TASK 3

1. Why do you think evaluation of CALL courseware, websites, materials etc important?

From my point of view, CALL courseware, websites, materials and etc should be evaluated to determine its practicality and for me it is one of the most important aspects to consider because if the task that they need to do is not practical, then how can the lesson be effective, right? Apart from that, CALL material should be evaluated because the teachers must ensure that the material used suits the students’ level and they are capable of doing the activity. Another reason for evaluating the CALL material is to see the relevance of the content with the topic that they are about to learn. CALL material can be more effective if the teacher really understands the objective of giving it to the students because he or she could somehow improvise or highlight a particular aspect of the material and probably it would be more meaningful for the students. Therefore, it is a must I think to evaluate each and every CALL material before we bring it into the classroom.



2. How do you think Hot Potatoes JCloze may help your students learn English?


There are five basic programs in the Hot Potatoes and one of them is JCloze.
I think it is wonderful to create a cloze passage using JCloze. Not just it gives the teacher an enjoyable moment in creating a ‘virtual’ task sheet, but it could also make the lesson to be more attractive and effective. Students will have a longer attention span when they are happy in learning something. Well, this is just my own theory. By using JCloze, teachers could play with colours and some animated pictures, which could boost up the students’ interest and when they are interested, they will absolutely enjoy the lesson. Apart from that, JCloze could also assists the students by providing them with some clues while answering the questions and it definitely could save time and the students will get an immediate feedback in just a click! An automatic scoring is also available!

Exercise Using Microsoft Word

I have created a simple exercise for the beginners...

My F.I.R.S.T. Entry

Sunday, January 3, 2010

In-Class Task 1


Whhaoow! I can't believe that I could actually create my own blog! So, what does it feel when posting something to our own blog? let me feeeeel it first.... :). Since anyone can read this blog, just ignore any grammatical errors and such..ok? Just consider that as my STYLE of writing....(haha)

1. Please introduce yourself.

Assalamualaikum...

I'm Siti Aishah bt Mohd Rosdy. My friends call me Ecah.I was born on 4th of May 1987 in Temerloh, Pahang and from the day that I was born, that is the only place where I live until now.Luckily, I have experienced renting a house in Shah Alam together with my 3 other classmates and therefore I got a picture of what is it like to live in other place. I have a brother, 2 sisters and I'm the youngest in my family AND the one and only child who is still studying (hah!)... Though I'm taking a teaching course at the moment, my passion since I was small is actually towards business field. I love to create or 'invent' something for the sake of making money out of it. I also love to learn certain skills such as sewing and baking. I do not see a hobby as just a hobby but instead, a hobby for me is something that I can do during my free time and at the same time I could gain some money in return! Hopefully, I could sell my products through this blog. However, for the time being, I am still busy with my sewing class and therefore, I don't have any product to sell yet! Hopefully, after i have completed my sewing class, my friends could ask me to make baju kurung for them...but..of course.. it is not FOC yea! :)

2. How would you rate yourself in terms of your computer skills and why? (e.g. expert, novice, savvy, geek, illiterate etc)

As an individual who is born in the world of technology, I think it is a lie if I rate myself as illiterate. However, the computer skills that I have acquired are quite limited because i usually use computers to type my assignments, sending e-mails, and a few stuffs which are very common to anyone that owns a computer or laptop. What I'm trying to say here is that, I only have knowledge on general things in utilizing the computer.All I have is just the BASIC...

Therefore, i would rather rate my computer skills as -->between savvy and novice???


3. What computer software and hardware knowledge do you have?

I don't have much knowldge on software and hardware.All I know is only on what I have learned during my school time (Standard Five!) and of course some information I had already forgotten such as the use of formula in doing calculation in Microsoft Excel...and stuff...


The software that I know and still in my mind right now are :

• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Publisher
• Photo Editor
• Windows Media Player
• and a few others...

For the hardware :

• A few components of the computer (monitor, keyboard, speaker)
• Easy to say..just the commonly known hardware...

4. Have you experienced learning via the computer (online, etc)?


Learning via the computer (online)? You mean like..an online tutor to help us in learning? I don't think I've experienced that...but i will with this C.A.L.L. class right?




5. Did you try to incorporate technology in some of your lessons during the practicum? Was it a success or a failure? If you did not, what was/were the reason(s)?


I did try to incorporate technolgy in some of my lessons during my practicum session and Thank God, it was a success! They enjoy learning using songs, slide shows and stuff because having all that would make a lesson become more interactive and fun! Teaching Form 1 students really required me to think of a lesson that could attract the students' attention and make them feel eager to be in my class and the most importantly-- Behave themselves! But of course, we need to have a back up plan just in case our laptop or computer does not want to 'cooperate' with us! Frankly speaking, I did not make any back up plan..Haha..but Thank God, everything was under control???




6. What is your opinion on the use of computer/ technology in language teaching?


I think, the teacher should allocate some time to teach the students with the help of computer and/or technology. Perhaps twice a month or when they think that a particular lesson could be more effective if it is taught using the computer. This is because students could learn and remember well when they are excited and curious to know about something AND for me, computers and technology do help a lot in developing the curiosity and make the students excited to learn because they love computers! Therefore, the teacher should have the knowledge of computer skills so that they could make full use of the computer or they could find any software that could be helpful in making learning activity more interesting and meaningful. I am still working to equip myself with those konwledge so that I could help them even more in acquiring the knowledge.


7. What are your expectations from this course?


Well, as this is a Computer Assisted Language Learning class, my expectationsfor this course is that I will be fully equipped with lots of computer skills and knowledge of 'manipulating' the technology that we have so that I could be an effective teacher for each of my students...Apart from that, I'm expecting that I could come out with my own website so that the students could just browse it when searching for any materials and information which are related to their study...I want to make them feel that learning English is exciting!