyes, guess who am i?

2010-08-12T16:29:00.002+08:00

This is the link of my JMatch worksheet

ESL Website Evaluation

2010-07-30T23:26:00.002+08:00

What does the application attempt to “teach”?

English language can be considered as one of the most important language on earth. People all around the world are learning it, and one of the easiest ways in learning the language is through internet. There are a lot of applications on the web that teaches the features of the language. The features of the language are listening, speaking, writing and reading. In the application A4ESL, not all of the features are included. The application mainly teaches listening and speaking. The applications emphasizes in teaching grammar and vocabulary. Even though it does not emphasize on reading and writing, the application is still an excellent medium in learning English language. The stress on learning vocabulary is because it will help to enrich the learners’ knowledge about the language itself. In other words, a word in a day, keeps ignorance away. Meanwhile as for grammar, the application wants to produce learners who are intelligible in the sense of constructing sentences that can be understood by others. If one has a good hold of vocabulary and grammar, for sure they will be able to use the language properly, thus covering up for the features of writing and reading. This is because; the activity in the application itself does indirectly cover for writing and reading.

What sorts of things is the application user expected to do with regards to learning the content?

In the application, users are given fourteen main link buttons for them to do exercise. Basically, the most of the exercises does equip with the level of proficiency in order to help the user in using the application in order. In the application, the questions will be given answer automatically and manually. In the application also there are no story lines for the user to follow. It is user independent. The user can start doing exercises and learning anywhere in the application by considering their proficiency level. This application also has pictures exercises in order to help the beginner level users. It also has audio learning activity. Generally, the application need to be polish in order to make it clear to be used by the user.

What sorts of computer skills is the application users expected to have in order to operate / access/ use the applications?

Computer skills can be defined as the ability to use computer, software and internet properly. One should have the basic knowledge about it in order for him or her to fully utilize the device. As for the application A4ESL the user need to understand the features of a browser. In the application, there are no difficulties that one might face. This is because the application applies simplicity in its page. Simplicity here means the information and exercises are being shown in a very understandable way. One just has to click and straight away the exercises will appear. It is also simple because the application has stated the proficiency level for the users. So, the users can go through one by one according to their proficiency level of the language. It can be sum up that the application is simple and easy to use to all of the users.

While you are “playing”/ “accessing”/ “assessing” the application, does it remind you of anything you do in a classroom, or with a teacher, or with a fellow classmate, or in self study?

Initially, I could not relate any of my experience when playing the application, but I when tried to think again, I found out that I the application does make me remember something from the past. I still remember that my brother bought me a book which has a cassette that comes with it. From that present, I learnt how to pronounce words correctly. Same goes with the application. I managed top found that the application does provide users to correct their pronunciation by drills. I also found out that I do played language games with my friends which are similar to the flashcard the application. The application also reminds me of one of my friends who likes to play with his crosswords puzzle book which he said to me that have helped him a lot in memorizing new English words. It seems that crosswords puzzle can enrich one’s vocabulary.

Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/ or teaching underlying the application?

There are a lot of theories that are underlying in all of application on the internet. In the application that had been viewed, connectionism is being used. Connectionism emphasizes on the process of trial and error and this theory was promoted by Edward L. Thorndike. In the application, most of the exercises promote the trial and error by giving second chance to answer the same question twice. It also gives direct feedback to the users in order to make the learning process a success. Even though the explanation is not enough, the learners’ stills can gain something from it. Method Translation Method is being used in the application because it emphasizes the focus on grammatical rules, memorization of vocabulary and etc. Brown (2001) stated that The Grammar Translation Method or preciously known as Classical Method stressed on translation of texts, focus on grammatical rules, doing written exercises and memorization of vocabulary and of various declensions and conjunctions. And because of that the application does not stress on the communication. Hence, Brown (2001) also stated that Classical Method does virtually nothing to enhance a student’s communicative ability in the language. Even though it uses this type of approach and method, the application can be still considered as a good application in teaching users to learn English language.

How well is the constructivist theory of learning applied to the chosen website(s)?

According to Fosnot (1996), constructivism views learning as a process of knowledge construction, with concept development and comprehensive understanding as the goal, stated by Chen (2003). Basically, most of applications do applied constructivist theory of learning and same goes with the application that had been viewed. In the application, experience is being provided to the students with the exercises. The exercises do provide the users with knowledge of construction process whereby if the users had mistakenly answered the question, that particular question will come out again in order to strengthen the knowledge. The application also provides the experience in and appreciation for multiple perspectives. It also gives the users the relevant context with the real situation in making the lesson meaningful. Honebein (1996) stated that constructivist learning environment encourage self-awareness in the knowledge construction process, hence making the application parallel with the constructivist learning theory. This is being support by the activity in the application that promotes what Honebein stated earlier.

In 1980s and early 1990s, there was a major debate on whether the computer was “master” of or “slave” to the learning process (Higgins and Johns, 1984).in relation to your evaluation- was the computer a replacement for teachers, or merely an obedient servant to students?

From my own perception, I believe that it is inevitable to stop the fact that someday computer will take hold of the function of a teacher. Why do I think that it’s going to happen? This is because nowadays technologies are moving so fast. There are a lot of new things that are being invented with new functions to ease the human beings. Take hand phone for an example, It seems that the hand phone nowadays are equipped with new functions and new feature it changes every day. Today you buy a new hand phone, and the next day you will realize that the hand phone that you bought yesterday had been upgraded. Same goes with the teaching field. There will be a day whereby our teacher is the computer. Even though my initial perception about computer taking the post of a teacher, I still believe that they (computer) would not be able to be as good as human in being a teacher. Computer will not be able to be as emotionally close with the learners. They will be able to fulfill the basics needs of the learners. There are still a lot of to think of before handing in the post of a teacher to the computer.

Would you like to use the application yourself in your future work?

My answer for this question is yes. There are several factors that make me say yes. First of all, it is because of the friendly user factor. Why do I say his? This is because as long as the learners have a computer and internet connection, they can access it with ease. It is also because the application can be considered as user friendly without any complicated function in it. The second factor is because the application does not need you to pay an amount of fees when using it. In other words, it is free. Free things which are good are very hard to find. The third is because the usefulness of its content. Based on the application, it seems that it manages to teach user accordingly. For example, if the user answers correctly, it will give scores immediately and vice versa. This will help the user to keep in view of his or her progress in learning the language. All of these factors give the applications the upper hand in making it as one of the effective medium of learning English language.

Suggestion/ Recommendation

Not all applications are built to perfection. There will be slight problems with those applications if it is studied thoroughly. For the application that I reviewed, I found out that the application does not attract the user even though the activity in it is interesting. In other words, we do judge book by its cover. The application needs to grasp the attention of the user by applying bigger fonts, picture, interesting background picture and etc. In other words, the application needs to be eye catching. Another recommendation that can make the application better is link button. The link button should be bigger and catchy to the eyes of the user. To sum up the recommendation, the application basically have good activities which can helps users but the appearance of the application do affect the confident of the user by having bad perception towards it.

It's a bird, it's a plane, NO! IT'S SUPERMAN

2010-07-26T22:06:00.000+08:00

click here

Electronic Worksheet

2010-07-21T18:41:00.000+08:00

http://www.mediafire.com/file/x0qjst79itznjvc/Excell new.xlsx

2010-07-12T13:40:00.000+08:00

TSL: Computer Assisted Language Learning

2010-07-05T11:45:00.000+08:00

1. Please introduce yourself.
First of all, Assalamualaikum Sir =D My name is very simple and easy to be remembered, Mohammad Bin Muda and you can call me Mat. I was born on 21 August 1986. How I wish my mother could hold me for ten more days because it would be nice to be celebrating my birthday with our nation's independence day. But it's ok because I considered myself lucky to be born on that day. I was born in Kampong Laut, Tumpat, Kelantan Darul Naim.For your information, my village is the "Land of the Serunding". I guess that's all about myself.

2. How would you rate yourself in terms of your computer skills and why? (e.g. expert, novice, savvy, geek, illiterate etc)
Geek. This is because my first exposure with computers started when I was in Pre-Degree TESL. And it was quite hard for me to learn it. I've never had the oppurtunity to use computers before that and I'm still learning in using the device.

3. What computer software and hardware knowledge do you have?
Microsoft Office (I copied this from my friend)

4. Have you experienced learning via the computer (online, etc)?
Never had the oppurtunity to learn via computer.

5. Did you try to incorporate technology in your some of your lessons during your practicum? Was it a success or a failure? If you did not what was/were the reason(s)?
I had only one chance to incorporate technoogy in my lesson, and I considered my lesson as a successful lesson because the students managed to give their feedbacks towards the activity.For your information,the school was not well equipped with technology. And because of that,I do not use technology a lot in my lesson.

6. What is your opinion on the use of computer/technology in language teaching?
Using computer/technology is a great way in teaching language. This is because it will give the studetns new exposure in learning the target language. For most of Malaysian's students, they would be excited when teachers incorporate technology in their lesson.

7. What are your expectations from this course?
I have high expectation from this course. This is because I'm going to enrich my computer knowledge and skills. I hope that I can use it to teach language. Basically, I'm looking forward to learn this subject.