Thursday 19 November 2015

TASK 3: WEB BASED LESSON PLAN

LEVEL    : Form 1
TIME       : 20 minutes
AIM      : To extract and learn on how to make their own homemade ice-cream, and write the sequence back correctly

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:
One computer per student, with internet connection and web browser
Websiteshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwPkcJQExAY                                                                                 
PROCEDURE:
1) Start the class by showing the students pictures of ice-cream and ask their opinions about it.
2) Tell the students that they can make their own homemade ice-cream in just a few simple steps.
3) Ask the students to search for online information on how to make their own ice-cream, specially on educational websites.
4) The students then will be given a link (video) tutorial on how to make their own ice cream.
5) The students will then be given a worksheet, they must fill up the worksheets with the steps on how to make their own ice-cream. They students can use their own ingredients, but they must use all of the ingredients provided in the worksheet. 

FOLLOW-UP:
Based on the worksheets, they must write a letter to their friend and they must teach their friend on how to make their own ice-cream

LANGUAGE FOCUS:
Writing
Reading
Listening


Friday 16 October 2015

Article Review

Issues of ICT Usage among Malaysian Secondary School English
Teachers

Arumugam Raman & Abdul Halim Mohamed

School of Education and Modern Languages, Universiti Utara Malaysia

Information and Communication Technology or ICT has revolutionized our lives, and this includes education as well. As a developing county and we put all of our efforts to achieve the target in the year 2020, our nation realized the importance of ICT, and there have been various ICT methods being introduced in the education system. The Ministry of Education has already started few campaigns such as Smart Schools, MySchoolNet, computer labs, Educational web TV, Teaching Mathematics and Science in English , Access Centre, and several others are some of the examples of these initiatives.

 The paper’s aim was to reveal the perception, usage and obstacles of using ICT in teaching English Language among secondary school English teachers. Specifically the objectives of the paper firstly, are to assess secondary school English teachers’ perception towards integrating ICT in teaching English, to find out the usage level of ICT among secondary school English Language teachers in teaching English and to identify the dominancy of obstacles faced by secondary school English Language teachers in integrating ICT in teaching English Language. Through this aim, the paper can also help new teachers be prepared on the real life situation that can help them prepare themselves better in future time. As for the methodology, this is a quantitative study and it was conducted by using a questionnaire which is suitable to collect data from teachers in numerous schools. The researcher will allocate questionnaires to 30 trained teachers from three secondary school. The type of research used in the article was quantitative research as it includes numerical data and information. Survey research was used because it is easier to collect data throughout questionnaires. The questionnaire that was used in the article was taken from Gulbahar & Guven (2008); Hutchison (2009). It contains two parts which is A and B, where A is the question focuses on the teachers’ gender, race and school. As for the B has three parts which was measured using a Likert scale. As for the subject and the sample, the school that was involved are Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Che Tom, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Pinang Tunggal and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Dato’ Bijaya Setia. The researcher came to all of the three school to give out questionnaires in order to collect all of the data. As for the result, it is found that teachers and the school management have their own part in promoting ICT English teaching in schools. Most of the teachers is having a positive perception about ICT being integrated in their English lessons. However, teachers’ usage level of ICT showed that teachers only use ICT for finding information on websites, making PowerPoint presentations and reading. They do not appreciate about the benefits of other ICT applications.

In my humble opinion on answering the question whether the research interest me, I have to say that I am quite interested in the article. This is because as a future teacher, we have to stay updated with the latest trends in technology so that we do not get left behind. Teachers also need to use the advantages of the technology and benefit it in our teaching and learning processes. ICT content in English will enables students to progress and develop new skills, responding and presenting using the latest technology provided, and as slice of the creative and critical thinking the undertake in English.  In learning English or other second language, students are able to improve and use their background knowledge of word processing, multimedia, presenting texts, simulation software, graphics and further grow their skills, familiarity and understanding of these technologies. Thus, through research like this it will help us teachers on a real life situation and we will know what to expect from the students themselves in the classroom.

Upon reading this article, I can say that it is well conducted due to many reasons. Firstly, it is because the sample of the article are among the real life teachers in real context of Malaysian school. This made me able to relate more to this paper compared to other articles on the net. Furthermore, this article also base its research from an actual framework and theories. It does not blindly doing the research without considering the readers’ knowledge on the issues that are being discussed in the paper. Not only that, the literature review done in the article is also very thorough, it takes into consideration other people’s take on the issues from within this country and also outside the country. The findings were also executed well as it answers the research questions. Needless to say, I did not manage to find any drawbacks from this article.

Based on the findings and the discussion made in the article, there are indeed some implications of using technology in teaching and learning. Firstly, it makes me realize that both teachers and administrators have an immense role to play in promoting ICT integrated English teaching in schools. This task does not fall solely on the shoulders of the teachers. Nowadays, many people like to point fingers on the teachers for Malaysian students’ achievement. However, it must be noted that there are many contributing factors that affect students’ understanding and knowledge of ICT in Malaysia. How can teachers conduct a technology-based instruction if they do not have the equipment? Plus, the administrative board of the school system are responsible in helping teachers to gain knowledge on how to use the technology in order to make them realize the importance of the technology and the many benefit that both teachers and students can gain from using it. We need to increase teacher’s knowledge in using computers in order to rise the usage level of ICT in classroom instructions. The activities does not necessarily have to be for gaining information and power-point presentation. There are many undiscovered tools that teachers can use. In order for the teachers to teach students on the usage of ICT in lessons, they have to master the knowledge of ICT. This, strengthened the importance for the Malaysian teachers to gain more knowledge on the use of technology. Hence, it is suffice to say that everyone has a role in revolutionizing the use of technology for teaching and learning instruction in class. 


Friday 25 September 2015

ASSIGNMENT 1


MUHAMMAD AMALUDDIN BIN AMRAN



1)                  What does the website attempt to teach? Are exercises included? Type of exercises? Immediate feedback? Are there different levels of difficulty for different proficiency level?
There are many things that the website tries to ‘teach’ the users when it comes to English language such as writing, grammar, vocabulary, reading, listening, speaking, idioms, phrasal verbs and figure of speech. Just like any other good ESL websites, this website also provide useful exercises for the users to answer. Although this website does not provide different levels of difficulty for different proficiency, it gives the users detailed explanations and examples on the various aspects of English language. Upon answering the exercises, users can click on the lesson of the grammar or the vocabulary in order to enhance their understanding on the questions. The type of exercises given from the website is mostly ‘filling in the blank space’.  In my opinion, this is a good form of task to be done because in order to fill in the blank, users have to synthesize and evaluate their answer and not just randomly choose the best answer.  When users have submitted their answers, they can get the immediate feedback from the website when the click ‘check answers’ at the bottom of the page. Not only that, the website provides the necessary lesson for the users to read upon at the bottom of the page for every different type of exercises; English tenses, grammar lessons, speaking lessons, etc.

2)                  What are the learners required to do with regards to learning the content of the website?

Learners could choose their own subject matter that they want to learn, whether it is grammar, speaking or listening. In order to answer the exercises provided, learners/users are advised to first, read on the lessons on the subject beforehand. For this website, users does not have to sign up or log in if they want to answer the questions. It means that this website is user friendly but may be a bit hard for the users to keep track of their own work.

3)                  While you are going through the website, does it remind you of anything you do in a classroom/ teacher/ fellow classmate/ self-study?

Yes it does remind me of the things that my teachers taught me back in school, which is a bit boring. This is because, this website lacks in interesting images and interactive method. Though the website is rich in its content, I would still be disinterested because of the boring layout and approaches. Nonetheless, this website would come in handy if I were to know its existence back when I was learning grammar in my Asasi years because it has many different exercises and easy to comprehend lessons.

4)                  Does the website present learners with something that cannot be done in a textbook/ workbook? If yes, how so.

For me, the type of exercises given in the website is somewhat similar with what the students have gone through in their textbook or workbook. This is because, in the website, users are only asked to fill in the blank space and they will get the immediate marks based on their answers. In my opinion, the only thing that is quite different from the exercises in the website and the workbook given by the teachers are the feedbacks. This is because, when students have finished doing their homework, teachers might need more time to check and evaluate their students’ homework. This period of time might make the students forget the things that they have been learning. In short, yes, the website does present learners with something that can be found in textbook/workbook but the time of feedback can be different.

5)                  Can you give theories of language learning/teaching underlying the application?

The theory that is used in this website falls under the cognitive theory. Where the users are the ones who are responsible to generate their own sets of answers for every questions. They need to learn through all the lessons in order to answer the questions, meaning that they need to analyse and gain insight for correct answer. Also, users need to transform their understanding of the lesson and ask themselves why they put the answer. The questions in the website definitely promote a long-term learning through their own understanding of the subject matter and the examples given, not just a simple memorizing that is gain through drilling.

6)                  An important criterion for evaluating a CALL program, task or activity is the potential for language learning. Does the website fulfil this criterion? If yes, how so?

Just like any good website, this ESL website also gives students some potential in learning various aspects of English language however I think this website might be lacking in many areas such as the zero graphics and videos. Students, nowadays they are exposed with various kinds of technology such as facebooks, tumblrs, instagrams. The kind of social network that gives them a sense of interest. Thus, when they are expected to do homework in an ESL website, they would imagine themselves immersing in something that is interactive and fun such as videos and pictures. However, this website does not cater to their level of interest, making them have no motivation and thus easily lose interest in finishing the exercise.


7)                  Would you like to use the application yourself in your future work? Yes/No? Give reason.


In the future, I think I would use this particular website as my reference for my own tasks to be given to my students. This is because, this website has many in depth yet simple explanations in different aspects of English language such as the grammar, the speaking and listening and writing. However, although the content of the website is very rich, due to the fact that the layout is a bit boring, I think I would find a more interesting and intriguing ESL websites for my students to do. Nonetheless, I think this particular website is suitable for the older students because they might think that colourful layouts and videos as a criteria that is not that important in comparison with the younger students. 

Monday 14 September 2015

1. Introduce yourself.

Hi there, my name is Muhammad Amaluddin Bin Amran, a Part 7 student in UiTM Seksyen 17, Shah Alam. I'm from Muar Johor and my hobby is reading books

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

Honestly, I don't know much about computer skills because I only know how to turn it on and watch movies. I also know how to use Microsoft Words because I learn computer literacy during Part 1.

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

For hardware I know what is cd-rom where you put your cd in there. I also have some basic skills on how to operate Microsoft Words.

4. Have you experienced learning via the computer (online courses, using course ware, websites etc)?

Yes, we use i-learn.


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

In my opinion, the use of technology in language teaching can help the students to learn better. This is because technology provide better interface, for example the teacher can play a video in explaining things about language, they can also learn through powerpoint and they can also play grammar games through the use of technology

7. What are your expectations from this course?

I hope that I can learn how to use technology to incorporate it in classroom. Because as a teacher we must capable of using technology to enhance the learning of our students. 


8. What is the topic chosen for your Academic Exercise? Why have you chosen the topic? Who is your supervisor?  How do you plan to complete your AE so that it follows the designated processes (chapter by chapter) and can be submitted on time?

The topic of my AE is Mobile Learning Readiness among Students in Faculty of Education in UiTM Shah Alam. I use this topic because I want to know how the students in my faculty ready for the technology given to them and how will they use it to learn better