Podcast

A short story-Three chestnuts or four

Task 3: WWW LP

Form     :               4

Level     :               Advanced

Time      :               Double Period (70 Minutes)

Theme  :                Creative writing class

Topic     :               People/Characters

Aims      :               By the end of the lesson, students should be able to,

(a)    Watch videos on animation creations on the related website

(b)   Complete the task sheets given by the teacher

(c)    Use their own creativity to draw/create a character of a superhero/monster

Previous knowledge:    

(a)    Students have basic knowledge on how to use and search things through the internet.

(b)   Students have basic knowledge on literature components (Setting,Style,Characters and Resolution)

Educational Emphasis:   Thinking skills and ICT skills

Technical requirements:

(a)          A desktop/laptop for each student

(b)          LCD Projector
(c)           Internet connection


Preparation:

(a)          Locate suitable sites for the lesson
(b)          Bring along a few comic books such as “manga” to triger students’ mind
(c)           Prepare tasks and activities related to the lesson


Websites:

(a)    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_book

(b)   http://www.nomis7studio.com/?gclid=CNmTpMjC-aMCFcRA6wod5CuCHQ

(c)    http://www.nomis7studio.com/?gclid=CLKugdfB-aMCFclS6wodcjrIJg

(d)   http://www.nomis7studio.com/dvd/facial_expressions/facial.htm

PROCEDURES

SET INDUCTION (5 Minutes)

(a)    Teacher takes out a few comic books and holds it up so that everyone can see.

(b)   Teacher asks, “What are these?”

(c)    Teacher opens the related URL on the screen and talks about comics books, the characters and explains about the lesson of the day.

DEVELOPMENT (60 Minutes)

ACTIVITY 1 (10 Minutes)

(a)    Teacher shows the related website URLs on the LCD and instructs the students to locate the   website on their computers.

(b)   Teacher explains about the website and tells the students on where to click.

(c)    Teacher shows a few videos on creating comic characters.

ACTIVITY 2

Task 1 (25 Minutes) – (Fill in the boxes given activity)

(a)    Teacher instructs students to close the web browser and open a Microsoft Word file on the desktop.

(b)   Teacher explains about the work sheets and gives the instructions.

(c)    Students start doing the task and teacher walks around for assistance.

Task 2 (25 Minutes) – (Character illustration activity)

(a)    Teacher distributes a drawing paper to each student and explains that this task involves only pencil and paper.

(b)   Teacher explains that for this activity, students are given the freedom to draw the superhero/monster character by using their own creativity either with colours or not.

CONCLUSION (5Minutes)

(a)    At the end of the lesson, teacher chooses the best drawing and show it to the class.

(b)   Teacher summarizes the lesson.

HYPERTEXT AND HYPERMEDIA

SKYDIVING

Parachuting, also known as skydiving, is the action of performing acrobatics or freestyle during freefall, followed by deployment of a parachute. Parachuting is performed as a recreational activity and a competitive sport, as well as for the deployment of military personnel Airborne forces and occasionally forest firefighters. A typical jump involves individuals jumping out of an aircraft (usually an airplane, but sometimes a helicopter or even the gondola of a balloon), at approximately 4,000 meters (around 13,000 feet) altitude, and free-falling for a period of time (about a minute) before activating a parachute to slow the landing down to safe speeds (about 5 to 7 minutes). When the parachute opens (usually the parachute will be fully inflated by 800 meters or 2,600 feet) the jumper can control the direction and speed with toggles on the end of steering lines attached to the trailing edge of the parachute, and can aim for the landing site and come to a relatively gentle stop. All modern sport parachutes are self-inflating "ram-air" wings that provide control of speed and direction similar to the related paragliders. Purists in either sport would note that paragliders have much greater lift and range, but that parachutes are designed to absorb the stresses of deployment at terminal velocity. By manipulating shape of the body a skydiver can generate turns, forward motion, backwards motion, and even lift.

When leaving an aircraft, for a few seconds a skydiver continues to travel forward as well as down, due to the momentum created by the plane's speed (known as "forward throw"). The perception of a change from horizontal to vertical flight is known as the "relative wind", or informally as "being on the hill". In freefall, skydivers generally do not experience a "falling" sensation because the resistance of the air to their body at speeds above about 50 mph (80 km/h) provides some feeling of weight and direction. At normal exit speeds for aircraft (approx 90 mph (140 km/h)) there is little feeling of falling just after exit, but jumping from a balloon or helicopter can create this sensation. Skydivers reach terminal velocity (around 120 mph (190 km/h) for belly to Earth orientations, 150-200 mph (240–320 km/h) for head down orientations) and are no longer accelerating towards the ground. At this point the sensation is as of a forceful wind. However, without precautions, accidents can happen.

Pink = HyperMedia
Blue = HyperText

Task 2: Article Review

TITLE:

EFL Teachers' Perceptions and Perspectives on Internet-Assisted Language Teaching

JOURNAL:

Vol. 8, No. 2, January 2007

AUTHOR:

Hee-Jae Shin, an EFL teacher at Buyeo Girls' High School in Chungnam Province, Korea and Jeong-Bae Son, an educator in applied linguistics, Faculty of Education at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia.

LINK:

Journal

OVERVIEW

The Internet is defined as a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is one of the most popular technologies being used widely throughout the world. The Internet can now be accessed almost anywhere by numerous means, especially through mobile Internet devices. Mobile phones, datacards, handheld game consoles and cellular routers allow users to connect to the Internet from anywhere there is a wireless network supporting that device's technology. The usage of Web browsing has reached to the point of where it is used widely even in the Internet-Assisted Language Teaching all over the world.

SUMMARY

AIMS OF THE RESEARCH

The general objective of the study is simply to study the Korean secondary school EFL teachers’perceptions and perspectives on the use of the Internet. It also focuses on the barriers that stand in the way of applying the method in classroom teaching.

METHODOLOGY

The data of this study was collected using questionnaires to document Korean secondary school EFL teachers’perceptions and perspectives on the use of the Internet for English language teaching purposes. The questionnaires were distributed on-line and off-line to 150 Korean secondary school EFL teachers in Kyungki and Chungnam provinces in Korea but only 101 respondents had completed the questionnaires and returned them within a two months time. All the data collected were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively by the researchers.

POPULATION AND SAMPLE

The subjects of the research are among 101 Korean secondary school EFL teachers consisting 52 males and 49 females’ teachers. The range of age among the respondents was from 23 to 60 years. While their teaching experience ranged from less than five years to more than 25 years.

FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH

The results have shown that majority of the EFL teachers actually used the Internet for their teaching purposes. However, the teachers used the Internet more for the preparation of teaching materials rather than using it directly with students in the classroom during the teaching sessions. In Figure 1, teachers tended to use more than one Internet activity in their classrooms and among the types of Internet activities, Web surfing activities were employed most often in their classrooms. Figure 2 on the other hand shows reasons for preventing Internet use where 50 of the respondents gave the reasons for not using the Internet in the classroom.

CONCLUSION

The study has demonstrated that teachers have positive views on the use of the Internet for teaching EFL while they have difficulties in finding appropriate teaching materials and in integrating Internet resources into their curriculum. There are two problems identified which are the huge amount of information available on the Internet and limited time to seek useful information and the organisation and management of IALT classes. If all EFL teachers undertake well-planned training courses to gain and improve their Internet skills, EFL instruction using Internet resources could be enhanced more actively, collaboratively and consistently across the school system.

REFLECTION

An interesting research topic, especially when it covers one of the arising issues in education nowadays. I have noticed that some of us are so left-behind not only when it comes to technologies but their mind set as well. Teachers for example should try their best to move alined with the others because teachers are the ones that are shaping the future leaders. Trainings and courses have been provided by the government in order to keep up with time however, the efforts would be wasted if the people involved do not make a full use of it. Logically, when we say “we cannot do it”, automatically our body follows it as well. This is what I meant by mind set. We usually believe what we told ourselves to believe. There is no harm done if we try.

Furthermore, we should know better the importance to cater the needs of our students. If the environment need us to keep ourselves updated, than that is what we must do. Internet is a very useful tool since everything is at the tip of our finger. I understand that maybe some of us do not have the access at home, but that should not stop us especially when the government have provided the facilities in school. We can show our appreciation when we make full use of the facilities given. As the researchers have said, in IALT, teachers can use different types of teaching methods on the basis of their students’ interest or needs. The use of the Internet supports the shift from the traditional teacher-centred classroom to the learner-centred classroom that is a current pedagogical preference in EFL teaching. Internet-Assisted Language Teaching actually helps to reduce teachers’ workloads. We can simply browse through the internet and search. It is as easy as one two three. Furthermore, by applying the method in class would benefits the students since the amount of exposure they receiced would broaden their views on using the internet usage.

In conclusion, i agree that IALT is an important component that should be included in the curriculum and practiced by lessons conducted in classrooms. I am sure with the suitable number of students in class, it would be easier for the teacher to manage the classroom and any other barriers.

REFERENCES

http://callej.org/journal/8-2/h-js_j-bs.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet

Reflection on Hot Potatoes

Before i start my reflection, let me tell you a little bit about Hot Potatoes. The application has nothing to do with food although the name might sound like a vegetable. Hot Potatoes is a freeware and user-friendly application which allow users to download it directly from the World Wide Web. The package includes six applications, which enables you to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises which can be use for any purpose or project. It comes in Version 6 created by Half-Baked Software Inc.

The application was first introduced to me and my classmates by Dr Izaham during our TSL641 Computer Assisted Language Learning class. It is a simple yet interesting and easy to use application. Hot Potatoes is suitable for all kinds of computer users even for the beginners. The names are quite catchy since they use names like 'JMatch, JCloze, JMix, JCross and JQuiz'. Users can easily figure out which application is for which by identifying the names. Hot Potatoes ensures the possibility of creating any kinds of worksheets. Everything is just a click-away. Why bother to do things the hard way when we have a software like this to makes things a whole lot easier for us? To make it more interesting, we could add on pictures and sounds which can be linked directly from the web or can be uploaded from our computers. Each icon on the task bar represent different things and when we want to view the worksheet, our work is automatically saved. This is wonderful because sometimes we do forget to save our work to the computer and this is very dangerous because once it is lost, we can never retrieve it back. It ensures the security of our work. However, one weakness which I manage to identify is that the software a bit rigid since there are things which can't be customized. Changing fonts for example is not that easy.  However, if the user happens to have extra knowledge on using HTML codes would be great. This is because things like centralizing the title and making paragraphs need the codes because the application does not provide them for users.

Hot Potatoes is as hot as the name is and it brings a fun learning environment for both teachers and students. I am sure more people will be using it later on and of course I will use it as well in the future. I am very thankful to Dr Izaham for exposing us to the application and I hope I can produce better worksheets and exercises for the students. From what I can see, I have actually expanded my creativity throughout the lessons. =)

JMatch

IDIOMS EXPRESSIONS

Task 1: ESL Website Evaluation

WEBSITE: Anglomaniacy.pl
URL: http://www.anglomaniacy.pl/index.html

Q1.       What does the application attempt to teach?

This website/application is specially designed for kids (pre-learners) who are learning English as a foreign or second language. It focuses on grammar and vocabulary as well as educating learners in a fun way. Having a wide range of teaching activities such as games and exercises make it more interesting and enjoyable for the youngsters to learn. Unlike a normal website which consist only texts and information, this website comes in a full package of colours and pictures/icons in order to get the learners’ interest/attention. Young ESL students will find a lot of online activities and hundreds of printable worksheets that can help them with their English. Furthermore, the website can also be a source for the parents and teachers of ESL learners. They are free to download the activities and enjoy the teaching materials including flashcards, quizzes, games, song lyrics as well as a big collection of useful links to other ESL/EFL websites. This makes it even better since it is a free-access website. The structure of the website itself is well-organized. Everything is just a click-away.  Learn, practice and play; a good way of learning and three simple steps for beginners (preschoolers).

Q2.       What sorts of things is the application user expected to do with regards to learning the content?

            Learners can freely access this website without the need of registering or purchasing in order to use the learning course. It is a self-study courrse which allow the learners to choose the topics freely and do the exercises at their own pace and according to their profiency level. Plus, the exercises are not boring. It consists of pictures and word games which are more interesting and suitable for the preschoolers. This way it would be easier for the kids because they could learn a word (vocabulary) and at the same time see the picture because this way, they could easily relate the lesson with their daily life. Learning through experience (Experiential Learning) had always been the best way of manifesting informations or knowledge. This has been proven by David A. Kolb, founder of the theory itself. Relating what we learn with our own experience is easier because one can apply what they learn instead of just learning and storing inside the brain. It does not work that way with kids because they need things that can trigger their mind, unlike adults who can easily digest what they learn. This application is well designed because each application has its own use. “Learn Practice and Play”; as we can see it is structured that way because the first step must involve learning, and when learning had take place, learners will then practice what they’ve learned through the exercises. Play is not merely playing games without any input from the activity, but each activity has its own benefits where learners could learn a new vocabulary throughout the games. This way it would be more fun for them and it is important for them to enjoy the learning session in order for the objectives to be met, which is to teach.

Q3.       What sorts of computer skills is the application users expected to have in order to operate/access/use the application?

In order to operate/access/use the application, learners do not need any computer skills because it is a self-guide application. It is a user-friendly website which is fully guided through a step by step instruction. Each activity is categorized differently according to the topics. Learners can practice online without any trouble of downloading the exercises. But, if they want to download it, the downloading section is clearly seen by the users. The songs provided in the application can be played easily and it does not need the users to browse like what we usually do with “Youtube”. Songs names are provided on the left side of the page and learners only need to click on the name given in order to play. It is as easy as that. Just like I said, everything is just a click-away.

Q4.       While you are “playing” / “accessing” / “assessing” the application, does it remind you of anything you do in a classroom, or with a teacher, or with a fellow classmate, or in self-study?

            The thing that i remembered most would be memories that i had during my practicum. I remember browsing the web and looking through books for activities for my students. I knew that teaching using the textbook would be very boring, that is why i had tried my best to insert more activities during my lessons. The best part is that it works! My students love the activities. I had used some word games (such as snakes) to improve on their vocabulary, bringing audio cd to class and sing songs with the students and share stories with them. My students and I had enjoyed it very much and we had so much fun during the lessons. Singing actually helps the students to improve on their pronunciation. Some may see it differently or useless, but from my experience, it is one way of making the classroom learning more interesting. I am very happy to see there are songs provided in a section of the website application (popular children songs). It is a good way of exposing the language to the young learners.

Q5.       Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying the application?

            From my evaluation, i could see that this website leans more towards the Deductive Approach, an introduction of a structure and followed by presentation of the rule that governs the structure. The presentation is followed by examples which show the students how the rule is used in context. (according to the Grammar Translation Method). For example, the learners are first taught about a certain topic; Simple Present Tense. They are exposed to the rules and structure and in order to see whether they have understood the lesson, they are given exercises as practice. When they have understood and complete the exercises, they could then test themselves with the test sheets provided and from there they could determine their strengths and weaknesses. Pictures are given below as examples taken from the website itself.

LEARN

PRACTICE

TEST

            

            The second theory involved would be the Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) by David A. Kolb. This theory involves relating what students learn with the real world or everyday life. Topics such as fruits, holidays, and feelings can be easily related to the students. This is because these things can be seen in their daily routine. Explanation itself is not enough, which is why most teachers bring authentic materials to class, for example like what my teacher did during my school days was a basket full of fruits. It is to cater the need of the visual learners. We learn better when we are able to see things than using merely imaginations. What this website provides are sentences that come together with pictures. It is very helpful for the pre-learners to identify each word and relating what they learn with a real life situation, which is the home environment.

Q6.       How well is the constructivist theory of learning applied to the chosen website(s)?

 Constructivist theory by Jean Piaget and John Dewey explains that knowledge has a personal meaning and it is created by individual students. Learners construct their own knowledge by looking for meaning and order; they interpret what they hear, read, and see based on their previous learning and habits. Students who do not have appropriate backgrounds will be unable to accurately “hear” or “see” what is before them. It basically means that individuals construct new knowledge from their experiences.

On the other hand, a theory by Lev Vygotsky involved private speech, where each step of the theory plays an important role towards the learner. The first one is imitative learning, where one person tries to imitate or copy another. The second way is by instructed learning which involves remembering the instructions of the teacher and then using these instructions to self-regulate. The final way that cultural tools are passed to others is through collaborative learning, which involves a group of peers who strive to understand each other and work together to learn a specific skill (Tomasello, et al., 1993). Through private speech, children speak to themselves to plan or guide their own behavior. This is most common among preschoolers, who have not yet learned proper social skills but rather explore the idea of it. Children often use private speech when a task becomes too difficult and the child doesn't know how to proceed. Private speech helps the child accomplish a task. Vygotsky believed private speech changes with age, by becoming softer or being just a whisper (self-talk).

The importance of private speech can be related to the website where the self-study done by learners includes the absence of a teacher. The learning occurs only between learner and the website. It may be a bit difficult since the target group is the preschoolers. Learners at this age need assistance and some scaffolding from an adult/teacher. This is because they are not well exposed to the nature of learning through self-study learning.

Q7.       In 1980w and early 1990s, there was a major debate on ‘whether the computer was “master” of or “slave” to the learning process (Higgins and Johns, 1984). In relation to your evaluation – was the computer a replacement for teachers, or merely an obedient servant to students?

Neither. I personally think that the existance of computers/gadgets is for assisting mankind, not to be the master or the slave. We do not rely hundred percent on computers because we have teachers as or prime educators. Just like this website, it is used as an alternative for the learners to learn. This proves that we do not depend fully on teachers as well because teachers are not with us 24/7 instead we have electronics at home such as television and computers to help us discover more on what is not taught by the teachers.

The western people have created many examples of movies in related to the topic itself. Three examples that i could think of at the moment are Resident Evil, I. Robot (I.R) and Artificial Intelligence (A.I). Three very famous movies and I could say that it is well known as well. When the computers are programmed to be in charge of something big, it would be harmful for us which can be seen in I. Robot which had Will Smith as the main actor. That is the message the movies had been trying to tell us basically. Futhermore, in that particular movie, Will Smith hated robotics so much until he could not accept them at all. He could see the negative side of having robotics doing chores for people. At the end of the story, he proved that his assumptions were true and man should not rely that much on complexities such as computer programming. The nature of robotics is that they can never think like us, no matter how real it looks on the outside, the programme set in the brain is different. We are God’s greatest creation and as we know, we are different because of the way we think and that we have a heart.

I am not being paranoid but somehow I feel that it is creepy if it really happens in real life, I mean having robotics around doing chores for us and controlled by them. Well, this is a point of view from a movie fanatic. Back to our discussion, I am still with my stand that computer is neither a master nor the slave of people. Just like this website that I have evaluated, it is an assistant for us to learn more and something that could help us broaden our view in learning.

Q8.       Would you like to use the application yourself in your future work?

Yes, why not. Although the website is designed for kids (pre-learners), parents and teachers can also use the application as resource. If I happen to be teaching one day,I might be using it. There are all kinds of word games, songs, quizzes and tests provided in the website which can be used as guidance in teaching. Plus, there are links provided for further needs of information.

Suggestions/Recommendations.

Overall, i love every detail of the website. It suits the theme; “The place for fun learning”. It is well structured and placed accordingly to the topics. I’m sure users would love it too. The icons are adorable. Well, that is from the layouts’ evaluation. As we all know the presentation is very important in order to gain users’ interest in using the application. So here, i would suggest that the creator to update the graphics being used in the website so it would be more eye-catchy. This is because, kids nowadays are well exposed to the world of computers (computer savvy) and most of them have internet access at home. By updating the softwares would strengthen the application and it will be more interesting. Maybe by adding some audio clips such as videos for example could make the learning more meaningful. I love the part where there are popular children songs that come together with lyrics and pictures (such as London Bridge). Those are the types which are all-times favourite. Secondly, I would recommend the creator to design a website for adult learners of ESL as well. It would be better if both pre-learners and adult learners to learn from the same website. Futhermore, the website do provide links and become a resource for parents/teachers, why not widen the scope.


References


http://www.anglomaniacy.pl/index.htm

Brown, H.D (2000). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approack to Language Pedagogy


http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Teachers_Page/Language_Learning_Articles/constructivist_learning.htm.