The Last Reflection

My understanding of blogging is estimated in both ways: i.e. Blogging could be a way for people to express their individual thoughts and experiences, starting from sharing and communicating from different points of view. Meanwhile, it could also have a negative impart to the blogger in the sense that people could read and make wrong decision based on their individual perspectives.

What I have gained from blogging is numerous to count on. But in this course, blogging has been a medium for us to reflect on what we learn every week by analysing one’s strength and weaknesses. It is also a key tool for one to practise writing, and has be the window for me to know more about other people’s objectives and thoughts i.e. get to read blog from others and share thoughts (etc post comment)

What I really like about this course is I get the opportunity to learn how to be creative by using the latest software to develop resources for teaching English. Unlike before, now I can edit the materials that I found from the internet using the appropriate software on my own. Group work and self-discovery is the best way to acquire the skills. In the beginning, I wished the lecturer would guide us step by step on how to use all the software but I later begin to understand that we will be able to comprehend better by learning it on our own…no more spoon-feedingJ.

However, I wish this course could have been exposed us to non-tech materials that we can find around us. Since that there is another course which focuses on integrating technology in ESL classroom, it would be better if we have the chance to learn how to be creative using ‘fresh’ materials like recyclable products. With this, the course will be more interesting and innovative as pupils can express their creativity through their ‘DIY’ product. The books can only guide us but they cannot give the precious experience.

Indirectly, the opportunity to work with others and the experience in self-discovery enable me to capture unexpected experience throughout this course. I learn about team-work, time-management, creativity and patients.

Hopefully, I would keep on improving my skills in producing effective teaching aids….I would miss everything about this course, for sure…:)

It's exams time...

Oh my God! Can I cope with the assignments and exams at the same time? Do I have the time to revise all the notes? These questions kept on playing in my mind as the fear of not being able to complete the assignment and study for the test aroused. Anyhow, no matter how hard it is, I should not give up but to give the best I can. Immediate actions must be taken!!
As what I expected, I only managed to revise the day before the test. No one likes to sit for exams, but I still have to go through this final task.
Thank God, the questions focused on practicality and logical thinking. The questions summarise what we have learnt throughout the semester.
Soon as the exams over, everyone showed smile on their faces, refleting how relief they are after sitting for 2 long hours answering the exams paper.. It also means that it was the end of this course. ,
Even though it's over, the skills that I acquire from this course enable me to stand up and tell others that we English teachers are versatile. I believe that all the knowledge are useful as I enter to the real teaching world soon :)

Software for children

A computer at home is great. Computers in schools are fantastic. But a computer alone is nothing more than a machine. When children use a computer they should have adult interaction, particularly when using a software program for the first time. The adult should be available to help the child get all the benefits the program has to offer. The adult should also be ready to assist a child when he or she is having a problem and becoming frustrated. The type of help an adult should offer the child varies with every situation, but the important thing is that the adult is there!
Using computer software is a great way to enhance a child's learning experience, but it is not the "end all" solution. Computers are tools, nothing more. Children still need a parent's time and attention. Children also need caring, enthusiastic teachers at school. And above all, they need to be in an environment that encourages a quest for knowledge.
A quality program does not mean it is a "state of the art" program with lots of "bells and whistles". In fact, many times just the opposite is true! Fancy colors, lots of music and talking characters are nice, but we should look for substance. We look for programs that will stimulate, entertain, challenge and teach a child. With the emphasis on "teach"!
Studies have found that children do not need the "latest and greatest" software. They want software which challenges their skills and abilities. Children are proud when they play educational games and win but they don't want to win too easily. If they do, they get bored. We look for software which won't bore a child, yet not be so difficult that it will frustrate the average child.
In addition, as teachers, we should seek for programs which are stable, which are able to be loaded run without problem. Many programs require us to free up all memory, use special configurations or boot from a systems disk. Afterall, the purpose of children's software is for a child to be able to use it. The child should be able to start up the program independently. If the software is not "kid friendly" then we should think twice before using the particular software.

Yeah!!

YIPPIE HURRAY!! Finally, i get to finish up my third assignment for this course. It is a relief for me as these few weeks were quite hectic for me and my friends. It is not easy to come out with my own activities designed using the programes and software that have been exposed to me throughout this course. Thank God I get to learn how to use the basic functions of these software. It took some time for me to think about the approptiate and creative interactive activities that I can create for all the four skills. I admit that not much creativity I put into this assignment... anyway, I'm quite happy with the final results as I was stuck from the beginning and only managed to come out with the lesson plans a week before the submission date. Phew...

Draft after draft, soon as I managed to come out with lesson plans for all the four skills, I started to work on the teaching aids. hmm..this is another tough part...looking for the raw sources took a lot of my time. Things became tougher when my laptop hung gradually, slowing my pace in completing the assignment. Again and again, I had to restart my laptop and this made me headache!! Technology is helpful but sometimes it can cause chaos as well..with patience, I finally completed all the teaching aids, and it's printing time...wait a minute! Another problem occured..OH NO!! my printer hanged too.. what a tough day for me. Meanwhile, patience kills the obstacles again. Phew... the lesson of the day: BE PATIENT!

Selamat Hari Raya

It's Hari Raya...all of my Muslim friends were busy preparing their new baju kurung and baju melayu for the celebration, not forgetting the traditional 'kuih-muih'...everyone, yes everyone, including the Chinese and Indians were celebrating Hari Raya as well.
I was thinking of spending the 1 week break to work on some of the assignments, including the 4 skills assignment for PBEY3102 course. However, since it was a long break, nothing much I can say about the progression of my work...as I browsed through the internet, I found an article that talked about using technology and multimedia in the classroom. I would love to comment on this article as it has something to do with technology and multimedia, the two things that we stress a lot in this course:

We find ourselves today, in a classroom full of students as diverse as the world in which we live. Research on the human brain has shown that not all students learn by one particular strategy. Some students do well with the tried and true method of direct instruction, but the majority of students do not. To reach the most number of students, the teacher needs to create a variety of learning experiences. The first and most simplistic way is to use technology to supplement classroom instruction. Technology will help meet these demands is by allowing students to interact with information within a different medium. There are numerous multimedia programs designed to meet the special needs of diverse learners. For example, a student learning English as a second language would benefit from a computer program where they could learn the language at their own pace. They could spend as much time as needed on the computer, without feeling pressured to keep up with 30 other students. Another type of learner may memorize facts and details better if the information is presented in musical form. One can not expect all teachers to teach in this fashion, but a computer program or multimedia application may have the capabilities of doing so without taking additional time away from other students. By utilizing such programs, a single teacher can employ many more resources and methods within one classrooms, rather than teaching the information in one manner to all students.

Technology and multimedia applications should be an integral part of the learning environment. Our students are immersed in a daily life full of computers and other technological advances. Integration of technology does not mean placing a computer in the corner of the classroom and leaving it un-touched throughout the semester. Technology must be incorporated in all aspects of the curriculum. To do anything less would be a disservice to our students.

Publisher

There is another program from the computer that we rarely use - the Publisher. We are so familiar to words and power point, but Publisher provides us with lots of functions where we can be creative as well! I did explore this program on my own before but it was just for fun...from what i could remember... there were a few times I used it to design greeting cards..but that was years ago. we can get authentic materials from the newspapers or magazines to be used as teaching aids, but why don't we try to design them ourselves sometimes because we can make it more personal to the pupils. Moreover, pupils may appreciate more on the things that the teacher prepares for them. At the same time, teachers can introduce this program to the pupils and teach them what they can do with it to come out with their own cards or brocheurs, which they may enjoy doing it. It is a good medium for teacher and pupils to be creative and at the same time able to acquire the language.
Back to the task assigned to us... we were required to get into groups of six and produce a newsletter.. wow! A newsletter!! Hmm.. a new thing to learn..with the help from other group members, I think we can come out with one.. now, we are still in the discussion to determine what we are going to do for the newsletter.

The Journey Begins

Find a pair and start to work on the second assignment!! Honestly, I could hardly breathe as loads of assignments from different courses are in my hands now, waiting for the datelines to come. well, this is what a university student has to face. As this assignment need to be done in pairs, I have to keep on the same pace with my partner and give out the best I can because I do not want my partner's marks to get affected because of my laziness and carelessness.
I watched the video several times to get a rough idea on what kind of English activity I can come out with. I found that the images of animals and polluted environment gave big impact, therefore, I decided to make use of these images as part of my teaching aids. At the same time, to make the lesson more comprehensive, I browse the internet and search some other images which are appropriate for the lesson. Anyway, the result of this assignment yet to be seen...hopefully I could finish it on time.:)

Writing skills

The e-book assignment has been completed, and now comes to the next task, which is to design activities for pupils which focus on the four skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing. we were assigned to complete this task in groups of four. I was assigned by my group members to design on activity that focuses on writing skills. During brainstorming session, all of us had decided to pick on the topic 'Direction'... This small task was assigned to us to prepare us for the third assignment - developing the four skills. So it was a good practice for us after a long break from designing teaching-learning activities compared to previous semester.
As my focus is on writing skills, I decided to design a writing activity for the post stage... I edited some photos and inserted them in the map that I designed for the activity. Holding to the theory that pupils are easily stirred by colourful pictures, I had chosen colourful pictures for the map that I designed, but not to the extend that could cause distractions. Anyhow, this is just part of what we are expected to do in our upcoming assignment, and I hope I will be able to come out with creative and exciting activities by implementing what I've learnt in previous lessons.

Electronic book...

When we hear about e-book, immediately we would think of a sophisticated way of getting reading material from the internet. As e-book starts to be one of the prefered options for reading, tonnes of e-books for youngs learners to adults could be found online. It is a new way to make reading more fun as it could encourage young children to develop the interest in reading. As teachers, we have to keep up with the changes that occur in educational world. Therefore, I think the task for this week that requires us to develop an e-book is a very good exposure for me and my other friends as we learn how to make it based on our own creativity to meet our pupils' needs. Besides, most of the ebooks from the internet require us to purchase them, which might not be convenient for us. So, it is a previllage for teachers to have the knowledge on how to produce an ebook.

By using basic program like Microsoft Power Point, I can easily design my own e-book. I make use of the skills that I gained from previous lessons such as audio, photo and video editing and apply them in this task. I did it at the last minute, but thank God I manage to finish it on time, thanks to my coursemate Joshua, for guiding me to finish up this task. I also discover new functions from Power Point, which is recording voice for narration. Nothing much can be said about the process, but I'm very happy to see the final product... now I know, if others can do it, I can do it too!!

Video editing

After learning how to edit photos and audio, now it's time for us to apply what we have learnt to produce a video. Videos are effective stimulus to get pupils attentions and interests. This is because videos are colourful, entertaining and more lively compared to other types of teaching tools. We can get thousands of videos from the internet but it is more appropriate if a teacher can develop her own video to meet the needs of the learners.



Even though technology in computer is very influential in educational field today, we must always keep in mind that it could only assist us in teaching and learning, not to take the role of a teacher as the educator. The technology that we utilise should be practical and appropriate, so that they are useful for the young learners. Thus, we should not take it for granted to make teaching and learnining easier, but we should apply it to make teaching-learning more effective.



Some important factors to consider in the selection of a video are the length and independence of the extract, appropriateness of content, sound and picture quality, extent of visual support and language density. Extracts should be brief: Stempleski suggests that 2-3 minutes of video will provide sufficient material for a one hour lesson while Ellington & Race [1993 : 196-7] note that "concentration spans tend to be short, especially with a medium which has conditioned people to a relaxation approach. Sound quality is a particularly important factor because, as Arcario notes: "most language students...have little tolerance for poor sound quality" Visual support may be less important: MacWilliam [1986] suggests that it is actually easier for learners to understand video material when the face of the speaker is visible.



Well...in the progession of making this video, I try to integrate all these qualities. However, I admit that, I'm still in the process of learning, thus, me and my partner do the best our can to meet at least half of the criteria stated above...Hopefully our lecturer enjoys watching this video:)

Teachers as teaching aids??

Although we are now living in ICT world and have access to different types of resources and materials to be used as teaching aids, there is one aid which is convenient, portable, functions even in the dark and available at anytime. Curious?? The answer is the teacher him or herself.

A teacher can involve pupils more in classroom discussion and activities by following these simple steps:

1. Sitting behind a desk creates a "distance" between the teacher and the students. Try to have an aisle and enough space between the rows so that you can easily reach those at the back. This way you can talk to individual students, allow the shy ones to ask questions quietly without the fear of embarrassment, as well as check their work and help them . Stepping forward to emphasise a point, small steps towards different sides of the class lets the student feel that the teacher is taking genuine interest in what he or she is saying.

2. Make an effort to keep eyes lively, aware and interested. Fix them on specific students, but not for so long that they become uncomfortable! Avoid focusing on the worst or best students.
Knowing that the teacher demands eye contact keeps the students alert. It also gives the teacher a feedback on the impact of what he or she is saying. This is particularly important in large classes, where "distance" between the teacher and learner is greater, and individual attention is more difficult.

3. Gestures that involve arms and hands are a very expressive visual aid. They can be used to describe shapes, actions, movements etc. but, remember to keep still while listening to a student . Otherwise the message sent to the student is that he is being longwinded or boring.
Habits such as fiddling with notes and books, playing with pens , key chains, or doodling with chalk on the black board can be both distracting and irritating for the student.

4. A smile can make wonders. It encourages the student to participate more actively and dispels the notion that the teacher is over critical. Also, try to look interested while a student is speaking. A smile, a grimace, a curl of the lips, raised eyebrows etc. at appropriate moments will send messages as needed.

5. Give students plenty of time to talk! It will keep them alert. Make small jokes, be friendly.
at the same time, call students by their name. It sounds warmer and friendlier and lessens the distance between the teacher and learner.

So, do all these make sense? We need to make use various types of teaching aids in order to develop pupils cognitively and aesthethically...but...there is no teaching aids that could take over teachers' role...:)

Photo editing

In traditional method, teachers are always seen using picture flashcards as teaching aids. Young learners' aesthetical value can be easily stired with colourful images. However, the traditional way in preparing pictures for teaching aids which basically requires us to prepare manila cuttings, newspaper cuttings and do some colourings might take a lot of our time. Moreover, it is not easy to find pictures that we need for the lesson. However, with photo editing software, nothing is impossible. We can do miracles and magic with the pictures. I didn't know much about photo editing besides to brighten the colours, remove red-eye, resize and cropping.


Now, I'm so excited to learn more about editing pictures, which could be very handful for me as a teacher in preparing teaching aids. One of the softwares that we can use for photo editing is Photo Studio.

burning and dodging using Photo Studio

There are new terms and functions which i come across:


Layers:

Think of cutting out your subject and placing it against a completely different background, or stacking several images over one another. Layering allows for limitless creative possibilities.


Burning and dodging:

These are terms left over from the darkroom days. These tools allow you to brighten or darken specific areas of your photo to add drama.


Filters:

Filters are special effects you can apply to your photos, such as charcoal drawing, blur, embossing, and many more.

I can be more creative using by using this software. I do not have to waste a lot time looking for pictures and cutting them out or going to the photocopy shop to enlarge the pictures . Everything can be done using one particular software. It is very practical for teachers as we have loads of work to be done. So, it is best for me to learn more deeply on how to use more advanced software so that I can produce a better teaching aid for my pupils.

Audio editing

It is quite exciting to learn how to edit songs using the various softwares that could be downloaded for free from the internet. Music or songs are important in teaching and learning Emglish, especially in primary schools, as this type of medium could encourage pupils to be more participative and at the same time enjoy the lesson. The integration of music or songs in English lesson is able to lower pupils' level of anxiety, which indirectly makes teching-learning process in the ESL classsroom more memorable and effective. Besides audio editing softwares, thousands of songs can be searched and downloaded for free as well. So, it is not difficult for teachers to get the sources because there are many selections teachers can choose from.


In order to ensure the appropriate songs or music are implemented for the teaching-learning process, teachers should know how to adapt and adopt the songs or music. Therefore, this task helps me to discover the ways to improve the quality of the music and also how to edit them so that they can be used for the lesson. Since that we have to discover ourself on how to use the software from A to Z, i confess that it was difficult for me to start from the basis as this was the first time I came across this software. I tried to surf from the internet which software is suitable for a beginner like me, and I am attracted to Blaze Pro Media, which is simple and easy to use. It was fun to try it out. Now, I can, cut and join the selected parts from the song and improve the quality of the sound.

Internet Skills

First of all, the task for this week requires us to explore the internet and develop our internet skills. The purpose of this task is to build our skills in searching, downloading, encoding, storing and burning the files from the internet. I can say that i have develop these skills since I was in the teachers' training college (IPIK). The experience in searching for information from the internet in order to collect information for the tasks that were assigned to me and my friends has taught me a lot. I learnt how to search for established sources as there are millions of sources that I could surf from the cyber world. Thus, i have no problem in completing this task as i have already developed the skills. Furthermore, there is another course for this semester that exposes me on how to develop my information searching skills, which I think is very useful for me as a student and future teacher to get the correct sources as there are loads of sites that i yet to know about.

In my opinion, it is essential for the teachers in this century to be able to grip the internet skills as much as possible. Undoubtedly, printed readings are still very useful and helpful, however, teachers today should not rely on particular sources only as there are other better ways. With internet skills, students like me can save a lot of time. With just a click, I can surf the internet and collect information from worldwide, anytime and anywhere as long as there is access to it. Well, it is not a problem for me to get the access because the university campus provides wireless for the students. I can even surf the internet from the computer lap. And the package from various companies are affordable for me as a student to subcribe.

I agree that the sources from the internet helps me a lot in providing information and also materials to be used for teaching English. It gives me the opportunity to use modern method in searching materials to develop teaching aids and make the lesson more informative and effective. Therefore, i should make full use of the facility that is available.

Using technology as teaching aids in the classroom

Living in the 21st century, we can hardly separate our lives with the existence of technology. In educational field, technology has become one of the most basic things that both teachers and students must be able to apply in teaching-learning process. With the assistance of technology, students have more options and channels to gain more knowledge and develop their skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing, ICT). Today, computers, laptops, flash drives, CDs and DVDs are part of technology devices that have actually been used widely at home, schools and high learning institutions. Through these devices, students can access information of different topics through internet besides being able to communicate with other students or even with their lecturers. These have made learning to be more interactive and fun. Compared to the olden days where chalk and board were the only things used in classroom, students can acquire knowledge whenever and wherever they are today as they have a wider and faster way to get a grip on the information that they are looking for. Technology is also able to help students to self-evaluate their own progresses from time to time by trying online exercises, games etc as well as connects students to the outside world and this gives them a wider perspectives.In the mean time, as a teacher-to-be, to cope with the changes that happen in educational field, I have to keep myself prepared and well- trained in the use of technology. At the moment, the training that I gain in teachers’ training college before and now in this course have enable me to develop and improve my skills from time to time as I learn how to apply it in the ESL classroom. I realise that how important it is to make full use of the technology that are provided for the teachers by the government (this shows how serious and essential it is) as it is more practical in today's world. I have learnt to be more creative with the help from technology applications by making my teaching aids more exploitable and effective for teaching-learning in the classroom. It is essential for me as a teacher to master all the skills so that my students will not be left out from the IT world whether they are in urban or rural areas. At the same time, technology gives me the opportunities to share and contribute ideas with other educators on how to improve our teachings. I am very grateful that my friends and lecturers are always there to assist and guide me along the way. Thanks to everyone. This makes my learning more meaningful as i get to work together with the rest of my coursemates.