https://www.dropbox.com/s/zleo2mglzjc7ye8/noreen%20excel%203.0.xlsx
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4i365osfhg719z7/bones%20articles.htm
Hi there!
After using both microsoft excel and hot potatoes to create an ESL worksheet, I have concluded that I much prefer using hot potatoes than excel. This is because hot potatoes is much easier and there are no formulas to be used when creating the worksheet. For someone who is not good at computers like me, I believe Hot Potatoes is more user friendly than excel. However, given the freedom of choice and honestly speaking, I would probably use neither and just download worksheets from existing ESL websites.
That is all for now, thank you for reading!
Monday, 24 March 2014
Friday, 21 March 2014
ESL WEBSITE EVALUATION
ESLPartyland is a
website for students and teachers that focusses to teach English to second
language learner. The website offers not only lessons for students but also
lesson plans for teachers. Thus, it is safe to say that this website caters to
both the need of teachers and students. ESL Partyland teaches the four language
skills through thorough explanation and fun exercises. The exercises are
categorised according to the language skills and themes. Most of the question
in the exercises are based on real life examples, thus making the students feel
engaged with the lesson. There are also different levels of difficulty for
different proficiency levels students. The levels are labelled as easy, medium
and difficult.
When visiting the website, visitor will first need to
decide the purpose of visiting the websites that is to learn English or to
teach English. So now, if the visitor is a student, you will then need to
decide what part of the language skills that you wish to learn. Next, you will
have to decide which level of proficiency are you at. It is as simple as that.
The same goes to the teachers who wish to look at the lesson plans provided on
the website.
This website definitely reminds me of some of my friends’ micro teaching especially when going through some of the lesson plans idea.
Besides that, I have also use this website as an inspiration for my lesson plan
during my practicum.
ESL Partyland present learners with something that cannot
be done in textbook or workbook as there are games and quizzes that can only be
done on line. Besides that, there are also link to practise your speaking skills
for free. Moreover, considering that the current generation are technology
savvy, the learners I believe will enjoy learning on line even more.
The whole idea of using an on line website to learn and
improve one’s ability in the English language relate closely to the affective
factors in second language acquisition. High school students are mostly at a
stage of their life where they feel vulnerable and self-cautious about
themselves. Therefore, when learning in class, some students might feel
embarrassed and low confidence to use the language. Thus, by using this
website, students will not have to feel judged and can freely practise and
study the language. Bernard Weiner is a psychologist who had worked on the
attribution theory which focusses on how people explain the causes of their own
successes and failures. The four explanations for the attribution theory are
ability, effort, perceived difficulty of a task and luck. Learners who uses
this website have the freedom to choose their lesson, the amount of work they
are willing to put in and the difficulty level of the task. Therefore, the
learner’s success or failure in the language is solely known by the learner.
There are no pressure or embarrassment in which the learner will have to face
if he or she were to learn in a classroom. Other than that, the learner is
given ‘full attention’ by the website as the learner are the one who decide the
difficulty level, unlike in the classroom where the teacher could not possibly
attend to the specific needs of an individual but rather the need of the class
as a whole. This will later on attribute to the self-efficacy of the learner
because as the learner determine his/her lesson, he/she will eventually feel
capable of completing the task at hand and later on leading to the mastery of
the English language.
As mentioned earlier, this website certainly fulfilled
the potential for language learning. This can be seen through the lesson given
and the exercises provided. Thus, it can be said that this website is a good
CALL program.
I am planning to pursue teaching as my career, therefore
I would definitely be using this application in the future. In fact, I have
already used the application when I was undergoing my practicum. This website
caters to students as well as teachers. What I love about this website is that
whenever I am stumped on a creative lesson plan as I am planning to keep my
classes interesting and fun all the time, I can simply look at some of the
lesson plan and just tweak it here and there. Sometimes, just by looking
through the worksheets, it already inspires me for a lesson.
In a nutshell, ESL Partyland is a good example of a CALL
program whereby both the students and teachers can log on for free and without
any tedious registration. The lesson provided there is wholesome and there are
even lesson plans for teachers to look at. The usage of this website is not
limited to on line only but it is even carried out in classroom which is a huge
plus. I will use this website in my future career as an English teacher because
of the benefits it provides.
Friday, 14 March 2014
Wednesday, 5 March 2014
Self Introduction
Hello there!
I am Noreen Amira Zakaria from 8A and people call me Noreen. I have six siblings and am the fifth. I'm from Jeli, Kelantan. I love literature and music. My ultimate dream is actually to travel the world but so far I haven't even cover Asia. I am 23 years old and is not a big fan of technology. Ironically though, I am an avid user of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. I even have a personal blog but I guess that is pretty much about it. I love the Internet for entertainment purposes but when it comes to use it for assignments purposes, I always sigh.
If I were to rate myself in terms of my computer skills, I would say that I'm 'savvy'. Like, I know how to do stuff with the computer if I have to but if it's a new thing then it probably take longer for me to 'get it' compared to my friends.
In terms of computer software and hardware, I would say that I'm familiar with the usual stuff like keyboard and mouse, I mean if not how would I be able to write on this blog, right? However, if suddenly the computer won't turn on as per usual, then I would probably be clueless and just send it to my sister for her to have a look at. Regarding software, I don't think I know much. I don't even know how I even pass Basic Data Analysis. That was a nightmare, glad that was over. In short, I just like to say that I'm an old soul when it comes to technology. Get it? (laugh)
I do have a lot of experiences learning via computer. When UiTM suddenly wants us to have 'blended learning', we did use the i-learn. Besides that, there are a number of courses in the TESL degree that requires us to learn via computer. Even when I'm in high school we did use the computer as parts of the lesson occasionally. However, based on my experiences, using computer or learning via internet wasn't really a big success. The number one reason I believe is because our internet connection is very very slow. Second, our server is a bit problematic. I mean we have thousands of students, shouldn't those who create the server takes that into account. A simple task takes a long time since all we do is waiting for that loading bar to complete. I just really prefer face-to-face learning. It's much more fun and I learn better.
During my practicum I did practice using technology. For instance, I did a video using Windows Movie Maker as my teaching aids, Power Points Presentation, websites from the internet and mostly lots of music. Most of the lessons I consider a success, but sadly there were more failure then I like to admit. The school that I went didn't have a projector in their classrooms and I think most school in Malaysia are still in this condition. They don't even have a laptop, speakers or anything that we can borrow which means we have to bring our own laptop. It is a problem because I couldn't afford my own projector even if I own a laptop and since the one and only projector in the school is usually in a bad condition so I just print whatever it is that I want to use.
I do believe that the usage of technology in the English classroom really makes thing even more fun than it is. However, I just don't think the Malaysian education system can afford it because we don't have a decent internet connection at school or even at university. Or even the money to provide each classroom in the country with a projector. Having to use projector in the media room is fine but usually time is wasted with the students travelling from their classroom to the media room and the projector there is always problematic. (not at all school, only the school I've been to). When we do have the resources, then there is the problem with the students moral. I've come from a very remote and rural high school in Jeli, and when we do finally have a computer lab, there are cases of stolen computer and keyboard so the teacher just ended up with locking the lab with chains and we never ever use it. Just when some 'big' people came only the chains are down. Sad..I know.
My expectations from this course is that it is going to be difficult. However, upon looking at the course information, I think I can handle it. I'm not really sure I can actually create a websites, I mean it just sound so 'fancy'. But I hope that I do well and I'm sure that I will learn a lot from this course.
My topic for AE is " A Comparitive Study of Perceptions of Student-Athletes and Normal Stream Students Towards the Learning of English Literature". My supervisor is Mdm Roslind and may I just say that she is awesome! I'm currently in the process of completing my questionnaire and interviewing an English teacher. Looking at it now, I believe I can complete my AE on time, hopefully.
To end this post, I pray that everything goes well. I now know that this semester will be super hectic and I just pray that I'll be able to finish my degree according to the original plan. Till next time. :)
In terms of computer software and hardware, I would say that I'm familiar with the usual stuff like keyboard and mouse, I mean if not how would I be able to write on this blog, right? However, if suddenly the computer won't turn on as per usual, then I would probably be clueless and just send it to my sister for her to have a look at. Regarding software, I don't think I know much. I don't even know how I even pass Basic Data Analysis. That was a nightmare, glad that was over. In short, I just like to say that I'm an old soul when it comes to technology. Get it? (laugh)
I do have a lot of experiences learning via computer. When UiTM suddenly wants us to have 'blended learning', we did use the i-learn. Besides that, there are a number of courses in the TESL degree that requires us to learn via computer. Even when I'm in high school we did use the computer as parts of the lesson occasionally. However, based on my experiences, using computer or learning via internet wasn't really a big success. The number one reason I believe is because our internet connection is very very slow. Second, our server is a bit problematic. I mean we have thousands of students, shouldn't those who create the server takes that into account. A simple task takes a long time since all we do is waiting for that loading bar to complete. I just really prefer face-to-face learning. It's much more fun and I learn better.
During my practicum I did practice using technology. For instance, I did a video using Windows Movie Maker as my teaching aids, Power Points Presentation, websites from the internet and mostly lots of music. Most of the lessons I consider a success, but sadly there were more failure then I like to admit. The school that I went didn't have a projector in their classrooms and I think most school in Malaysia are still in this condition. They don't even have a laptop, speakers or anything that we can borrow which means we have to bring our own laptop. It is a problem because I couldn't afford my own projector even if I own a laptop and since the one and only projector in the school is usually in a bad condition so I just print whatever it is that I want to use.
I do believe that the usage of technology in the English classroom really makes thing even more fun than it is. However, I just don't think the Malaysian education system can afford it because we don't have a decent internet connection at school or even at university. Or even the money to provide each classroom in the country with a projector. Having to use projector in the media room is fine but usually time is wasted with the students travelling from their classroom to the media room and the projector there is always problematic. (not at all school, only the school I've been to). When we do have the resources, then there is the problem with the students moral. I've come from a very remote and rural high school in Jeli, and when we do finally have a computer lab, there are cases of stolen computer and keyboard so the teacher just ended up with locking the lab with chains and we never ever use it. Just when some 'big' people came only the chains are down. Sad..I know.
My expectations from this course is that it is going to be difficult. However, upon looking at the course information, I think I can handle it. I'm not really sure I can actually create a websites, I mean it just sound so 'fancy'. But I hope that I do well and I'm sure that I will learn a lot from this course.
My topic for AE is " A Comparitive Study of Perceptions of Student-Athletes and Normal Stream Students Towards the Learning of English Literature". My supervisor is Mdm Roslind and may I just say that she is awesome! I'm currently in the process of completing my questionnaire and interviewing an English teacher. Looking at it now, I believe I can complete my AE on time, hopefully.
To end this post, I pray that everything goes well. I now know that this semester will be super hectic and I just pray that I'll be able to finish my degree according to the original plan. Till next time. :)
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