Final

Finally, the semester is almost ends. I really cannot wait for the semester to end and start having my semester break after this. Overall the course, I could say that, there is so much that I have learned throughout the semester. From downloading, encoding, editing, storing, burning and even searching.

1. What they like about blogging.

From my opinion, blogging enable us to share the information and knowledge that we have with others.In the world nowadays, blogging allows anyone to post their thoughts so that it can be shared with others. In educational purposes like this case, blogging is like a journal for all of us to record and reflect what we have learned so far. Moreover, it also shows our progress towards the topics that has been taught within the course. Student's life in the university is rather different from the life that we once had back in college. Although we are all in the same class, but it seems that we do not have the time to sit and talk about things related anymore. Thus, blogging is one of the solution to keep all of us to interact with each other.

2. What they do not like about blogging.

Blogging requires us to publish our written work and thoughts online. So, of course we have to be careful in what we want to post. The most important thing to be aware when posting blog is the language use in writing the blog. Besides that, we also need to be aware that the blog that we post is free from any element of bias and hatred. This is because blog is open to be read by anyone on the net. So, blogging requires us to be careful in what we wanted to say.

3. What have they gained from blogging eg. Language skills, improved fluency, critical thinking, improved thought processes, technology skills etc.

The most important thing that I learned from blogging how to create a blog account and how to post and edit my blog account. In term of the language skill, as i have mentioned earlier, blogging requires us to be careful in using the language whether it is grammatical error free or free from bias. Moreover, it is undeniable that blogging improve my fluency because blogging is like a journal that record and reflects the progress throughout the course. I remembered that my teacher used to assign us to write on our journal for at least every week when I was schooling. So, I guess blogging functions as journal years ago.

4. How?

Blogging improve my technology skill because creating and managing a blog account is already a new experience to me. Next, blogging improve my language skill because it allows me to practice the target language in all my posts. Besides, blogging is like a self reflections for myself towards the course that i am having. Thus, blogging record and reflects what i have learned throughout the semester.

5. what they like about the course

This course has opened up my eyes about the use of technology. I used to be someone who is not a techno savvy, but now, i guess, i have to admit that technology is not an option anymore, but it is a need in the world nowadays.

6. what they do not like about the course

Honestly, there are too many task to be done. Though i know and it is undeniable that I have learned a lot from this course, but sometimes i feel burden by the task given. However, since i am an optimistic, so i prefer to look things in a positive way.

7. what they have learnt from the course

All i can say is that I have learned so much skills from this course. From downloading, encoding, storing, burning, searching and editing. As i mentioned that I used to be someone who is not a techno savvy once, but now, this course has made me realize that technology is important nowadays.

8. what they do not expect but have learnt from the course


Obviously, editing the "So you think you can dance" video. I never expect that we will learn downloading streaming file from 8tv, encoding, editing, extracting, and combining the video. I have to admit that it is a lot of work, but now i can say that it is such an experience to me.

9. what they expect but have not learnt from the course.

Developing the non-technological resources. We were given the book, but it seems that we did not talk so much about the non-technological resources.

10. if they can change anything about the course, state what it is and explain.

First of all, i think we should be given the opportunity to stick to the same group when it comes to group work. This is in order to avoid us to be confuse for having so many groups and different group members. I think the content is all right, but perhaps we could decrease the quantity of tasks that we need to be completed. This is because, we can focus more on quality than the quantity. For example, if a task requires us to work in group of four, and the task is designing four lesson plans, so, perhaps each person can only design a lesson plan.

However, i am glad that i have gone through it all now. For me, it really takes a lot of courage to complete this whole course. Though i have faced all the hard work, but i consider it as an experience to be learned. As the saying goes "no pain, no gain".

Examination fever

Although this course does not have the final paper, but we still need to sit for the final test. I guess it does not make any different at all. perhaps the different is just that is is done weeks earlier that the real examination week. I have to admit that, this is the time when i look back and really study the notes that Pn. Foziah once gave us long time ago.

I guess I have done my best for the examination. I hope the result would not be so bad for all of us, since I guess we all have worked so hard for this course. Though the examination is over for this course, but there are some other assignments to be completed after this which is portfolio. I think I better get going and start working on my portfolio.

Children's software

By the time this task is assigned to us, I remembered the time that i once work in a children learning centre somewhere in Shah Alam. The learning centre includes computer class as a part of their curriculum there and according to one of the teachers there, the children learn computer skills by using selected children's software. One of the challenges when getting pupils in the computer labotary is that the teacher's ability to control the children. But, What I can say about this school is, they make the class smaller so that it is easier to control them.

Back to the task given, we are required to evaluate the software in a group. However since my group cannot open the software, so we decided to look up for another children's software from the internet. I have to admit that for this task, we really need to sit and analyse the software based on the evaluation sheet given. Not only that, downloading the software is another problem to me, since I guess my notebook's memory is almost full. I don't think that I will delete those unwanted software that i'm done with.

Let me share with you my experience when i delete one of the software that I am no longer use once. I accidently uninstall the DVD driver setup for my notebook while i was so eager deleting those unwanted software. Ever since then, I wouln't dare to uninstall anything from my notebook, and i guess i only will when I have submitted everything at the end of the semester. It such a long way to go.

Assignment 3: Designing Teaching Aids For Primary Schools

This assignment is to be done in group. Though it is a group work, but all of us are required to do our own weekly plans for listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. The topic that i need to work on is "Fit as A Fiddle". In order to start drafting the lesson, of course i need to refer to the textbook what are the subtopics that cover the topic "Fit as A Fiddle". It is undeniable that some of us even bought the textbook just to do this assignment. For this assignment, we are required to plan three 30 minutes lesson plans and an one hour lesson plan. To begin begin working on this assignment, I search for as many videos, songs, pictures and other materials as i can. I think, this is just in order to make it easier for me to develop the lesson plan once I have draft the ideas and search for the materials. Another reason is, because it is the raining season, so the internet connection at my house will not function well due to the current weather lately. As the saying goes, "save it for the rainy days".

Another task is MS publisher. Until this task is assigned to us, I just knew that I do not have MS Publisher in my notebook. And now i know that MS publisher is one of the programs in MS Office. To be frank, this task is supposed to be done few weeks ago. But since I do not have the MS Publisher window, so I decided to work on some other tasks and assignment first. I only fix this problem once I got back to my hometown for "Raya". Well, at least it is on my mother's bill. Luckily, this task does not require me to crack my head, so I guess I do not have so much troubles in finishing the task during my "Raya" holidays in my mother's crib. Since this is a pair work, I would definitely refer to my partner Kamal for the confusions in completing the task. This is what I like about working in pairs. You don't need to worry so much other people's work, but a partner is enough for me to ask for some advices and opinions when you are looking for the solutions. Life is a lot more easier then.

Working on assignment 2

Assignment 2 in progress

Finally, I have chosen a video for this assignment which i found from the "British Council" website. It takes times for me to pick a video and plan a rough idea on how i am going to use the video in the ESL lesson. In general, the video is about "Lisa the lemur" who lost her tree house due to deforestation by the irresponsible, insensitive and reckless human being. I chose the video because it is not only interesting but also contain moral values in it. Well, I have to admit that, it really takes a lot of courage in developing a lesson from the video. This is because, it requires me to edit the video, capture pictures from the video and also extract sounds from the video. Converting the SWF file to AVI is already a matter to me. Now I know, SWF file is a type of flash files. Little did i realized, I have learned a lot from this assignment from encoding, downloading, extracting and editing.

Manipulating and developing materials

This assignment is to be done in pairs where me and my partner Kamal have already decided to work together again. I guess this is much easier for both of us since we both feel comfortable to work together. For assignment 2, we are required to develop the teaching materials from the video given which is "The Earth Song" by Michael Jackson. Instead of that, we are required to find another educational video that can be manipulated and developed as the teaching materials in the ESL classroom. Since there are two videos that we need to work on, so we have decided to do one each. Though, we did not really sit and work on the assignment togeteher, but we still keep in touch via "Yahoo Messanger" and e-mail to exchange ideas and opinions regarding to the videos that we have chosen to work on with. Well, this is what we call it as 'the world is just a mouse click away'. I guess, both me and Kamal has really make use of technology to the maximum. I think I better get started to search for the second video for this assegnment.

Four Language skills

I guess that i had any other choice now. By hook or crook I need to finish this "Four Language Skills" task before the holidays start. This is because, there are lots of task and assignments coming and of course, all of them need to be submitted after "Raya". All I can say is that, "I better get working". For this task, i decided to use e-book as the teaching aids. this is because, I chose to do a writing activity, thus, i guess e-book is more suitable to be used to develop a writing activity. Besides, I think e-book is practical to be used since we can include text, pictures as well as sounds clips in the e-book. Besides, I use e-book to compile all the ideas that I have came out with for the activity for that particular stage that i have chosen. From downloading, recording and photo editing, e-book requires me to use almost all the skills that I have learned. I guess, i better get working on the task now. Time to go...

Working on the 4 skills

Well, i may say that it was quite confusing initially, to start on the four skills' task. The task for this time, we are required to do it in a group of four. My group chose the topic on Clothes. For this task, i was assigned to do the writing skills lesson, together with the descriptions, tutorials and rationale. I guess that i am already in the 'raya' mood, so it seems that i lost my fully concentration to work on the 'four skills' task. As the beginning, I looked back the previous assignments that i have done when I was in IPIK in order to get some ideas about the lesson that i am going to develop. Not only that, I even looked up for examples of activities that I could use or modify for this 'four skills' task from my little brother's tuition exercise book to generate some ideas. Though it is a good news that Pn. Foziah has extended the due date for the "four skills" task submission, but still, I need to start working on it, for at least I have the idea and once i have got back from holidays, I will finish the task later. All I can say is that, "give me streghth"..

E-boook

A Surprise Birthday Cake E-book

Well, another task to go. E-book, it may sound easy for most people but for people like me, it takes time for me to finish the task. creating the e-book itself is not a big deal at all. Perhaps, it is due to the requirements that we have to follow on how to submit the e-book. The best thing i have learned from the e-book task is, always check your soft copy which you have burned in the CD so that it can be opened as an e-book (i mean together with the sounds and motions). But what happened to me was, early in the morning, when I was about to go to bed, I found out that the sounds in the e-book cannot be opened. my friend think that it could probably because I put the sounds and the e-book in different folders. So, I gamble to make another one and put it in the same folder with my e-book before I could burn them in a CD. Thank God it works...

Video Editing

So You Think You Can Dance?
To be frank, this was my first time I open the 8tv website and to my surprise, I can just click to watch or download my favourite television programs or dramas as simple as that. Well, I guess I have to admit that the world is moving so fast nowadays. Since when, I can't even remember. as far as I could remember, everytime I heard some of my friends talk about the technology and the software that they found or use, I would just sitting back as if I can't even interrupt to what they are talking about. But now perharps I can flaunt for what I've learnt and discovered. Seddenly, I feel much more (perharps I could say it as) 'knowledgable' about programs and softwares compared to the old days.

Though I have to admit that, it wasn't that easy for me and my other group members to finish editing the "So You Think You Can Dance" video. "Downloading" is already a 'thing', while "editing" is another 'thing'. But I guess, editing is the most challenging part because it takes me to really spend time working in front of the computer. The most important thing that I have learnt from this task is, "save the video that you have edited to the file that can be opened in any computers" since I've experienced "lost files" and video and I end-up editing the video again and again. Resulting that, I have to extend few days to go back to my hometown for the mid-semester break in order to finish the task. "What an exprience..". But, there's another video editing task to be finished by Friday, 22 August. And of course, that is to be continued after I come back from my holidays...

audio Editing Task

Well, the title doesn't sounds as interesting as it is initially. But going through all the processes itself, I found out that it is something new to be learned. I personally think that, it is just a matter of how we could find the suitable software in editing an encoding the audio file. Perhaps, for some people, they may use more than three software in order to achieve satisfactory result of their editing. As for myself, I just need to really sit, explore and learn from that and i just finally found out that audio editing is not as difficult as I once thought.

Photo editing task

Photo editing? First of all, always bear in mind that you know how to use the software when you already have it. Unless, you will spend hours and hours in front of the computers just to do a simple 'copy & paste'.But when you have found out, it is just as simple as that. This is because for some software, they are not 'user friendly' especially for 'beginner' like me. Well, this is the new lesson that i have learned since I am using "Adobe Photoshop CS3" for this photo editing task. So, here is a link for the tutorials that i would like to share:

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/cs3-photoshop-10.html

Working on my photo editing task, I also learned that it is a vital for not working in the last minutes so that we wouldn't feel so stress out with the task given. And of course manage to submit the task on time.

Week 3: Working Under-pressure

It has been the third week, and I guess I’m working under pressure to get the internet access in order to finish my work. How I wish that our application for the streamyx access at our house is now approved. Only God knows how frustrated I am when the wi-fi at this café is not working. I guess I’m stressing myself for the assignment and perhaps I need some kind of refreshment after this. Well, I think it wouldn’t be a problem if I have the internet access at home. As for a person like me, I need to satisfy my psychological needs (a convenient place and facility) before I could concentrate and finish my work. Until then, I would feel motivated and comfortable to do the work. So, the moral of the story, I should be well-prepared before the semester starts for at least I won’t work under-pressure in case you need to work online most of the time.

Well, this whole week I’ve been working on the Assignment 2 which is the ‘Tutorial’ and ‘classroom procedures’. Though the Assignment 3 has been set-up by Pn. Foziah, but to be honest I still have not think about it yet. Photo editing sounds interesting and this is what I’m looking forward all this while, something I at least feel interested and motivated to learn….

Week 2

Well, it was the second week of the semster and for this week we started to form a mix races and gender group for our second assignment. Second class of "Using and Developing Resources in ESL Classroom", there are more and more terms that I learnt such as 'flashget',' bittorent', 'ares' 'FLV Converter' and so on. I was lucky to be in the same group with my group members since this is an opportunity for me to learn more about ICT from them through this subject. Task for this week was of course that we are supposed to work on Assignment 2 which is 'tutorial' thing. Now I know 'what print screen means'. As I go through the task, I was struggling myself what the task is all about and fortunately the group discussion had really help me alot and gave me a clear picture of what I am supposed to do.

Week 1

It was the first day when i entered Pn. Foziah's class for "Using and Developing Resources for ESL Classroom". We were supposed to have the class on Tuesday, but perhaps something came up. As I entered the computer lab, I wondered myself "Is it another technology class that I have to complete by the end of the semester?". As Pn. Foziah mentioned such words like "riva encoder", "keepvid" and "limewire", I totally cannot recall anything match to such computer terms in my 'schemata' as if I never come across to such terms before. Little did i realized that I am so left-out in the name of technology and this has opened-up my eyes that I really need to work on my ICT skills. As Pn. Foziah mentioned about buying at least a 4 GB pendrive for this course, I really cannot imagine that I have to spend that much (of course includes the cost on the streamyx access that we were about to set-up at our house) on the technology. all I can say is, the need of using technology nowadays, has given a big impact to my whole life. By hook or by crook I have to admit that technology skill is not an option anymore, but a 'must have' skill nowadays. As future teacher, of course I need to equip myself with all these skills so that I won't be left-out in the world of globalization..