In-Class Task 3

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

Why the evaluation of CALL courseware or websites or other materials of that ilk is important? The first reason is to ensure that the contents are appropriate with the students' level of knowledge/proficiency. It is essential so as to when the students use the courseware or the websites (after the evaluation has been made), it does not affect their learning process. For example, if the contents of the courseware / websites given are not parallel with the students' proficiency, teachers might face such frustration for they fail to measure the outcome. It would be such a waste then. Moreover, if the courseware (i.e in a form of a CD-ROM) does not function properly, this can disrupt the process of learning as well.

And as for ESL websites, there are chances that these sites cannot be opened prior to only-God-knows-what reasons. I do not know how to explain this in a proper way but my point is that some ESL websites have the "expiry date" y'know? Like when you browse a certain website and a blank page appears on your computer screen, saying (more or less the same): The page does not exist. Hence, an early check on the websites is extremely important.

Secondly, evaluation is essential because some courseware or websites (or any other materials that are related to language learning) contain minor grammatical errors. These errors have a great impact on those who are still crawling in acquiring the second languge, i.e the children.

And thirdly, it is vital to evaluate courseware / websites beforehand so that the teachers know whether the learning materials are quite appealing to the students or not. If the courseware / websites contain merely words with no visual aids, students may find them boring, thus they do not have the interest to learn.



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

The first time I used Hot Potatoes JCloze, I was slightly gobsmacked. Sure enough, I never knew the courseware (Wait, is Hot Potatoes JCloze considered as a courseware? Or is it a software?) comes in handy.

It comes in handy because the teachers are able to design their own questions for the students' exercises. Even if they are plain lazy to create the questions, they can merely copy the questions from other exercises found in various ESL websites and simply paste them in JCloze. From here, the teachers can tackle the students according to their needs and proficiency.

Secondly, HP JCloze helps the students to learn through discovery. How so? After much of exploring on JCloze, I find that for creating a cloze passage or gap-filling exercise, the teachers can insert clues to the answers. Therefore, when the students answer the questions, they can always look up for clues. Indirectly, they will learn the language through discovery / trial and error.

Thirdly, HP JCloze is a replacement to the conventional pencil-and-paper methods. Instead of doing exercises in plain exercise books / papers, students are now able to do their exercises the modern way. In some way, HP JCloze may trigger the students' interets in learning the language.

In-Class Task 2

Grammar Lesson

Thanks to Dave's ESL Cafe.

In-Class Task 1, An Introduction

I am Siti Nor Aisyah Ishak. Family and friends usually call me Aisyah or Sya for short. I am currently living with my five housemates in Seksyen 17, Shah Alam. I love to read, write/blog, eat and hang out with my close friends.

If asked to rate myself in terms of my computer skills, I would say that I am still a novice. The only thing about computer that I like is blogging. I have two blogs; one blog is designed for personal matters and the other one is for writing short stories and poems. The best thing about blogging is that I have the freedom to create my own layout using HTML codes. I learned about HTML codes during my first semester of pre-degree in UiTM Melaka. However, I am only familiar with the basic codes.

Apart from HTML, I am also familiar with Microsoft Word, Power Point, Publisher and Adobe Photoshop. These are the computer software knowledge that I know of. And I guess I have zero knowledge pertaining computer hardware. The only thing about it that I know is to switch off/on the monitor.

During my schooling years, I had experienced learning via the computer. As far as I can remember, it was in Biology class. We were learning about chromosome. My Biology teacher used the computer to explain in depth regarding the subject matter. I found that when the teacher taught the lesson using a visual aid, I understood better. Later on, we were asked to answer questions that had been projected on the white screen.

Moreover, in English as well, the teacher used computers. It was fun answering quizzes regarding grammar from the internet back then. We were gobsmacked upon the new style of learning, nevertherless we enjoyed the lesson each time our English teacher brought us to Makmal Bestari.

When I did my practicum last semester, I was assigned to teach in SMK USJ 12, Subang. And no, I did not try to incorporate technology in some of my lessons. Most of the times, I used the conventional ways--Mahjong paper and group work. Surprisingly, the students loved the approach as they informed me that their English teacher has never done such things in class.

I did bring my students to Makmal Bestari. Nonetheless, the computers were not always available and all the times, the LCD projector failed to function properly. Hence, I brought along my iPod (or laptop at times) and made my students listen to some songs.

At one point, I brought some of the up-to-date technologies (or rather, gadgets?) in my Form 1 class. To begin with, the lesson was on Chapter 8: It's A Small World After All. The theme for Chapter 8 is on Science and Technology. I started the lesson with silent reading on a passage of "The Electronic Revolution". After that, the students were required to answer four simple questions (provided in the textbook). The answers were discussed together in the class.

Next, I displayed the authentic items (that I had brought earlier) in front of the class, which include:

1) iPod Nano (sixth generation)

2) iPod Classic

3) Asus notebook

4) PlayStation Portable (PSP-3000 series)

5) Nikon digital camera

6) Nokia E71

But before that, all six items were concealed. The reason was that, before I revealed them to my students, they got at least to guess what the items were. Some of the items I had put inside a box, some were merely in paper bags. After the brisk guessing game, I revealed all items to them. Most students oohed and aahed the moment they saw the electronic devices, especially the boys. I could tell that they were drooling over the iPods and the PSP.

From the plain Nokia 3310 to Nokia E71, from the plain PC Game to PSP, from the plain typewriter to a notebook, from the plain CD/MP3 player to iPod... I wanted my students to be able to realize what type of revolution they are facing with nowadays.

Alhamdulillah, I managed to conduct the lesson, despite the mild commotion made by the boys, hankering for a shot with the PSP.

Personally, I think that it is vital to integrate the use of computers in language learning. Students nowadays tend to get bored easily with the traditional ways, hence the use of computers can at least vary considerably their learning styles.

And last, but not least, my expectation for this class is that--sure enough, like any other classes--I want to pass with a big, fat A. Exam-oriented? You bet. ;D