My own website

Wohoooo... I now own a website. It was interesting designing my own website

Here's the link of my website

http://ashikinhasnan.wix.com/shikinf


Now, not only I'm excited because I just designed a website but it's almost over for me as a student here in UiTM Shah Alam. Yay !

But first I have to finish my AE :)

Web-based lesson plan

Hi readers

Below is my web based lesson plan.

click here 

The purpose of the lesson plan is to focus on writing skills which is writing dialogues or conversations. In writing, conversations or dialogues makes the writing more interesting as it gives characters and different perspectives in the essays.

The first part of the lesson plan stressed on writing where students have to write their conversation in Skype and the other group has to respond. The next task focuses on speaking where students need to engage in a communication through video call via Skype. Although the lesson plan is targeting on writing skills, it is undeniable that writing comes together with speaking skill so as the students know how to produce dialogue clearly, they can slowly be introduced to speaking practice.

The lesson plan is inspired by the vast trend of communications, in which people prefer to communicate via chatting sites such as Skype, YM and MSN as well as Whatsapp, LINE and WeChat on their smart phones. Therefore, it is more related to students' life nowadays so, it can enhances students' interest in learning to write dialogues in the form of real-like situation via chatting site.

The idea for the topic is taken from www.holidaytravelwatch.com  where the students could go to the sites and get the idea of what to stress on when planning a holiday. So, in order for them to keep the conversation, the website serves like an idea bank on what to talk and to ask when planning a holiday.

Planning a lesson plan is the easiest part in teaching, the difficult part is to execute the lesson plan. In order to perform this lesson, students must have computers, therefore they must be taken to the computer lab. Teacher has to monitor the students throughout the lesson so that teacher can assist them on how to use the site and to make sure that there are no difficulties in doing the task. It is important for the teacher to make sure the computers are well-functioning and the internet connection is fast or stable. Teacher also needs to be prepared for any possibilities. It is crucial for the teacher to manage the students as sometimes they will get too excited and it can lead to a chaotic classroom.

That is all from me, happy holiday guys :)

Hypertext and hypermedia

Hi, 

This week's task is to create hypertext and hypermedia
Hypertext and hypermedia make learning more easy as the information is just one click away. You can try to incorporate this in your lesson  :)

Here is one example of a reading passage that use hypertext and hypermedia.

 DOLPHINS

Hi, I'm a dolphin

Dolphins are regarded as the friendliest creatures in the sea and stories of them helping drowning sailors have been common since Roman times. The more we learn about dolphins, the more we realize that their society is more complex than people previously imagined. They look after other dolphins when they are ill, care for pregnant mothers and protect the weakest in the community, as we do. Some scientists have suggested that dolphins have a language but it is much more probable that they communicate with each other without needing words. Could any of these mammals be more intelligent than man? Certainly the most common argument in favor of man's superiority over them that we can kill them more easily than they can kill us is the least satisfactory. On the contrary, the more we discover about these remarkable creatures, the less we appear superior when we destroy them.

Dolphins are beautiful creatures. We should protect them and stop the killing of dolphins as sometimes they are harmed by the other creatures in the sea.

That's all for this week. See you in the next post 

JCROSS

Hello potatoes. 

I have created a crossword puzzle for you to try. 

Try now 

This is basically what I learned in the class. The exercise is so easy to create using hot potatoes, you can try create your own crossword puzzle.

The draft

Basically, that is how we do it .


Happy weekends everyone :)

Article review.

Well hello there. This week we have to submit our article review, so this is my review. 

The title of the article is The Significant Role of Multimedia in Motivating EFL Learners' Interest in English Language Learning by Abbas Pourshosein Gilakjani from Islamic Azad University in Iran. 

Here is the link for the article review :

Article review

and below is the link for the article 

Article

The paper is very interesting as it discusses about the usage of multimedia in the classroom and it touches almost every aspects including the teachers' role and the students' roles . 

Of Hot Potatoes and Microsoft Excel

Hello readers. Last week lesson was really interesting, it's about creating our own exercise using Hot Potatoes, a very useful software for teachers. Very easy, very simple. 

Check out the exercise I created using Hot Potatoes. 

Click here - unpublished version 

Click here - published version

We also learned how to create a simple exercise using Microsoft Excel. 

Click here

Try now. 

Have a good day everyone :)

ESL Website Evaluation

Hello readers.

There are many ESL Websites on English lessons on the internet. Most of the websites offer plenty of exercises, grammar lessons and even a discussion forum that suit the learners from different backgrounds and match with their proficiency level. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced student, you can get as many lessons as you want about various rules of English language.

In this post, I want to evaluate on one particular website that helps me in preparing myself for practicum. Of course, I do not rely on just one website, usually I will have so many websites accessed and even go for a blog-walking just to search for interesting materials for the lessons.

http://www.englishpage.com/

This website has abundant of lessons on vocabulary, grammar such as verb, tenses, articles and modals. This website is intended to teach the Basic English lesson that includes grammar and skills in English language, which are reading, and listening as the website provides reading room and listening lounge. In the reading room, there are many reading materials to choose from including newspaper articles, which is very authentic and current.  Various exercises are included in every lesson so it is easier to check on the understanding of the topic.  The exercises are range from simple to difficult, according to the tutorials. Viewers can immediately check the answers and check on the tutorials for further explanation on the topic. Student forums for discussion is also included in the website, therefore readers can interact and post questions.

ESL Students can just simply go to www.englishpage.com and explore all the contents in the website. All contents and topics are categorized and are put at the side of the website for easy access and they could just click on the link to directly start on the topic. The website is not too crowded and clouded with other things such as unnecessary advertisements or pop-up materials, the layout and template is rather clean and organized. Not too much color and too much decoration so it is pleasant to be viewed. The most important thing is it is easy to be accessed, as it requires no registration or any fees.

Going through the website reminds me of my practicum phase where I really rely a lot in ESL websites and blogs for references and for planning the lessons as well as preparing the materials for my students. Furthermore, I also refer to ESL websites for self-study. I really depend on other sources to gain my knowledge on English language therefore I do access various types of websites during my free time and it is really important that the websites are full of information and user-friendly.

Besides, the website offers ESL students with something that cannot be done in a textbook or workbook. Students can immediately check their answers and visit the tutorials to enhance their understanding in particular topic. Students are also equipped with so many exercises and forums to discuss a certain topic they do not quite clear of. Above all, students can learn by themselves and they do not need a teacher or a guide just like in the classroom, therefore more time is spent for self-study.  However, the exercises provided are quite similar to the exercises students can find in textbooks or workbooks, so it would be interesting actually to at least provide the students with word games such as word search, or puzzles rather that just normal boring exercises such as fill in the gap and multiple choice questions.

Browsing through the websites, it can be concluded that the language teacher applied in the website is more direct and inductive language teaching, where students are explained about all the rules and then given exercises to test on their understanding. The practices are drilling and they are intended to make the students understand the rules of grammar. It is not communicative language learning as it focuses more on grammar practices.  The lessons also are not really catered to the different styles and preferences of the students. It is lacking in the visual and animated kind of learners, as it is more on reading and drilling, therefore the website would not spark the interest of visual students.

The tasks and the activities in the website are mostly exercises and drilling, it is potentially benefits the students in writing with free error, however, practices as such will not really helpful when it comes to communicative aspect. The exercises can be done in classroom, no doubt about it but they are simply meant for grammar lesson.  Teachers need to be creative occasionally and break free from normal chalk and talk, sometimes bringing in the computers in class would give extra credits to the teachers. The website offers various grammar explanations and exercise, it is an important tool for references and teaching, therefore it is very highly potential in language learning as grammar and structure of sentences are very important in mastering the language.

Lastly, I would definitely use the website in the future as it serves as a source of references and it is easy to access and filled with exercises and practices as well as reading room with lots of reading materials.

That would be it, for now. See you in the next post. 

Have a wonderful weekends everyone !